Chapter 55 Compelled To Fight (Part One)


    In a single breath, Zen sprinted a few hundred feet, where he saw a colorful light strip hovering in front


    of him. Thinking it might be the entrance to the thirdyer. He investigated, and sure enough, it was. He


    plunged headlong into the light, disappearing.


    Passing through the band of light was like walking into a different world. The scene in front of him


    differed from the secondyer.


    The lush trees were reced. Instead, there were bare hillsides and stone forestposed of jagged


    rocks. Caves at least ten feet deep dotted the slopes, and ck noxious smoke rose from the


    openings. It looked like a sad and lifeless site.


    The disciples who passed through the band earlier were not in sight at the moment. He tried to figure


    out where Nory was but, Zen appeared to be off Nory''s trail. ''Where on earth has Nory gone? Maybe


    he found somewhere safe after he got to the thirdyer because disciples from the noble ns might


    come looking for him. Hope you are safe now, my brother!'' thought Zen, sincerely praying for Nory''s


    safety as he began to make his way through the thirdyer.


    After making his way up a hillside, Zen stepped into the jagged rocky forest.


    The crystal fragments he had in hand were far from being enough to pass the Blooded Test, so he


    hurried on his way. He needed to get enough crystal fragments as soon as possible, as this wasn''t a


    safe ce to remain.


    Unreal beasts on the thirdyer were all higher level and therefore more challenging to fight. Generally


    speaking, the strength of the three-grade beasts wasparable to that of a person at the marrow


    refining level. And since the unreal beasts were transformed from evil creatures, they were even


    stronger. Animals of the same level were generally more powerful than their human counterparts.


    For that reason alone, Zen knew that he needed to be vignt. He looked around warily, continuously


    as he walked through the forest. He had taken only two steps, and he heard a sound. The hairs along


    his arm and scalp tingled when he listened to the hissing of a snake.


    The hairs on his neck stood up, alerting him that something was following him.


    Zen whipped his head around toward the strange hissing sound, scanning every inch very carefully,


    only to find that nothing but the jagged rocks were there. Everything was perfectly still.


    Full of doubt, Zen wrinkled his brow, making a face while wondering, ''Was that an illusion, or am I just


    jittery?''


    After listening for a little while, remaining perfectly still, he sighed in relief. Then he continued to move


    forward through the forest. However, as he was passing under a stone arch formed by some jagged


    rocks, a shadow fell, cast from the other end of the arch, heading straight at him.


    Thankfully, Zen had been extremely vignt, making his reaction time notably fast at the sight of the


    shadow. Leaning back, he pressed himself close to the ground, allowing him to nimbly elude the


    shadow. While at the same time, he rolled sideways, and narrowly avoided being whipped by the snake


    as it dropped, thrashing its body where Zen had been a second earlier. Zen tilted his head slightly,


    peering at a deep groove that was cut into the spot where he had been a second prior.


    When Zen had the chance, he mbered to his feet and found a three-grade beast blocking his path. It


    was a giant boa!


    Missing him on its first go, the gigantic boa slithered out of reach, scuttled into the surrounding stone


    forest. The boa looked around savagely with its massive, mesmerizing eyes, and its bright red tongue


    lashing out, flicking the air periodically, to taste where Zen was.


    Zen didn''t dare take the creature lightly. He took a few steps back, leaning against a stone so that the


    boa couldn''t take him from behind. Then stared at the boa, as long as it attacked him from the front, he


    was confident he could deal a deathblow.


    Unexpectedly, the cunning boa snaked around the stone forest, asionally popping its massive head


    and flicking its tongue at Zen, only to vanish again, just as quickly as it appeared.


    Zen kept to his back pinned to the stone, motionlessly watching, unwilling to fall for the ploy of being


    lured away no matter how hard the snake tried.


    The boa moved fast. If Zen followed it, he would end up with nothing. Although the beasts were all


    transformed from evil creatures, their most significant shoring was that they were not patient like


    the humans hunting them. So, Zen patiently kept careful watch of the boa''s movements.


    In the stone forest, a meeting between a person and a boa seemed inevitable. Yet an hourter, the


    encounter was still a cat and mouse game. Finally, Zen''s patience paid off, as the boaunched at him.


    The boa slithered behind Zen and raised its tail, preparing to strike. Since Zen''s back was against the


    stone, the crafty serpent let loose enough of its muscr body to coil itself around the rock and Zen


    with it.


    Controlling the energy flowing through him, Zen focused and suddenly, a purple aura burst from within


    his body. Unsure if it would flee or try to crush him in retaliation, Zen knew he had only this one chance,


    and if he couldn''t annihte it in that first strike, the prize would be lost. So, he was determined not to


    give it a chance. With a n in mind, Zen offered no resistance, allowing the beast to entwine itself


    around the rock along with his body slowly. Soon he was lifted into the air.


    The stone behind him was quickly crushed under the strength of the boa''s enormous body. Gravel and


    dust dropped to the ground. At the same time, the hold the boa had on Zen tightened until he was


    firmly enshrouded in the vice-like grip.


    Zen knew the habits of constrictors. After they wrapped their prey, they would slither and slowly tighten


    themselves with each breath, feeling the heartbeat slow, and heating off their victim. They would


    not stop until their prey ceased breathing. The prey suffocated slowly, bones grinding as they did. Then


    the snake would release the victim, unhinging theirrge jaw to swallow the food whole.


    Before the boa constricted against him, Zen inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with air and closed his


    eyes.


    Inwardly, he focused on his limbs, drawing strength, and waited for a while. To the boa, he appeared to


    be a weak, defenseless being now. Suddenly, gathering all his vigor, he snapped the back of the beast.


    "Cra-ack!"


    The boa''s colossal body was snapped into several pieces. The pieces scattered, falling onto what


    remained of the rock. The snake''s eyes grewrge with a horrified look. From deep in its memories, the


    boa knew that once wrapped within its coil, it was impossible for a prey to escape. And shortly after


    that, the boa had a meal. The constrictor thought it would be happily digesting now.


    Instead, the strength of the prey it had chosen was so sudden, that the boa was unable to endure. And


    it was instantly torn in several pieces with no time to react.


    Five pieces wriggled on the ground before transforming into small bits of light, and finally, disappearing.


    Zen ughtered the boa constrictor.


    "Ping! Ting!" came a sound as the snake faded.


    Following the sound, Zen saw a purple fragment fall from the jagged rock, clinking to the ground. After


    the battle he just survived, the fragment''s fall was crisp and sweet to Zen''s ears. Now, he only needed


    nine more purple fragments to pass the Blooded Test, making him realize that the thirdyer was a


    better ce to hunt.


    Zen picked up the purple fragment, wiping it clean with his sleeve, before tucking it safely in his pocket


    with the other pieces he''d collected so far. He looked to his right and jogged ahead in a hurry to earn


    more fragments.


    Estimating that up on the fourthyer the creatures would be equal to someone half-step into the


    nature level and animals being what they were, the beasts would be stronger than that even. Thus, he


    had no intentions of going up there.


    ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    Knowing that he would only need to kill three beasts at level four to pass the Blooded Test did tempt


    Zen. However, recalling the strength Evil Lan exerted even when physically exhausted, and that these


    were half-step into the nature level for beasts, he dismissed the idea of going up


    there.