Merrick wondered if they would scream even louder if they knew that the man they were about to watch was not only an amazing fighter, but also a human.
CHAPTER 55
MASTER BANZO HAD not fought a challenging opponent in several years, and certainly not since he had joined Rune Corp. He respected and liked Merrick and Cara both, but without their magic, neither of them was even close to his prowess as a fighter.
As for Master Banzo, he had learned how to wield the magical divinium cubes and weapons in battle, but discovering that magic itself existed had been no surprise to him at all.
During his studies in Japan and later China, Master Banzo had learned about Chi, the force that flowed through every living creature. He knew how to direct his own energy and how to conserve it as well. He had learned all of this before ever meeting Merrick, the man who had surprised him by turning out to be his best pupil yet.
As Master Banzo listened to the instructions from the large man who ran the contests, he flexed and relaxed each of his muscles as he prepared himself both physically and mentally.
A Drayoom walked into the center of the clearing. He was only of medium height but his body was lean and etched with sinewy muscle. Master Banzo noted that the man walked with a confidence that did not reflect arrogance, but instead hinted at proven ability in battle.
As if to further this impression, his opponent wore several scars on his body, and Master Banzo concluded that the large man had selected one of the best Wind Warriors for this match. Perhaps the man wanted to ensure victory for the Wind Family to avoid the inherent disgrace that would come from losing to an outsider—especially one who represented both the Earth Clan and Rune Corp.
None of that mattered to Master Banzo, because he was fighting for neither of those groups. Instead, he was representing humans everywhere and wanted to show the Drayoom that they were a force to be reckoned with.
With his best mushin stare, Master Banzo strode into the center of the circle, ready to test his mind, his skill, and his Chi against his opponent.
CHAPTER 56
MERRICK HAD NEVER seen Master Banzo fight before, and his Sensei never participated in the sparring matches back at Rune Corp.
Master Banzo was not a tall man, and in fact, with his short, stocky frame, he didn’t resemble most people’s image of a martial arts master at all. But the few times Merrick had seen his Sensei move—really move—during a demonstration, Merrick had been notably impressed with Master Banzo’s economy of motion and how he eluded his opponent with minimal effort.
But going up against a warrior of the Wind Family who had the full power of Wind Magic at his disposal would be a lot different than demonstrating moves and techniques to a class of willing students back at Rune Corp.
Merrick hoped that Master Banzo hadn’t taken on more than he could handle.
As calmly as if he were walking into his own dojo, Master Banzo strolled into the center of the street and squared off with his opponent.
Both men bowed, and then...nothing.
Although the crowd was shouting and cheering, the two opponents backed up slightly from one another, raised their hands, and stood very still. The Wind Warrior stared fiercely at Master Banzo, while Master Banzo seemed to be almost in a trance, focused on everything and nothing at all.
Neither of them made a move.
Merrick knew from his Sensei’s teaching that it was always best to let the other person attack first, but he had never seen a fight start off with this kind of patience.
After a full minute of waiting, Master Banzo’s opponent was unable to contain himself. He sprang forward, launching a flying kick with such speed that Merrick knew he must have been using a gust of magical wind to propel himself.
Master Banzo did not move until his opponent was in the air. Then he shuffled his feet and moved until he somehow stood directly behind the Wind Warrior when he landed. The instant the warrior’s foot hit the ground, Master Banzo struck him hard with a shoken, or one-knuckle punch, to the back of his head.
The Drayoom stumbled forward and rolled several times before jumping to his feet and turning to face Master Banzo. The warrior raised his hands while blinking his eyes as he struggled to clear his head. It was apparent that the warrior had expected an immediate follow-up attack, but instead, Master Banzo waited several yards away from him in the same stance he had adopted at the start of the match.
Master Banzo retained his mushin gaze and appeared as if he had barely expended any energy at all in the fight so far.
Even from Merrick’s vantage point, his Sensei’s stare was unnerving.
