As Ben was getting ready to leave the cave, he sensed something. He sensed an energy signature moving towards him. Soon he heard sound coming from the entrance of the cave. There was the scent of blood as well. But for some reason Ben was clam. He did not sense as much danger as he sensed from the sparring partners who were martial knights.
In a few seconds he understood what was coming. It was a Qon Prosimian. It was as tall as him, with its mouth part protrude and puffy. It had a muscular build and looked like it was mocking him. Its fur was blood red and it had large nails on its s hands and legs. Its tail was almost 2 meter long and was as thick. It looked at him with predatory eyes, as if looking at a delicious prey.
While it was sizing up Ben, he did not waste any time. Ben attacked. Before the beast could even react, Ben's hand penetrated the chest of the beast. It was dead before it even knew what happened. This was actually just a small qon prosimian. That was th reason why it could not assess the strength of Ben and let its guard down, resulting in its quick death.
Ben dissected its body carefully and found a very small energy core. It was maybe 4cm in diameter. But he decided to keep it. Ben took a wet proof cover and put its corpse in it and sored it. Then he walked out of the cave.
He came out and looked around. He sensed no danger and began to walk toward the camp. Suddenly he sensed a shift in wind. A slight breeze coming his way followed by a large shadow. Out of instinct Ben dodged to the side and rolled over. Where he stood a large red prosimian was there with its hand touching a crater. Ben looked at it with horror. If he was standing there, he would be seriously injured.
Ben assessed the situation. He pushed his senses to its limit. He could perceive that there was no other dangerous creature around him. The only threat was now the large qon prosimian here. He perceived its power level some what higher than his. But it had not entered the levels of Noble rank but was peak Knight level. He got ready for combat.
The creature looked at him menacingly. It was irritated by the fact that the prey it set its eyes upon had dodged the attack. It could also sense the blood of its kin on this prey. It pounced at Ben with extreme speed approaching the speed of sound. Ben predicted this by seeing the creature flexing its muscles and changing its energy signature. He dodged it with some difficulty. Then he put some distance between him and the creature.
Ben activated the 'Jamadagni Bhavana'. His mental state became stable. He looked at the creature. Now sensing the aura emanating from Ben it had perceived the threat. This prosimian was not like the immature one Ben had killed earlier. It had seen the marthyas, metallas and naturas fighting against animals in the forest. It had even seen what it perceived as 'weak creatures' striking above their level and killing Animus which were equivalent to lord rank. All these 'weak creatures' had a common characteristic. Their energies were not chaotic. But they were concentrated and dense. It was disciplined. Now it was seeing that same characteristic with Ben's energy. It could understand that its opponent was getting ready for attack.
Once his mental state stabilized, he activated the 'Vasishta Vachanam' along with the 'Jamadagni Bhavana'. His physical body remained the same, but his overall vibe changed. The qon prosimian felt intense threat from Ben. The aura on Ben became reddish. He demeanour went from serene to cold and menacing. His Shamanic script began to glow with glittering blue color with a reddish hue outside. Ben formed the claws in his hands which had the same shade as the glow of his shamanic script.
Seeing the threat emanating from its opponent the prosimian decided to attack first. It burst forth achieving supersonic speed for a short time. But that was not a problem for Ben. In this state, his body was secreting adrenaline, his heart and lungs began to work furiously to distribute nutrients and hormones on various parts of the body. With the training he did during all these months, his prefrontal cortex was still active, giving him clarity during this state. That made him even more dangerous.
To Ben the movements of the beast were in slow motion. He simply side stepped and dodged the attack. The creature continued to attack him with its claws in both its hands and legs as well as its tail. None of them struck Ben. Seeing that its physical attacks were not working the creature started using its powers. It made a cut in its arm and blood began to ooze from it. This blood covered its claws and became and additional layer on it further strengthening it. It made a cut on its chest and the blood coming from there became a make shift armour. Ben was not so surprised. He had studied about the qon prosimians.
Ben got ready for the counter attack. While he liked to engage in a prolonged fight to test his skills, this was not the place. Who knows when other creatures would come. So he moved. Ben entered the state of 'rage in calmness'. The energy that was swaying about now began to flow. His clothes began to flow with the energy, so did his hair. His eyes gained more clarity. His body was in its heightened state. All of his bodily functions ran at a heightened state.
Then Ben moved. The movement principles of 'Sharabha Chalanam' moved Ben at unbelievable speeds and unnatural angles. The qon prosimian could not predict the movements of Ben. It swung its hand out of instinct. But Ben stooped at last minute and ducked down and spun in that position on one leg. The prosimian slightly lost its balance. During that millisecond, Ben struck the creature with his claw at its side. It roared in pain.
Ben did not stop there. He wanted to kill the creature then and there. So he went for the lethal strike to cut of its head. But the creatures' instincts were not a joke. It dodged the attack at hairs breadth. Because it was reeling from Ben's attack it opened distance between them. It looked at Ben viciously.
Then suddenly it turned and ran. Ben was stunned for a moment. He was not expecting that after it acted all savage and vicious. Ben ran after it. In a matter of seconds he reached near him. He attacked its back. The flesh in its back was clawed by Ben. The force of the attack made the creature fall.
Blood oozed from its wound in the back. It looked over its shoulder at Ben. Realizing that it cannot outrun Ben, the qon prosimian decided to attack with full force. The wounds on its back rapidly healed. The wounds on its side also healed and new flesh grew. Its structure became more lean. But the wounds on its hands were not healed. Instead blood began to flow outside of it and formed into different shapes. Some of them took the shape of leaves, some like fruits of trees around them and some looked like crude swords and spears. These were all thing the qon prosimian had seen in its life. There were ten such shapes.
Then it began to attack by throwing these blood creations at him. The most problematic thing was that the creature could control these projectiles like a guiding missile. Ben quickly though of a solution. He struck a few of them away and with his full strength he struck the ground creating a crater and a dust cloud. The shockwaves also disturbed the creatures footing. For a second it lost its bearing. That was all Ben needed. He attacked with viciousness. The creature tried to block it by crossing its arms and using its blood energy to cover it. Still the blood energy was broken and a deep gash appeared on its hand due to Ben's attack.
Both parties attacked each other viciously. Because Ben was attacking it relentlessly, it could not properly manipulate the blood. So it did the most basic thing. It increased the blood flow in its body temporarily increasing its speed and power. It also covered its hand with blood armour fit with spikes.
Both of them exchanged attack. Although the qon prosimian had healed its wounds, it had consumed a lot of energy and hence it had to end the fight quickly. Ben was also short on time. This was his first life or death battle. If he did not win, he will die here and he also fought to win at the minimum time.
As time went on Ben's striking became more and more refined. He struck with great efficiency. Each of his punch and claw strike was packed with power. It punctured and ripped the flesh and bones of the beast. It was healing itself. But that was decreasing its energy and nutrient reserves. It was getting tired. Ben was also not in such a great position. The state of 'Vasishta Vachanam' was energy consuming. Its prolonged use was bad for the body. Hence naturally Ben used all the techniques he learned.
He moved unpredictably with all the movement techniques he learned and struck with all the offensive techniques he learned. He defended with all the defensive techniques he learned. His attacks, movements and defense flowed. He was nearing he point of singularity. But the prosimian could not endure that much. Ben's hand penetrated its chest, narrowly missing the heart. It fell down from blood loss. Ben slit its throat. And it died. It did not have the energy or nutrients to heal itself and it died. Ben sat down exhausted. He looked at the corpse of the beast and then at sky slowly breathing. Before he could relax, he heard a sound from behind him.