Immortal Ki Technique 44 Disturbance In The Fores

*Huff Puff*

5 men were running for their lives in the forest. Each man was exerting their stamina to its fullest. As they weaved their way between trees, they continuously pushed themselves to their limit. As their faces poured with sweat and their lungs felt as though they were on fire, they continued at a desperate pace. With every muscle on the verge of collapse, still, they pushed themselves. But why, for what reason would these men flee so desperately.

*AHH-WOOOOOOL*

Out in the distance hidden from sight, a large pack of wolves were on the trail for human flesh. For every step one of these men took in fear, this pack of wolves covered 3, right now, the hunters were being hunted.

*What do we do what do we do!"

"Shut it! we keep moving."

These men were in pure panic mode, with wolfs gaining on them they had no time to think, in this situation all they could do was run.

As spring was coming to an end, these men had been in desperate search for wild game. During the winter they had relied solely on their stored winter supplies to keep them fed and when spring had arrived like usual they would go and hunt for fresh meat such as deer, rabbit or boar. However, something was different this year, very different. Each time the men would go on a hunt, besides birds, they would find almost no other animals. The amount of food they brought back became less and less.

Now, ever since spring started, the men would encounter wolfs. In previous years when spring came, wolfs would stick to their territory of the mid to lower range of the mountains, only coming a few miles into the forest. They almost never appeared within the territory of humans and yet this had been the seventh time these hunters had encountered a pack of wolfs. The first time they were attacked, they had tragically lost 3 men and had barely escaped with their lives. Thinking it was just an unfortunate encounter they had gone into the forest again only a week later but once again the wolfs were there, almost as though they were waiting for them. The men had tried several more times to hunt but each time they went they would either find nothing or run into wolfs, forcing them to desperately flee. The people in the village were starting to grow hungry and had to greatly rely on fish as well as the few poultry they had. If they couldn't get meat soon, then they'd be forced to harvest some crops early, throwing their whole year off. If things continued like this, then by the time winter reared its ugly head, the villagers would have nothing stored and would be in a terrible predicament.

*AHHH-WOOOOOOL*

Hearing this howl, the men's faces turned pale with fright, the wolfs were so close the men could now hear and see the leaves on the nearby brush rustle and shake. As the noise got closer and closer the intense growls sent dread into each of the men's hearts, some thought they might drop dead right there and then.

As the men were running, their path seemed to become more and more narrow. Each time they wished to move in a certain direction another brush would rattle causing them to pivot and run the opposite way. As they continued to follow the narrow path, finally it opened up but the sight in front of these men took every ounce of their hope and twisted it into dark despair. In front of the men outstretched to both their left and right was a long rock wall that stretched for hundreds of feet. These men being hunters, they quickly realized what had happened. Like a flock of dumb sheep, they had been herded to this wall for a slaughter.

As the men backed up to this wall a few of them couldn't help but look up at its height. It was merely 15 or 16 feet, if they had the time they could easily scale it but the fact of the matter was, that there was no time. Standing with their backs to the wall, it was only a few seconds when a wolf stepped into the clearing. Standing just 10 feet away, the men could smell the wolfs foul odor, it was a sour stench of rotting meat and dried blood, it was truly disgusting causing the men's noses to sting. Right after that first wolf stepped out immediately after another one followed, then another and another. After only a few seconds, in total 9 wolfs stood tall. With fangs bared and claws razor sharp, the men gulped as they shook and trembled. Drawing their blades and bows they had no choice but to fight. Each wolf equaled several men combat wise and right now there were more wolfs then there were men. Right now, not only were they cornered but they were outnumbered by stronger creatures as well, the look on these hunters faces was one of hopelessness.

The wolfs wasted no time, as soon as they were in the clearing they all had pounced with fangs bared.

*Swoosh swoosh swoosh*

3 arrows were released in quick succession from the rock above.

*Thwack thwack thud*

2 had pierced two different wolfs while one arrow had hit the dirt at another's feet. The arrows had come so quick but with it, 1 wolf was already dead on the ground and the other was only slightly wounded. From above the rock, a shout was suddenly heard.

"Ah big bro I missed, it was so close but I missed."

With this sudden attack from an unseen place, the wolfs quickly backed off several feet with their guards raised. The men hearing this voice, however, were suddenly filled with relief. They knew that voice anywhere, It was little Ben's voice and if he was here then that meant Lowen was here as well. Looking up above standing on top of the rock wall stood 3 children, 2 boys, and one girl. The boy with dark purple eyes looked down and sighed.

"Seems like we're now completely out of arrows."

With a small leap, Lowen, Nia, and Ben all hopped down from the rock wall and landed between the wolfs and the men. Seeing Lowen 1 of the men collapsed not only because he was exhausted but also because he now knew everything would be alright. No one knew how or what these children did but somehow they were all stronger than the adults in the village. No matter how curious they were though Chief Roland would only tell them that Lowen was special, besides that he would say no more. This only caused the people in the village to grow more curious. Lowen's mysteriousness both intrigued the people as well as infuriated them to some degree but there was nothing they could do.

As Lowen stood in front of the wolfs he noticed a few oddities but shook the thoughts away, right now it wasn't time for that it was time to fight. Lowen, as well as Nia and Ben, had each shot an arrow. Lowen's had pierced a wolfs head instantly killing it while Nia's arrow had landed high up on another's shoulder drawing blood with a slight wound. Ben's arrow had narrowly missed its target by a few inches, he seemed to be still lacking in precision.

