Demon of Dawn and Dusk

After narrowly escaping the Poison Eye Toads, we took a moment to recover. While the crash wasn’t enough to injure any of us, it still left us battered and bruised.

“Excuse me, Cultivator Darian,” Cultivator Harlow said in a strained voice. “Could you please get off of me? Otherwise my family will force you to take responsibility.”

I looked down to find Cultivator Harlow laying on the ground beneath me. Somehow, during our tumble, I ended up on top of her. To an outside observer, it looked like we were in a rather…intimate position. Cultivator Harlow’s cheeks were bright red. She looked at me, her expression a mix between embarrassment and an emotion I couldn’t identify.

In that moment, I realized just how pretty Cultivator Harlow was. I hadn’t noticed it before, because of her disguise, but she was an attractive young woman. She was petite and slender rather than skinny and lean, now that I took a closer look at her. I grew up surrounded by beautiful women, and beautiful men for that matter, so I thought I was used to that sort of thing. However, Cultivator Harlow’s appearance caught me off guard and I couldn’t help but stare.

“Cultivator Darian?” she asked.

Her words snapped me out of my daze and I realized that I was still on top of her. My cheeks flushed and I scrambled away. I was so embarrassed by what happened that even the tips of my ears felt hot.

“Apologies, Cultivator Harlow,” I said. “That was…I didn’t mean…”

I stopped rambling and took a deep breath to compose myself.

“I’m sorry, Cultivator Harlow,” I said after I managed to regain control of my emotions. “I didn’t mean to put you in such a…precarious position. That wasn’t my intent.”

Cultivator Harlow sat up.

“Apology accepted, Cultivator Darian,” she said while straightening out her clothes. “It was an unfortunate accident, nothing more.”

Despite her words, Cultivator Harlow’s face remained bright red.

“Will you two stop flirting?” Cultivator Willow asked in an irritated voice. “We’re still in the middle of the test. You should focus on that instead of making eyes at each other.”

Cultivator Harlow and I both looked at her. She sat on the ground not too far away from us. Unlike before, she wasn’t hunched over. Instead, she sat up straight. While I still couldn’t make out her features, thanks to the black cloak she wore, I realized that she was much taller than I initially realized. At her full height, I figured she was a head and a half taller than me.

“We weren’t flirting!” Cultivator Harlow protested in a loud voice.

Ouch. I knew I wasn’t good looking by any stretch of the imagination, but I was still hurt by her immediate denial.

“Oh please,” Cultivator Willow said. I could hear the eye roll in her voice. “I’ve seen you stealing glances at Cultivator Darian when he wasn’t looking. You aren’t as subtle as you think you are, Cultivator Harlow.”

Cultivator Harlow’s blushed deepened, to the point that her face turned purple.

“You…!” she said, unable to speak further.

Cultivator Willow chuckled before she pushed herself to her feet and stood up straight. I realized then that her hunch had been a part of her old woman disguise. At her full height, she towered over everyone else in the group.

“Not that I blame you,” she said. “Cultivator Darian is a handsome fellow. I plan on making a go at him myself once this is all over.”

“You uncouth, vulgar…!” Cultivator Harlow said.

The two of them started bickering with each other. A part of me felt like I should intervene since we didn’t have much time left. However, the rest of me was still dazed by Cultivator Willow’s words.

She thought I was handsome? Was there something wrong with her eyes? Or maybe she just had low standards. I knew I wasn’t handsome. Growing up on Mt. Wind Dance, I always felt short and ugly compared to my tall and beautiful kin. The idea that anyone found me attractive felt foreign to me. It was a new experience, one that I didn’t hate. I planned on enjoying it while it lasted.

“Are you all right, Senior Brother Darian?” Clarissa asked.

I looked up to find her standing next to me with a worried expression on her face. I had been so distracted by the argument between Cultivator Willow and Cultivator Harlow that I had completely forgotten about Clarissa.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I said, still a little dazed. “A bit battered and bruised, but otherwise unharmed.”

Clarissa’s brow furrowed.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “You seem off. You didn’t hit your head, did you?”

“No,” I said. “I’m just a little surprised by the current situation.”

Clarissa frowned at me, before she glanced over at our two arguing companions and understanding lit up her face.