The crowd had grown quiet as they watched the outsider with newfound respect and caution.
The Wind Warrior composed himself and grinned slightly before walking forward with relaxed arms and legs until only a few feet away from Master Banzo. Once there, the Drayoom started to sink down into his fighting stance, apparently determined to have another standoff.
Before the Drayoom could establish his stance, Master Banzo exploded with the speed of a wild animal, unleashing a flurry of closed hand strikes for which his opponent was not prepared.
Master Banzo’s first four strikes hit the Drayoom in the dead center of his chest and in his sternum. The warrior shook off the blows and recovered his senses enough to unleash a few Wind Dragon words that summoned a dense column of air that flung Master Banzo away, like a leaf in the wind.
Master Banzo rolled away from the burst of wind and dropped down to the ground. He landed in a crouched position as the column of air roared past him and shattered the wall of a building another twenty yards away.
When Master Banzo stood up, he adopted the same fighting pose as before, with his hands raised and his gaze completely unchanged and unnerving. This time, the crowd exploded in cheers, although it was unclear to Merrick for whom they were cheering at this point.
Perhaps taking a note from Master Banzo’s book, the Wind Warrior launched himself at Master Banzo, trying to strike him before he had a chance to settle into his stance.
As his opponent neared, Master Banzo once again did not move until the last possible millisecond.
Instead of avoiding the warrior’s charge, this time Master Banzo extended his arms and brought up his interlocked hands directly in front of him, while leaning into his stance as if he were pushing against a heavy object.
His raised hands were exactly at the level of his opponent’s face, and before the Drayoom could alter his course, his face slammed into Master Banzo’s hands as if they had struck a brick wall, while the rest of his body continued along its path of forward momentum.
The result was the same as if his opponent had just run into an iron clothesline with his face. The Wind Warrior’s feet flew out in front of him, and he went down hard onto the street.
Master Banzo had always taught Merrick that to control the head of one’s opponent was to control his body, and Merrick finally understood what his Sensei had meant.
Instead of retreating to a safe distance, Master Banzo dove into his opponent’s prone body with his knee. He pulled back his hand, ready for a knife strike to the throat, and barked a noise that was so focused and filled with his internal Chi that it gave even the Drayoom crowd a pause.
Merrick thought to himself that, as powerful as Master Banzo’s voice was, it was probably at that moment that everyone in the crowd understood that he was only a human, and that this human had just defeated one of their best fighters.
As Master Banzo prepared to unleash his final strike, his empty gaze did not alter. His face did not show anger, rage, anxiety, or fear—nor did his focus waiver. He was the epitome of both internal balance and empty mindedness.
His opponent must have looked up into Master Banzo’s eyes and known that he had been thoroughly defeated. The Drayoom kept his eyes locked on Master Banzo’s face and raised his hand in submission.
Upon seeing the warrior’s signal, the large man barked a command, and the fight was over
. Master Banzo stood up, bowed to his opponent who was still on the ground, bowed to the large man, and then bowed to the crowd.
There was a moment of silence as he was regarded for what he was—a human who had bested one of their own. And then, the crowd cheered and shouted, showing their respect for the clear winner of the match.
Finally, Master Banzo blinked and his gaze cleared. He allowed himself a slight smile as he walked over to the edge of the crowd and was patted on his back and congratulated as he made his way over to Merrick and the rest of their group.
Jonathan was the first to greet him.
“Master, you were amazing! You won without using any magic at all!”
Master Banzo looked at Jonathan, his face and his upper body glistening with sweat.
“The warrior defeated himself,” Master Banzo said. “He was a skilled fighter, but he was not balanced inside. That is why he was defeated. Still, I am pleased with my performance, although I never should have let that wind blast take me so far away before rolling away from it.”
“You were brilliant, Sensei,” Merrick said, placing his hand on Master Banzo’s shoulder.
