Ultimate Rice System 16 The Afterschool Challenges Part 2

"Xin Fan! Your battle! You're late!"

To these six words Xin Fan quickly jumped up and ran down the stairs to the courtyard. The sun has set and the moon shined at a crescent. Xin Fan was greeted with the sight of a creepy boy on his lonesome. Skinny as he was, his body seemed out of proportion. His head was unusually large and his fingers looked like tendrils. He was emitting a dark aura seemingly out of nowhere.

"Are you Peng Gu?" asked Xin Fan slightly spooked.

"You are late."

The boy jumped off the bench cracking the concrete beneath him. Peng Gu looked at him evaluated him up and down. He gave off an evil smirk and cracked his knuckles. He moved his tongue in and out as if he was testing something out.

"You seem quite st.u.r.dy considering you are just a first year."

This opponent was not like the rest. He held a demeanor that was not one of a first year student. Why not? Because he is a second year student. Of course him being a second stage also meant that he is at the bottom of the bottom in his grade however, it was enough. His strength was around the same as that of Hu Li, the first grade bully. Peng Gu reveled in watching the first years struggle. The entire of the previous year has caused him pain and now he had a chance to let it free. He had to let the younger ones know the fear and pain he had felt.

"Hehehe... This is going to be great."

Peng Gu punched hard. Harder than Shentu Gang's charge. Faster than Xiao Yu's slash. Xin Fan dodged it to the best of his ability almost getting severely injured. Followed by one punch, was another punch to his face. Xin Fan once again dodged it this time by ducking. When it comes to raw strength, Xin Fan is still not on the same level yet and did not have the luxury of taking it head on. Peng Gu's fingers lit up and unleashed a somewhat familiar technique.

"Finger Slash"

The black bolt of energy was like a strike from rod. It did not bear any resemblance to the technique he was familiar with. It was blunt but painful. Xin Fan retreated a few steps to activate his 'Frost Blade Sh.e.l.l'. The shield quickly materialized on his back and he shifted it to block incoming attacks. I'm safe...

*Crrk* *Crrk**Crrk*

Peng Gu was relentless with his finger slash. Cracks started to form on the ice and before long the shield shattered. The streams of black pounded along his body causing whip like marks to appear on his skin. No...This can't be happening.

"Run..."

He did not know why but this was instinctively the first thing that Xin Fan thought of when his shield broke However, looking at the situation, the option does not seem viable. Peng Gu enjoyed watching Xin Fan's torment and decided it was better to be more physical. He licked his thin lips with his long tongue and rained down another flurry of blows. I cannot be hit by this. I cannot. Small inklings of fear filled his mind as he looked at the tall figure pounding away at him. The damage done to his body realistically was not much however the pain he felt was beyond imagination. He felt that if he didn't finish now, he would lose. Then it became black.

"Harvest slash!"

[ User has Awakened Primal Mind ]

Xin Fan sent out a dazzling blade of energy and cut away at Peng Gu's stomach. Peng Gu's eyes dilated as he felt the pain. He couldn't fathom what just happened. One moment he was beating a kid up and the next, he had a gaping cut on his stomach.

"YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.dDD!"

Peng Gu once again used 'Finger Slash' to beat down on him. The waves of energy acted like steel rods pounding at him. Xin Fan materialized a blade of energy on his arm and slashed forwards. His mind was blank. He kept cutting forward not caring about the pain he was experiencing. All he felt was fear. His body moved on pure instinct. Many would call this the fight or flight response. Peng Gu could no longer take it and unleashed a flurry of his strongest punches while coughing up blood.

"Xin Fan! Watch out!"

Tianfei could no longer stand the sight and closed her eyes. Punches of varying power were absorbed by the flailing body. No matter how much was thrown at him, he would not dodge. He simple walked forwards like a zombie and kept slashing. At this point, Peng Gu was already down but Xin Fan kept slashing. He was in mindless, acting purely on instinct.

[ Quest Completion at 80% ]

"Stop! Xin Fan stop!"

Tianfei grabbed Xin Fan from behind trying to stop him while crying. Xin Fan was too weak to resist and was brought to the ground. Xin Fan fell down without moving. He was twitching. Although he wasn't hurt as bad, the psychological pain was unimaginable.

[ Soul Fragmentation at 50% ]

The courtyard was empty so it was just them. Tianfei slowly pulled. Of what was 5 minutes, seemed like a lifetime. Slowly through the hallways, up the stairs, through another hallway. As she approached the infirmary, the doors opened.

"Nurse! You got to help Xin Fan!"

Yang Bing observed his reactions and calmly replied.

"Is there anyone else?"

Tianfei told the entire story. As the story progressed, Yang Bing's complexion turned ugly. She quickly ran over to a desk searching for something. When she found it, she ripped it. It was a scroll that had a communication formation on it.

"Alert Grade D"

"Where did the challenge occur!"Yang Bing shouted across the infirmary. Clearly this was no joking matter and expected a quick response.

"A...At the courtyard."

Yang Bing ran out of the infimary. "Look after that boy!"

As she ran she muttered under her breath,"Hopefully it didn't get away."

The moment she arrived at the courtyard, she found a body on the ground. That body was of Peng Gu. She checked for a pulse. Phew still alive. The bleeding seemed to have stopped and there was no harm to him. Peng Gu did not look so good. In his mouth was a pitch black slime the slime seemed to be seeping out and there was a faint trail moving away from the courtyard and into the forest. A voice sounded behind her.

"Little Bing. Is it still inside?"

Princ.i.p.al Yao looked at Yang Bing straight in the eye. It was as if he could see through everything she said.

"No, It escaped. I suspect that it is a Despair Slug. It still seemed to be in the developmental stage." she replied.

A few more of the older staff members showed up behind Princ.i.p.al Yao. He did turned around and gave an absolute order.

"Search the forest! Kill the slug! Search and destroy!"

The staff members saluted and ran into the forest.

"Yes Sir!"

-

In the infirmary, Tianfei stroked Xin Fan's head. He was unconscious and n.o.body knew when was he going to wake up. He was still twitching with rough spasms occasionally. The doors opened and Yang Bing walked in. She checked Xin Fan's pulse and temperature.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Yang Bing took a sniff seeing if there were any abnormalities. She seemed satisfied and replied,"He should be fine tomorrow morning."

Yang Bing took out her logbook and wrote down some notes. She took observations and put her hand over Xin Fan's face. Qi gathered around her hand and an image of a b.u.t.terfly appeared.

"Peaceful Mind."

The spasms seemed to stop and Xin Fan's state of mind had calmed down.

"What happened to him?"

"He fell under the effects of a Despair Slug. Although this demonic beast is of rank F, it is extremely troublesome. My technique should have cured him."

"But he was fighting Peng Gu."

"The Despair Slug is a parasite and feeds off the dark emotions of a host. Eventually, the slug can control the mind and take over. Thank G.o.d it was still a young one."

Yang Bing poured a cup of tea and handed it to Tianfei.

"Here, it must have been hard."

Tianfei took a small sip of it but was quick to spit it out.

"Bitter..."

It wasn't as if she hated tea. The tea was a personal preference of Yang Bing. She enjoyed the bitter fragrance it gave off when taking a break. Yang Bing simply sighed in disappointment as she expected a shared interest.

"Hah...Still a kid. You should go back to dorm now. Dinner has almost started. I will take care of him."

Tianfei was dismissed and returned back to the dorm. Yang Bing looked at Xin Fan and once again sighed.

"How can this happen to you when you just got out."