Beast World

Kira shuttled amongst cars at a fast pace, a deafening noise at every pass. He was currently wondering how would he ever fight at high speeds without breaking his body apart. The ground beneath his feet already seemed like it would give way at any point, breaking, cracking, and making him trip.

The road felt as if made from putty under his feet, a small exertion of his muscles would make him puncture it. If this was the case now, then if he exerted himself in a fight, the mortal world would not be a place suitable for him anymore.

He assumed this problem, was one which he merely did not know the answer to yet. In any case, he had to be careful when hunting in the forest, since the ground there, he assumed, would be even weaker.

Kira checked his map, he was already nearing the outskirts of the city, the alleys of the forest, swiftly turning into simple dirt roads.

As he kept running deeper and deeper into the low forest, fewer and fewer buildings appeared on his path. The dirt road at some point turned into a beaten path.

The forest around him wasn’t much different than the one where he had held the ability course. Sparse trees which joined each other’s crowns and a forest floor filled with dark green grasses.

Occasionally he would run into a wall of wood. These were the nuwa trees holding the sky from falling, hidden from sight for the moment by the low ceiling. Only their base being seen from time to time as he ran into them.

Funnily enough, even though the ground underneath felt soft, it was unyielding. A combination of properties he did not expect. As the beaten path ended completely, he was left with only the forest floor below him. When his feet ran on the ground, his legs sunk a half a palm length refusing to go any further.

His feet felt as if stepping on a net of strings, soft and yielding yet increasingly dense as he dug down. A most comfortable feeling compared to running on a city street.

The end of the beaten path indicated that he had fully entered the jungle. He had already started seeing some of the local fauna. So far tough only small critters.

He was already twenty kilometers outside the city limits, when he stopped running. He looked around at the nature surrounding him. He could no longer hear the city noise, even with his enhanced senses.

He closed his eyes and listened to all the sounds around him. He could hear small critters climbing down trees and crossing the grass, moving to other trees.

The little wind that got there passing through the low ceiling. The air was fresh as well, no longer the smell of a thousand people around him.

He thought it was a beautiful world to live in. If one was strong enough.

Kira decided to keep going through the sparse forest. Since here there were no cars, he accelerated to his maximum cruising speed and kept at it for a long time.

He was in a part of the forest which only had small hills as a feature, unlike the forest near the city which was flat most of the time. He would occasionally come across a small creek in-between two forested hills.

Every time this happened, he would gather speed and jump across it entirely, almost touching the low ceiling above his head. The noise generated when he passed by a tree deafening.

He had to reach a place two hundred kilometers away. At his speed it would take about one hour since there were places where he had to slow down. Some obstacles could not be jumped over.

A streak of lightning could be seen through the forest. Kira got to see a couple of bigger animals, but all of them seemed to sense him before he had time to get a good look at them.

He saw a couple of small deer and not much else. The deer looked not to dissimilar to the ones he had seen in zoos back on Emerald. Their color and features differed, but he could tell they belonged to the same species. He thought it was curious how such lifeforms could evolve so similarly on different worlds. He assumed they had been brought over by humans many, many years ago, since they had evolved different features already.

The first creature he wanted to hunt, was actually a Nuwa crown stag. A stag of such large proportions, his antlers crown might be mistaken for a nuwa tree.

The stag was four meters in length and had a shoulder height of three meters. Some specimens reached heights of a dozen meters when taking the antlers into account.

The only use the materials they gave had, was in relation to low level cultivators. Hence why they had not been hunted to extinction. Only Mortal Adepts would hunt them, and they had the ability to fight back so it was not like catching fish.

Kira reached a place in the forest where the low ceiling started being replaced by other trees. Although this part was denser in trees, their crown did not mesh perfectly, and he could finally see the nuwa trees covering the sky, far up above.

The dark feeling the forest gave during daylight was not as oppressive as Kira had thought. Instead, the forest gave him a dull warm feeling, almost as if the forest wanted to keep him there. He also noted the air was drier there, even though the forest remained just as green.

