Chapter 368: Third Task: Defeat a ck Buran


    **Present time**


    *Grrryy* A shrill shriek left Ryu incapacitated for a second. *Swish* Thankfully the boy recovered in time and saved himself from the sharp ws of the ck Buran, which carried enough power to rupture his chest.


    The battle which previous hade to a standstill with neither party able to gain a significant advantage over the other. Yet, as more and more time passed, Ryu found himself at an edge concerning his stamina to sustain this sh. However hard it might be to believe for him, there was a good chance this beast was deliberately dragging this duel on.


    "I must do something.." Even with his clone attacking the massive bat-like creature whenever it found an opportunity, the ufortable truth was it has not done any meaningful damage to its iron scaled back.


    "Haaaaahh.." Ryu raised his staff over his head. Mana flowed into it, strengthening it by multiple times. Air filling his lungs to the brim, he brought down the staff with all his might. While it could have been foolish for him to try an exaggerated attack like that in the middle of such a high-intensity closebat, the truth was that he was not ying it by the rule.


    The ck Buran too was taken by surprise when the boy left himselfpletely undefended, its brilliant eyes getting wider. Nevertheless, it was too big of a lure to not take advantage, thus.. the Buran swooped in.


    "Emerge...!!" Yes, Ryu had set up an ambush that came to his aid. Strong vines emerged practically out of nothing, bursting open the ground and wrapping themselves around its arms, restraining them in ce. The ck Buran was outsmarted.


    After getting its attack thwarted, the next best idea for the beast was to move back to avoid the staff from makingndfall on its temple. s.. only when the cornered creature willed to move, it found itself locked in ce by another set of vegetation holding in the ground.


    Realizing its mistake of not taking the human seriously, the Buran narrowed its eyes in a threatening manner. All this happened within a single split second. However, it was far from giving up. Despite its arms arrested in the pesky vines that for some reason were only growing stronger, it made onest ditch effort to push back the opponent instead by pping its formidable wings.


    Ryu was caught off-guard by the sheer force behind the blow. His feet stumbled but with some quick thinking, he willed his vines to tie himself in ce as well. *BAMMM* It was an extremely powerful blow with the upper limit of Ryu''s physical strength.


    Blood spilled from the bat creature''s head, dyeing its face brown-red. Ryu had poured his soul into this attack, unfortunately, it fell short of dmissioning the cmitous beast.


    In addition to the brewing rage on its face, Ryu''s sixth sense was going haywire. His hair stood on the ends as the boyunched himself back without a second thought. It became clear that the prominent ears on the beast''s head were not exactly ears.


    *BOOoooOOOOoooMMM* Ryu could not understand what hit him. It was no doubt a physical attack, yet one that left him totally disoriented. All the human boy could manage is to shield his ribcage by bringing his arms in the front.


    The fight against the Dodoma left him with damaged ribs that are still in the process of healing. If this new attack would have met him head-on, Ryu would have been forced to call it a day then and there. There was a big possibility he would sustain permanent damage. There was a bunch of cracking sound, signifying his forearms were unable to take on the pressure.


    Over on the other side, Lyod watched the boy get hit and fly off. "A Sonic Boom. That''s one of the specialties of a ck Buran. Other than its wings and ws, those organs on its head are another thing to look out for."


    Next to the old man, Jenny witnessed her hero thrown to the ground in a brutal smackdown. She was still reeling from shock when Lyod passed on his not-so-useful trivia. "You dirty old man... If only you could have told him earlier."


    A ck Buran was an enigmatic creature. Other than its ability to ride high winds and bring havoc to the poption, not much was known about it. "Hehe.. where is the fun in that? This brat was too bright for me to even get a clear look at him."


    Lyod wasn''t jesting. Since the day he had discovered Ryu''s ability to control vegetation with his mana, he had only been more amazed by every subsequent development. Time after time, Lyod could only marvel at his progress.


    The old man very much knew he was only his teacher in name. Only a grand mage like Mrs. Emily is eligible to rear such a quality talent. Lyod was only doing his best to keep the boy safe and allow him to navigate the paths on his own.


    "Tch.. you are the worst, old geezer." Obviously, a young girl like Jenny could not possibly see through his vision for the boy, leading him to be continuously badmouthed by her. Then again, right now Lyod was more interested in the ongoing duel ahead of him than arguing with a seething youngdy.


    In the time it took Ryu tond on his back after suffering a crushing blow, he could not hear a single thing. His ears had given up with the exploding buzz sound prevailing in them. Did he lose his eardrums? Probably not but he got quite close to that.


    Bear in mind that Ryu was no ordinary human. Months of cultivation and mana nourishment had made his organs many times stronger. And that''s exactly how he still managed to keep a part of his hearing after the devastating attack.


