Chapter 15 The Critical Moment (2/2)

unned silence. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. In desperation, she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear seeing Ricky torn to shreds.

The Saber-toothed Tiger growled again, a low-frequency rumble that would rattle and paralyze an ordinary man. Then it sprang at Ricky. Its sharp claws and huge fangs were as deadly as any weapon. Even warriors at the sixth grade of Skin Refining would have fallen to the beast.

Instead of a head-on fight, Ricky pounded on the ground with his feet and leaped to the other side of the tiger. At the same time, he swung his sword quickly and thrust it at the tiger's eyes.

As he landed, he rolled, ending up on the opposite side of the tiger once more.

Roar! At that moment, there was no sound but the tiger's growling, echoing hollowly through the forest.

Ricky did not stop attacking, because he knew he had to kill it as quickly as possible. A moment's hesitation could mean his death.

To gather the force, he jumped up into a pine tree first. Then he dropped from the branch he was standing on, using gravity to drive his long sword into the tiger's skull.

The whole world went deathly still.

Ricky pulled his sword free and took a deep breath.

The Saber-toothed Tiger was powerful, but it used brawn rather than brains. First, Ricky stabbed its eyes. That made it much less deadly. Then he could take his time finishing it off. Ricky would be dead now if he faced an actual warrior at the sixth grade of Skin Refinement.

”Hey! Why are you standing around like idiots? Let's skin it. That's some serious moola.” Ricky said, smiling and wiping the sweat from his brow.

His words brought Lewis and Vivian back to earth. They shook their heads at the same time. It was like waking up from a dream.

”He... you... you... how?!” They were too shocked, and that was only thing they could say.

Then they skinned the dead Saber-toothed Tiger quickly and got ready to leave, cleaning and sharpening blades, and securing their packs.

”Hey guys, um -- I'm... still here!” said Luther weakly. He'd lost a lot of blood, and his pallor was starting to match the snow.

”Humph!” Vivian and Lewis snorted at him. They were just going to ignore him and let God sort it out. They even thought about killing him for what he just did.

”Let's go!” said Vivian.

”Just remember this! My brother knows I went with you guys,” said Luther gravely. This time when he coughed, he spattered his hand with blood.

Lewis and Vivian stopped in their tracks.

”What was that about?” Ricky asked.

”He's talking about Dustin, the fifth outer disciple. He's pretty high-ranking, ninth grade. He's got a lot of promising disciples under him. I think we just made another enemy,” said Vivian reluctantly.

”I know,” Ricky nodded his head as he walked over to Luther.

”Huh! You little shit! Help me up, and give me half your stuff. I might be able to talk my brother into training you,” said Luther blatantly.

Luther tried to sit up. He managed to lean on his elbows. Ricky squatted down and put his hand on Luther's shoulder, acting as if he were going to help him up. But he stopped when Luther said that, and pushed him back down into the snow.

An evil smile found its home on Ricky's face, ”God, you got balls, Luther. Half-dead, and you're still a bully.

Luther was unapologetic, and simply coughed again, his breath turning to mist in the air. Ricky's eyes were cold as ice. Luther finally caught the scent of danger.

”My brother...”

*KRAKK* Ricky broke his neck before he could finish. Luther never thought he'd die like that.

The young man looked at the body, now rapidly cooling in the snow. He snorted before he stood up, shrugged, and walked back toward his friends.