He stopped to look at the map and check his position. Judging by the flora around him, he was at the edge of the hunting ground. From here on out, the forest would get dangerous.

Another couple dozen kilometers and he would be in its center. Kira’s face turned serious; his relaxed look replaced by one of complete attention.

In this zone, the map did not show many dangerous predators, but there were some who could still injure him.

As he ran deeper in, he lowered his speed more and more, trying to lower the sound he made.

The problem was he was not light on his feet, and he would cause the ground to shake imperceptibly with every footstep.

He tried lowering his speed even more, but he could not go to slow since it would take too long to comb the forest for worthy pray.

In this zone there were only a couple of animals worth hunting, the Nuwa crown stag being the most valuable and most worthwhile tracking.

He had to find a way to go fast enough that it would not take a long time to find prey, while at the same time, not scaring it away by making the ground shake.

His continuous tweaking of energy, led him to a discovery. The higher the proportion of lightning qi in the energy he put into his body, the more agile and abrupt his movement would be.

He could make faster movement in less time, the more he relied on lightning qi. Of course, this would also mean at his current level of lightning comprehension, that he would be way weaker if relying too much on it. But what he needed for now was to move stealthily, no necessarily at his fastest.

As he decreased the psionic energy level entering his body, his muscles started being fed more and more lightning qi.

Small lightning flickers could be seen around him, as he relied more and more on qi. His movement became light and instantaneous, as if moving in frames, his long hair fluttering behind.

Kira thought he should make use of this knowledge in combat, not only was qi more efficient but it also acted differently than psionic energy on his body. He wondered what the fire qi the ashen woman had felt like on the body, since his lightning felt electric, abrupt, always seeking the shortest path to its destination.

As he walked through the forest, he finally saw tracks of a deer herd of the species he was looking for. The tracks matched that of Nuwa crow deer, so he followed them and came across a sizeable herd.

This was a herd made entirely out of females. The female deer had no alchemical value so they were not hunted. It had to be said, the deer in front of Kira were massive. Most of them as big as a large room.

The stag was nomadic, travelling the woods in search of herds. The deer mated all year long except the stag did not stay with the female herd. He would wander in search of other herds.

Kira decided he would stalk the herd from a distance, keeping out of visual range. Following using only the tracks left on the ground.

Kira found that the ground would regenerate any damage done to it in a matter of hours, slowly coming back into shape like a sponge. Grabbing a hand of soil from the ground he found that it had myriad of roots with humus in between.

The roots were so many and so fleshy that they acted as a sponge.

One string was easily broken, but when you added hundreds, the strength of the combined number resulted in impressive durability.

VUUUUuuuuUUUUUUUUUU

A piercing loud call was heard by Kira. Kira hoped this was the call of the stag charging into battle. The noise also seemed to have a piercing effect on his soul, trying to reach deep inside.

Kira resisted the noise easily, since there was little psionic power behind it, but wondered how normal animals would fare.

He rushed towards the heard half a kilometer away.

As he got close, he saw the heard stopped in a clearing with tall grass, the nuwa ceiling being visible from there.

The females had dark green coat of hair, with thick front hooves and lower back side compared to front. They had long purple stripes, that started from the back of the head and went down to the tail, with some curving down towards the belly. They had two clubbed horns on top of their heads and thick broad shoulders.

The stag was bigger than the females, but not by a lot. He had a massive crown of antlers, and was a dozen meters in height together with it.

Kira had to look up at them. He wondered if he could really fight such a creature.

Some females had formed a line, and were beating their hooves on the ground not letting the stag approach. Others sat back with their young and as if watching a show, stayed and observed.

Five females were standing against the stag. They started fighting the stag, hitting it from the sides with their club horns.

thud thud thud

Deep dull sounds were coming out of the stag as he was being battered by the females.

