8 A Lot of Blood

Chapter 7: A Lot of Blood

Van rubbed the sleep out of eyes.

"I bet this is a nightmare. The Fierce Beasts never come out of the forests."

"Hey, mouse. Bite me."

The Mouse unsatisfied, with what Van was calling it, squeaked its complaints as it bit Van.

"Ow!"

"I guess this really isn't a dream! Hey, you drew blood! That was unnecessary!"

The Mouse squeaked with satisfaction.

"I should probably stop calling you mouse, but what should I call you?"

"Bill?"

The Mouse looked at him with soul-rending eyes.

"Hey, I'm just brainstorming!"

"How about Han?"

It looked at him and squeaked at him with disgust. It seemed to be saying, "I don't want to be named after that proud jerk, Han Kim!"

"Ok, maybe not that."

"How about Sanji?"

Van prepared himself for the attack that never came. Instead he was rewarded with a joyful squeak. Of course, once Sanji opened his mouth, blood splattered from the nearby battle and entered his mouth.

Van started laughing but his expression turned serious when he saw the body of a 3rd Stage Body Fortification Martial Artist come flying over.

A growl sounded throughout the battlefield. Van turned his head to find a Peak Rank 1 Beast looking straight at him. It was wolf-type beast and seemed quite dangerous.

"Nice doggy?"

Van looked at the Fierce Beast hopefully. The beast gave a growl instead and decided to charge at him.

"Well, I can't blame it. I do look quite tasty."

He ran at the Fierce Beast and pulled out a pitch black knife from its sheath. As the Fierce Beast opened its jaw, he pushed its muzzle to the side and slit its underbelly spilling out all of its guts. The Fierce Beast looked at Van in shock before the light faded from its eyes.

Van flicked off the blood from his knife and started to scan the battlefield for An Lin.

He found her fending off a few Peak Rank 1 Fierce Beasts with the rest of the team. He quickly ran over.

"An Lin, you need some help?"

Van leaned on the nearby rock and casually watched the battle.

"No, I don't!"

An Lin gritted her teeth and tried her best not to call out to Van. Van yawned and continued to watch the battle. When one of the other Martial Artists fell, An Lin finally gave in.

"Van stop messing around and come help me!"

Van casually stood up straight, yawned, and stretched. All the while, An Lin stared at him angrily.

"All right, my turn."

He dashed at the nearest wolf-like Fierce Beast and flung himself on his back. Before the beast could react, he stabbed it twice straight into its brain.

He quickly dashed to the next one and shot off an arrow from a shabby looking bow, he took from his storage pack.

He let An Lin and the others finish the last one off. An Lin came over to Van fuming.

"What are you doing?! The hunt is a disaster! You could've at least tried your best!"

An Lin slapped Van, leaving a red mark on his face. Van held his cheek.

"I deserved that. I just wanted to get your attention."

"Well, you've obviously done that! Congratulations!"

"Could we talk later."

"Only if you help out to the best of your ability."

Van nodded and a fire seemed to reignite itself in Van's eyes.

An Lin, Van, and the surviving martial artists of the skirmish went to look for other groups to help out.

Suddenly, a load screech sounded throughout the battlefield.

"A peak rank 2 Fierce Beast!"

A large bird shrouded in purple flames rose into the sky and flapped its wings.

Flames flew out and decimated the Martial Artist hunting party.

The survivors paled as they watched it advance.

A man with red eyes jumped at the beast with a sword shrouded in Ice.

"Lord Marshal!"

Xuan Gan's voice exclaimed somewhere in the battlefield. Van could only stand there and watch as man and beast fought it out.

After the first exchange, the Purple Flame Bird had received a serious injury to its wing and the Lord Marshal had a large cut on his left arm.

The men cheered on the Lord Marshal as he was their only hope of survival.

Then came the second exchange, the purple flame bird could tell its end was near. Its eyes turned red and its body was shrouded with a blood red mist as it burned its blood essence.

It shrieked it's defiance as it launched its final blow.

The Lord Marshal erupted with an azure gold aura and the roar of a dragon sounded throughout the battlefield.

Van's blood reacted violently and a transparent phantom of an ancient god sitting on a magnificent jeweled throne appeared behind him.

The men near him were too distracted by the main event to notice the spectacle occurring beside them.

The Purple Flame Bird felt its bloodline become suppressed and started to look around in a panic for the source. It finally saw Van, but was rewarded with a sword through the heart.