The faces of the Stones" darkened when they saw hated Tsayan opposite the "weakest" boy of their family. It seems that mysterious Kyon was going to die an honorable death. But they would always remember his name. Thanks to him, the family retained the remnants of their honor. Recent events were still shrouded in mystery. They had to investigate the details...Tsayan scornfully looked at the Stones enjoying their desperate faces and antic.i.p.ating their last hope die. His silhouette blurred towards the opponent. He was not going to waste a single second. He would kill him instantly.
Tsayan"s wide-open hand was rapidly approaching Kyon"s head. Obviously, the adversary wanted to destroy the boy in the most unimaginative way.
Anyone present in the audience could see the blow. It expressed all of Tsayan"s contempt for his opponent. The power hidden inside would easily break the enemy"s head if they were at 5 stages below, and in the case of 13 stages below, his blow would turn them into a mash of brains and bones.
…
Kyon understood he had to avoid the clash with the opponent of that level by all means. His key of pure energy, perfectly clean, gave him an advantage (as to any other pract.i.tioner) by exactly five stages. He had discovered it in the battle he had with Juno long ago, when he was two stages above her and in the direct clash of fists he could seriously damage her hand in 5-10 blows. The difference of eight stages in pure energy (his case exactly) would turn his hand, like any other part of his body, into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess.
The only tactic available for Kyon was to avoid all the attacks in his direction using his speed and agility. Simply put, he had to dodge and counterattack as safely as could be.
As far as he knew, his perfect technique of movements gave him an advantage of exactly in one stage. He moved at the speed of the 7th stage of the second phase. Taking into account his 10th level of the battle fist, (a couple of levels could be added if necessary) he could easily parry all non-ma.s.s attacks of the pract.i.tioners in the second phase.
In addition to his speed and agility, Kyon planned to use the earth element to create a sword and a s.h.i.+eld. He could attack with the sword from a safe distance. As for the s.h.i.+eld, even if it couldn"t withstand a direct blow, it could protect him from some ma.s.sive attacks, such as wind, a stream of ricks, fire / ice, etc. Of course, he was going to choose the shape of the weapon and s.h.i.+eld based on the situation.
From Kyon"s point of view, he could defeat his opponent in direct attack (without any defense component), or using a sophisticated trap / technique, or some concentrated ma.s.s technique. Anyway, he planned to confirm all his ideas in the battle, in practice.
…
Tsayan"s hand went through the afterimage, pointlessly cutting through the air. His eyes widened. {Where is...?!} - He heard a whistling sound, hastened to recoil, but failed... He got a calibrated blow right into his solar plexus.
Tsayan stepped back and coughed. He looked at his enemy who was nonchalantly crunching his fingers. Tsayan was shocked. He got a blow just like Kaisen, the sc.u.m... He got the blow from someone he"d called a n.o.body, whom he didn"t consider an adversary at all!
{He dodged and counterattacked such a fast opponent?!} - Dinah thought, stunned. With her original development, she could see the movements of both fighters. That measured uppercut that Tsayan got in the gut was beautiful! - {How could he be so fast?! He is just a servant at the 7th stage of development!} - It came to her like a slap on the forehead.
Anna smiled with delight. Her eyes sparkled with interest and excitement.
Stephanie couldn"t believe her eyes.
Richie turned red.
«It"s impossible!» … «It can"t be!» … «My eyes deceive me!» – The guests screamed like stuck pigs. They"d never dreamed they would see the pract.i.tioner of 13 stages below in development successfully dodge! And then counterattack! It"s hard to imagine and there it was right in front of them...
If the objects of concealment functioned after elemental energy had been used, everyone would decide that Kyon"s development was much higher than their souls could feel but it wasn"t the case. It was so absurd. He was at the 7th (1) stage!
Tsayan couldn"t believe his eyes.
«You... Did you just hit me?»
«Um, no. It must be your imagination.» – Kyon theatrically shook his head.
«Imagination then...» - Tsayan did not believe his strangled voice. When his father, the elder scolded him, Tsayan spoke in a more confident voice than with this... That... He called him a n.o.body and was confident it was true. His soul literally refused to take him as anything but that… However... He"d missed a blow. The guests were whispering, the Stones were giggling… It stung. So embarra.s.sing... His face was red with humiliation. But it did not last long. His confusion quickly changed to cold determination.
