Wind (Buryoku Book 4)

by Aaron Oster

  But, with Rura’s technique having been shattered, it was all the man could do to keep himself from being torn apart.

  If this is my full-area technique, then maybe…

  Roy cut off his attack, pulling in all the remaining Qi and leaving the walls looking much the same as they had before. Rura, not having expected a reprieve, cringed, continuing to force more Water Qi into the air. His Core was severely depleted, but not so much that he couldn’t fight. His body was covered in hundreds of cuts, his skin appearing more red than black from all the blood.

  “Ha!” he crowed, leaping back to his feet. “I knew you’d run out of power eventually and all I’d have to do was wait you out! Your brutish style might work on some, but on a superior fighter like me, you never stood a chance!”

  “Oh, shut up,” Roy muttered as he ran forward, keeping the Qi flowing through him tightly contained.

  To his way of thinking, if he’d been confusing his full-area technique for a Containment technique, then perhaps he’d been confusing a full-body technique as something else as well – specifically, his Movement technique. Ever since his strange revelation on the morning where his Belt had shifted color, nothing had seemed right. He’d been going more on instinct than anything else, not thinking his moves through, and now, it was no different.

  Rura came in with a punch, water spiraling around his arm, flowing back farther than it had before and taking on a slightly darker hue. From this, Roy could guess that this was a second stage technique, one that would pack much more of a punch, but he couldn’t worry about that. He just needed to concentrate on the task at hand, which was keeping his Qi as controlled as he could. He wasn’t sure why, but tight control seemed to be the way to go.

  Power Qi burst from Roy’s body just before he impacted with the man. Rura’s attack slammed into his head, only to be stopped dead in its tracks by a single hexagonal-shaped plate of Power Qi. Roy struck, his entire body radiating golden light. His fist slammed into Rura’s chest and crackling energy exploded from the point of impact, hurling the man back into the far wall.

  Roy dashed after him, small jets of golden Qi searing the sand beneath his feet, but before he could deal the final blow, Rura dropped to the ground, curling in on himself and screaming for all he was worth.

  “I surrender! I surrender!”

  “And the match is over!” the announcer boomed. “Choi is once again victorious, having pulled out an astonishing win using a full-body technique! I can’t believe my eyes, ladies and gentlemen. Could it be that we’ve all underestimated young Choi, and is it possible that we are in the presence of a Grandmaster?”

  The crowd roared as Roy came to a stop, golden power still radiating from his skin. He felt alive, his entire body charged with Power and demanding to be used. It was actually a struggle to slow the flow of Qi and get back into his regular cycling rhythm and, when he looked down to his Belt, saw the very clear Blue-Belt color standing out against his tattered robes.

  The color didn’t fade nearly as fast this time, sticking around for several seconds before fading back to Green. But, unless he was imagining things, it was not the same Green as it had been before. Instead, it carried a very distinctly blue tinge.

  Roy walked back to the far wall, where he immediately sat and began pulling in as much of the escaped Qi as he could, as well as all of the Power Essence generated by the other fights. In doing this, he also hoped to keep anyone from seeing his odd Belt color and just hoped that anyone who had seen it would just assume their eyes were playing tricks on them.

  “I don’t know what’s happening to me, Geon, but the longer this keeps going, the more afraid I become,” Roy said as a couple of guards entered the area to drag the now-unconscious Rura from the arena. “Something is definitely wrong. No one advances this quickly, and the color of my Belt should not be changing.”

  “I…I don’t know what’s wrong,” Geon said. “We need more time to sit and think. Your full-area technique wasn’t as powerful as the full-body technique you began to use. If you weren’t pretending to be so inept until now, then I can’t assume that you’re finally beginning to show me what you can do.

  “Something must have triggered a change, and it must have happened between when you exited your last test and now. I don’t know what it is, but maybe Hermit will. However, until we can either win our way out or he comes to rescue us, you need to stay calm and focused.”

  “You do realize we’re in the middle of a tournament, right?” Roy replied.

  “You can always just surrender as soon as the next match starts,” Geon suggested.

  “Ri-i-ight. Like that wouldn’t look suspicious at all. I destroy two people who are stronger than me and escape without any crippling injuries, only to give up in the final match.”

  “You and I have very different ideas of what crippling injuries are then,” Geon replied.

  Roy was covered in small cuts and bruises. He had quite a deep cut in his side from where the pincer attack had dug in and a cracked rib. That was not to mention the burns he’d suffered from his previous fight. The bleeding had mostly stopped, though the pain was still quite prevalent.

  “You know what? You might be right,” Roy thought, taking a better look at himself.

  Normally, this wasn’t something he’d consider, but seeing as Hermit was on his way and Roy had no idea what was happening to himself, perhaps bowing out of the next fight with the excuse of injury was the wisest course of action.

  However, as though the announcer had seen into his very thoughts – or the Sovereign commanding him had – his plans of quitting were succinctly ruined.

  “We have a change of schedule!” the announcer boomed. “Our great Sovereign has decided to forgo the last fight of the day in favor of the Blue-Belt tournament! This way, the winner of the Green-Belt bracket can face their champion in a bid for freedom, instead of a random fighter! Don’t worry, we’ll make things interesting for the Blue-Belt bracket as well, and their last battle royale will be held after that of the Green-Belts’!