“Is it because those two find you attractive?” she asked.

I nodded.

“That’s never happened to me before,” I said. “I find it a bit odd.”

Clarissa gave me a questioning look.

“You know what our kin are like, back on Mt. Wind Dance,” I said, answering her unspoken question. “When it comes to appearances, I’m nothing compared to them.”

Clarissa’s expression morphed into something indecipherable, at least to me, before she gave me an amused smile.

“You can be oddly endearing, Senior Brother Darian,” she said in a fond tone. She brushed my hair. “I’m beginning to see the appeal.”

I blinked at her in surprise. Did she mean what I thought she meant by that statement?

When she realized what she said, Clarissa blushed and cleared her throat, before nodding towards Cultivator Harlow and Cultivator Willow.

“I think you should stop them before they start exchanging blows,” she said. “Otherwise we might be here all day.”

I looked back over at the other two. She was right. Cultivator Harlow had several silver needles in her hands, while Cultivator Willow wielded a staff. The two of them looked ready to fight each other. How had it gotten to this point? I had only looked away for a few moments at most.

I sighed before standing up and walking over to mediate between the two. We still had to finish with the rest of the final test of the entrance exam, and we couldn’t afford to have half our group at each other’s throats.

It took a few minutes, but I managed to get Cultivator Harlow and Cultivator Willow to back down from their confrontation. Even then, the two of them threw dirty looks at one another. I didn’t know what they had said to each other, but it must have been egregious.

Afterwards, we decided to take a short break to recover our strength. While we weren’t in the best condition thanks to the Poison Eye Toads, we couldn’t afford to wait for any longer than that. Sunset was just a few hours away and we still had to make it across the rest of the valley. As for Cultivator Willow’s boat, we decided it wasn’t worth the effort to retrieve its remains. The impact had shattered it, and what pieces that were left were riddled with holes. It was worthless now, even as scrap.

When everyone finished resting, we continued on our way. Cultivator Harlow tried to get me to carry her again, claiming that she still hadn’t recovered her strength, but I saw through her ploy right away. Her confrontation with Cultivator Willow earlier proved otherwise. She pouted at this and grumbled for the next hour. There were no traces of the benevolent mask she wore earlier. If I was being honest, I preferred her without it. She seemed more human, more approachable, this way.

The rest of the final test continued in a similar fashion to the previous parts. An array barred our way, either an illusion or a restriction of some kind, followed by some kind of dangerous environment that we needed to traverse. Thankfully, Cultivator Harlow grew more and more adept at breaking through the arrays, so she spent less qi each time. However, she still needed time to recover so I carried her each time while she absorbed energy from a Qi Restoration Pill, much to Cultivator Willow’s annoyance.

The dangerous environments themselves, and the threats they contained, varied. After the swamp, we had to go through a desert filled with hordes of flesh eating insects. The one after that was a tundra inhabited by spirit beasts called Iron Horn Rams that kept trying to bash us to death. The fourth and final one turned out to be a grassy meadow filled with flowers that released a pollen that almost put us to sleep. I fell victim to that one, so Cultivator Willow ended up having to carry me and Cultivator Harlow out. Thankfully, Clarissa’s affinity for Wind managed to keep us safe after that.

Like the swamp, each environment was about a mile wide and a half a mile long, making it clear that none of them were naturally occurring. They had been created for the sake of this part of the entrance exam. According to Cultivator Willow and Cultivator Harlow, this was to give prospective inner disciples a taste of the kinds of environments we would have to endure after we became disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect.

The world was a dangerous place. While many disciples preferred to stay within the sect and just cultivate, just as many took on missions or explored hidden realms in order to earn sect contribution or spirit stones. In the course of these missions and explorations, these disciples would often encounter strange phenomena. Preparing us for these phenomena beforehand was the sect’s way of increasing our odds of survival.

Along the way, we didn’t encounter any of the other exam participants. However, we saw more than a few lights shoot up into the sky. While we didn’t keep track of the exact number of participants who had forfeited this part of the entrance exam, we guessed that it was more than half.

The hours passed as we crossed the valley and by the time we neared the other side, it was about half an hour before sunset. This filled us with joy, even though everyone in our group was battered, bruised, and exhausted. Enduring one dangerous situation after another had taxed our resources. However, it was still too early to celebrate. We still had one final obstacle to get past.

