Both Sindy and Andrew were barely holding on. Their enemy, whom they referred to as the, Beast Controller was very powerful. They now understood what Instructor Brady had meant when he had warned them about being overconfident. Their enemy was a very powerful opponent.

"Aagh!!" Screamed Andrew in pain— a solid kick had landed in his stomach almost tossing him into a nearby wall.

"Andrew, are you okay?!" Asked Sindy worriedly.

"Yeah... He managed to land a hit on me but I managed to block it just in time. It's just the knockback that hurt..."

The Beast Controller grinned like a maniac with a red metal scythe placed calmly on his shoulder. He was of medium complexion with dark brown eyes, shaggy black hair, and a nasty scar present on his right cheek. He also wore a tattered brown cloak which had just made him look even crazier.

"Are you kid's done already? That's a shame because I'm just getting started!" He laughed.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Asked Sindy angrily.

"I'm honored that you'd ask that but it's not important. Just call me the Beast King!"

Feeling irritated by his taunts, Sindy charged the Beast King with her knives. He slashed down at her with his scythe but she evaded by jumping high above. She then came down with a powerful stab aiming for the neck of the Beast King, hoping to finish him off with a fatal attack.

However, firey sparks gashed as the Beast King brought his scythe upwards before blocking Sindy's attack. Sindy however wasn't finished. She then tried kicking the Beast King across his face, but he easily dodged and countered with the metal handle of his scythe.

Sindy flinched in pain as the handle delivered a painful uppercut to her chin. Unfortunately, before she could even recover, the Beast King began to rotate himself like a tornado, swinging his scythe at incredible speeds. If the attack landed, Sindy would surely be cut in two.

"And with one last swing, I'll cut you in half!" Screamed the Beast King excitedly.

Thankfully, at the very last moment, Andrew had managed to get in front of the Beast King, blocking the attack, saving Sindy's life.

Anticipating that this would happen, the Beast King swiftly released his scythe before maneuvering a spinning kick which landed his heel into the jaw of Andrew. This caused Andrew to be sent spiraling violently into a nearby building. Dust encircled him and a small wall even collapsed almost trapping him underneath.

"Andrew, are you okay?!" Sindy asked worriedly.

Andrew slowly arose from the rubble holding his jaw in pain, "Damn... I've never been kicked that hard in my life..!"

"We've got to attack using our Arts, Andrew! There's no way we're beating this guy in close-range combat!"

"Yeah, let's do it!"

Andrew then began activating his Art, utilizing it for the first time in a real battle, "Water Art: Water Dragon Missile!"

Sindy also joined him with an Art of her own; "Fire Art: Infernal Flare!"

A massive attack of flames and a water-like dragon then flew towards the Beast King. The Arts then exploded, shaking the surrounding area upon impact.

A moment of anticipation then came by as the two peered their eyes through the resulting debris and smoke. They had hoped their attacks had made contact but it was only childish thinking.

Within the smoke, they began hearing the Beast King activating an Art of his own. This had completely caught them off-guard.

"Demon Art: Shadow Arms!"

As the smoke cleared, they saw the Beast King standing completely unscathed. He had activated an Art which summoned two giant shadow-like arms surfacing from his back.

"You're joking, right?!" Cursed Andrew. He couldn't believe how easily their attacks were blocked.

The Beast King then began laughing hysterically, "Pathetic! Is this all that AA is capable of?!"

Sindy gritted her teeth upon the realization that they would not be able to defeat the Beast King so easily. Slowly, she analyzed their situation, trying to think of the best course of action.

The original instruction from Instructor Brady was to avoid engaging the target if they had run into him. However, since the Instructor was handling a powerful enemy of his own, there was no way they could leave the Beast King to continue hurting innocent people. To make it worse, she doubted that they could even get away from him even if they chose to retreat.

The next best option would be to hold off until Nathan arrived to give them a bigger advantage. Unfortunately, they were barely holding on as it was already. Nathan needed to hurry.

"Fine then, it seems we have no choice..." complained Sindy. "Andrew, we obviously won't be able to hit him with long-ranged attacks either. We have to get in close to ensure that our Arts hit. That's the only way we have a chance of winning this!" Declared Sindy.

Andrew nodded in approval, "Alright, no more holding back. I've got to use that move then! This thing takes a huge toll on my body, but it's now or never!"

"Wait, you don't mean-"

"Yes, I know it's risky but right now it's our only shot at defeating this guy!"

"Damn it..! That move isn't perfected yet, right? You know what the Instructor said! Using imperfect Arts in a fight is like a double-edged sword! In your case, that's more like a quad-edged sword!"

