Koji Fights The World - Chapter 14 The Hurricane Kick

As the servant girl led Koji and Zelea to the banquet hall, the young man created a map in his mind. This visit would be his third to the same room, and thus, Koji was becoming familiar with the layout of the palace.

When they arrived, Koji saw that the king and queen were already at the dining table.

“Ah, so good of you to join us for lunch!” King Aphraphus greeted Koji and Zelea warmly.

“Thank you for having us, father-in-law,” Koji replied and took a seat next to the queen and across from the king.

Zelea sat to his right.

“My brothers-in-law and sister-in-law won’t be joining us?” Koji inquired.

Queen Herecia shook her head. “They have other things to do,” she replied with a kind smile.

The servants soon arrived with a separate platter for each person. Koji and Aphraphus received grilled fish, while Zelea and Herecia obtained bear stew.

Koji couldn’t help but stare at the two lamias started eating their meals. He was secretly relieved that he didn’t get bear meat. However, he didn’t like to eat fish, and he wrestled inwardly with the idea of asking for something else to eat.

“Are you jealous of my wife and daughter for eating such wonderful cuisine?” the king teased him.

The young man shook his head. “I’m just amazed that these two lovely women can eat bear meat,” he answered.

Queen Herecia giggled. “My dear Koji, you seem to forget that I’m a lamia, and the snake portion of my body requires a protein-rich diet. I could either eat one plate of bear meat or three plates of fish to receive a similar amount of nutrition my body requires,” she explained patiently.

“I see,” Koji nodded.

“Would you like to try and eat bear meat?” Zelea offered. She held a spoonful of bear stew and drew closer to his mouth.

He panicked and quickly raised his hand. “No thanks.”

The king and queen laughed at Koji.

Queen Herecia cleared her throat. Her face turned serious. “Koji, we need to implement a training schedule for you. If we push you to expend a lot of Qi during your training sessions, your seal should break sooner or later. While the seal should normally last a month, we could cut the seal’s containment period by half or even two-thirds if you are lucky. What do you think?” Herecia asked directly for a response to her proposal.

Koji looked at her and replied, “I need access to all my strength if I am to perform my duties as Zelea’s Bonder.”

“Well said, son-in-law!” Aphraphus remarked and pounded on the table. He turned toward his wife. “Dear, I wish to train Koji personally. As a close-up specialist, Koji is a southern-style fighter. The martial art world will mock him if he doesn’t know any northern-style techniques,” he explained.

“You have my permission,” Queen Herecia agreed.

“Um, excuse me, but what do you mean by the southern and northern style of fighting?” Koji raised his voice.

“The Kingdom of Nephosia occupies the northern section of The Four Winds. Traditionally, we practice martial art techniques which emphasize jumps, kicks and acrobatics. That’s the northern-style. The southern-style utilizes short moves and stable stances. Your feet hardly ever leave the ground when you fight,” the king explained.

Koji tilted his head and thought for a moment. “It’s true that my martial arts follow the southern-style,” he admitted.

“Eat up, son! Your legs are going to get a nice workout this afternoon!” his father-in-law laughed.

Koji cupped his hands and bowed respectfully. “I look forward to your instructions.” However, he stared at his plate. Finally, he looked up and asked, “Can I eat dumplings?”

Queen Herecia nodded and looked at a servant, who quickly entered the kitchen to relay the order.

Koji waited patiently as the other members of the royal family wolfed their meals and kept the table conversation to a minimum. The two women were curious about what Aphraphus planned to teach Koji, and both intended to observe Koji’s first training session under the king.

Thankfully, the servant soon returned with Koji’s dumplings, and he ate quickly.

After they finished their lunch, the family enjoyed a few cups of green tea to relax. The servants offered rice pudding in coconut milk as a dessert, but both men declined.

Aphraphus was pleasantly surprised to learn that Koji didn’t like sweets, and the father-in-law was secretly pleased.

The two lamias, on the other hand, shamelessly ate their sweet pudding and licked their cups clean.

