The Martial Master - 47 A Kid's Dream

Standing atop a slab of stone, a kid, draped in simple cloth, blazed with a determination unnatural for his youth. A wind fluttered beneath his clothes and his bunned hair, where two white eyes shone into view

A faint scamper, scrawl, shivered down his spine as he stared at a man who looked him in the eye. This man, clothed in a dazzling white fur, smiled as he tapped the floor and rubbed his hands. His forehead was shrouded in a haze of cloud, making it near impossible to pinpoint his strength.

He had a look of serenity and indifference; as if he was proud to the point that everyone here was trivial ants. The opposite of what most would call, humble.

*Thud thud thud thud*

A crowd, scampering towards him, formed beneath him and around the platform as they stared with eyes of either fear or fervour. Groups discussed this confrontation with expressions that they have seen this far too often…

What was strange was that the audience members, for the most part, had hidden their cultivation via a similar method to the proud man. The only exceptions of this were, of course, the youth atop the platform and some beggars hiding in the crowds.

In fact, the reason for this was quite simple, and that is to hide their strength. Most wouldn’t want to display whether they are weak or not outwardly to everyone, as then they may gain unwanted attention, or even get taken advantage of.

It was a simple technique, one that anyone with a glimmer of talent could step into rather fruitfully. Though it was unknown where such a technique came from, it is sold for cheap in the shops of towns.

Although people high in the strength hierarchy may not bother, such as the 4th circle mage Su Min fought.

One such group, containing 2 males and a female chewed on some meat. The girl, wearing a voluptuous dress and holding a dagger, sniggered.

“The Young Lord is duelling with another?”

A middle-aged man next to her licked his lips as he finished a drum of something similar to chicken, speaking with eyes half pitiful in return.

“Yeah, I wonder what he promised him that would make that weak kid do such a stupid thing.”

A younger, more vibrant man standing a little closer to the platform glanced at the middle-aged man, and as if he saw the hint of pity, reprimanded him with a laugh.

“Hope sure is dangerous, and I just can’t bring myself to pity such a stupid boy. So don’t even bother, Qian Yi.”

The girl also joined in and nudged the man and spoke with a similar giggle, one that was more seductive than cute.

“Exactly, who hasn’t heard of the young Lord’s strength now? He doesn’t even have the right to be a guard yet he wants to fight the heir to the town? Utter stupidity if you ask me.”

Qian Yi could only give a helpless smile as he nudged her away from him and stared at the platform that was heating up with excitement. He sighed, then spoke with an old voice.

“Hmm, well let’s see. Who knows, this kid might cause a miracle.”

…

…

“You know, you are pretty stupid, aren’t ya?”

The proud man, twirling his finger on a strand of soft fur, laughed as he gazed at the serious face of the boy. The boy remained still as he gripped his fists and grasped a shaky sword scabbard attached to his brown shorts.

Though, the shorts were messy and torn, smelling of something rotten. His gaze lingered on the man, fear was evident, but he threw it away whenever it came and peered down at the crowd for someone.

The man’s eyes followed the boys with a strange interest, and with a pondering gaze, spoke with a caring voice that drifted into something more insidious.

“Oh..? The death patient is coming to attend your death? I can help her die with you if that’s what you want, as, for real, you getting medicine from me is but a dream!”

The boy visibly trembled for a second, but he breathed and calmed down again. He continued to look, but after a few seconds, no one came…

He nodded as if he expected such an occurrence and smiled, though it was bitter tasting.

“That’s good…”

Directing his gaze back towards the man who was staring at him with a grin, he gripped the sword sheath and drew a dazzling arc that resembled a certain someone…

The sword was rusted in places, where the only thing that supported it was a wooden hilt that had cracked and chipped. The proud man didn’t seem to mind as he stared at the boy’s eyes that wanted to eat him alive.

His grin faded, and as if a beast was about to awaken, a sparse tremor agitated the air. A soft white glare spat out of his forehead and bathed his being, causing the boy’s cultivation to flicker with undaunted danger.

He laughed, laughed with a venomous glare as he licked his lips, where the crowd beneath him and everyone in the proximity of this white glare shook and halted to a quiet biting stillness.

“Tragic love… I love it!”

*BANG*

No longer holding himself in, no longer hiding, the man’s forehead pulsated with even more detrimental glare as the whole platform got enveloped in his white haze. Crackling spurts sparked the air and even the sky as a faint disturbance rocked and slung a cloud a couple centimetres off course.

The boy’s face turned pale as he staggered to his side, but he held himself and gripped his sword with more strength, more grit!

