The Martial Master - 33 Why...

Standing his ground, the sword youth gulped as he looked at the beast-like figure of the man in front of him. He grit his teeth, and with a roar, leapt forward.

“I’ll repay him!”

The man, with a sneer, shoved his arms to both sides of his chest and thrashed the ground with his foot. A tuft of dust sprung out, covering his whole being in a haze.

*SWIPE*

The sword youth, swiping at the dust with his glistening sword, stumbled before falling onto his knees. He found that his sword had hit nothing!

*WOOSH*

Faltering, the sword youth’s back stiffened as a woosh of piercing air reaped behind him. He, gazing at the ground, saw a looming shadow materialise and encompass him. The shadow had a wild grin, eyeing the back of his body.

“NO!”

The sword youth’s whole being shivered as his heart gushed with an unending stream of danger, but, before he could stammer away, the shadow giggled.

“Who said I’d take your strike?”

Lifting his palm, the shadow the sword youth saw thrashed the air before darting its fist right onto his back!

*BANG*

Eyes going wide, the sword youth felt the world spin as his body thumped the ground. A multitude of shallow cracks sprung then billowed out around him, creating a surreal and beautiful shockwave that flung outwards.

*COUGH*

A thick sweetness gushed out of the sword youth’s throat, and with a splatter, spewed a crimson blood onto the fractured dirt. He, laying on the floor, felt his back snap and a feeling of numbness spread.

“S-shit…”

His eyes became muddy as, within a second, he sensed his whole body go limp. His head rolled to the side; his throat began to gag and he choked on his own lack of control. His body twitched and his mind seethed as he felt his 5 senses dissipate from reality.

Black.

Black encompassed his everything as he stared at his own self. Coldness, even with his lacking senses, seeped right into him like a scythe, growing and growing. Pricking his very essence with a needle of death.

‘Where?’

The sword youths mind went blank as he became locked in his own body, a body which couldn’t move, breathe, think, feel, see, smell and hear. All he felt was the coldness, the dense absolute coldness. It was so cold that he wanted a blanket, but in this black space, he found no such thing.

‘?’

His mind, collapsing in on itself, became confused as it forgot its purpose; its goal. He forgot what he was doing, he forgot his past. And with this forgetfulness, he shivered with a cold as bitter as ice.

‘…’

And so, death springs for those who are cold. He, with a mind as blank as death, washed away in itself and left the world…

“Nice sword.”

Staring at the twitching corpse, the man grunted as he bent down and grabbed the warm sword from the sword youths grasp. He, thinking for a second, looked around and found the sword scabbard as well.

*SWISH*

Cutting the air, the man nodded with praise as he looked at the unreal sharpness, though, he felt eery as he took another glance at the corpse.

“It must be nothing…”

Brushing the feeling off, the man, with the two people accompanying him, strode off with a sword from a sword corpse [1].

…

…

*WOOSH*

A blurred silhouette, speeding through the plains of grassy hills, ran and ran for what seemed like an eternity. The silhouettes eyes were gloomy, yet within this was worry.

*BANG*

Halting, the silhouette materialised into a lean but muscular youth draped in black. His eyes were that of haze, and his body was that of a shimmering strangeness, glimmering in his chest with a dim gold from time to time.

“..?”

Staring at the planes, Su Min froze as he saw an inconspicuous patch of dirt a hundred meters away. He smelt blood.

“No…”

Propelling himself with a leap, Su Mind darted toward the stench. His eyes, with a blaze, locked onto the patch as it grew in size.

He halted, and with a slow walk, stood before a corpse.

“…”

His eyes, with a chilling gaze, shivered in disbelief.

“Sword guy…”

A pool of blood, drenching a white-robed man, dried under the daylight. He, feeling at loss, collapsed on his knees before the corpse.

“I…”

A multitude of thoughts wept in his abnormal mind, a stuttering stream of thoughts. He felt his world begin to die as a familiar voice whispered a verse that made him quiver.

‘For yourself, those who you cherish, those who they cherish and anyone enveloped in their karma, never step foot into the path of the strong. Be forever weak! Weak to anyone and everyone!’

It was like a warning, a warning that will be forever right. For the world condemns Su Min.

‘Why…’

Anger, sadness, confusion. Such feelings gushed without feeling for him. He didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed that the world is unfair…

“It’s my fault, right?”

He whispered, maybe to himself and maybe to the dead youth in front of him, but he felt no sense of right in it. All he felt was regret.