    While the boy could on stay on the ground, trying to calm down the upheaval of his senses, the Buran took the opportunity to chomp down on the vines and free itself. The very next second it could move, Ryu helplessly saw his second clone being mercilessly decapitated.


    Following this, the Buran jumped into the air, engaging its wings to push itself high up. "Be careful boy, it''s going to try and get you off the ground." Master Lyod felt it was the right time to let the boy know what wasing. But too bad, Ryu could not hear a thing because of his damaged ears.


    "Fuck.. fuck.. fuck.." On the ground, Ryu cursed viciously while awaiting the next attack. The ball was in the Buran''s court now after it endured thest strike delivered directly to its temple.


    Feeling dizzy, he had only gotten back to his feet when heavy winds picked up. Surrounding the ck Buran, a gigantic twister was being conjured. Even a fool can tell the creature was out for revenge against him.


    Should he surrender? Every fiber in his body was under continued stress for thest three days. Being under such immense pressure was bringing along a mental breakdown for him.


    "Hmph... Bring it on." However, Ryu believed he had the perfect counter for the tornado-grade winds. His vines forming his armor took hold of the ground firmly just before the twister hit him.


    Once he was in the eye of the storm, Ryu realized what he had done. He was so scared of getting tossed in the air that he effectively locked himself in a single ce. Now he carried a massive mark on his back with no way of lotion.


    *Geeeyyyhhh* This was the cry of an infuriated Buran, reflecting off the sky-high walls of wind. Despite knowing he was caught between a rock and a hard ce, there was nothing Ryu can do, not much different than a trapped rat.


    *Srrng* *Srrng* With a sharp noise which to the boy was more of a whisper, two wind des rushed in his direction. Ryu did his best to counter them, effectively saving itself from the first. Regardless, the second wind de drew blood.


    The vine armor he had weaved so tediously for himself proved grossly incapable of protecting his abdomen, leaving a deep gash to his left. "Arrrghh..." The wound was painful, but where was the time to cry about it? *Srrng* *Srrng* The same kind of droning sound returned, slicing apart another portion of his soft tissue.


    "Master Lyod, don''t you think this has gone too far? He is just a kid. I think he is already inflicted with enough damages." Aware that the old man had more say over the situation than anyone else here, Itzel can only request in an eloquent manner.


    "Yes, we... we.. can''t see what is going on in there." Courtney felt like this was the right time to approach the old man with their pleas. The fact that they could not actually watch Ryu''s figure under the raging storm made the duo jittery.


    As for Jenny, she can only clutch Itzel''s hands with all her strength. Right now her concerned eyes refused to stray from the stormy prison of her benefactor.


    At first master Lyod remained distant from the women behind him. But facing this current scenario, even he was a little doubtful as evidenced by the fact that he was very slowly inching closer to the storm. "I know what I am doing,dies." He assured them while his senses kept track of Ryu''s vitals, so he could react in time.


    **In Korua**


    The small town of Korua was in upheaval. The town''s chief had made it so no person can leave the confines of the settlement without his knowledge. Eric himself sat in a dimly lit room with two women on either side of him. Lines of concern were visible on Eric''s face as he sat in his chair, deep in thought.


    "We have engaged our own resources in this search, Mr. Eric. Please rest assured, we are making inquiries all over the town. Before long, we will have some information on the missing individuals." Ady with plum-colored hair collected overhead with a band was the first to break the ice. She was Talia, present here to represent her organization Dark Wings.


    "Yes, I think Ms. Talia is right, Eric. Let''s just wait for another day before we take any steps." Over on the other side of Talia sat an attractivedy with a set of bright electrifying eyes. She was Eric''s wife, who he loved more than anything in this world.


    It can be said that the most important personalities of Korua were already collected here. This high table gathering would have also included, master Lyod, mistress Pa, and granny Ruth, but neither of them was currently present in Korua for different reasons.


    "It''s not so simple Nana. You already know about Sophia but what I did not tell you earlier is Amelia''s case even more suspicious." As soon as Nana had woken up from her bed after multiple days of unconsciousness, she had been met with the disastrous news of two missing persons in the town.


    One of them was Sophia, who was extremely close to their family. Second was Mrs. Amelia, who too in recent times has gotten a lot more engaged with them. "What you didn''t tell me?" Even with the tragedy facing them, Nana disyed great control over her emotions. She was able to maintain her demeanor through all of Eric''s outburstsst night.


    Eric ced his head in his palms as if gathering his wits. "Mrs. Amelia.. before she kept telling her family that she was visiting me." "You?" "Yes, I don''t understand. I have asked Mrs. Amelia for favors every now and then but in this case... I have no idea why she would


    say inform her family like that when we didn''t even meet once in the same time frame."