VVVuuuuuUUUUU

The stags fur glowed a dull purple, and he swung his antler crown in all directions swiftly, and with an agility Kira did not think it was capable of.

A tempest of flying grass filled the air, accompanied by purple light from the antlers of the stag. He had some degree of energy enhancement.

Even though the females did not appear to have active psionic energy, five behemoths were still five behemoths.

They fought the stag until it was panting heavily, ready to fall down at any time.

After the females themselves panted with fatigue, they backed off and stopped harassing the stag. The stag roared one last time at the sky, and approached the herd slowly. He dared not approach the females with young, he seemed afraid to do so. Only the females that fought him stayed near him.

The stag started mating with every female he had fought. The fight had double purpose. One was to exhaust the stag and have him lose energy so as to not have him be violent with the young deer, and the other reason was to see if the stag was powerful enough to pass on his genes.

This way powerful herds would require powerful stags.

Kira decided he would let the stag exhaust himself further before attacking. It seemed unfair to kill it at this moment so he decided to wait.

Surprisingly, he did not wait for long. Five minutes was all it took for the stag to finish it with all five females. The female herd left quickly after not lingering even one more second.

The stag was left alone in the clearing. It was eating the tall grass with content movements. Kira waited a couple more minutes for the stag to calm down and prepared to make his move.

It is time, thought Kira coldly, as he gazed up at the stag and bent his body forward. As he revved up the psionic energy in his body, the stag abruptly turned to look at him, as if it could see him clearly even in the tall grass.

Kira back went cold, he reacted instinctively.

With a flash of lightning, he dashed at the stag as fast as he could. He charged madly at it, infusing all the energy he could gather into his legs.

With blinding speed tearing the grass apart as he moved, he approached the beast.

Abruptly the stag lowered its crown into Kira’s path, its massive crown filling up with psionic energy. Kira was surprised.

BOOM!

A wave of soil was sent towards the stag, as Kira stabbed his leg into the ground, stopping himself right in front of the spiked horns. The waved of soil and grass covered the stag’s view.

KIRI KIRI KIRI KIRI

A lightning storm was created behind the wave and Kira disappeared from the spot. Time stopped for a moment.

The stag lost track of Kira for a split second.

Kira appeared above the stag’s neck with flickers of lightning all around, a leg already striking down with the weight of a mountain.

boom

The stag fell on its knees, head lowered, giving a loud roar as it did.

Kira quickly climbed its head and cocked his fist backwards, hastily doing so. As he punched down, he could sense the stag’s skull cracking under the pressure, its head exploding in a shower of blood.

The stags head feel limply to the ground.

Kira’s maddened expression loosened, but he quickly became alert again, sensing for any incoming presence. After not sensing anything out of the ordinary, he let out a long breath.

He looked down at the stag underneath him in fear, thinking this was an exhausted one. If it had been at full force and not sluggish as a snail, would he had fared so well.

But what surprised him the most was the way the stag had sensed him when he started tugging on psionic energy, as if he had appeared on his radar.

Looking down on it, he thought he would feel something at having made his first kill. He had never killed anything in his life before, but the loneliness he had endured on Emerald made him lose his attachment to any kind of morality. All he saw was truth now.

He shook his head gently and smiled looking up at the nuwa ceiling up above, as if he could see the clouds trough them.

“As long as I accept that the same may happen to me the next moment, then it is ok. If I find this to not be a problem, then I must also not have a problem with me dying.”

He then closed his eyes and imagined the clouds up above. His hair falling down behind his back as he gazed up with his eyes closed.

After a couple of moments, he opened his eyes, his gaze turned serene again and he pulled out a knife from his backpack.

Flipping it in his hands, he suddenly thrusted it downwards towards the hearth of the stag. He had to shove his hand deep inside the stag, but he eventually found it.

Beside the heart of the stag, there was a small ball of muscle. Lodged within, was a small crystal shard, purple in color, a finger in length.

He put it in a small secure box in his military backpack.