Master Banzo simply smiled.
Merrick turned at the sound of Mr. Kawagishi’s voice speaking in the common tongue of the Wind Family. Their guide was seemingly engaged in an argument with the large man who ran the fights, and when the man gestured at Merrick, Mr. Kawagishi shook his finger in the man’s face.
Merrick walked over to them.
“Did I do something wrong?” Merrick said.
“Pardon us, Ard Righ. This man was impressed by your Sensei’s performance and has asked if you would also be willing to fight. I have told him that he is out of line to ask that of the Ard Righ, the King of the Earth Clan, but he is stubborn and a greedy man who only wants to maximize the size of the bets placed on these fights.”
“I would enjoy a chance to compete,” Merrick said. “Tell him I would be honored to participate.”
“Merrick, what are you doing?” Mona said as she came up from behind him. “Why would you want to fight?”
Merrick leaned in close to Mona.
“I want to show them that Master Banzo’s victory wasn’t just a fluke—that they can be beaten not just by humans but by me as well,” Merrick said with a slight smile before turning to Jonathan. “What’s the worst that could happen if I lose the fight?”
Jonathan cleared his throat.
“It seems that the rules are obeyed here, so I wouldn’t predict a high probability of permanent injury or of death. If you lose, however, the crowd will likely see this as the Wind Family being victorious over the Earth Clan and Rune Corp. You have to remember that you won’t be fighting as Merrick in their eyes, but as the Ard Righ—even if you don’t claim the title for yourself. It’s a safe venture from a physical standpoint but a risky political move, at best.”
“But if I win?” Merrick said.
Jonathan stepped nearer to Merrick and whispered close to his ear.
“If you win, especially after the victory by Master Banzo, you would establish Rune Corp and the Earth Clan as forces to be taken seriously. They will wonder if all of our warriors are as strong as the two of you. It might make it more difficult for the Emperor to rally his forces against the Earth Clan or Rune Corp in the future, if he ever felt so inclined.”
“That’s what I was hoping you would say,” Merrick said as he took off the top part of his battle suit, as Master Banzo had.
Merrick turned to Mr. Kawagishi and the large man.
“I accept the challenge.”
“The Emperor will not be pleased with this,” Mr. Kawagishi said.
“I take full accountability for my decision,” Merrick said before walking out to the center of the street circle to the astonished cheers of the crowd.
He bowed to the crowd.
“I fight as Merrick, and I fight for Rune Corp,” he said, although his words were drowned out by the frenetic crowd.
While Merrick waited for his opponent to show, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. When he opened his eyes, he was fully in the state of mushin, seeing everything but nothing at all—and prepared for anything.
He would not let Master Banzo, Cara, or Rune Corp down.
To his left, a giant of a man, perhaps the largest Merrick had ever seen, stepped into the cleared street circle. Several members of the crowd began shouting a name, presumably that of the giant man, and some even laughed out loud at the sight of how small Merrick must have looked in comparison to the behemoth he was about to fight.
The two men bowed to each other, then squared off, each of them settling into their respective fighting stance.
Even as Merrick prepared himself to out wait his opponent, he realized that the crowd had gone silent. He heard a familiar voice addressing him, and he allowed his mushin to fade as he backed away from his opponent and stood at his full height.
The enormous warrior looked equally confused until they both saw Prince Takehiko walking across the cleared circle with a long pole weapon in each hand. One pole had a spiked mace ball on the end of it while the other ended in a spear tip.
Merrick’s opponent dropped to the ground, bowing as the Prince tossed the spear toward Merrick, who reached up and caught it in mid-air.
“You honor our traditions with your participation,” the Prince said, “but it is not right for a commoner, no matter how skilled or large a warrior he might be, to fight someone of your station. I offer myself as a worthy substitute. Let us see how the royal lines of each of our families fare against one another.”