Widening into a snarl, the man laughed as the air shook with a thunderous bang that made it seem like a holy being has descended.

“Good! Take three of my moves and you’ll get your spirit medicine!”

Not even pausing after speaking, the man sprawled into a leap as he accelerated to a startling degree. The air around him wrapped his being as, with a silent whoosh, he appeared in front of the widening eyes of the boy.

“First Move. Fire BOMB!”

His hands swirled in the air as a thick stream of heaven’s energy spewed out of his head and swirled across such a palm. It trembled, then with a strange resonance, dispersed in the wind until none was left.

The boy, trembling at the strange sight, lifted his sword in return and attempted to slash. However, just at this second, this split second, the dissipated Heaven’s energy bloomed into his sight as a blue, scorching ball of solid flame sprouted in the man’s palm.

“AGH!”

*SMACK*

The air tumbled with a sudden flare as a sizzling pop smacked it due to the intense change in temperature. The boy’s eyes trembled as a dense layer of white emerged from his head and halted the heat from touching him.

Though, this was just the start as the man chuckled with contempt and threw the flare of flames right towards the boy with a fierce swing.

*SSSSSSSS* *WHOOOSH*

It resembled a deadly hellish bomb, and the boy’s legs shook as he trembled out of despair. But, he gripped his sword even more and uttered the only technique he knew.

“White Slash!”

His sword lifted, then with all the heaven’s energy he could muster from inside of him, glowed a deathly piercing white. The man’s eyes remained calm as he watched the dense ball of searing flames fly towards the boy at a rapid pace.

*SLASH*

*…*

Commencing his slash, the sword halved the air itself and parted it as if it were tofu, then landed on the blazing ball.

*BAAANNG*

A fierce shockwave sprawled around the platform as a spring of fierce wind speeded past everyone’s clothes like a typhoon. However, only seconds past as a dense spew of bright blue flames erupted within this shockwave and covered the platform in its all terrifying light.

*SSSSSSSSSSSSS*

Some rubbed their eyes and some just continued to watch as if it was nothing to them, but the scene that shone still made them gasp with a hint of surprise.

“Hahh. Hahh.”

A boy, bare-chested, heaved breaths as a circular radius a meter free of the fire revealed itself around him. His sword crackled under the heat, then with a snap, shattered in his grip and sprinkled its remains on the still white platform.

The man, standing within the flames, paused. Though, this pause was then thrashed with a fierce laugh.

“Good! Good! Nice technique, however, you won’t be so lucky in this move!”

Stepping out of the blue flames and onto the tiny radius that surrounded the boy, the man lifted his palm and straightened it to a single finger. The finger started to blitz and pop as a visible undulation of white wrapped around it with no end in sight.

“Here the second move. The Swipe of a Flame!”

As he spoke, the dense white around his single finger once again trembled with a similar but different hymn and then dissipated in the shrivelled winds.

The boy’s eyes shook as he found that he had run dry, so he could only watch as that simple finger begin to get engulfed by a blue flame.

“Your a rare one to have made me use this move, kid.”

Glimpsing at the despaired eyes of the kid, a rare light shone in the man’s eyes as his blue finger swiped down and towards the boy’s forehead.

*WOOOSH*

The kid, watching it fall, smiled. The word seemed to turn slow for him, where that looming finger in his eyes halted to let him a glimpse, just for a second, to an inconspicuous corner.

“Miss..?”

A worried face shone into his view that was being engulfed in blue flames, one of a fat man and a pale woman. The woman was, in his eyes, screaming at him as she cried. Though, he continued to smile as he felt a strange happiness.

“Well, I did try…”

Staring back towards the finger that was inches above his head, the boy waited for death to sprawl. He closed his eyes and jerked a tear for his demise.

“…”

“…”

“..”

“.”

“?”

He didn’t know how long he had waited, but he found no searing pain nor no glimpse of the reaper that should’ve slit him with its black scythe. No, he heard nothing, just a silence.

The wooshing winds of the flames and the faint whispers of the crowd were nowhere.He thought for a second and guessed that maybe he was already dead, but he still felt his heart beating. Thumping.

“W-who..?”

To his surprise, an unexpected shout thundered into his confused ears, prompting him to open his eyes out of pure incredulous.

The finger, inches above his head, was held by a single hand draped in black robes. He gazed upwards out of shock and saw a single gold eye stare at him beneath a hood.

The finger blitzed and popped with the blue flame, but as if it were a mere candlelight, the finger remained there and clenched it with an unmoveable grasp.

“A miracle..?”