The knife and the secure box were gifts from Miu, saying she used it when she went hunting herself and no longer needed it.

The crystal was called a nucleus shard, and it had alchemical value. The crown also had value, but it palled in comparison to the shard, and they were too cumbersome to carry so he gave up on it. He then thought if he should take a piece of meat with him, but changed his mind, as it may attract predators.

Kira then combed the forest for more stags, but only found herds. He stalked the herds until nightfall when they went to sleep but no stag appeared. Kira decided to give up on his hunt and go back to the city.

Unintentionally he had overstayed. He had never planned to stay until nightfall.

Surprisingly, he instinctively knew in which direction the city was located. He had asked Miu how he could find his way back, but she said to him he would feel it and added nothing else. It turned out to be the case. It was a strange feeling; one he could not pinpoint. A certain soul pressure emanated from that direction, a faint one, but one he could detect.

As he ran back, instead of the forest descending into darkness, it got brighter and brighter as the flora surrounding him lit up, a deluge of purple light emanating from all around him.

He could sense the light the nuwa trees were sending down to the trees and the grasses below.

Motes of purple light flickered in the air. Kira noted those were insects. They too seemed to be gathering the light and heat emanating from up above. There were even some animals calling in the night.

To Kira the forest seemed more alive at night then in the day. Running through such a forest, made Kira feel as if he was part of a fairy tale.

As he was returning, he found more and more creeks cutting the forest. He slowed down to get a better look at them.

He stumbled upon a small pond from where a small rivulet flowed out. In it he could see some big fat fish, swimming in it.

He approached slowly under the cover of the night, and touched the water gently. He sent lightning into his hand and watched as the surface of the water lit up with small lightning snakes.

The fish were stunned, and Kira quickly used his lightning qi to help him shuttle swiftly over the surface of the water, picking up a stunned fish in passing.

As he ran home, he looked at the fish and saw It had big white eyes, and white durable scales. Kira wondered why it looked so discolored.

He quickly made his way home.

As he approached the city, he could sense the air change around him, as if a charge had appeared in the air. It was probably related to the one he felt when looking for the direction.

As he entered the city, he noticed the buildings around him were all in a state of disrepair. Trees grew inside them and buried them with grass and other flora.

Up ahead he could see there was an area covered in darkness. No leave ceiling shining down.

He could see a nuwa tree felled, covering the ground like a fallen pillar, the sky above open for all people to peer through.

As he looked up, he could finally see the stars again, for the first time in his life, since back on Emerald, the light pollution did not allow it.

He stopped and looked up. Surrounded by darkness and run-down buildings, he was pulled in by what he saw up in the sky.

Dozens of nebulae, all of different hues of magenta dotted the sky. Some big, some small, some far away, some close. All in a myriad of shapes. All had glowing cores of purple light.

He did not know what caused the ceiling to disappear in this area, but he was thankful for such a sight.

Shuttling quickly through the broken streets and dilapidated buildings, he found only a few people here and there.

And most hid when they saw him approaching. If they had the time.

As he went deeper and deeper and came closer to the yellow zone, he realized that the delimitation from the red and yellow zones, was not as clear cut as between that of green and yellow.

The zones slowly blended into each other, and transitioned slowly into one another.

In the yellow zones, he could see groups of people at corners and intersection, listening to music and socializing, in various ways.

Fighting, dancing, neon lights accompanying them. The yellow zone, a stark contrast to the fairy forest he had just been in.

Just as he passed near a hotel, he sensed something and stopped. He could feel psionic energy there, gathering madly and flowing towards a certain point.

He could even faintly sense the streams of energy flowing around. It was an abstract sensation since he knew the streams were not there physically, yet still close to him in a way.

AAHHHHHHH

A load scream was heard coming from the hotel, its neon sign exploded and the building’s walls shook.

boom

A pillar of energy shot into the air, purple light flooding the streets around the hotel. The building exploded in a tempest of psionic energy.