Seeing it was really Lowen one of the men spoke up.

"Thank the G.o.ds your here, we were too foolish and were cornered. Please help us."

Lowen said nothing and only nodded but Ben, of course, was his honest self.

"Why do you think we even showed up. It was big bro that heard the wolfs and so we ran over. If not to help do you think we instead came to play?"

Lowen gave a small nod to Ben's words but Nia, however, thought they were inappropriate and gave little Ben a slight knock on the head. Ben immediately gave his head a rub trying to ease the pain and was about to shout at his sister when Nia gave him a cold glare. Ben quickly jumped back expecting another hit and just like he thought Nia's fist came for his noggin at a weird angle but with Ben's odd steps he had just barely dodged. The men couldn't help but stare at these children with an odd expression.

(How can they be so calm in this situation.)

The wolfs as well seemed as though they were thinking with a few growls back and forth they all suddenly quieted down. They were now no longer looking at the men but the three children that stood before them especially at Lowen. The wolfs didn't know why but every instinct within them screamed for them to avoid him at any and all cost. They couldn't run though not yet they were given their job and with their loyalty, there was no backing out. The 8 remaining wolfs looked at each other as though to confirm something before they slowly began their approach. Lowen could tell what was coming and gave a swift order to the two siblings behind him.

"Nia, Ben, here they come!"

Nia and Ben's eyes immediately turned sharp and they got into defensive stances. Right as they moved so did the wolfs. 4 wolfs leaped at Lowen ready to kill, two in the front and one on his left and right. 1 wolf jumped at Nia and another at Ben. Behind the attacking wolfs two stood there, maybe they were observing or maybe they were simply waiting no one knew.

The men looked on in horror at first, they knew that Nia and Ben had grown strong but they couldn't imagine the two being capable of fighting these wolfs. To their shock though they were doing just that. As a wolf pounced at Ben, Ben like just before moved his feet in an odd way and as the wolfs claw came toward his chest, Ben was already a few feet away. Every time the wolf swiped at him or snapped its jaws trying to bite Ben in half, Ben would instead dip and dodge, slipping past every attack. As Ben was dodging these deadly strikes he quickly picked up a rock no bigger than his hand. With power coursing thru his arm, Ben threw the rock with a great speed. Since he was only a few feet away his aim was right on target.

*Thump*

The rock landed squarely on the wolfs eye crushing it into pulp. As a reddish b.l.o.o.d.y liquid poured from the wolfs eye socket the wolf thrashed around howling in pain. Lowen had taught Ben about mercy and the times in which to show it, now, however, was not the time. Pulling a small dagger from his side, Ben rushed in and pierced the wolfs throat directly ending its life.

At the same time that was happening Nia was playing to her own strengths. Instead of waiting for the wolf to pounce Nia was on the offensive. Before the wolf leaped at her she had already moved, appearing right in front of it, she filled her arm and fist with ki and with a shout in her mind she roared.

(SNAKE FIST!)

Counter to her brother, Nia's aim was perfect. With a solid punch, she landed a hit right on the wolfs throat before using the same movement as her brother and backed off. The wolf, however, wasn't dead yet, merely wounded. Nia though expected this and with the same tactic she jumped in and with her Snake Fist she came at the wolfs throat from a completely different angle, landed a solid punch and leaped away once more. With these hit and run tactics Nia landed 5 solid hits to the wolfs throat before it was crushed. Lowen had taught her this tactic if you wanted to defeat an opponent who held greater strength, one way to do it was to repeatedly hit their weak point. With damage over time, the enemy will eventually fall.

As Nia and Ben's wolfs both fell at nearly the same time so to did the two front attacking wolfs trying to kill Lowen. As the two front attacking wolfs had leaped at Lowen, Lowen had appeared in front of them even faster. One of the worst things you could ever do in a fight was to leap in the air in front of an opponent. With the wolfs still in the air Lowen willed his sword with a thought.

*Sc.h.i.n.k*

Lowen's family sword unwrapped itself from Lowen's arm like a coiled snake and struck like lightning. Before the two wolf heads had even fallen off of their bodies, Lowen's sword had already once again wrapped itself around his arm. With the strike being so swift and clean, not a drop of blood had stained the blade. The two other attacking wolfs saw this and hastily retreated. Forget their instincts, what they had just witnessed confirmed everything, they were no match for this human. As the 4 wolfs shared a look between them, one of them gave a low howl and all four wolfs moved at once. With a rapid speed, these wolfs grabbed their fallen comrades bodies, holding them in their mouths the four wolfs turned and ran just as quickly, disappearing into the forest. The men seeing this all fell on their collective a.s.ses in exhaustion.

"They did it, we're safe, we actually lived, hahaha."

While the men were celebrating, Ben was a little upset, he wanted to fight for longer but it was all over so soon. Ben began to punch and kick at the air in frustration. Nia though could see a puzzled look on Lowen's face and walked towards him, Lowen had squatted down and was observing the only wolf that the others hadn't carried off. Looking at its corpse Lowen noticed something, taking in the wolf packs size as well as the frequent sightings and attacks Lowen could tell something was off. Picking up the corpse, Lowen slung the wolf over his shoulder and was surprised about how light it was. Looking at Nia and Ben, Lowen said.

"Get our hunt, its time we head back."