Koji Fights The World - Chapter 40 Koji Vs Aphraphus Heretrios

A meaty fist approached Koji’s face! At the same time, he noticed the sword case in his peripheral vision from his left!

Bam-bam! Koji’s arms moved with perfect timing; his right saber slapped the king’s wrist. The incoming fist veered off course, creating an air current as it nearly grazed Koji’s cheek. At the same time, the left saber blocked his brother’s attack with a downswing.

Koji was impressed with their teamwork. Their high-level performance confirmed his suspicion that the two spent time training together. Otherwise, Aphraphus and Heretrios would wind up in each other’s way as they attacked Koji.

Without pause, the two men pressed forth their advantage and attacked again! They decided, on the spot, to continually exert pressure on the defender to see how long Koji could repel them.

King Aphraphus snapped a left kick at Koji’s midsection while Prince Heretrios jabbed his sword case at the defender’s face to create a smokescreen.

However, Koji read both moves easily. He slapped the sheath again to deflect Heretrios’ attack. But now, Koji had to deal with Aphraphus’ attack. The young man desperately wished to impress his father-in-law. A simple dodge would not satisfy the man. Thus, Koji decided to gamble: he countered the king’s kick with one of his own. The gamble was whether Koji’s kick would land before or after his opponent’s.

BOOM! Both kicks collided in mid-air, and the explosive force pushed each man back. The king took two paces to stabilize his body; the son-in-law required five steps to regain his balance.

“Not bad, kid!” King Aphraphus chuckled. He prepared to launch another attack at once!

When Koji felt the sting in his left heel and winced; he immediately dropped his weapons to surrender. “Stop!”

The king’s eyes blinked for a moment as he recalled the collision between their feet. He made a sudden realization. “Oops! I forgot to reduce my Power!” As a Martial King, King Aphraphus could exert 100,000 units of Power. He was surprised that Koji didn’t sustain a more severe injury. The young man withstood the king’s kick only because of his high skill in body refinement. Otherwise, Koji’s limb would shatter!

Prince Heretrios lent his shoulder to Koji. He noticed that his brother-in-law avoided putting weight on his left foot. “Is it broken?” Heretrios asked.

Koji sent his mind’s eye to his foot. His face turned ugly. “There is a slight crack on my heel; I fractured it,” he reported and gritted his teeth. Koji didn’t mind receiving injury during training and sparring. What he hated the most was being forced to stop his practice due to his injuries. Unfortunately, the two feet were critical to a barehanded fighter because the combatant needed his legs and hips to help generate power in his fists. Otherwise, Koji’s power will reduce by half or more.

The prince turned toward the culprit. “Dad, you can’t fight Koji with your full Power. He’s not a Martial King,” he chided the king.

“Not yet,” King Aphraphus snorted. As a show of contrite, he picked up Koji’s sabers from the floor. The king followed the two young men out of the private courtyard. He quickly ordered a servant to summon Elder Miu.

The girl ran off while the trio waited outside the courtyard. She returned within ten minutes; an old man with long, white hair and an equally long, white beard followed her.

“Greetings, King Aphraphus,” the newcomer greeted with cupped hands and a small dip of his head.

The king named sharply. “We were training together when the Prince Consort had an accident and hurt his foot.”

The old man turned to face Koji directly. “Greetings, Prince Consort. My name is Miu Ming Wang, and I am the Royal Doctor. Please sit and remove your shoe while I examine your foot.”

With the help of Heretrios, Koji sat on the ground. He removed his left shoe and waited.

Elder Miu pressed the bottom of his foot and probed. When he pushed on the heel, Koji winced in pain. The doctor immediately noticed the reaction. His fingers gently touched the injury; Elder Miu then sent his Qi into the foot. The doctor flooded the heel and received a mental visualization of the bone. He saw a hairline fracture.

Elder Miu released his hold of the patient’s foot and smiled. “The injury is slight. It will heal shortly. But you can’t put any weight on the heel for at least a week.” The doctor reached into his light-blue robe and pulled out a small glass bottle. “This contains Bone Strengthening Pills. Take one pill each day for a week. If you still feel pain in the heel, you can summon me again,” he said.

Koji accepted the bottle. “Thank you, Elder Miu.” He bowed from his waist.

The doctor turned toward King Aphraphus. “Sire, may I return to my quarters?”

“Go,” the king said and waved his hand in dismissal.

The servant girl held the old man’s arm, and the odd couple slowly left the king’s sight.

“I’ll help you return to your room, Koji,” Heretrios offered.

“Thank you, brother-in-law,” Koji replied with a respectful bow. He leaned on Heretrios’ shoulder and one-hopped his way back to his room. With help, Koji climbed to his bed and rested for the night.