"I know but we don't have much choice right now... Besides, to counteract the side effects, you can finally put that new move of yours to the test. I'm talking about your, Regen Shield!"

Sindy pondered. The situation was desperate and they seemed to have no other choice. She hated to admit it but Andrew was right.

"Okay, let's do it then, Andrew!

"Alright! Destruction Art: Destructive Anomaly!"

Andrew's body then quickly became shrouded in a dark-purple aura. His "Destruction Art: Destructive Anomaly" gave him a multiplier of two times his original strength in both physical and spiritual power. Unfortunately, it had a major drawback. The longer he relied on it, the more it would eat away at his body, possibly even resulting in death. It was a huge risk.

"I'll heal your body while you fight! It should slow the deterioration as we planned!" Supported Sindy. "Regeneration Art: Regen Shield!"

Sindy's Regen Shield was similar to Andrew's Destructive Anomaly. It had a long-lasting effect but would heal the body instead of destroying it. It however took a huge amount of Spiritual Energy to maintain which meant that Sindy would not be able to keep the Art active for extended periods.

"That's the spirit!" Shouted the Beast King excitedly.

Andrew then charged the Beast King, ferociously engaging him in close combat.

The Beast King responded by dropping one of his heavy shadow arms at Andrew, almost crushing him in the process. Luckily, Andrew managed to evade and launched a counterattack.

Swiftly, he slashed upwards towards the throat of the Beast King, but the King somehow parried with his scythe. This almost proved fatal for Andrew as the Beast King slammed his Shadow Arms at Andrew once more. Regrettably, this time, Andrew was unable to dodge.

The ground even cracked open from the impact, sending miniature shock waves through the air. Andrew was driven underneath violently, inches away from being crushed.

This made Sindy extremely worried as she couldn't do anything but heal Andrew's deterioration. Another drawback of her Regen Shield was that it made it impossible for her to heal and fight at the same time.

"You're no match for me, kid!" Laughed the Beast King.

However, the Beast King had spoken too soon. Suddenly, he realized that his Shadow Arms were being pushed back. Andrew had managed to soften the impact by using both his swords as a shield. Andrew bled from his head and both his arms but he refused to give up. He had to hold out until Nathan arrived so that they could all defeat the Beast King together.

Andrew clenched his teeth and pushed the arms back with all his strength, "There is no way..! Absolutely no way that I'm going to allow the likes of some reptilian-looking ass dude to beat me!"

Andrew pushed himself to his utmost limits. He charged into close combat with the Beast King once again, gifting him with a barrage of slashes. Sadly, Sindy was now barely keeping up with the rate Andrew was pushing himself. His body was deteriorating much too fast, even for her Regen Shield. He would surely die if the fight didn't end soon.

Fortunately, Andrew was slowly beginning to gain the upper hand. He began to push the Beast King backward, preventing him from going on the offensive.

However, just for a moment, a streak of severe pain ached through the body of Andrew due to its constant deterioration. The Beast King saw this as his opportunity. It was his perfect chance to defeat Andrew for good. Quickly, he took advantage of his small chance and tried launching a counterattack.

"Water Art: Rain Slash!!" Desperately chanted Andrew.

To the surprise of the Beast King, Andrew caught him off-guard and attempted to remove his head with a powerful Water Art which now cloaked his swords. Forced with no other choice, the Beast King activated his second Art which he had been holding off on using.

"Beast Art: Summoning!!"

The Beast King summoned a Demon Beast which served as a shield taking the brunt of Andrew's attack. This pained Andrew greatly for he knew he no longer had the strength to go on. The Water Art was his final attack.

Andrew was now on the verge of exhaustion. He had fought well but his endurance was not able to keep up. If only he had the stamina to go on a little longer, then maybe he could have won. His body had just taken too much damage.

Sindy had also reached her limit from the constant healing of Andrew. Her spiritual energy had almost been completely drained. If she were to continue she would die.

The two friends staggered before their knees buckled underneath them. Simultaneously, they fell flat on their faces from exhaustion. They could no longer fight.

"Hahahahahaaaaa!! You sure got me there, kids! So close, but still too little!!" Laughed the Beast King mocking their efforts. "Now, I shall kill you both!"

With a wave of his scythe, the Beast King aimed to take the life of Andrew. However, a certain someone wasn't about to let it happen.

"Lightning Art: Thunderclap Strike!"

The sound of mini-thunder struck alongside the collision of metal as an electrified katana collided with the Beast King's scythe. Nathan now made four eyes with him. A burning fury had awakened within Nathan. He was ready for battle and the Beast King was his opponent.