After the practice session ended, Vayu returned home, his body aching from the fight. The sweat and dirt of the courtyard still clung to him clothes, so the first thing he did was head to washroom for a quick bath. Cool water ran down his skin, washing away the exhaustion of battle, soon he came out of his room in fresh clothes.
In the kitchen, his mother was preparing food. The aroma of warm bread and spiced vegetables filled the air. As soon as Vayu stepped out, drying his hair with a cloth, she called to him with a gentle smile.
"Come, eat first before you go out" she said.
Two months ago, the old Vayu would have grabbed a piece of bread, stuffed it into his mouth, and dashed away to continue his training. But not anymore. Now, he sat properly, filling his plate, and ate slowly. Bite after bite, he savored the food.
His mother watched quietly, her eyes soft. When he finished, Vayu stood and said "the food was delicious" and after some chit chat with his mother he left to resume his schedule.
As the sun dipped low, painting the sky with streaks of orange and red, he walked to the office of the third elder. The third elder was in charge of the training academy and everything related to it, so the annual competition came under his supervision. His steps were steady and he felt awfully calm at his heart. Inside, the elder was working on some documents as he knocked on the door, but the elder keep doing his work when he knocked second time the elder lifted his head and finding him instead of his attendant, he slowly put down the paper and quill and studied him with a curious look.
"Can I come inside" Vayu said firmly and the elder nodded slowly.
The elder leaned back, folding his hands together. "So, what can I help you with?"
"I have decided to fight the final match"
"Are you sure?" the elder confirmed.
"Yes" Vayu replied, his voice unwavering.
For a moment, silence lingered between the two. Then the elder gave a faint smile. "Very well, I'll arrange it you can go back for now and Prepare yourself for the fight".
Vayu bowed respectfully, then turned to leave.
That night, after the dinner he decided to face the beast once again before his fight with Aspen, so Vayu returned to the forest in his mind once again. It had been a long time since he last came here, yet as soon as he stepped beneath the canopy, it felt as though only yesterday he had walked these paths. The silence of the woods was broken by a low growl .
From the shadows, the beast emerged. Its left eye was half-closed, scarred and damaged from the dagger Vayu had once driven into it. But even half-blind, its aura remained the same, crushing, suffocating.
"Missed me?" Vayu muttered, his voice sounded steady but his heart raced THUMP THUMP THUMP.
The beast answered him with a thunderous roar and charged at him without any second warning.
Vayu sprinted forward to meet it head-on. The ground shook as they both rushed towards each other, the beast lunged, its massive body colliding with his. Vayu tried to catch its paws, but the sheer weight of the beast was overwhelming. They crashed onto the ground, leaves flying with the impact.
Pinned beneath its crushing bulk, Vayu felt its hot breath against his skin. Its jaws snapped open, fangs glinting in the moonlight. The maw descended toward his throat. At the last instant, Vayu shifted his head upward, narrowly saving his neck. Instead, the beast's fangs tore into his shoulder.
Agonizing pain ripped through him. Blood poured, hot and heavy, running down his chest. His cry echoed in the forest, but the beast only pressed harder, savoring every heartbeat that pumped fresh blood into its mouth.
Desperate, Vayu took out his dagger from his side and drove it into the beast's side, but the beast showed no reaction, nothing. Its hide was too thick. He stabbed it again and again. The blade stuck in its layers of fat and muscle, but the monster gave no reaction, its jaws buried deeper into his flesh.
Vayu's vision blurred due to blood loss, but he refused to give in. Placing his knee against the hilt of the dagger, he slammed it with all his strength. The blade sank deeper. He gritted his teeth against the pain and struck again.
On the third strike, it let out a sharp yelp, its jaws finally tearing away from his shoulder. Blood poured from its wound as it staggered back, growling.
At last.
Vayu's lips curled into a grim smile, his breath ragged, his body trembling from blood loss. He stood up, tore his tunic and used it as bandage to stop the blood flow. When he looked towards the beast, the dagger was buried so deep that only the hilt was outside, nearly 25 centimeters of steel sunk into the monster's flesh, but the blood had already stopped flowing. But he had hurt the beast although barely, but it still count.
The beast roared in fury, its cry rattling through the forest, Vayu's blood dripping from its fangs.
The beast leapt again, its massive body launching from the ground in one fluid motion under the moonlight. Vayu quickly sidestepped instead of meeting it head-on.
But the monster wasn't so easily avoided either, while being midair, it twisted and stretched out its paw. Its claws ripping the tunic from his shoulder, the same place its fangs had dug into his shoulders, blood started flowing again. Pain exploded as Vayu cried out, stumbling backwards, clutching his shoulder with his free hand as blood poured between his fingers.
The beast didn't pause, No mercy, No hesitation. It ran forward, not leaping this time but charging low and fast, its eyes blazing.
Vayu quickly jumped aside, barely escaping the beast. His body slammed into the dirt, rolling hard, but before he could rise, the beast used its claws to dug into the ground, stopping instantly and took a sharp turn. It spun, momentum carrying it back toward Vayu with terrifying speed.
Vayu pushed against the earth, trying to get up and save himself but he was late.
The beast charged into him like a bull. The impact lifted him clean off the ground and he flew backward. His body slamming against a tree trunk with a bone-jarring crack.
"Arghhh!" he cried out, then spat some blood, groaning through clenched teeth.
"I hate you… you dumb beast and I hate tree trunks!"
For a moment, he could barely breathe, his every nerve screaming, but the beast was already closing the distance, preparing to finish him. Vayu lay flat on the ground, chest heaving and his vision spinning. The beast came closer, lowering its massive head until its hot breath washed over his face. Its single eye glared, and its jaws twitched looking at the blood coming out of his shoulder.
Then— slam!
Vayu's palm struck hard against the hilt of the dagger still buried in its ruined eyelid. The blade drove deeper, piercing its eye. The beast shrieked, thrashing and rolling across the dirt in pain.
Seizing the chance, Vayu scrambled to his feet. Blood still dripping down his shoulder, his legs shaking, but his hands reached instinctively for the iron cuffs at his wrists. With a sharp flick, the chains snapped loose into a nunchaku.
"Now its my turn" he hissed through his teeth.
As the beast tried to rise, Vayu swung hard, the iron cuffs whistling through the air before crashing against the place where the dagger was lodged in its eye. But the monster, it threw its paws up, shielding its face, deflecting the strike before it could land. In one fluid motion, it rolled back to its feet, lowering its massive frame, crouching at some distance ready to lunge any moment .
A low growl came out of its mouth and its lips curled back showing its bloodstained fangs . Its muscles coiled, its claws digging into the soil.
The fight wasn't over, it was just getting more intense..
For a heartbeat, both Vayu and the beast stood perfectly still, locked in a deadly stare.
Then the monster leapt.
Vayu bent backward, his body arching like a bow, both hands gripping his nunchaku. Using the recoil of his own body like a spring, he struck with all his strength.
The iron cuffs slamming into the place where the dagger was lodged into the beast's eye. The strike drove the blade deeper than before. This time, it pierced straight into the creature's brain.
The beast let out a distorted, broken roar. Its body vibrated, as if a wave passed over it. It crashed into Vayu, sandwiching him between the tree trunk behind and its massive body. The impact was bone-shattering. His neck snapped with a sickening crack, twisting at a weird angle.
Vayu was already dead, blood ran down his lips, but a smile was curved across his face.
Because this time, it wasn't just him who had died.
This time, the beast was dead too.