Orin furrowed his brows, "who are you?"
Tor grinned slightly, stepping away from Orin's face. "The name's Tor, kid. And you're in my payday."
Orin peered at the unfamiliar face, clearly not knowing what the stranger was talking about. The last thing he remembered was Scar telling him that they were coming, is this who was coming? Well, he pushed the unblocking stuff and next thing, he passed out.
"That's right...my spirit vein..." Orin instinctively raised his hand, staring at the tattoo on his palm. It was still there, but he felt a change.
"This power..."
Orin let loose a smile as he felt the power rummaging through his body, trying to get accustomed to the new body.
He could start his cultivation now.
However, the dark qi was still in his body and it was running wild, he had to expel it.
Orin clenched his fist, feeling real good. He was still very much tired, but it wasn't as bad as it was before he collapsed. At least, he wasn't bleeding anymore.
The moment, he clenched his fist, the tattoo glowed and dark mist seeped out of his wound, it got harder to control if a part of his body was open. He couldn't control it's coming out.
The leak suddenly surged, pouring down and landing on the mat, cracking it.
Orin was stunned, he didn't even mean to do that. But the power was dangerous, it was destructive, and it was uncontrollable, that was forbidden arts. That was why it was confiscated by the Five Heavenly Families.
The dark energy still wanted to consume more. It moved very quickly towards Tor.
Tor stepped back, "damn."
Orin struggled to control it, while the mist still soared towards Tor.
Tor frowned. "If you can't even control the power...then why do you have it?"
"I...am... trying!" Orin shouted, feeling the power threatening to go wild. The mat underneath him cracked even more, then it dried up, turning into dust.
Orin was stunned. This scene...this was what happened to the cultivator. He had overused the power and it had gone wild, it ended up consuming him too.
In that moment, the dark qi suddenly withdrew, flying back into Orin's body through the wound on his palm. Orin watched in horror as the wound on his hand suddenly healed, leaving nothing —not even a scar.
He quickly tied the cloth back on his hand.
"Alright then...kid." Tor said, bringing out a stick from the bag in his hand. "You're coming with me."
Orin stared at him, his face serious, as if trying to read into Tor's mind. "No."
It was a single word, but it carried a firm resolution, one that told Tor that Orin wasn't going with him that easy.
Tor swung his stick, flexing it for a while, then he placed it on his shoulder. "I wasn't asking."
The stick suddenly glowed blue, clearly being charged with cultivation powers.
"You are coming with me!"
"Alright..." Orin said slowly. He raised his hand, then ever slowly, he started untying the cloth that was on his palm. He had battled a cultivator before, and he won. This time, it was a 3 step cultivator, but he still had a chance, he wasn't going with him that easily.
Orin untied the cloth completely, then he dropped into a fighting stance.
"Let's do this!"
"Bad choice ...kid. Bad choice." Tor shook his head, then he jumped, raising the stick on his shoulder high.
Orin furrowed his brows. He didn't have experience fighting against cultivators, and from the little he knew, they could suddenly do anything. However, Tor was too faraway from him to just jump like that, how did he intend on landing his attack?
But Tor was soon going to show him.
"Cloud Step!"
Tor suddenly walked on air. The air itself lifted him up, additing even more speed and precision to his flight. And in a second, he had closed the distance.
"Crap!" Orin exclaimed as he took a step backwards, trying to create even more space between them, but it was too late.
Tor swung his glowing stick at him, putting his all into the attack.
Orin gritted his teeth as he raised his right hand, he could only block the attack.
Tor raised a brow. "He plans to stop my attack with only his fist? How audacious!"
"Bang!"
The attack connected, releasing a very powerful shockwave. Dust rose from the floor, filling their entire surrounding. The trees shook, and the little River beside them was blown even further into its bank.
However, when the dust cleared, Tor recieved the biggest shock.
Not only was Orin not hurt by the attack, he had actually pulled it off, stopping his attack with only his hand.
"H-how's that possible!?"
Orin's face was blank, his eyes hidden under his hair. His voice suddenly rang out, cold and a whisper. "Come, let me show you."
Waves of fear went through Tor's body as Feng pulled him closer, then he let go off the stick, drawing his hand backwards.
Orin's hand shot forward with an incomprehensible speed, it was deadly accurate.
Tor's pupils constricted as he immediately stepped backwards, his mind racing for a solution.
Third Step cultivation technique...
"Drifting Shadow Steps!"
Tor quickly shot away, his speed increasing as he suddenly turned into something sort of a shadow, blitzing away from Orin's punch.
Orin's hand swiped the air, releasing another powerful shockwave.
Tor landed a few feet away, he paused, looking at Orin with a peculiar expression. "I can tell you aren't a cultivator, so...it must be the dark qi...huh?"
Orin raised his hand, pointing it at Tor.
Tor frowned. There was enough space between them, Orin was acting weird.
However, a very powerful dark thread burst out from Orin's palm, flying towards him at high speed, he couldn't react.
Tor's eyes widened as he clasped his palm together. "Qi burst!"
A strong gust of energy suddenly burst out from within him, repelling the destructive thread that was flying towards him.
But in that same instant, the tattoo on Orin's palm quickly spread, covering half of his body. It had fully covered his right leg too, enhancing it.
Orin burst forward, moving even faster than Tor, in an instant, he had appeared before Tor, the third step awakener couldn't even react.
"Sleep."
Orin muttered as he cracked up a punch, the tattoo powering him up.
"Bang!!"
The punch made a clean connection, warping right into the face of Tor.
The shockwave was massive, the qi burst shattered as Orin's hand went through it, then smashed into the face of his opponent.
Tor was immediately sent flying. He ricocheted away, spinning through the air without control as the impact propelled him forward.
A few seconds later, he crashed into a tree, his trajectory changed and he fell into the river, not rising again.
Orin raised a brow, surprised at his own power. "Even a third step cultivator couldn't withstand it?"
However, his journey had only begun. And he was going to face even more powerful enemies, after all there were twelve steps to awaken before one became a Divine Cultivator.
There was still plenty to learn.