by Aaron Oster
Kaeru swung the robe around his shoulders, not bothering to close it. Then, retrieving the bundle of scrolls, he headed to his small worktable in the corner of the room. He yawned once more as he sank into the low cushion and unrolled the first scroll. It was a report of the movements of the three opposing clans. Nothing new there.
He sifted quickly through the rest, taking note of important details but not really paying them much attention. The last one, however, he gave his full and undivided attention. It was a casualty report of the Tonde clan members lost in battle. The list was far too long for his liking, and he felt a bit of the fire that drove him in his earlier years return when he saw all those names.
Just for a moment, he was tempted to leave the Tonde compound and go wreak havoc on the Beast clan personally. But that urge quickly passed. He knew that his place was here. If he left, he’d be leaving his clan’s base undefended. And that was not to mention that him going out to kill a bunch of those weaker than him would invite the Beast King to do the same to his clan. And besides, killing those who couldn’t defend themselves just wasn’t his style. Until the day when he and the Beast King faced each other on the battlefield, he would remain here, offering stability to his clan.
Kaeru sighed when he saw the last name on the list. Though not confirmed dead, she had been missing for quite some time, and seeing as there had been no ransom note, it was safe to assume she was no longer amongst the living. Kaeru rubbed at his temples, knowing that the upcoming meeting would be less than pleasant, especially with this latest piece of news. He briefly debated hiding and letting Hato go to the meeting in his place. But in the end, he decided that he owed the girl at least this much.
“And here I was having such a nice day,” he muttered, allowing the scroll to roll itself back up.
The last name on the list was briefly visible, spelled out in Hato’s neat handwriting.
Tonde Aika: Missing (Presumed dead).
Irusaru would not be happy when he saw this.
9
Roy stood near the spire, concentrating on the Essence in his body. He remembered how he’d used the Movement technique. Now all he had to do was replicate the process. Aika stood nearby, along with Ferry. They were both here to keep watch and to watch him. Aika had wanted him to rest for another few days but an entire day of just sitting around had driven him crazy.
And so – much to her annoyance – he’d insisted he be allowed to go practice his Movement technique. His legs hadn’t been injured during the fight, so he was sure he’d be just fine. Probably.
He’d discovered that using the Movement technique wasn’t actually much different than channeling the Exploding Fist through his legs, and since he’d done that many times in the past, it really wasn’t too difficult. The only difference would be that he used the improved cycling technique, meaning it would impart more power.
Mentally preparing himself, Roy stilled his breathing, then channeled Essence down to his legs, allowing it to build there. As soon as he felt he was ready, he launched himself forward and slammed into a nearby spire.
But he did so in a very weird way. His torso and legs impacted the spire, while his upper body was thrown back, his spine bending in an unnatural way. He let out a cry of pain as his upper body followed his lower a moment later, slamming into the spire. A second later, a loud booming sound reached his ears, then he landed flat on his back, groaning in pain.
“You know. I don’t think anything has to try and kill you for you to end up dead,” Geon commented. “You seem to have an amazing talent for hurting yourself.”
“What happened?” Roy gasped.
When he’d moved, it seemed like only his legs had shot forward, while his upper body had tried to remain behind.
“You didn’t do it like you did last time. That’s what happened,” Geon chided as he slowly got back to his feet.
“If you hurt yourself again, I’m going to drag you back and tie you down until you’re better,” Aika threatened.
Roy ignored her.
“What did I do differently last time?” he asked, rubbing at the small of his back.
The single step had carried him a good twenty feet before he’d been arrested by the spire. Still, he’d felt completely out of control as his leg had moved ahead of the rest of his body.
“You didn’t use common sense, obviously.”
When Roy remained silent, Geon continued in a slightly exasperated tone.
“If you’re going to go moving that quickly, your Essence needs to be spread over your whole body. Unless, of course, you’re only trying to move your legs and leave the rest of it behind.”
Now Roy did feel like an idiot. How could he have missed something so obvious, again? Maybe Geon had good reason to be treating him this way. Then he shook himself, allowing the fire that drove him to constantly better himself to wash over him once more.
Everyone made mistakes, especially those who had to teach themselves. He had no help. The only person who could have helped had abandoned him, treated him just as badly as the Shah clan. Irusaru had cast him out and threatened to have him killed. He had to stop pining after the old traitor’s teachings and rely on himself more. He’d figured out his own techniques, long before the old man had come along. And he was positive he could continue to do so.
Steadying his nerves, Roy concentrated on his Core once more, feeling the Essence flowing through his body. This time, he made sure to allow the Essence to travel through his whole body and not only his legs, making sure to move extra near his spine and neck.
Then, he aimed himself at a spot clear of spires and launched himself forward. This time, Roy was able to see what happened. There was an explosion of power under his feet, accompanied by a flash of golden light. He felt the rushing of wind on his face, the thrumming of his Core, and the Essence pounding through his channels. As soon as he landed, he pushed off with his left, attempting to travel a shorter distance, but with more power.
