Konna

~Chapter 24~

Early the next morning, Renna and I gathered at the capital square. In front of us there were many youths eagerly awaiting the start of the sect's examination. Constant chatter and laughter filled the air. I felt both excited and nervous. My heart was pounding in my ears as adrenaline coursed through my veins. But, after waiting for a long time no instructor or sect leader came to greet us. Several people began to discuss whether the instructor had forgotten to come.

I gazed up at the sky. The sky above was full of fluffy grey clouds that looked like cotton candy. The clouds banded together, concealing the sun. The only indication that it was sunrise was the gradual brightening of the surroundings. I then noticed a white seal forming in the sky. I poked at Renna's shoulder and pointed up at the sky. Renna gasped. As she was about to say something, the seal descended rapidly. It engulfed everyone standing in the capital square.

As soon as the seal made contact with me, my vision became blinded by a dazzling white light. When I came to I was free falling in the sky. The cool air whipped against my skin making me feel refreshed. Down below was a vast tropical forest situated in the middle of the island. Tall leafy trees grew increasingly closer as I fell. In the far distance I could make out the sea. It was a beautiful turquoise blue.

"Welcome to the first round of the examination! You have been teleported onto a tropical island filled with danger in every corner. Your objective is to survive 3 days and 3 nights. Good luck ~" boomed an eccentric voice.

I started to panic. I had no way to safely land and I was falling down at a faster rate than before. It wouldn't be long until I made contact with a tree. Furthermore, I couldn't risk transforming into a demon. The sect elders were most likely watching every candidate's performance.

I took a deep breath and circulated my anima around my body to prepare myself for impact. I reached out my hand, aiming to grab the thickest tree branch to support myself. But the moment I made contact with it, the tree branch snapped and I began to fall again. More branches broke under my weight, helping to break the speed of my fall. The little dragon watched as I inelegantly fell to the ground.

"You're hopeless," commented the little dragon. I glared at it. The brown light around the little dragon glowed brightly. Soon the surrounding vines formed together creating a net underneath me. I landed heavily onto it. Tree leaves fluttered down after me. I looked up and saw the dent I had made in the forest. Several surrounding trees had broken limbs, revealing a patch of the grey sky above.

After thanking the little dragon, I analysed my condition. Other than a few scratches and stray leaves in my hair, I was completely fine. I plucked away the few leaves and stood up. I then cautiously looked around. I noticed several sets of obsidian eyes looking at me from behind the bushes. A low growling sound reverberated across the forest. My hair stood on end.

Four dire wolves leapt over the bushes. They were strong and muscular. Their fur was as black as the midnight sky. They were about 1 meter tall. As they snarled ferociously, they bared their sharp teeth. Drool dribbled down at the sides of their mouths'.

I grabbed a broken tree branch and prepared for combat. The tree branch had a sharp edge at the end after being snapped away from its main body. I circulated my anima around it and watched the dire wolves' movements. In turn the dire wolves watched me cautiously as they circled around me.

Suddenly a dire wolf leapt up, aiming to bite my throat. I raised my branch in front of me to defend myself. The wolf latched onto the tree branch with its jaw, unwilling to let go. It gnawed at it constantly, trying to snap the branch into two. Another wolf charged up. I swung the tree branch hard at the wolf charging towards me. The wolf, who was holding onto the tree branch, flew off and bumped into the other wolf. They both crashed heavily into the tree nearby and let out a pitiful whimper.

The remaining two dire wolves sized me up. One of the wolves jumped up into the air. I used the opportunity to stab its heart from underneath it. The wooden stick cleanly impaled the wolf, taking its life. I discarded the stick and prepared to face the other direwolf. However, upon seeing the situation wasn't good, it fled deep into the wilderness.

The other two wolves, who had been knocked back, also stood up again. Their eyes were bloodshot with anger. Both dire wolves charged towards me and launched several attacks. They kept me preoccupied, covering for the other dire wolf as it escaped.

Their combined teamwork was remarkable. I was forced to keep dodging, causing my stamina to wear away. I panted heavily as I hopped around like a bunny rabbit. In addition, the dire wolves covered each other's weaknesses, making it difficult to counter attack.

Wanting to end the battle quickly, an idea formulated in my mind. I circulated my anima around my feet, helping me jump up high onto a tree branch. The dire wolves clawed at the base of the tree trunk, leaving behind deep scars in the bark. But they were unable to climb up.

I snapped several twigs off a nearby tree branch and hurled them like daggers at the wolves. After several twigs had hit them, they began to look like hedge hogs. Blood soaked their fur. One twig successfully blinded a dire wolf in the left eye. It howled from agony.

Seeing that the situation wasn't good, both dire wolves began to run for their lives. I leapt of the tree and infused my anima around the twig in my hand. I then landed onto the back of one of the dire wolves, stabbing the twig deep into its back. The direwolf let out one last howl before falling to the ground in a pool of its own blood. The remaining direwolf didn't dare to look back. I used my last twig and infused it with my anima before throwing it at the surviving wolf's head. A resounding thunk sound was heard before the wolf fell onto the ground. All dire wolf's, except the one who had escaped, had been eliminated.

I sat down with my back against a palm tree and grasped for air. Fighting those dire wolves alone hadn't been easy. Since one had escaped, it was likely it would have gone to call for reinforcements. I took a short rest before extracting the inner cores of the Tier 1 dire wolves. The inner cores were black with white speckles. They were as large as my thumb's fingernail. I placed them into my jacket's pocket.

I shot a look at the little dragon hovering in the air beside me.

"Let's walk as we talk," I said. I ventured in deeper into the rain forest. I kept my eyes pealed for any water source that I could secure to wash the blood off my body and drink. I also kept an eye out for anything edible.

At this moment I really missed Renna. She had a whole collection of delicious dishes inside her storage ring. Whenever I was hungry she would take one out for me or cook me something to eat. I sighed. It'd be great if I bumped into her. I hoped she was doing okay.

I quickly glanced around my surroundings. After confirming we were alone I began to ask the little dragon questions that were burning in my mind.

"What exactly are you little dragon?" I inquired.

"I am the deity of earth, Tsuchi. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"That can't be true. I only have Tier 1 earth affinity. If you were truly the deity of earth, wouldn't you be interested in someone else who had a stronger earth affinity?" I scrutinised tsuchi.

"About that...I broke the crystal ball to hide your true elemental affinity. It'd be bad if your true elemental affinity was revealed," Tsuchi stated.

"Then what exactly is my true elemental affinity?" I questioned. I stared directly at tsuchi.

"Have a guess," Tsuchi said mysteriously.

"Tier 9?" I guessed. Tier 9 was the highest elemental affinity one could achieve as far as I was aware.

The little dragon shook his head.

"Tier 8?"

The little dragon laughed. "It is higher than Tier 9. Have you ever heard of Tier 11 elemental affinity?"

I shook my head. I hadn't even known elemental affinities existed until Renna had introduced them to me. Demons had always relied on their anima and specific innate skill to fight. There were two types of innate skills: blood wielding and curses. I was born with the ability to manipulate my blood.

"Take a seat Kocho. I'll tell you the history of how elemental affinities came to be."