  “This means – you’ve guessed it – that the Purple-Belts will also be fighting today!”

  Roy’s groan was drowned out by the roar of the crowd, eager to see the higher Belts fighting when they’d only been expecting to see the Green-Belts. After all, if they had managed to put on such an exciting show, then the Blue-Belts and higher would undoubtedly make a better one.

  “But, before we see them off, let’s hear it for our surviving challengers!”

  The walls lowered then, leaving the five remaining Green-Belts, those who would be fighting each other the next day, to face the champion of the Blue-Belts.

  Roy looked around, noting that two of the remaining four he saw bore familiar faces. He wasn’t surprised to see Marrie, but Xu was not someone he’d expected to make it through. Neither of them looked nearly as beat up as him, and for some reason, Roy got the feeling that he’d gotten a couple of the toughest opponents possible.

  “You’re just being paranoid,” Geon said as a couple of guards came to escort him back to his cell. “There’s no way someone is singling you out and giving you tough opponents. You’re not that special.”

  “Yeah,” Roy replied, allowing himself to relax a little. “You’re probably right.”

  34

  “I didn’t expect him to make the fight appear to be so close,” Pearl said as she and the others watched the Green-Belt be escorted out of the arena.

  “Wouldn’t you do the same if you were in his position?” Granite asked, the scorn clear in his voice. “After all, he went through all the trouble of faking his presence here, as well as all those injuries. So, why would he make a fight between him and someone nearly a Belt higher appear anything but close?”

  “He made it look close, up until the point where he became bored,” Pelata said, stroking his chin. “After that, he obliterated the other fighter in under a minute.”

  “My only question is why he would use techniques like t
hat when trying to remain undercover,” Pearl said. “You heard the announcer calling him a Grandmaster.”

  “It was mere speculation,” Pelata said. “Unless he displays a Conqueror technique, no one could call him that. Besides, I doubt the crowd believes he is either. It’s the announcer’s job to make things sound more exciting than they are, and while he undoubtedly appears to be an extremely talented fighter, it’s not like the world hasn’t seen anyone like that before.”

  “What about the shifting hues of his Belt?” Pearl wondered. “Do you think it’s intentional?”

  Pelata, like the others in the top box, had seen Choi’s – or Roy’s – Belt color shift from Green to Purple twice during the last fight. Once had been when he’d used the full-area technique, and the other had been when he’d used the full-body. It had been well hidden behind the waves of golden Qi, and had they not been specifically looking for it, they, like the others in the crowd, would have missed it.

  “Perhaps he simply cannot use the level of power he does without his Belt shifting to reflect that change,” Granite said.

  Though, that didn’t entirely make sense either, as no Green-Belt should have been able to live through a Purple-Belt’s full-area technique, no matter how talented or powerful. The difference in sheer power alone should have seen Rura ground to a bloody paste. Yet, somehow, the boy had lived. And it did not escape Granite’s attention that while the Belt had shifted back to Green, there was a very distinct blueish hue.

  “I am still of the opinion that the shift is intentional,” Pelata replied. “By now, I’m sure he knows we’re watching. It’s the reason I changed the schedule. I want to see how he’ll handle himself against the champion of the Blue-Belt tournament, who will undoubtedly be an impossible challenge for any Green-Belt.”

  There was also the unspoken matter of the approaching Sovereigns. By his estimation, the first would arrive sometime tomorrow, and he wanted the Eternal to be present and free of the tournament right as he arrived. With any luck, the man would drop his façade once he won and agree to drive the two Sovereigns off for him, in repayment for giving him what he wanted.

  If it were up to him, Pelata would have left the arena as soon as the Green-Belt fights were over, but he had little choice but to stay, as leaving now would only arouse suspicion. He was also excited to see who the final five of the Blue-Belts would be. This way, he could guess as to which was most likely to face off against the Green-Belt.

  ***

  Roy sagged against the wall of his cell, immediately closing his eyes and pretending to fall into a cycling rhythm. In truth, there was little point, as his Core was already full to bursting, and taking in any more would have forced an advancement. At least, that’s what he thought. Roy actually had no way of knowing if he would or not, as nothing had been as it should since the first time his Belt flickered.

  He heard the clank of footsteps as both Marrie and Xu walked past, neither saying a word. What was there to say, after all? She thought he was lying to her, and Xu tried to kill him. So, they weren’t exactly the best of friends. Add to that the fact that they were now all competing for their freedom, and none felt any need to talk to one another, which worked for Roy just fine right now.

  “So, what do we know so far?” he asked Geon, getting the Core on board as they began running through a mental checklist of all that had happened.

  “Well. You advanced to Green-Belt, were kidnapped, escaped, and ended up getting us captured again…” Geon began.

  “Without all the insults,” Roy interrupted.

  Despite his willingness to work with the Core right now, he was in a good deal of pain and wanted nothing more than to rest. However, with his mind troubled as it was, he couldn’t very well relax until he’d at least figured some of what was happening out.