Once King Aphraphus departed from Koji’s room, he summoned an attendant and gave her specific instructions.

She bowed and ran off to make arrangements per his instructions.

***

The next morning, Koji carelessly knocked his fractured heel on the bedpost. “Ack!” he blurted out in pain. He gritted his teeth and inhaled a deep breath. He pulled the bottle of Bone Strengthening Pills from his pocket and popped a pill in his mouth. Then, Koji gingerly crossed his legs and started cultivating.

With his mind’s eyes, the injured young man watched the dissolution of the pill inside his mouth into a unique form of energy. The substance soon circulated throughout his body. He watched as his bones absorbed the medicine and became stronger. Koji then sent his mental probe to his injured heel. He marveled because the pill acted like caulk to seal the fracture. But Koji noted, with minor disappointment, that one tablet wasn’t enough to repair the crack in his bone.

Koji was very tempted to take a second Bone Strengthening Pill right now. But he realized that there might be a harmful side effect in doing so. Elder Miu told him to take one pill per day for a reason. Koji decided to follow the doctor’s order.

Suddenly, the young man had an inspiration! Since he possessed wood affinity, couldn’t he channel wood energy into the injured heel and heal it? Following this idea, Koji tried to absorb this specific elemental from his environment. But to his dismay, Koji realized that his bedroom had a minimal amount of wood energy, and his cultivation level was too low to absorb it. Hence, he needed to find a place with a higher concentration of the wood element.

Koji brainstormed where to go. Ideally, he should return to the dryad’s secret Sanctuary. However, he feared that Ajuga would not let him leave again. Thus, Koji crossed her home off his list.

Furthermore, Koji believed that King Aphraphus left instructions for the guards to stop Koji from departing the palace. Thus, his cultivation site was limited to the Nephosian Palace. Suddenly, Koji remembered one ideal location! This place had a large Peking Willow Tree overlooking a garden–and it belonged to Queen Herecia!

Koji decided to seek her permission to cultivate in her garden. He carefully climbed off his bed and stubbornly hobbled across the room to the exit. The consort opened the door and noticed guards stationed outside.

The guardsmen immediately crossed their spears and blocked him! “My apologies, Prince Consort, but His Majesty has ordered your confinement to your quarters,” one of them said.

“I wish to cultivate in the queen’s garden. I believe this will help me heal faster. Send a servant to seek her permission on my behalf,” Koji ordered.

A servant appeared and bowed to him. “At once, Prince Consort.” The girl ran off.

Koji left his door open. He hobbled to his chair and sat down. Within ten minutes, he sensed a familiar aura from above!

The newcomer landed softly on the ground in front of Koji’s room.

“Your Majesty!” the guards greeted and bowed.

Koji approached his doorway and looked out. As he expected, the person arriving was Queen Herecia!

“I hear that you wish to cultivate in my garden?” she asked with questioning eyes.

“Yes, mother-in-law,” Koji replied with a respectful bow. “Since I unlocked wood affinity, I believe I can use its elemental energy to help me heal faster. However, I need a location with a large source of the wood element. And your garden is the best location to cultivate it inside the palace,” he explained carefully.

The queen cupped her chin and considered this information. She saw no reason to decline her precious son-in-law’s request because he won’t damage the valuable World Tree. Besides, if Koji could develop the skill to heal his injury, then he would benefit greatly. “Very well, Koji. You have my permission,” she answered with a big smile.

Queen Herecia looked at the guards, whose spears still blocked the doorway. “Guards, I overrule my husband’s order to confine Koji to his room,” she commanded.

“Yes, Your Highness!” they saluted and unblocked the opening immediately. After all, the queen was the highest member of the Royal Family, and her orders were absolute!

She smiled again. The queen’s eyes glowed as she channeled her Yin Qi to grasp Koji’s body. She then wrapped her body in Qi and pulled both of them to the air. Queen Herecia used her telekinesis to fly over the palace. She landed with Koji next the tree inside her garden. The owner carefully set her Chinese zither instrument on the side and away from the tree. “I hope you had a pleasant flight, Koji,” she joked and giggled.

Koji stared at his mother-in-law for a moment and shook his head. “I didn’t realize you have such a high mastery of telekinesis,” he marveled.

“Like my husband, I’m also a Martial King. My mastery of Telekinesis is second to none in my kingdom,” Herecias bragged and chuckled. The queen ruffled his hair gently. “Okay, you may spend this entire day in my garden. Servants will bring your meals to you.”

“Thank you, mother!” Koji replied with a respectful bow.

“You’re welcome, Koji. Work hard to cultivate wood element!” she said encouragingly. The queen used her telekinetic power to fly away.