Kira could feel wild uncontrolled energy there. Something was happening and it did not feel right to him.

As the dust settled down some, Kira could see through the tempest of energy a man with short hair, clutching his head. Seemingly in pain.

‘I’ll kill all of you’

A psionic voice was transmitted in all directions. Kira could feel the voice not with his ears, but with his very soul. The voice seemed to be transmitted straight inside him, baleful in nature.

‘This city doesn’t deserve to live’

AAHHHH

Psionic energy raged around him, as he raised a fist up in the air. Purple psionic chains of energy appeared around him, pulverizing everything they touched.

As the energy in his charge reached a peak, he sent the first crashing down.

Kira used his energy to propel himself backwards as quickly as he could.

BOOM!

Light flooded Kira's sight. Momentarily he was blinded. A split second later he was thrown into the air.

A wave passed through the ground, uplifting what remained of the building and the surrounding streets. The windows on the buildings around, broke, all at the same time, and the walls of the nearest one’s cracked.

Kira was sent flying into the air, most of the energy he received was dispersed as he flew. He kicked in the direction he was flying and slowly stopped hurtling through the air. Skidding he landed on the ground half a kilometer away from the center of the blast.

He had placed his hands in front of his chest and head, and he could feel the heat he absorbed from the discharge of energy.

Cold sweat run down his back.

“How dangerous” he quickly ran away towards home.

As he quickly ran home, he thought about how wild and savage the energy had felt. He assumed that had been a soul deviation, especially considering what the man had said.

The forest is much safer, thought Kira while heading home. He had had enough for one day.

….....................................................................................................................................................................

Kira found himself in front of a small apartment building. He had come here to find Luxa’s friend, and see how much he would get for the shard.

The building was actually in a yellow zone, so Kira decided to be cautious for safety reasons. He cautiously went inside.

As he entered the building the stairway split into two, one going up one down. A sign was pointing down to the basement which read “Cheap Alchemist.”

Boom

Kira felt a small shake coming from down below. As he continued down, he sensed a faint burnt smell in the air and remnants of psionic energy.

He went two floors down, and came to a big wooden door reinforced with steel bars. He knocked on it, immediately hearing hasty footsteps nearing the door.

A woman in black military attire showed up. She had soot all over her face. Her hair was tied into a bun.

The woman seemed ecstatic at seeing Kira, an expression that would be fitting welcoming and old friend not seen in years.

“Welcome! Did you come here to sell materials? I knew posting about it in a newspaper would help, hahaha!” she had a cheerful voice that proved she did not care she had just been through a small explosion.

“Actually, I came here due to Luxa’s introduction. She said you were giving future discounts to those that sell you materials.” Kira wanted it to be known that Luxa had recommended her friend. He did not want a good deed to go unknown.

Luxa smiled softly but her face then showed a small frown. She prodded cautiously “You do know I buy at a discount, right? Her face showed reluctance at asking the question.

Kira smiled assuredly “Yes. Do not worry Luxa told me.”

She smiled happily and motioned him to enter.

“Please forgive the mess but this is where I work.” in an unapologetic tone.

The room was wide, and workbenches with different instrument on them were placed near the walls. The floor tiles underneath his feet were almost all broken and shattered.

He noticed one corner had a small living space, with a wardrobe and a bed. The bed covers seemed covered in sooth, made all apparent by the bright light given by the many crystals hung on the ceiling.

He thought she lived where she worked as well. Either that or she went so rarely home she brought the bedroom with her.

She went near one of the benches and asked excitedly “So? What did you bring?!”

She motioned impatiently at him.

Kira pulled out the secure box and took out the nucleus shard from it. He had gone to other alchemical shops to have it appraised before coming here, spending his food money for the day on it. He had formed an idea for how much this cost.

“It's so big!” her face went wide and she was instantly drawn in by the purple crystal shard. She snatched it from his hand and took it under an amplifying glass.