  “Fi-ine,” Geon said with a sigh. “You got here, and for some reason, had your name changed to Choi…”

  “Geon…”

  “Yes?”

  “Stay on point.”

  “…”

  “Geon!”

  “Fine!”

  Roy could feel a headache coming on in addition to all his other injuries. Dealing with Geon’s temperamental nature was difficult at the best of times, and now was definitely not one of them.

  “We had a few fights in the arena, managed to win our way free, and were blackmailed into staying. After that, we managed to gain Marrie’s trust, only to lose it that morning.”

  “So, although it seemed to start with others being unable to sense you, the actual strangeness began on that morning,” Roy said. “So, let’s go over everything that happened once again.”

  “There isn’t really much to go over,” Geon said. “You were cycling, then had some sort of epiphany and began rapidly absorbing information. By the time it was over, you’d changed somehow. Since then, you’ve managed to develop eight techniques using Qi, increased the range of your Spirit Sense, and have somehow figured out how to pull in, cycle, and transform Essence in the span of seconds. All in all, I can honestly say that I have no idea what’s going on.”

  Roy sighed and buried his face in his hands. His head was pounding in his skull, making thinking all the more difficult. Everything had changed since that morning, but things hadn’t really advanced until after.

  “Until I fought!”

  “What?”

  “I know things started changing on that morning,” Roy said, feeling excitement beginning to build. “But the real changes only started once I actually fought in the arena!”

  “Hmm. I see your point,” Geon said. “So, what you’re saying is that every time you fight, you seem to become stronger?”

  “I know it’s strange, but just think about it. While I did figure out some of it in my mind beforehand, I didn’t actually do anything until we had a real fight.”

  “You do realize that you had plenty of time before that, right?” Geon said.

  “I do. But what about the fights we just had then? A full-area and a full-body technique? These are two techniques I’ve never done before then. Not to mention the new Constellation.”

  “Alright, let’s try and categorize all of your new techniques first and what they can do, then we can try to figure out how and why this is happening.”

  Roy gave him a mental nod, and they began going over his new techniques.

  His Physical technique, the Exploding Fist-Strike, acted much like the last. The Qi exploded upon impact, and the force of that explosion was what caused the damage. But this version had the addition of branching Qi moving outward like lightning. This damaged his opponent both on the surface and internally.

  Next, was the Movement technique, the Shockwave Airstep. Although he still wasn’t sure if it was its own technique or just part of his full-body technique, Roy was counting this one for now. In addition to giving him more speed, the technique was far more controlled, causing less damage to the environment when he moved. It also allowed him to walk on air for several seconds by using the force of his movement.

  His Armorer technique, which he was calling Trace Hex, due to its shape, was just a beefier version of his Essence one. There didn’t seem to be anything different, other than the amount of punishment it could take.

  Then there was the full-body technique he’d started to use, which was unnamed as of yet. It seemed to allow for all three at once, but acted differently in execution. For one, his body was shrouded in Power Qi. Small hexagonal plates appeared to block incoming attacks but were otherwise invisible. He was able to move better and remain in the air for longer. In addition, his punches all carried far more force than his Exploding Fist-Strike, and if he wasn’t mistaken, the damage from the branching Qi would be substantially higher.

  “I still think you haven’t reached this skill’s full potential,” Geon said as they finished going through the Body techniques.

  “On that, we can both agree,” Roy said. “I feel like there’s still a good deal of work that needs to be done
on that front, and luckily for us, we seem to have more fighting tomorrow.”

  Roy was, of course, being sarcastic and was dreading the fight more than anything. But as always, Geon seemed oblivious.

  “I’m excited to see how many people we can kill with a single attack!”

  Still bloodthirsty as ever, Roy thought, keeping that to himself.

  “Alright, moving on…” he said, getting the Core back on task.

  His Projected technique, the Void Sphere-Pulse as he’d decided to name it, wasn’t actually a sphere. It was projected along a straight line, using a blast of powerful displaced wind to strike first, weakening the opponent before the technique struck. It acted much in the same way as the Essence version from there, cutting and slashing with thousands of small blades.

  The Containment technique, like the Armorer, received a simple name — Overflow-Plus. This just seemed to be a more powerful version of his Essence one and had initially been confused, along with his full-area technique. Now, though, he was almost certain that he could tell the difference and was going to make sure to test both in his next fight.

  There was also his Terrain technique, Constellation Cluster. He knew it was a mouthful, but the way all of the blasts had converged made the name seem fitting. Instead of forming spheres that exploded along a path, the spheres all concentrated a beam into a single point, unleashing a devastating blast. It had been so powerful that it had punched straight through his opponent, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.

  Finally, there was the full-area technique, which was still unnamed as well. This filled an entire area with his Qi, much like the Containment technique, but in addition, had covered his opponent with small cuts and burns. Roy had also witnessed a few explosions as well, although he was sure this technique wasn’t up to snuff and that he’d need to put in some work on it too.

  “The only one we haven’t figured out yet is a Conqueror technique,” Geon said. “If you do that, you’ll be a Grandmaster and I won’t be tethered to a weakling anymore.”