The king waited patiently for his wife and daughter to finish their desserts. “All done? Let’s work off those calories!” he said and laughed boisterously. King Aphraphus led the three out of the banquet hall and walked straight to the inner courtyard in the back where the two men trained previously.

The two lamias coiled their snake bodies and sat primly with their hands clasped together.

Koji glanced at them, and he marveled at their same behavior despite the lack of a bloodline joining the two women.

“Let’s get started, Koji!” King Aphraphus yelled to draw the young man’s attention. The king concentrated and sent his Yang Qi to his legs and hips. “Hurricane Kick!” he roared. The veteran warrior jumped five feet into the air, and his right leg kicked out. At the same time, his body rotated like a helicopter toward Koji!

The son-in-law quickly backed away. But Koji marveled at the fierce wind generated by this kick, even though he stood at least a dozen feet away from the king!

“What do you think, Koji?” Aphraphus asked with a big grin when he landed on the ground in front of his pupil.

“Awesome!” the son-in-law replied and pumped his fist in the air. As a fan of fighting video games, Koji thought this technique was very similar to the Tatsumaki kick from the Street Fighter game.

The teacher laughed. “Yeah, I had the same reaction when I first saw the old king perform this technique.” Aphraphus’ face turned serious. “This technique has five tiers of proficiency: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, and Master. Theoretically, there is also a Saint-Tier, but according to legends only the creator of this technique reached the pinnacle of this skill,” he explained.

“Who?” Koji asked with great interest.

The instructor shook his head. “His name has been lost due to the passage of time.”

“What’s your tier in this technique?” Koji inquired.

King Aphraphus was startled by this question because this was a closely guarded secret. Besides, martial artists tend to be secretive when it comes to their knowledge of techniques and proficiencies because otherwise, opponents could prepare customized counters for specific attacks. This type of matching was the martial arts world’s equivalent of tic-tac-toe, and this form of gamesmanship was especially prevalent between the northern-style and southern-style fighters.

Seeing that Koji was waiting for an answer with an innocent look, his instructor decided to humor the young pupil. “Koji, this is top secret information. But I will answer this one time only. My proficiency in the Hurricane Kick is at Master-Tier. Never tell anyone what your precise proficiencies are because this will invite martial artists to prepare specific counters against your skills. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sifu!” Koji answered solemnly with a bow from his waist. Based on his experience in playing fighting video games, Koji understood the notion of counters and realized why he should not reveal such critical information to potential opponents.

“Good, lad!” Aphraphus slapped his son-in-law’s back. Hard. He delighted in being called, “Sifu.”

Koji winced at the burning sensation on his back. “Can you tell me more about the Hurricane Kick and its effects at each tier level?” the student asked.

“Sure!” the king smiled. “The Hurricane Kick is an Area-of-Effect (‘AoE’) attack to allow the user to break free if enemies surround him. At the Basic-Tier, each kick inflicts normal damage. But the spin generates multiple attacks. At the Intermediate-Tier, each blow inflicts 1.25x normal damage, modified by the amount of Qi you spend on the technique beyond the initial 100 Qi to launch the skill. At the Advanced-Tier, the multiplier increases to 1.5x normal damage.”

“Also, this skill allows you to move a half-step for each Qi spent beyond the initial 100 points. As you can imagine, this can help you escape from your enemies. At the Expert-Tier, the multiplier is 1.75x normal damage, and movement becomes one step per Qi above 100 points. At the Master-Tier, the multiplier is 2x normal damage. Furthermore, the motion generates a wind barrier around your body which reduces any injury that you receive. The reduction is 1% per Qi above 100 points,” King Aphraphus lectured.

Koji’s jaw dropped as he realized the implication of the effect of damage reduction. “If you spend 200 Qi on this technique, you will become immune to damage? Isn’t this technique a little Over Powering (‘OP’)?”

“Hahahaha!” The king clapped his hands and laughed. “Very astute of you, Koji! The Hurricane Kick is the foundational technique of Nephosian army. Every soldier learns this technique and tries his best to raise his tier-level. Anyone who reaches the Master-Tier qualifies to become a General in the Nephosian army,” he declared proudly.