She stared at it for a couple of minutes then she placed it inside a small box with a glass monitoring panel. Near the panel where different devices, all analog, scales, and meters. The box started making a noise as if it was cooking it, and the needles in some devices started to move.

The more it stayed inside, the more stable the needles got and the more excited she became.

She stopped the machine and took out the shard and lifted it up. She kept looking at it with a mesmerized look on her face.

Her expression turned sour and she gave it back to Kira while shaking her head lightly.

“This is a high-quality material. You would be losing allot of credits if you sold this to me. Take it and sell it at an established shop. You will get about 5000 credits for it.” a small sigh escaping her mouth.

Kira smiled at her and nodded his head in agreement “I know. I still came here.” at his words looking somewhat shocked. She examined him looking for hidden motives.

“You’ll refuse buying it from me?” asked Kira in a joking manner.

“No no!” shaking her head swiftly “Give it here.” taking the crystal and putting it in a box on the table.

“That stag must have been huge for the shard to have matured to this extent.” she looked at him wearily. “Stag’s that big are rare. Most of them are found to deep in the jungle for people’s liking.” her voice gained a bitter tone “And strong cultivators don’t bother with such low paying materials. After all, you must search for the stag, it doesn't just jump in your lap.”

She fished out a credit slate and touched Kira’s. Kira knew that on his slate, some circuit lines would light up and that meant they had credits attached to them.

His slate had a large number of circuit lines on it, the 4250 credits he had just received only lighting up a small number of them.

When she saw the value of the circuit lines on his slate, she sneaked a mysterious glance at Kira. Kira noticed the glance, and thought the kind of credit slate he had was somewhat rare, thinking he should keep a spare one to conduct future transactions.

This amount of money, could buy one single meal for Miu. He started sweating a little bit, when he realized just how much she had ate that night.

“I'm Koi. If you have any other materials to sell, please come to me, I give discounts on the basis of reciprocity. How much you sell; I give it back in discounts for alchemical services and add a little bit on top.” she gave him a list of services he could perform, and their rates of success. He now realized, alchemy was not always a 100% guarantee.

Kira said he would come if he needed anything and left after exchanging pleasantries.

He decided he would go next to the racing spot, since weekend had arrived.

As he ran towards the spot, he glanced at the list she had given him. Regeneration pills, condensation cores, elemental enhancements and the most expensive ones were tempering pills. Those pills were mainly used by transmuters to stabilize their body.

He went home to wait until evening came, deciding to meditate while waiting.

…....................................................................................................................................................................

Kira frowned and pursed his lips. He could no longer feel his body changing. He kept meditating and moving the psionic energy in the way the diagram showed, but the effects were nonexistent.

This meditation technique no longer worked on him.

It seems I need another cultivation technique moving forward.

Kira thought he should also try to find out more about the lightning energy in his body. He went to Mira’s room to find her to talk, but she was no there and neither was Miu.

He decided to postpone asking them, and just left for the racing spot. Before he went, he transferred most of his credits on a second slate. A fifth of the slate’s circuits lit up, as he transferred the credits onto it.

Having made his preparations, he left for the spot.

Outside the hotel, night had descended on the city, forcing the sky to light up and shower down purple light.

Kira ran through the neon city, occasional security alarms sounding in his ears. The city had started breathing its night air. According to Miu, these alarms were security teams from various companies descending onto various happenings inside the city.

When he approached his destination, he could see from afar, many people standing on top of buildings overlooking the long street.

Kira now realized this might be a social event here in Night City, and wondered what other social gatherings the city had to offer besides cultivation racing.

He reached the entrance of the street, and saw a considerable number of people having gathered already gathered there. Thousands. Music blared loudly, combining with the sound of the crow to fill the night air with liveliness.

boom boom boom

Booming sounds reached his ears, their source up ahead. Kira assumed those were racers starting their run.