The valley narrowed to a small passageway. On the other side of that passageway were the buildings we needed to reach in order to pass the final test of the entrance exam and become inner disciples of the Dawn and Dusk Sect. Situated in front of this passageway, barring our path, was a massive spirit beast.

The creature was a bear, or at least bear-shaped, but it was unlike any bear I had ever seen or heard about in my entire life. It was about twice the size of my shack back on Mt. Wind Dance; a giant mass of muscle and black fur. The creature had a pair of blood red eyes and a wicked looking maw that looked like it could devour a man whole. It breathed sparks of black fire every time it exhaled. Worst of all, it had the aura of a Rank 2 demon beast.

“A Hellfire Bear,” Cultivator Harlow whispered, a hint of fear in her voice.

She wasn’t the only one either. Throughout the entirety of this test, neither Cultivator Harlow nor Cultivator Willow expressed much in the way of surprise or fear. That wasn’t to say that they were unaffected by the dangers we faced, but I never got the sense that they felt truly threatened. I suspected that their backers had prepared them for many of the dangers and obstacles we had faced. However, I saw fear in their eyes now.

Not that I blamed them. We were just a group of Qi Condensation cultivators. There was no way we would be able to defeat a Rank 2 demon beast at our current power level. While I was a divine demon, and could use divine mystic arts, I wasn’t sure that would give us enough of an advantage to defeat the Hellfire Bear. Thankfully, it looked like we didn’t need to defeat it. We just needed to get past it.

We weren’t the only ones either. At the moment, the four of us watched from atop a small hill as another group of exam participants fought the Hellfire Bear: Cultivator Diana and her two guards. Well, the guards fought the Hellfire Bear. Cultivator Diana herself was taking advantage of the situation to try and sneak past the creature in order to enter the passageway. I suspected that was why she brought the guards along in the first place. However, the Hellfire Bear refused to move from its current position, despite the guards’ best efforts, stymieing Cultivator Diana’s progress.

I could see the frustration on her face, even from this distance. A petty part of me found it satisfying. While I didn’t hate Cultivator Diana, I certainly didn’t like her. She harassed Clarissa and made it this far thanks to the efforts of others rather than through her own strength. The guards were covered in injuries and looked exhausted. Meanwhile, Cultivator Diana looked much the same as she had earlier this morning. It was clear to me that the guards had endured much of the hardship, allowing her to pass through the final test of the entrance exam with ease. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have remained so well put together.

“We have to defeat that creature in order to pass the test?” Clarissa asked, looking at the rest of us. “That’s impossible! We’re just Qi Condensation cultivators! There’s no way we can defeat a Rank 2 demonic beast.”

“Demon beast,” Cultivator Harlow corrected, still watching as Cultivator Diana attempted to sneak past the Hellfire Bear.

Clarissa gave her a blank look.

“What?” she asked in a baffled voice.

“Hellfire Bears are demon beasts,” Cultivator Harlow said, facing Clarissa. “Not demonic beasts.”

“What’s the difference?” I asked, curious. “I thought the two terms were interchangeable.”

Cultivator Harlow gave me a derisive look.

“Demon beasts are born as demons,” she said. “Demonic beasts are spirit beasts or mundane creatures that have been corrupted by demonic qi.”

Huh. Interesting. I hadn’t known that.

“Not that it makes much difference either way,” Cultivator Willow said. “A Rank 2 beast is still a Rank 2 beast, whether it's a spirit beast, a demonic beast, or a demon beast. Still, it doesn’t look like we have to defeat the Hellfire Bear. We just need to get past it.”

All of us nodded at that before turning back to watch Cultivator Diana attempt to sneak past the Hellfire Bear. A few minutes later, she pulled a green orb out of her storage ring. Wearing a pained expression on her face, she tossed the orb at the feet of the Hellfire Bear. When it hit the ground, the orb exploded with Wood qi and dozens of vines erupted out of the ground. Cultivator Willow let out a whistle when she saw this.

“An Entanglement Orb,” she said. “That’s a high-grade Foundation Establishment magic treasure. It must have cost her family a fortune to acquire one.”