His body obliged. There was a flash of golden light, followed by another boom, and he was just five feet from his starting point, but he had arrived in just half the time. He continued moving with the technique active, constantly feeding Essence into it as he went. Now that he was moving, he found it easier and easier to do so.
At some point, he realized that he’d gotten a good distance from Aika, so he attempted a turn. He slipped. He’d been traveling in a straight line up until now, but when he’d attempted the one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn traveling as fast as he had been, he’d lost control.
“You might want to take turns in-between steps,” Geon advised as he stood and dusted himself off.
His body ached, his knees and back hurt, and his right arm throbbed in its brace. It was no wonder, though. He was using a new technique and placing a good deal of strain on both his body and his Core. That small run had taken nearly all his Essence, and he knew that mastery of this new technique would take a lot of time and practice. But on the bright side, he at least now knew he could use it, meaning he was one step closer to his goal.
The Shah clan would pay for the way they’d treated him for all those years! And, aside for the goal of destroying his old clan, he still had his long-term goal: to end the Martial Arts for good. Sure, he knew it was a long-shot and something that might not even be possible, but he couldn’t live in a world that was so patently unfair.
Those with power could take what they want, and anyone who couldn’t fight was looked down on as a freak. Just as he had been. Even now, he was still weak, just a 3rd Dan Yellow-Belt. Out there in the wider world of Buryoku, there were Blue, Purple and Red-Belts who could destroy cities with their power.
He was sure that Red was only a small steppingstone compared to the wider world. He remembered well the stranger who’d come to save him during the Trial of Beginnings. There was no way that man was a mere Red-Belt. Sure, he’d never seen one before, but it had taken two of them to seal Geon back when he’d been a powerful Dungeon, and judging
by what the Core had told him, this man sounded like he was way stronger.
“What do you think comes after Red-Belt?” Roy asked as he turned back and began the walk back to camp.
His Core was practically empty, and he didn’t want to use the last bit of his remaining Essence, just in case he needed to fight.
“I have no idea, though I feel like I once knew. I know Red isn’t even close to the end, though there has to be one. A person can only have so much power.”
“Are you sure about that?” Roy wondered.
Was there an actual limit to the power one could obtain? If the aging process was slowed by advancement and one continuously advanced, wouldn’t they theoretically be able to advance forever? He voiced his thoughts out loud, and Geon seemed troubled.
“Well, yes, it is theoretically possible. Though not likely. Everyone, no matter how talented, has a limit to how far they can go. Why else isn’t the world swarming with super powerful beings?”
“Does that mean that I have one as well? Does it mean that at some point, I won’t be able to continue advancing no matter how hard I try?”
Geon was silent at that, leaving Roy to ponder on his meager existence and wonder if he could truly make a difference in this messed-up world, or if he was simply chasing a goal that could never be reached.
“Looks like you made it back!” Aika said as they came into view. “So?” she asked expectantly.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out how to use a Movement technique,” Roy said, doing his best to hide the pain he was in. “But it’s going to take a bit of practice before I can use it reliably.”
“Well, that’s good enough for me!” Aika said, giving him a once-over. “We’ll leave by the end of the week and make for the Lighted Fields. Even if you have mastered your Movement technique, it’s way too loud and flashy to use in enemy territory, so you’ll be riding Ferry.”
Roy nodded in agreement. The technique would lend him explosive speed and probably strengthen his attacks due to the momentum, but it was most definitely not a quiet one. It released a flash of light, followed by a massive boom each time he took a step. He guessed that was from the release of Essence.
Power Essence, when released, would always become unstable and explode. His technique worked by funneling Essence into his legs, then allowing it to build into a small bubble. The bubble would expand, then explode, throwing him forward. The entire process was instantaneous while the technique was active, but it was far more intricate than Roy had first expected. Just as with his Void Sphere, it seemed all the Power techniques required some finesse.
“So, what are you going to call it?” Aika asked as they headed back to their hideout.
Roy had been thinking about this for a while now, and he was pretty sure he’d come up with a good name.
“At first, I thought of calling it the Exploding or Power Step. But neither of them sounded quite right. If I called it the former, I’d just get it confused with my Physical technique, and if I called it the latter, it would just be too on the nose. In the end, I decided to go for something completely different. I’m calling it the Shockwave.”
“Ooh, that sounds quite ostentatious of you,” Aika teased. “Couldn’t come up with anything more low-key?”
Roy simply shrugged, not at all deterred by her teasing.
“As you said, it’s a very flashy technique. And so, it deserves a flashy name.”
“I personally think it’s a great name! It’ll make the Beast King and the Supreme of Cloying Darkness shake in their fancy robes!”
Hearing that, Roy almost changed his mind. In the end, he decided to keep it, if only to avoid Aika’s teasing. If he backed down now, she would view it as a sign of weakness on his part.
The stone slid shut behind them as they entered the spire, and Roy began heading to his room. He had to cycle and replenish his lost Essence, but he stopped, remembering something Aika had mentioned earlier that day.