Kyon chuckled. On the one hand, he could have taken advantage of the moment while his opponent was weak reevaluating his strength. Kyon could have seriously damaged him with the pointed offshoot. On the other hand, an instant victory didn"t meet his two goals, one of which was to find out what he was capable of.
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Tsayan pointed his fist for a powerful hook in the head. And he missed again just like the last time. His gaze hardened. Now that he was focused, he could see the way his enemy had been moving. Tsayan snorted inwardly. If it was all the boy was capable of he would surely kill him with the next move.
...
~whoosh~
But somehow the kick in the chest was unsuccessful.
{What the...} - Hardly Tsayan had realized what was happening when an unexpected counterattack headed towards him. He had taken the wrong position to dodge. All he could do was to infuse the expected place of attack with pure energy. The blow made him step back. He didn"t feel any pain, he wasn"t hurt. But deep inside, he felt as if he"d been hit with an ax.
«This boy... He is so skillful and quick!» - Stephanie cried out.
«He"s just hit Tsayan! Have you seen it?!» … «Terrific! Unbelievable! My eyes didn"t fail me!» … «He threw him back yet again! Again! Ahhh!» – The Stones were thunderstruck. The Browns kept quiet in shock and disbelief. If they started cheering for Tsayan he would die of shame. It would have meant his opponent had the slightest chance of victory. The rest of the families did not know how to react, they were just staring, flabbergasted.
Tsayan snorted dismissively, ignoring the reaction of the audience, and continued the attack. He fought for about a minute to no avail always getting shameful and almost painless pokes from Kyon. Tsayan looked like a clown in real-time! And his great mentor was Kyon, the king of the circus!
Tsayan could no longer remain impa.s.sive. Especially since he noticed the contemptuous smile on the boy"s face. Tsayan had completely lost his composure. He"d forgotten his master"s instructions that the true warrior should always remain calm. It was impossible... It was unreal to stay calm! He was overcome by anger, rage, wrath, and shame! Under the yoke of his emotions, Brown"s attacks were becoming more and more predictable. All he had to do was to strike once and he would win! The enemy would be crushed like a bug! But there was no way... He couldn"t hit him... It didn"t work…
...
Juno gasped in shock. {That was how real speed looked... A monster. A d.a.m.n monster. Why are you so quick and skillful? Why? How can I take my revenge on you in the future? I want to move so fast...} - It was totally spoiling her mood.
XiaoBai was dizzy. Oh, Cornelia was holding him. Um... And how can this fragile girl be so strong? She does not use pure energy, does she?
Dinah crossed her arms, trying to calm down. But what she"d seen couldn"t be unseen. It struck her low self-esteem and contempt for Kyon. d.a.m.ned genius... She didn"t know him at all! It turned out he"d been fighting her as if she were a little baby! What if he"d been tricking lady Juno, too?
«Tsayan learned from the great master Ju-Kai the style of Grazie when he was still a child. He"s recently qualified for the third level of the battle fist but now... Now he is fighting the much slower enemy and he can"t hit him even once! Who is this f.u.c.king Kyon?!» – One of the Browns said in disbelief.
Everyone could hear him say that. Now the audience watched carefully the way Kyon was moving. It was amazing... No one could predict or understand any of his methods to the end. His stretching technique... His tricks... He was like his opponent"s shadow, like a wind that can"t be reached. No one present could keep calm watching that scene.
«Can anyone determine the boy"s fighting style?» – Stephanie asked carefully watching every Kyon"s move.
«Maybe it"s Kaiku?» - One of the Stones suggested.
«No. Absolutely not. They only kick there. He uses his hands as well.» - Another Stone replied at once.
«Judu! I just saw a familiar movement!»
«You are seeing things! Judu is completely different.»
«Maybe Karabe?! They move just as elegantly…»
«No, my brother does Karabe. He moves completely differently! In Karabe they do somersaults and use torque…»
The girl grunted thoughtfully. «He skillfully uses the balance of his body and his enemy"s, as well as numerous tricks and schemes... What if he studies the grandiose art of Jinkai?»
Numerous guests gasped, moaned and talked excitedly. It came to the fighting style that only elites of the elites could do, those who live in high-ranking families of the most powerful empires. Only golden children with outstanding talent could become students of archimasters the number of whom in the entire world could be counted on the fingers.