These vines wrapped themselves around the Hellfire Bear and immobilized it. The creature roared and a layer of black fire coated its entire body, burning the vines to ash. However, by that point it was too late. Cultivator Diana and her guards had already taken advantage of the situation to get past the Hellfire Bear. It roared with anger and frustration, but didn’t chase after the trio. Instead, it turned around and glared at our group, as if to dare us to try and get past it.

“It must be under some kind of restriction,” Cultivator Harlow said. She pinched her chin and watched the creature with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Hellfire Bears are highly territorial. It should have attacked us already, but it hasn’t. Instead, it remains near the passageway, guarding it.”

“That would explain why Cultivator Diana’s guards weren’t able to lure it away,” Cultivator Willow said. “Against a normal Hellfire Bear, that tactic would have worked.”

Clarissa looked towards the rest of us.

“So, how are we going to get past it?” she asked. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t have anything capable of dealing with a Rank 2 demon beast.”

The others shook their heads as well.

“I have several magic treasures and even a few talismans available,” Cultivator Willow said. “However, none of them would work against a Rank 2 demon beast. I hadn’t known I would need anything of that caliber. If I had, I would have been better prepared. What about you, Cultivator Harlow?”

Cultivator Harlow shook her head.

“No,” she said. “The poisons I have on me are only effective on Rank 1 beasts and Qi Condensation cultivators. A few of them might slow down the Hellfire Bear for a fraction of a second, but that’s it.”

The morale of our group sank. None of us had anything that could deal with the Hellfire Bear, and we didn’t have much time left to come up with a clever plan. The sun was sinking towards the horizon and sunset would soon arrive.

“I’ll deal with it,” I said, staring at the Hellfire Bear. “I’ll hold it off while the rest of you run past it.”

My three companions all looked at me like I was crazy.

“Are you insane?” Cultivator Willow demanded. “I know you’re a demonic body refiner, but you’re not nearly strong enough to face a Hellfire Bear.”

“You saw how Cultivator Diana’s guards failed to distract the beast,” Cultivator Harlow said. “What makes you think you can succeed where they failed? Even if you threw everything you had at it, I doubt you’d do much more than annoy it. Don’t be an idiot.”

Clarissa walked over to me and touched my arm.

“Don’t risk your safety for our sake,” she said.

I shook my head.

“I’m not,” I said. “I want to fight the Hellfire Bear.”

It was funny. When I first saw the creature, I felt nothing but fear and wariness. However, seeing the Hellfire Bear burn the vines from the Entanglement Orb to ashes lit a fire inside me. I wanted to fight it, to challenge it, to test myself against it. No. Want wasn’t the right word. I desired to fight the Hellfire Bear. I yearned for it. I needed it. My blood boiled with this need, and it took everything in my power to hold myself back. Otherwise, I would have already rushed towards it.

A part of me knew that fighting the Hellfire Bear was an opportunity for me, one that I might not get again. It was part instinct, part intuition. Fighting the Hellfire Bear came with significant risk, but also came with significant rewards. I wasn’t sure if I even needed to defeat the creature. All I needed to do was fight it. Even if I failed the final test, even if I almost died, fighting the Hellfire Bear would be worth it. That was how strongly I felt.

“Absolutely not,” Cultivator Harlow said in a hard voice. “You’re not in the best condition. Even if you were, you still wouldn’t be a match for a Hellfire Bear.”

She was right. I was still recovering from the effects of the sleeping pollen. Not only that, but I was tired and low on qi. Overall, facing the Hellfire Bear in my current state was a terrible idea. However, none of that mattered to me.

“We’re not going to let you act like a self-sacrificing moron,” Cultivator Willow said. “We’ll find some other way to get past it.”

“Please, reconsider this idea, Senior Brother Darian,” Clarissa said. “I would rather fail than see you injured.”

While I could understand where they were coming from, I couldn’t let their concern hold me back. I was going to fight the Hellfire Bear.

“I wasn’t asking for permission,” I said, looking at my three companions. “I was stating my intention. Do what you will with it.”

With that, I started running down the hill, rushing towards the Hellfire Bear. I heard my companions shouting from behind me, but I ignored them. Instead, I focused on the Hellfire Bear. A smile stretched across my face as the need for battle filled my entire being.