Beyond Chaos

"What business do you have with this retired old man and young lady?" Scholar Muh asked, his tone gentle.

The pair remained intently focused upon him, their gazes glued against the old Aswadian, weighing his shoulders with their want to spill blood.

"Yasmin," Scholar Muh called, his voice still sweet and gentle, seeing as the figures were not responding.

"Yes?" Yasmin replied, readying herself to flee, since that was the greatest technique in battle in order to survive.

"Which would you like to face?" Scholar Muh asked, smiling warmly towards the Reavers, as though they were old friends.

"Neither."

"…"

"…"

"I will take the guest on the right, you may take the guest on the left," Scholar Muh said, still beaming brightly as the pair remained glaring towards the old man and his apprentice.

Yasmin swallowed, the chill wave of anxiety running through her, but her fingers reached up towards the pair of blades upon her back, the scarves falling down as she unsheathed her blades. She clasped them tight within her hands, a pair of blades which jutted out from the hand straight, before turning almost into elongated crescent moons, the young woman's heart beginning to quicken.

"Since we have established who is facing whom, it is appropriate to say we may begin," Scholar Muh said, his tone still light, though he had yet to reach for his weapons, the pair of crescent blades still wrapped within their scarves.

A silent fell between the four, though it lasted a moment, before the song of death began.

Yasmin's heart skipped a beat as the Reavers almost blurred, the young woman holding up her blades ready to fight, but as she raised her blades, taking but a moment, something beside her blurred. The leaves around them picked up, spinning around the air, as the pair of Reavers drew their own blades, only to find the whirlwind cutting into them as Scholar Muh's blades glowed, and as they did, they left trails of light along the path they followed under Scholar Muh's will.

Yasmin almost glanced aside, as she had never seen her mentor's blade glow in such a way, until a greater blast of energy thundered ahead distracted her. A wave of power overwhelmed the Reavers, but they tore through towards the pair, engaging in a terribly vicious melee.

Scholar Muh's blades, Legendary as they were, clashed violently against the Reaver, which glared at him with wicked red eyes. "Yasmin, you must fight defensively against such an overwhelming foe."

Scholar Muh's casual tone did little to calm the woman, who tried her best against the foe in front of her, but it was certainly at the level of a Grandmaster. She could try to utilise her ki to try and stun her foe, but such would have been dangerous considering how little ki she possessed, while her mentor's seemed almost limitless. Her body grew hot with sweat as she narrowly dodged a lethal blow, though her body screamed at her, the pain of her aching muscles ripping through her leg and side.

Scholar Muh danced and flipped through the air, the Reaver unable to contain the grand warrior, as Schoalr Muh spun his blade, and with the action, a blast of energy struck the pair of Reavers, and beyond, the trees around them shaking violently, marked with the violent energy of the great warrior, who fought so casually.

Yasmin panted for air, for a moment managing to push the Reaver back, and fuelled her steps with her ki as she tried to shift to the side to dodge the wicked blow of the Reaver, but she saw the blur of the weapon in front of her eyes, striking the blade with both of her own, but the overwhelming strength of the Reaver tore through, causing her to fly back towards a tree, the young woman's side colliding with the tree, her body crumpling against the earth.

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The Reaver facing Scholar Muh struck the air, where Scholar Muh had readied a blow, only to find that the fellow had disappeared out of his sight. Its eyes scanned to where Yasmin was, finding the warrior stepping beside Yasmin, lifting her, before disappearing in the blink of an eye, the branches swaying further in the distance.

Scholar Muh fled from the Reavers, holding his apprentice within his arms, but after a moment checked upon the girl's pulse, and quickly pressed a finger against her neck, sending ki into her, stabilising the young woman's wounds before he continued on.

The Reavers gave chase for a short moment, only to find that he was easily able to outpace them, and quickly stopped their pursuit. They glanced between one another, annoyed such a fine prey had left, but what could they do? They could hunt the pair for a short while, though they were certain he was too swift of foot, and even the young woman was quicker than either of them, so they had little chance to chase after the two.