One of the guests spoke reverently:
«At the Tournament of the Empires, during the demonstration battles, Ms. Torres Valkyrie showed the Jinkai style. I can a.s.sure you it"s not Jinkai... It looks different. It"s prettier but... Completely different. I am not sure if it"s better or worse but it"s more understandable!»
His words stunned everyone. It"s known if the style is "understandable" it"s less effective. n.o.body could understand Kyon"s movements at all. Was his style better than Jinkai? What if an archimaster had really trained him?
The t.i.tle of archimaster could be achieved through incredibly hard work, proving skills in movements and combat in general to everyone in the world. Masters of that level are famous for their arrogance and unprecedented pride. They would never teach an undeveloped kid at the 7th stage of the base phase, above all, from a low-ranking empire.
However, there is a slight contradiction... It is well known that masters often offer and sometimes force their students to master the movement technique from their heritage which is pa.s.sed from successor to successor...
At times, these techniques can provide an amazing speed bonus. Sometimes they are accented by style. For example, masters who teach the Kaiku style often have a movement technique that grants the highest speed of kicks. Styles where the emphasis is on the hands, in particular for swordsmen or spearmen, often use a technique that gives more acceleration to the arms than to the legs.
The boy was moving unbelievably fast for his stage of development. Every part of the body had the same speed and skill. There was no doubt he"d been using a stunning movement technique given to him by some great master. The Stones certainly had nothing of a kind. Probably, even the most powerful empire would be interested in a technique that gave such an explosive increase in speed.
«Alright, if no one can determine his style, tell me at least his level of the battle fist.» – Stephanie asked in an undertone. She wasn"t expecting to hear the exact answer.
«If Tsayan has the fourth level Kyon must have at least the fifth, most likely the sixth!»
She could hear some convulsive sighs.
«I will never believe that a fourteen-year-old can have the skills of an archimaster level! I can"t believe it for the life of me!» – A tall young man from the Brown family objected. He would have fainted if he knew that Kyon was using only the 10th level of the battle fist. He might have been using the 13th. He didn"t want to reveal he could use the wind, the water and the earth (it could be seen by natural fluctuations between the worlds).
«Besides, there is no archimaster who would take a student so mediocre in terms of development.» – The young man confidently finished his tirade.
There was silence after that.
«What if... His master is the legendary TsyJi?» – One of the girls suggested in a trembling voice.
Everyone looked at her in silent surprise.
«Nonsense!» … «Rubbis.h.!.+» … «It"s just your imagination!» … «Fairy tales for the kids.» … «Very funny!»
She stubbornly continued:
«But it"s the only reasonable explanation. Consider this, a 14-year-old is at the fifth or more level of the battle fist! His speed is outstanding for the seventh stage! Only the legendary movement technique from TsyJi"s heritage can bestow unsurpa.s.sed speed! Besides, the legendary master TsyJi is the only one who is eccentric enough to take on anyone, even an undeveloped guy from a low-ranking empire. It might be my imagination but it sounds too much like the truth!»
She heard an excited whisper of denial and consent. There followed by arguments, debates, disputes and a lot of abuse. It was impossible to agree on anything. Many of them heard old tales about the great but very strange master TsyJi. Once a hundred years he"d take on a student who was destined to change the history of the world. The parents told their children bedtime stories that one day TsyJy would come and take them away as his lucky students if they behaved well. An ordinary fairy tale indeed… But where did it come from? What if the legendary eccentric master really existed? How else could they explain what was happening in the arena? The oscillations of the seventh stage of the base phase emanating from Kyon couldn"t be fake. Besides, the weak blows he landed on Tsayan corresponded to his development. Otherwise, Tsayan would have been defeated long ago...
«Legendary master TsyJi teaches only those who are destined by fate to change the world. If Kyon loses to Tsayan the answer will be obvious. But if he wins by some miracle we will learn the truth from him.» – Stephanie concluded confidently. All the others unanimously nodded in response. The dark-haired boy was an incomprehensible enigma for everyone. They all wanted to know what he had to tell them.
The girl hoped that Kyon"s master was TsyJi. If so she had to come up with something that would help her become a student of the great master. Or at least start training with the boy to learn from the experience of the legendary person. If she could fight at one level of the battle fist higher than she is now she"d become much stronger.
Only Juno could hardly hold back her laughter. She had to cover her mouth with her hand. She knew too well what monster was Kyon. It was ridiculous to hear her kinsmen making the most absurd and stupid theories about the powerful master.