Akata was hurdled toward Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei. In an instant he came to a stop in front of him. He was close enough to feel the powerful pressure emanating off of his body. Akata took in a deep breath and held it.

“Sorry for this, but I have to get you away from this island. It’s not because we don’t trust you, it’s just that we don’t trust the ones around you. After all, mortals and beasts don’t really get along too well. I’ll be sure to send you to a safe place.” With that, Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei stood up and took a step forward.

That step took him and Akata out of the room. They both vanished from the island in an instant. When they reappeared, all Akata could see with his nature sense was a stretch of ocean.He tried to stretch it out further but that was still all he could see.

“Again.” Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei said with a rather ragged voice. Again he vanished from his location, bringing Akata with him as he did so. When he appeared once again there was still nothing but ocean around. He again teleported some distance away. It took him a total of six teleportations to finally see some land.

He flew in the direction of the land and stepped onto the coast soon after. He placed Akata down and looked at him with helplessly. “Who knows what the mortals might do when they see a bustling environment of beasts. Even if they don’t do anything, if word were to spread it could be disastrous for us. This is the only thing we can do for now. They might still no where we are but with you here, why would they go to our island?”

Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei sighed and shook his head slightly. Deep in his heart he really didn’t want Akata to leave but he knew that this had to happen.

“Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei… why didn’t you just let me die back in the competition?” Akata wanted to know this answer for a while. They Scarlet Tiger’s risked so much in order to save him. They even went so far as to take on the top three tribes all by themselves. It could easily be seen how much they cared for him.

“You may not know this but beasts are very loyal creatures unlike mortals. Since you saved our lives it is only right that we save yours when it was in danger. No matter what the price had to be paid in order to do it we would’ve protected it in the end. That’s just our nature.” Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei responded without any hesitation.

Beasts really were the most loyal of people. Having a beast as your friend was like having a dog as your pet. They were unswervingly loyal and would never turn against you. This was a reason why mortals kept some beasts as pets. Of course this led to some dissatisfaction between the two.

Akata thought for a moment and then nodded his head. He bowed his head down and then said, “I thank you Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei and the whole Scarlet Rune Tribe for saving my life. It was an honor to meet you all and get to experience life with you. I will never forget the kindness you have shown me and the way of life for a beast. It will forever be engraved in my heart and mind.” Akata said with a sincere tone.

Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei smiled happily and said, “No need for thanks. On a more important note, will your sect be able to find you here?”

“Yes. I believe that they will be able to find me easily. There’s no need to worry about that.” Akata replied calmly and happily.

“Mn. Alright then.” Then I’ll be off. Do keep safe and I hope that we can meet again. Especially as friends and not enemies.” With that Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei took a step forward and vanished from his spot.

His spoke again, his voice echoing into Akata’s ears. “I forgot to tell you that Tabet didn’t want to say goodbye to you. But he will also be happy to see you again some time.That’s it, take care.” His voice trailed off in the end and then ultimately vanished. That was it, Akata was finally alone now.

He stood there waiting. He was waiting for something to happen. Whether that be for his sect to get him or for an event to happen. He didn’t know what would come next so he just stood there for a while thinking of all that had happened.

Eventually he sat down and started to meditate and strengthen his cultivation bases. His body was strong now but his cultivation bases were lacking in comparison. With the addition of his plant cultivation base he would now cultivate much more slower than other people. But, he would also be much more powerful than others at the same level.

Soon, it was nighttime and the wind was whirling viciously about. It whipped back and forth arousing Akata from his meditations. He spread his nature sense out in search of somewhere to shield himself from it,

‘This wind is just too strong! And it seems to be getting even stronger as well. I have to find a place to stay right now.’ Akata thought to himself with surprise. This wind was really absurdly strong tonight. It pushed against him and even with his tough body he ended up with some scrapes. It was almost like this wind was some kind of fierce tribulation for him.

He stood up and dashed to the nearest safe place he could find with his nature sense. It was a small hole in a hill. Sort of like a cave but too small to actually be considered one. Akata huddled himself in there and waited for the wind to calm down.

Off in the distance, however, there was a fierce battle going on between two people. Both of them looked to be middle aged men. One man wore a sparkling astral robe and had long black hair. His eyes showed with a neon light.

The other wore red furs and had scarlet red hair that was bright in the night sky. Both of these two were going at it, but it was clear that the man in red was falling back continuously.

‘Dammit! To think the Meteor Wolf Star Tribe would actually send Duke Star Alpha to assassinate Akata.’ Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei cursed as he fought with wild abandon. His own cultivation level was at the 8th Grade of the Beast Rank while his opponent was at the 9th Grade. Although it was only 1 level of difference, that difference brought along a huge difference in strength.

“Just let me through and I can spare your life Tafei!” Duke Star Alpha yelled out savagely. “There’s no reason to make this more difficult than it has to be.”

“Hahaha!” Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei laughed coldly. “I will die before you lay your hands on Akata.” He replied equally as cold.

“So be it then.” Duke Star Alpha charged at Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei. They exchanged a series of blows that shook the surrounding ocean waters. Each blow creating a ferocious wind that swept out into the surrounding area. These were winds generated by experts at the top of the Beast Rank. Capable of immediately disintegrating people with a low cultivation base or weak body.

Scarlet Runic Lord Tafei knew that their battle could potentially harm Akata but he couldn’t hold back his blows otherwise he could be injured himself, then Duke Star Alpha would break lose and charge toward Akata. That would be much worse than letting Akata sustain some injuries.

Luckily, however, Akata was a good distance away from the battle and he had a tougher body. Otherwise he would have long been shredded into pieces by the strong shocks and wind from the two’s battle.

Meanwhile, Akata was inside of the small cave focusing on protecting his body. After a while he noticed something about the wind. ‘This wind contains some wisps of power in them. I can probably use this to strengthen myself.’ Akata’s eyes showed with a bright light as he rotated his crimson rune.

By now, Akata had figured out that his crimson rune wasn’t as simple as he originally thought it to be. At first he thought that it could only be used to absorb the blood of enemies and strengthen himself. But as time went on and he used it for more and different things, he found that that wasn’t the only use for it.

‘This crimson rune can basically absorb all types of energies and use them for my advantage. So with it, I should be able to absorb the energy within this wind to strengthen myself a bit.’ He thought to himself.

Crimson light emanated out of his body and lit up the small hole he was in. It was bright in the otherwise dark environment he was in. Without his nature sense he wouldn’t be able to see but with this crimson light, everything was illuminated as if the sun was out.

Akata sucked in a deep breath and focused on attuning to the energy within the wind. ‘This crimson rune can absorb and refine energy. Like it does with blood and with life force. I should be able to do it with this energy.’ After a bit of time Akata’s eyes sprang open and they were a dazzling crimson color.

His crimson rune rotated vigorously and soon, the wind started to be drawn to it. The wind went toward his body but this time it didn’t harm him but was absorbed into it and then into the rune. Akata could feel the dispersed energy in the wind gradually build up as more and more accumulated within him.

A warm smile crept upon his face.