Chapter 224 General Halys’ Trial

Lee Seng and Keng watched from their spots as the dirt moved and began to spill into the graves. The cries from the Family began to call out to the dead. Their cries pointed to the skies and they began to individually visit each grave and take a moment of silence. The crowd moved around Lee Seng and Keng like they weren't there. Lee Seng stayed sitting.

'Do you think they'll help us get the rest back?' Keng asked. Lee Seng ruminated about it for awhile. He couldn't say yes or no and before he could give Keng an answer, a hand patted Lee Seng and Keng. Lee Seng and Keng looked up behind them and noticed it was the eight-tailed Fox known as General Halys.

"Here you are." Halys acknowledged. "Lady Vix'i asked me to train you two, but before I do that, I wanna know what you're capable of."

"You wanna test us? So soon after the burial?" Keng asked, his gaze moving to the crowd in front of them.

"One match will do." Halys smiled. "It'll give me an idea of what I should teach you while you're here." Lee Seng glanced at his watch.

'Half a day has already gone by and yet it's only almost 4am…' Lee Seng noticed.

"Is that a watch from the Human Realm?" Halys asked.

"Oh?" Lee Seng's eyes went back to Halys. "How did you know?" Halys crouched and looked at it.

"Time moves faster here than the Human Realm. If you want to know the time ratio, I can tell you… After you two spar with me."

'Knowing the time ratio would give me an actual timeframe.'

"Fine. We'll need the training for the expedition to the Cursed Forest, anyways." Lee Seng stood up. Halys stood back up and smiled. His cat eyes and whiskers across his cheeks caught Lee Seng's attention.

'God King wasn't kidding when he said humans were his latest additions to the Family. I wonder what General Halys is.' Lee Seng made a mental note to ask the personal question later.

"Follow me. We'll go a little further from the walls." Halys motioned. They moved through the crowd and turned right. The crowd started to turn, watching Halys lead the two twins away.

"Where are they going?"

"It looks like General Halys is gonna do something with them."

"We should go watch!"

,m "We should finish up our business here, then."

They moved a safe distance away. Halys nodded, satisfied with the flat land conditions. Keng noticed some people were coming to watch them.

"You want to fight both of us at once?" Lee Seng asked.

"Both of you come at me at once. I've fought more students during my days as a trainer." Halys told them. A large glowing rectangle formed around them. "If you can manage to push me out of this space, you both will pass the test."

"And if we both get out of that line…?"

"Then you'll have to answer some questions for me." His eyes gave off a wicked look with his smile. Lee Seng tried his best not to roll his eyes.

"Another motive." Lee Seng simply nodded. "Fine. Any other rules we should know about?"

"This is a sparring match, so try not to go overboard. Everything else is fine. If that's all your questions, let's begin the sparring match?"

"Mmm." Lee Seng pulled the bow off and handed it to Keng. "Weapons are okay?"

"Whatever works for you." Halys smiled. Keng hesitantly grabbed the bow and felt the bow come alive in his hands.

'You okay with using the bow or would you like to use the sword?' Lee Seng asked. Keng stuck his hand out for the sword and Lee Seng reluctantly switched.

"We're ready." Keng spoke.

"Alright, whenever you're ready." Halys motioned. Keng and Lee Seng activated their Twin Suns form and Halys watched as the silver and golden light of the suns reflected the twins.

'Two beings bound together in one soul. One soul, two physical bodies… And they both give off different auras.' Halys noticed. Lee Seng immediately jumped backwards and reached behind him and manifested an arrow out of thin air. Keng flashed forward and slashed at Halys' chest. Halys shifted backwards, the blade of the katana barely missing him. Silver flew out of the katana and bounced off of Halys' body.

Halys swung in retaliation, watching as Keng's eyes could barely catch up with the speed. The sword flew out of Keng's hand and Halys quickly whipped a kick straight into Keng's stomach, sending him flying backwards.

'Drill shot.' Lee Seng released the arrow and watched as the arrow split into four different arrows. They spun fast together, mimicking the noise of a drill. The arrow sharpened and exploded as it shot straight for Halys. Halys moved to the side as the arrow flew past and exploded behind him.