“You said that you’d managed to get some Beast Cores filled with Power Essence, right?”
“Yeah, I did,” she replied, stretching her back and covering a yawn.
“Would you mind giving them to me now?”
“Why?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “They’ll do more for you once you advance.”
Roy just shook his head.
“Judging by how my last attempt at the test went, I don’t believe I’ll be ready for a while yet, and I need the extra Essence to push the boundaries of my Core. The more I build up now, the more power I’ll have at higher levels.”
“It is the smarter thing to do,” Aika reluctantly agreed. “But, you can do the same at Orange-Belt, where you’ll be stronger.”
“Tell me honestly,” Roy said, making sure to meet her eyes. “Will it really be the same if I push to deepen my Core at Orange as it will be now?”
Aika bit her bottom lip, clearly wanting to tell him yes. But after a few moments, her shoulders slumped, and she shook her head.
He could understand why she wanted him to wait until Orange before using the Cores. If he did, he could likely push to 2nd or 3rd Dan as soon as he advanced, even if he used all the excess Essence to increase his capacity at advancement rather than push further, which he was planning on doing. Roy was never one to take shortcuts and he knew that the stronger he built his foundation, the stronger he’d be as a result.
Sure, he wouldn’t be as powerful as he could be right away, but he would have far more Essence than anyone at his stage of advancement. If he ever had to fight a strong opponent of his level, he could be confident of victory. Besides, after a certain point, he was sure that there would start to be a notable difference between Martial Artists of the same advancement.
The further along one got, the more it would show. And he remembered well his conversation with Geon earlier. He didn’t want to go hitting a wall he couldn’t break through anytime soon. If there was a theoretical end to what a Martial Artist could achieve, then he wanted to be the one to make it all the way there.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Aika said, handing him the four Cores.
Roy could sense the immense power each of them contained. Each felt like a bolt of lightning trapped within a small multifaceted gem.
Roy gave her a half-grin as he tucked the Cores into his pockets.
“Yeah. So do I.”
10
They left their hideout four days later, heading east towards the border between Beast clan territory and the Lighted Fields. Roy still hadn’t gotten a good handle on the Movement technique, but that didn’t all that much right now. He was riding on Ferry’s back while Aika jogged along beside them.
In truth, he was a bit envious, watching Aika just running along so effortlessly, making turns and small adjustments with seemingly no effort. Everything looked effortless to her, from the way she moved to the way she fought. Even her cultivation seemed to be easy.
She’d only advanced to Green-Belt three weeks prior and was already nearing her 1st Dan. And she was well on the way to figuring out how to form Qi from her Essence. Not only that, but she was in the process of developing both a Full-body and Full-area technique, both of which she’d need to create a Conqueror technique. And on top of all that, she was a full year younger than him!
He had to remind himself that Aika had had her entire life to practice the Martial Arts and that her grandfather was a powerful and respected member of his clan. He, on the other hand, had only started a few months ago, so it was only natural that she would be better. It didn’t help, though, seeing how easily she accomplished tasks that were far beyond him.
He resented having constantly needed to be rescued because of his weakness. Not because she was a girl. He’d learned a healthy respect for Martial Artists, no matter their gender. What he resented was constantly looking weak in front of her. She was so amazing, and he was just…not. Despite the advantages he’d been given, he still wasn’t advancing quickly enough. He wasn’t grasping the co
ncepts needed to continue growing and was having a much harder time developing usable techniques.
There was one upside to not having to run, and that was that he got to cycle on the road. Despite how inadequate he was feeling in comparison to his friend, he had to admit that he was making steady progress. He’d absorbed the Cores Aika had given him over the past few days, and at this point, his Core was nearly twice as potent as it had been when he’d first advanced to Yellow-Belt.
It didn’t look any larger physically, but the amount of Essence he had reserved to call on now was significantly higher than it had been. His stamina had greatly improved as well, and he could keep going for far longer than before. His Shockwave did demand a lot of Essence, so it seemed that having more and more Essence was becoming a requirement if he wanted to be able to fight for any amount of time.
Roy was snapped from his musings as Aika began to slow, finally coming to a stop. He was momentarily confused, not understanding why she’d done so. The landscape looked the same as it had for the last few hours, but Aika was quick to explain.
“Right now, we’re on the border between neutral and Beast territory. From here on out, until we reach the border with the Lighted Fields, we’ll be in danger. Are you still sure you want to go on?”
Roy nodded, not even having to think about it. The Crater had been a great place for him to train and cultivate, but he was beginning to see some serious limits to what he could accomplish with regular cultivation. Ambient Essence, no matter how dense, wasn’t doing nearly as much as it once had.
In fact, a single one of the Beast Cores he’d absorbed had given him more than a month’s worth of cycling. He now knew what he would have to do if he wanted to increase his strength. He’d have to hunt Beasts with a Power Path and take their Cores. Either that or hunt any Beast, then trade for Power Cores in towns and villages.