“I’ll… Kill them all.”

Whispering once more, he leaned over and closed the eyes of the despaired face of the sword youth. He picked up his axe and stood right back up.

“But first.”

Gazing at the sword youth with a sad smile, he went and picked him up.

“Let’s at least bring you some peace.”

…

…

…

Standing in a large room paved in marble, a man sitting on a throne draped in red spoke.

“Li Tao.”

“Yes, elder.”

“Where’d you get this sword?”

Gazing at him, the man on the throne held a warm sword. Li Tao, pausing, explained.

“It was from one of the lackeys of the person who attacked our young master. Elder.”

The elder paused for a second, but in this second the atmosphere within the room darkened. Li Tao’s face broke into a sweat as he felt even breathing become difficult.

“You did what?”

A stark voice erupted from the elder as he frowned at Li Tao, making Li Tao himself confused.

“E-Elder, I thought we were meant to be punishing that ant?”

“That ant?! That ant is the ant who killed Li Zhi!”

The elder gripped his throne as he roared back at Li Tao. Li Tao in return went wide with shock, then, a fearful expression erupted in him.

“I..”

“Li Zhi was at the level of an elder in the Martial Union. An elder! That ant you just spat at is a tiger, a tiger you can’t deal with!”

The elder shouted in fury, fixing his beastly gaze on Li Tao. Li Tao himself finally couldn’t take it and collapsed onto the ground, kneeling down.

“Get out of my sight!”

Speaking his final worlds, the elder closed his eyes, deep in thought. Li Tao, struggling onto his knees, stammered out of the red room covered in sweat.

The elder, sighing, muttered under his breath.

“Even if I wanted to protect you, I will have a hard time fighting against someone who can kill Li Zhi in one move…”

…

…

“I refuse to believe it!”

Roaring, Li Tao punched a wall next to him as he gazed outside. The two same people walked up to him with confusion, but no matter how much they asked Li Tao wouldn’t tell them what the elder said.

“Come on, we need to find that ant and kill him before he recovers!”

Ushering the two out, Li Tao walked down a long hallway and into a room named ‘Armory’. A couple floating orbs shone in his eyes, pure white.

Placing his hand on one, he paused for a moment as he brought a couple tokens out of a bag that hung by his side. They were brown, identical to the one Su Min had.

A stream of information emerged in Li Tao’s head, displaying numerous items. He pondered for a bit before choosing a specific item.

‘Three flying plates.’

A vortex, a couple feet wide, emerged above the orb as 3 miniature metal boxes got thrown out. They floated midair, swirling around Li Tao’s head.

The vortex was a tad different compared to the one Su Min saw; like it was unstable and had a shaky foundation.

*Grab*

Throwing two of the boxes to the two men behind him, Li Tao grabbed the last one before striding back out into the hallway.

His eyes, glowing with hatred, shone as he threw the metal box out, and with a woosh, it expanded to the size of a mat.

*Step*

Stepping onto it, he flew forward.

…

…

*Woooshh*

A silent wind blew on a fluttering jacket as Su Min held a corpse in his arms. He, looking at a green spot on a hill, nodded before placing the corpse down.

“I’ll bury him here…”

Gripping his axe, his chest fluttered with a shimmer of gold as strands of energy darted into his body. With a swift swing, his axe blurred into the air, and with a fierce plunge, his axe struck the grassy ground.

*SLASH*

A shining gold erupted from the axe as the strand in Su Min’s body enveloped it. A materialised blade of air pierced out of the golden shine as it got near the ground, accompanying the plunging axe.

*BANG*

A harsh bang rattled out as the axe and the blade of wind smacked the dirt, rupturing it with chunks of debris.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Not waiting, Su Min breathed once more and thrashed the ground again with the glowing axe. His body churned as a constant stream of gold spewed into his chest and, taking only a second, onto his axe, straining his muscles and bones.

He continuously repeated the cycle until a cloud of seared smoke wafted out from the terrain.

“This should be enough.”

A rectangle, outlined with 4 cuts, revealed itself from the smoke. The rectangle was about the size of a human, with a depth of a couple meters.

Stumbling back to the corpse, Su Min picked the sword youth up and placed him in the hole. He, with a sad gaze, kneeled for a few seconds before throwing dirt onto the corpse.

“I’ll finish what I started…”

[1] -Metaphor, not a literal sword corpse