'What the hell?' Lee Seng thought. 'He moves so fas–' Halys blinked in front of Lee Seng and barraged him with a flurry of fists. Lee Seng could barely keep up with the fists, feeling all of the fists land on him, staggering him backwards.

"Slow." Halys spoke. He uppercutted Lee Seng, sending him to the sky as Keng reached out for the sword. The sword flew back into his hands and he rushed forward. Halys began to dodge the slow attacks, narrowly missing each strike.

"Argh!" Keng slashed diagonally downwards. Halys dodged the initial strike as gravity ripped from the strike, hitting him and pushing him away.

"Hmmm, it seems you're capable of it, too." Halys brushed the strike off of his body.

"It didn't hurt him?" Keng asked, surprised.

'Rain of Arrows.' Lee Seng shot at the sky. The arrows split and arced for Halys. The arrows sharpened their speeds, colliding with the ground in bomb blasts as Halys bobbed and weaved, occasionally swatting a charged arrow and taking the infused gravity hit. The smoke cleared and Halys shook his head.

"You're getting there, but you're still too weak. Those attacks won't work against me. You're too slow." Halys stated. Lee Seng gritted his teeth and tossed the bow off to the side. Halys raised an eyebrow as Lee Seng's aura shimmered. "Holding your cards until the end, huh?" Lee Seng rushed at Halys and started to swing at him. Halys moved faster, dodging the attacks.

'He's faster.' Halys observed as he continued to dodge. A punch managed to land onto Halys as he continued to move around the arena. The growing crowd was rooting for Halys as Lee Seng continued to barrage him with hits.

Keng shifted in Halys' view and swung. Halys quickly deflected Lee Seng and managed to shove him away before blocking the katana strike with his barefoot. The sound of metals colliding echoed around them. Before Keng or Lee Seng could register what was happening, Halys jumped with his other foot, shoving the sword upward and quickly landing a tail blow straight into Lee Seng and Keng.

The two twins bounced on the ground as the sword clattered to the ground. Halys hovered over the sword and noticed the etchings on the gold-silver blade. He grabbed it and felt an unfamiliar pull to it.

'Something's different about this weapon.' Halys could feel the energy swirling around it. Before he could pinpoint what was different about it, Lee Seng appeared in front of Halys. Halys blocked with the sword and shoved the young Fox away.

'He's toying with us.' Keng stood up. 'He's faster than the both of us. We won't be able to land a single blow on him.'

"Tch." Lee Seng clutched at his chest and took in a quick breath. He raised his angry eyes at Halys.

"This sword is different. It's aura is different from yours." Halys observed aloud. He removed his eyes from the sword and looked at Lee Seng. "I wonder if it mimics its wielder." Lee Seng could feel the anger bubbling. It was starting to awaken the Protocol within him. His aura shimmered brighter, becoming more wild.

"I knew you'd be better than us but I didn't think you'd toy with me." Lee Seng spat at the ground. The wild aura intrigued Halys. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before.

'None of the humans ever had this type of energy about them.' Halys thought. 'My speed can't be matched by most Fox Spirits and sentient beings. I wonder if he's caught on yet.' Lee SEng flashed and disappeared in front of Halys' eyes. 'He can go faster, but I still feel traces of your aura. It's rushing right in front of me.'

Keng watched as the energy distorted in front of Halys. Halys began to block when a smaller second energy split to the side. Lee Seng appeared at the side and slammed his fist into the side of Halys. Halys grunted as he went flying across the arena. The golden aura was becoming darker.

"Shit." Keng mumbled. He looked over at Halys and noticed he hadn't sustained a lot of damage. He seemed surprised he took a direct hit and turned to face Lee Seng.

"That's what I'm talking about. You're hiding your cards from me." Halys pointed the sword straight at Lee Seng. "I wonder what else you're hiding."

'This isn't good. Lee Seng can normally hold his temper well, but Halys is deliberately stirring something within him!' Keng thought. 'Wait. He's deliberately doing it. I need to stop this before it gets outta hand.'