“How many generals are there?”

The teacher held up three fingers.

Koji’ heart sank because he realized that mastering the Hurricane Kick would likely require a lifelong dedication to practicing this technique.

Aphraphus understood why his son-in-law was crestfallen. The king patted Koji on the back again but gently this time. “If you practice diligently, you will master this technique someday,” the father-in-law said encouragingly.

Koji cupped his hands and bowed from his waist.

“Start practicing!” the teacher barked while folding his arms across his broad chest.

The student closed his eyes and tried to visualize the technique in his mind. Koji channeled Qi into his legs, jumped up, and kicked out his leg.

“Forgot about the kick for now. Just practice rotating your body!” Aphraphus yelled.

The young man obeyed.

“Jump higher!” “Put more Qi into your legs!” “Don’t telegraph your move!” The king proved to be a perfectionist, and he consistently made corrections to Koji’s form.

The pupil endured and continued to practice his jump for the next ten minutes. However, his supply of Qi eventually became exhausted. Koji slipped during a landing and fell on his butt!

“Dear, Koji used up his Qi. He should take a break and cultivate,” Queen Herecia interjected before her husband could yell at the son-in-law.

King Aphraphus frowned at her. He was surprised that both his wife and daughter had remained in the courtyard to observe Koji’s training session. The king wondered if the women worried that Aphraphus would mistreat Koji or push the young man too hard. However, he saw the hard look on Herecia’s face, and Aphraphus finally relented. “You heard her,” he told Koji gruffly.

The pupil bowed and sat cross-legged. His hands formed a training seal, and Koji began to cultivate Qi. With every breath, the Qi in his environment slowly entered his body and began to circulate through his meridian lines. The Qi passed through Lower Dantian and gradually refined.

The three watchers were surprised and amused by Koji’s training seal, which comprised of his left palm facing upward on his lap while his right hand rested on his knee with his fingers pointing at the ground. They recognized it as a Buddhist hand gesture known as the Bhumisparasa Mudra, “Calling the Earth to Witness the Truth.”

Queen Herecia uncoiled her snake body. “I’ll be in my garden,” she said quietly and slithered out of the courtyard.

Aphraphus turned toward Zelea expecting her to leave, too. However, his adopted daughter remained in her spot.

“I need to stay with my Bonder,” she explained with a shy smile. Zelea closed her eyes and started cultivating, too.

Her father nodded his approval because she was right. A new Bonder and his Bond Keeper should spend as much time together as possible. Seeing that the couple were cultivating, Aphraphus relented and did the same.

When Koji felt his Lower Dantian had completely refilled with Yang Qi, he climbed to his feet and started to practice his jumping form again.

The sound of jumping and landing caused Zelea and Aphraphus to open their eyes. The two watched in silence. They saw that Koji made excellent progress and almost perfected the form.

Finally, Aphraphus called out, “Start kicking!”

Koji obeyed and kicked out his left foot while jumping. He doggedly repeated this move over and over again until he ran out Qi and dropped to the ground.

“Take a break and cultivate,” the instructor ordered.

While the student obeyed and meditated, Zelea quietly approached her bonder. She took out a piece of jade and pressed it against Koji’s forehead.

Koji felt the cold stone but made no move to knock it aside. He sensed Zelea’s closeness through their bond and understood what she wanted to do. Koji relaxed when he felt her Yin Qi enter his head through the stone. His body reacted and forcefully expelled the Qi. Light shone above his head and revealed the following: “2,000 Power, 1,000 Qi.”

The Bond Keeper repeated the numbers. “You now have 2,000 Power and 1,000 Qi. The deterioration of your seal is accelerating,” Zelea announced excitedly.

Koji ignored her and focused on restoring his Yang Qi.

King Aphraphus smiled inwardly. Most people would be happy to break their seal. But Koji treated it as an everyday occurrence as if he had no doubt this would happen. The king marveled at his son-in-law’s self-confidence.