Chapter 81: Absorbing Dark Ki, Part 2

"What's happening to him?" Monica asked, looking into Howard's darkened pupils. His torso had enlarged and he seemed much more terrifying. "Is-is he going to be alright?"

"He's taking the Dark Ki into his body." Barabin felt a little bit scared himself and perhaps a little bit surprised by Howard's transformation. His horns had grown larger his skin released a steady stream of black fire through his pores. It seemed like a monster that could destroy the entire Furnace with a single breath had appeared before him. "He's still the same Howard, but the Ki Cells in his body are getting overwhelmed with dark energy. It should strengthen his body and dissipate in a few minutes. However, for those few minutes, Howard is going to have to suffer a little bit."

Barabin could see the sweat dripping down Howard's forehead, feel the pressure and the burden from his heaving torso, and experience the suffering through the trembling in his arms. Dark Ki could best be described, in its purest sense, as the Ki of Destruction. Not only did it cause Massacres, but in exchange for providing strength, it even attacked the body that housed it.

In the past, Barabin had watched the 10th massacre happen because of the burden of this energy. If two Horned siblings stayed around each other for too long, this energy would eventually start to be created by their bodies, and be infused in all their attacks. Eventually, this Dark Ki, would result in madness and destruction of the hosts. However, in effect, the hosts for 10 minutes became death gods, and destroyed both friends and foes with little regard for the condition of their bodies.

His two previous students, Georgia and Yerell, had tried everything to control the Dark Ki. They stayed at two different branches in Horned Nation, trained different techniques that strengthened the mind and body, and even tried to find herbs and ki coagulant to create a resistance to the rampant energy inside of them.

Ultimately, on the day of a battle between the Varlen and Horned Nation, Georgia and Yerell bumped into each other on the battle field.

Georgia, at the time, had brunette hair and stood nearly a head shorter than Yerell at 1.5 meters tall. She was a singer just like Kellen, and regularly danced underneath the moonlight. She even had a goal of becoming the first person to discover the origin of Ki in a Horned persons body - this would later to be discovered to be Ki Cells.

Her brother, on the other hand, had been a tall man that kept to himself and many considered a recluse. He punished himself for chasing after his younger sister, and trained for hours every day to try and reach the S rank. Some speculated at the time that when someone reached the S rank, their bodies would be able to handle Dark Ki without going crazy. He tried so hard to be strong that he often times didn't think about how his training would hurt the other students, but needless to say, he had reached the B rank faster than anyone previously. Even shattering Barabin's own record.

Of course, with Dark Ki, the stronger a person is when they go crazy, the worse the outcome. The two of them, when they encountered each other on the field, gave each other a handshake after not seeing each other for over two years.

A swarm of black fire had overcome them, and a few hours later all that remained in their wake was blood and destruction. Georgia ended up getting killed by her own brother who killed every single person on the battlefield before eventually waking up and killing himself.

'Howard,' Barabin sighed, staring at the most talented student he ever had. "You're the only thing keeping us from the 11th massacre. Please don't give into the insanity. Please be able to control every inch of your body and destroy that Dark Ki! If you let it take over you, I'll really have to chop off your head!'

Barabin nervously looked down, waiting for the ten minute mark as Howard's body started to light up with more effervescent and sinister flames. His arms began to bulge and grow muscles while his thoughts raced faster and faster. In his internal world, he felt like thousands of arrows assailed him from every angle, causing a feeling of insanity to pervade his being.

'I-I want to kill! I want to rip the world to shreds!' Howard slammed his hand into the ground, opening his eyes to find a black tint on the mountainous area in front of him. 'It must end! The Furnace must be destroyed! Only by its destruction with the world above be completely and totally safe!'

'Who is she? Who am I?' Howard began to lose his sense of direction, the black flames swirling around his body before he noticed a calming sensation swirling to the surface. Like a small and elegant bird in a sea of darkness, he felt a light flash through his mind. It felt like the purest joy had grown wings and begun to fly into the distance, tearing through the darkness in front of him.

'I-I feel it. I feel Monica.' Howard suddenly felt a sense of calm. His love for the girl beside him started to give him strength. It seemed to rip apart the shadow ladden world and cause the Nightmare inside of him to begin to dissipate. At the same time, he felt a terrifying craving. That Dark Ki that had gotten out of his grasp. He wanted more of it! The power it brought to his muscles, his torso, and his very sense of the world! He wanted it back!

"Enough!" Barabin's hand blurred and crashed into the side of Howard's face.

Boom!

Howard instantly skipped like a rock across the landscape, twisting and turning in the air like a light feather before he crashed and slid against the barren road. At the same time, the craving that had been trying to reach the surface had completely dissipated. All that remained was pain in his muscles, his body, and even his heart.

"I guess we have to make it 9 minutes," Barabin had to shake his wrist to try and get rid of the pain of hitting Howard. During the absorption of Dark Ki, Howard's body had rapidly grown in strength. To be honest, when he absorbed that Dark Ki, he'd truly entered into the B rank!

To go to the B rank from the D rank was almost unheard of, however, when Yerell had caused the 10th massacre, he'd entered the peak of the S rank from the B rank! If Howard got to absorb that enticing energy for just a few more minutes, he might have even been a threat to the Four Guardians!

"Anyways, Howard. How do you feel? Can you handle that again tomorrow?" Barabin hoisted Howard up from the floor and wiped off his torn brown shirt. "What happened? What did it feel like when the feeling was inside of you?"

"It felt really good," Howard shook his head in fear of those strange, ominous and terrifying feelings that had appeared inside the center of his chest. "However, I felt mindless. It felt like if you dropped me in the middle of a town, I would've left nothing but blood."

"And what happened when you reached that point? Did you lose yourself to it?" Barabin gently rubbed Howard's back, seeing a few tears begin to fall down his eyes. He understood. Nothing could br compared to Dark Ki in terms of the pain it caused. The Massacres were just the result of it. Having to suffer under Dark Ki truly represented being sent to the most terrifying places of the Furnace. It was like losing everything to a black flame of death and destruction. "What made you escape?"

"I-I saw a bird. I think it was Monica. It felt like the most pure loving feelings and it tore through the Dark Ki for just a single second. Because of that, I think I was able to handle it."

"It seems your perfect for this," Barabin sighed, crossing his arms. "For the next week, we'll spend 9 minutes doing this before we spend three hours training. However, at the end of that week, me and Annibell need to tell you something."

"A-a delegation from the Aresoul and the Varlen will be coming to the West Branch, and we will have to select three students to take part in a competition. Howard, I need you to think if you want to join. In a week, we'll need the answer."

Barabin had a few students that greatly surpassed Howard in strength at the other branches. In the East Branch, 10 of Reslans students had entered into the B rank, and a few in the South Badlands had developed special Ki Techniques that greatly increased their strength.

However, even with their talent, they lacked Howards main ability. The ability to get his opponents to underestimate him. The ability to use his opponents strength against them. Because of that ability, Howard had even caused the A rank Zerkales to get swallowed in his flames.

"I-I will think about it," Howard smiled. "However, right now, I think I need to rest with Monica. Heh, it's been almost three weeks since I had a girl sleep in my bed!"