They stepped back, heading away, before an explosion of energy blasted the trees around them, the pair quickly drawing their blades once more, each dripping with the want for blood. In the distance, they could see the form of Scholar Muh, the fine prey they were eager to hunt.

"Do you wish for this retired old man to come to you?" Scholar Muh joked, coaxing the Reavers towards him, the pair charging at him once more. One of the Reavers only jogged, however, since he wasn't meant to fight, but Scholar Muh floated backwards, arching his blades, sending out a near invisible dragon as the blast of ki threatened them, amplifying his technique with an even greater amount of his ki, so the dragon was far larger and more powerful than his typical technique.

The Reavers continued to pursue the warrior, who seemed eager to fight, one almost tumbling to a knee as its companion followed behind, now swiftly approaching the falling companion, only to find the shadow of Scholar Muh blurring towards it.

The head of its companion fell to one side.

The Reaver's eyes narrowed pair clashed, it striking Scholar Muh furiously, but as its blade swung through the air, it could see Scholar Muh's head, though he was upside down, floating in the air ahead of it, blades over either side of his shoulders, swinging his blades out, slicing the Reaver's neck, causing it to fall.

Scholar Muh had barely worked up a sweat, and though his ki had decreased substantially, he had all but slain two Reavers simultaneously without taking a single wound. The old man exhaled lightly, for he hadn't worked out so hard in so many years. The beings before him turned to dust, floating through the air, leaving behind their blades, which went from dark and jagged, to silver and sleek.

'I should visit a Lord to deal with whatever wickedness may remain,' Scholar Muh thought, pulling out his scarves, flipping the blades up and tying them within the scarves without touching the steel.

Yasmin gasped as the morning light caressed her skin, the young woman's body jolting awake. "Scholar Muh!"

"What is the need to shout so loudly early in the morning?" Scholar Muh asked, waking up from his slumber due to the young woman's voice.

"Scholar Muh, are you hurt?"

"My ears are ringing," Scholar Muh joked.

'If he is joking this much, he is either fine, or heavily injured and does not wish to worry me…' Yasmin swallowed. "The Reavers…"

"Yes?"

"Did you defeat them?"

"Defeat them? Alone?" Scholar Muh mused. "It seems they were defeated after I carried you away."

Yasmin let out a soft sigh, feeling the ache against her side, which was certainly bruised, though she had been bandaged. "I am sorry for failing."

"You raised your blade with a righteous heart," Scholar Muh said. "That alone is success."

The young woman remained pouting lightly, recalling how easily she had fallen. Just a clash or two and she had been so overwhelmed from the Reaver's mighty blows.

"You will need to meditate upon your battle. I am certain with your near death experience you should reach a new height."

Yasmin noticed the large item that Scholar Muh now carried, tied within layers of scarves. She decided against asking, since if Scholar Muh did not wish to reveal it to her, then he had a good reason for it. While she remained aching and injured, Scholar Muh seemed perfectly fine. He didn't seem to have any internal injuries either, seemingly as healthy as ever.

'Master, I now understand why you adopted me,' Scholar Muh thought. 'Although, I still would have liked to have learned your techniques…'

Much later, another pair made their way northward, following the signs Scholar Muh had left behind, just in case they had gotten lost. The old man stopped upon a particular scene, finding the uprooted trees, other trees which had been marked by the wind, almost as though the wind was a blade itself.

'Did he come to blows with a terrible foe?' Nadeem thought.

A moment later and his apprentice appeared, panting for air, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, his feet aching. 'Ahm! Please! Why do you make me run so much?'

Nadeem raised his two fingers, and from the edge of the blast, he shot out two beams of ki, which reached towards the tree, where Scholar Muh once stood.

"Ahm?" his apprentice panted aloud, curious as to what the old man was doing.

'Scholar Muh, you…' Two Finger Demon thought, his heart rising with anger.