“I’ve told you before, with as much respect as I can, that I am not the Ard Righ. My name is Merrick. Nothing more and nothing less,” he said, as he tried to tamp down the contempt he felt for the Prince who had been ready to ambush him only a few evenings ago. “I will accept your invitation to fight, but only as Merrick.”
“Very good, Ard Righ,” the Prince said with a barely concealed sneer. “You may fight under whatever title you wish, of course.”
Merrick turned to look for his people in the crowd, and as he did so, the Prince lunged forward with his pole mace. Merrick dropped flat on the ground, letting the spiked ball pass over his head as he murmured a word from the Wind Dragon’s lexicon that sent him rolling away on the ground with super human speed.
Merrick wasn’t nearly as skilled at Wind Magic as he was with the other elements, but there was nothing around him on which to work his Earth Magic. He was also pretty sure he could call on the lightning from Sigela, but he didn’t think the bolts would pass through the wards that protected the city unless the Emperor had once again removed them as he had done at dinner earlier in the week.
As Merrick jumped to his feet to face the Prince, he knew that he was going to have to rely on his skills as a fighter and on his limited knowledge of Wind Magic to get him through the fight with the Prince.
The two warriors circled each other, their weapons held at the ready. For some reason, despite the rules of the contest, Merrick sensed that he was about to fight not only for his honor but also for his life.
Merrick stepped farther away from the Prince and positioned himself so that he could see Mona without taking his eyes off of his opponent again. He could see that her face was filled with fear, and he did his best to assure her with his gaze that everything was going to be all right.
Silently assuring himself of the same thing, Merrick regained his state of mushin and settled in for the fight of his life.
CHAPTER 57
FOR ONCE, THE EMPEROR had been very clear when he had told the Prince to take advantage of any situation where Merrick’s death would either be seen as justified by his people and by the other families or where his death could be clearly proven to have been an accident.
The Prince’s first attempt at tricking Merrick into entering the Emperor’s chambers after hours had failed. It would have been easy to convince others that Merrick had broken into the E
mperor’s sleeping quarters and had been killed in a fight with the Prince as he tried to protect his younger brother, the ruler of the Wind Family.
Merrick had only escaped his fate that night because their sister, Tamami, had intervened. She was always causing trouble, but both he and the Emperor were hesitant to take her on directly. She was more manipulative than either of her brothers, but more importantly, she was also deeply embedded within the monastic order of Araki. The monks led by the Abbess were the only group that came close to equaling the influence of the royal family with their people. As was always the case, religion was a formidable and influential force among the masses, and its leaders could not be trod upon with impunity.
What really worried the Prince was that he did not understand why Tamami had taken to being Merrick’s protector. The Emperor had told him that the Abbess thought Merrick was destined to play some crucial role in the future of all Drayoom, but Tamami seemed to be taking a more personal interest in Merrick than she would have if only following the orders of the Abbess.
It also surprised the Prince that Tamami was being so open about her nightly outings with Merrick. She must have known that the Prince and the royal guard knew of everything they did, but she obviously did not care.
The Prince knew that Tamami had a plan. She always had a plan. But he didn’t know what it was, and without knowing the details, he had been hesitant to act against Merrick again up until now.
When he had first heard Merrick agreeing to fight one of the Wind Warriors, he had thought the situation was almost too good to be true. All the Prince had to do was to take the warrior’s place and fight Merrick himself.
Outside of the palace, the wards dampening the use of magic from the other dragons were not in place. The common citizen had use for occasional words from other dragons, such as Sigela, to perform day-to-day tasks like starting fires, or words from Lagu for pulling water from the clouds to drink.
This meant that Merrick would be able to use magic from any of the dragons. Because there were no Earth elements such as trees and rocks lying around in the streets of the Cloud City, Merrick would be limited in what he could accomplish using Terrada’s words. However, the Prince reminded himself to watch out for Merrick’s use of Fire Magic and to be wary of his skills as a fighter as well.
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