Confused but relieved, they turned back.
Another Khalid was standing behind them.
The one that had been leading them disappeared.
Isshin blinked. "What…?"
Khalid crossed his arms. "Just a clone. I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice."
Khalid was outside leaving the three of them inside the illusion with a clone that he was able to make, a technique that people barely knew
Isshin exhaled and spoke to Raijin. "Good thing he handled it. What would you have done?"
Raijin replied calmly. "What can i even do i am stuck here.."
Before they could talk more, something shifted in the distance.
An old man stood among the trees, watching them. His expression changed the moment he realized what happened.
"My illusion… broken already?" he muttered.
Then his tone changed.
"Find them. Kill them."
Behind him, creatures began to move. Wolves, goblins, and those strange monkey-like things started heading toward the group.
Back in the clearing, the sound reached them quickly.
Branches snapping. Movement closing in.
Isshin focused and checked.
"…Eighty-seven," he said.
Karin looked at him briefly but didn't question it.
Khalid stepped back. "well, I believe you guys are strong enough to finish this..."
The three of them knew that they had to fight the monsters.
Rune raised his hand and created multiple golems. They charged forward, smashing into the front lines, clearing space.
Karin activated her movement technique, qi flowing through her legs as she moved quickly between enemies, cutting them down one by one.
Isshin pushed forward.
Thunder qi spread through his body as he moved in with his sword.
A wolf jumped at him.
He cut it down instantly.
Another creature dropped from above, twisting mid-air as it attacked.
Isshin turned and struck it with a burst of thunder qi, knocking it back. It tried to recover, but before it could move again, Karin's strings cut through its neck.
A goblin rushed in.
One of Rune's golems slammed into it, crushing it into the ground.
Rune watched from the back. "This is easier than I thought."
The fight continued.
They were handling it.
But the number of enemies started to catch up.
Isshin found himself surrounded.
He kept moving, blocking, dodging, countering. But there were too many directions to watch.
Rune and Karin started moving toward him.
Then something changed.
Isshin slowed his breathing.
A memory from training came back.
Shaping qi into a spear.
He focused.
Thunder gathered in his hand, forming into a stable shape.
He threw it forward.
The lightning cut straight through everything in its path. The enemies in front of him were wiped out instantly, leaving a scorched line across the ground.
The rest of the battlefield went quiet.
The fight was over.
The three of them stood there, catching their breath.
Khalid spoke. "Good."
Before they could relax, something moved again.
From a cave nearby, a figure stepped out.
The necromancer.
He looked at the remains of his forces, clearly angry.
"All that work… gone?"
His hand shook slightly as he raised it.
"Then I'll end this myself."
Behind him, something large moved.
A massive creature stepped out.
It was made from different bodies stitched together. Wolves, goblins, and those same monkey-like creatures, all merged into one.
Its shape was uneven, almost like a twisted version of a griffin.
"Kill them!" the necromancer said.
Nothing happened.
He frowned. "Attack."
Still nothing.
Then the creature turned.
Before he could react, it killed the necromancer in one shot.
Silence followed.
the pressure was obvious.
This was far above them.
Khalid stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.
He looked at the creature.
"Alright," he said. "Let's go."
The griffin-like creature didn't hesitate.
It leaped forward, its claws cutting through the air toward Khalid.
Khalid moved to the side, avoiding it without effort.
The creature turned immediately and attacked again, this time going straight for him with its jaws.
Khalid jumped up, clearing the attack, and drew his sword mid-air.
A dark purple aura spread around him.
The creature followed, pushing itself off the ground to chase him.
Khalid disappeared for a moment.
Then he reappeared behind it.
He swung.
He landed back on the ground like nothing happened.
For a second, nothing changed.
Then the creature split in half.
Its body fell apart and hit the ground.
Silence.
Isshin, Rune, and Karin just stood there.
None of them said anything.
They had seen strong people before.
But not like this
Khalid didn't look satisfied.
If anything, he looked annoyed.
"…That wasn't worth it" he muttered. "The reward better be higher."
He walked over and picked up a beast core from the ground, looking at it briefly before putting it away.
"Let's go," he said.
They returned to the commission area.
Khalid explained the situation, handed over the core, and got paid.
Then he looked at them.
"Let's go eat something guys"
Everyone followed him without saying much.
Even inside the tavern, the atmosphere between them stayed quiet.
Rune finally spoke. "Yeah… that was something."
No one really replied.
After a while, Karin spoke up.
"…Sensei, what realm are you at?"
Khalid didn't look up from his food.
"Nothing special," he said.
That was it.
No one pushed further.
Later that night, they stepped outside.
Khalid stood there for a bit, looking up at the sky. Not at the moon, just… somewhere.
No one asked what he was looking at.
They went back inside after that.
But none of them could sleep.
Isshin eventually got up and stepped outside again.
Karin was already there.
He sat next to her. They stayed quiet for a while.
"Can't sleep?" she asked.
Isshin shook his head. "Not really."
He paused for a moment.
"…How does someone even get that strong?"
Karin looked ahead. "I have no clue...."
After a bit, Isshin asked, "Where are you from?"
"The north," she said.
"I heard it's mostly empty there."
"It is," she replied. "But it's not as bad as people think."
Before the conversation could go further, Rune walked over.
"None of us sleeping, huh?"
Isshin gave a small smile. "Looks like it."
Rune stretched a bit. "Let's spar."
Karin shook her head. "I'm going to train instead."
Isshin and Rune stepped back and got into position.
They kept it simple. Hand-to-hand.
The fight was fast, both of them pushing each other.
In the end, Isshin managed to win, but it wasn't easy.
Rune let out a breath. "Yeah… close combat isn't really my thing."
Isshin offered a hand and pulled him up. "You just need more movement."
As they were heading back inside, they heard something.
A sound from Khalid's room.
They stopped.
Then quietly moved closer and looked through the small window.
Khalid was inside.
Training.
But something felt off.
There was no qi.
No energy at all.
He was forcing it, trying to push something that wasn't there.
His expression tightened, his body under strain, but he didn't stop.
The three of them looked at each other.
None of them said anything.
They stepped away and went back to their rooms.
Sleep didn't come easily that night.
The next week was harder.
Khalid pushed them constantly.
Training, missions, more training.
They improved, slowly but clearly.
They also got better at working together.
After a week, all three of them broke through again.
Isshin Ryugen
Level: 72
Health: 30
Strength: 42
Endurance: 46
Mana/Qi: 31
Intelligence: 27
Points Available: 6
Cultivation Level: Golden Core Realm, 4th Stage
Titles: None
Rune and Karin had also reached the same stage.