He finally made his way up to the front of the crowd. He was suddenly touched on his shoulder by someone. When he turned around to see who it was, the shinning bald head of Neontrail greeted him.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“You came. Well then, come on. I need to introduce you to the organizer so that he can put you in a test race. You can't participate in a real money maker if you don’t prove you’ve got what it takes first. People are not happy when they see slow pokes into their races.”

Kira followed and came up to a stand, where someone was scribbling something down as he talked to various people.

Near him there was a man emanating a powerful air. Kira felt the man was at least as powerful as the instructor from the ability course, perhaps even stronger. He was also dressed in a black suit, and wore sunglasses. A weird choice considering it was night.

“Don't say anything about the sunglasses, or you won't race.” cautioned Neontrail as they approached the man in suit.

“Kid, this is the one I've been telling you about.”

The man examined Kira trough his sunglasses, and said after a couple of seconds in a heavy rough voice “You are only middle step. You sure you’ve got what it takes?”

“He has lightning qi. I saw it myself.” Neontrail chimed in, trying to assure him.

Kira looking calm and steady said “Neontrail said something about a test race. Well, let me do that and you’ll decide after, if you can let me race.” Kira mouth turned into a grin and said “I want to know what incentive I have to race tough. If I want to have fun, I can run on my own.” he glanced lightly at the man beside them. Kira now saw that he was taking bets from people. If this was the case, and people would be making money off of him, then should he not get a cut?

Under the noise created by the racers and the music, his rough voice thundered above it all “Hahaha, certified racers get ten percent of the betting pool, collectively. The main event prize goes to only one person. You don’t need to concern your pretty little head about it. You are not a certified racer. GAMMA!”

One of the men in the background came up to him “Yes aniki!”

“How many people are listed for the test race?”

“Fifteen aniki!” the subordinate screamed his lungs out with every lined he spoke. He looked at Kid as if he was looking at his big brother.

Kid nodded his head, and said “Add one more. Even if the street will be crowded, its fine. It’s a test race. If some of them trip, they won't die. Psion willing, hahaha!”

The subordinate looked conflicted, he responded in a meek tone “Aniki. Word is that some powerful figures are at the watch tower. Maybe we should not do that.”

“Bakayaro!” the air surrounding Kid suffered a purple tone shift, and everyone felt that he was mad at having his subordinate tell him what to do. He looked at his men as if he would split them in half.

After a couple of seconds, the man suddenly calmed down and clicked his tongue loudly. People could tell even with glasses hiding his face, he had an annoyed expression.

His tone weirdly childish as he asked “Any word on who she is seeing tonight?”

His subordinate seemed used to his tone shifts “My men have said the saintes is most likely entertaining the empress tonight.”

After a brief pause Kid responded by waving it off “Then its fine. Last time, I've heard the empress complained it wasn’t fun enough. Something about it being too easy to predict. If there are more people then that will become tough to do.”

As the subordinate retreated to convey his orders, Kid shouted “Wait!” Kid seemed to ponder something for a second, nodding to himself after a while “Make an announcement. Tonight, every winner makes it to the main event.”

“Even the testing race?” everyone looked shocked at him, as if this had never happened before.

Kid smiled saying in confident tone “Since the devil of night city came to be entertained, then we had better put on a show.” he then waved his subordinate off.

Gasps could be heard, from the people who overheard what he had said.

Kira thoughts went elsewhere tough, at the mention of devil of night city. He wondered if Mira was actually spectating from somewhere, and what would she think when she saw him here.

He did not know if he could make it into the main event. He had no information about how fast a racer should be. Hence, he had no idea if he could even win the test.

….....................................................................................................................................................................

The racing street was intersected at various point by other roads. At one such intersection, stood a one-hundred-meter tower, overlooking the whole racing way. Great neon symbols run down the length of the tower. The symbols were foreign, and they translated as Akane Tower.

A platform jutted out from the top of the tower, hanging in the night air. The platform was made entirely out of a transparent material. The material making it easy for the inhabitants to see the racing track below.

The glass platform was divided into multiple compartments, where tables were set up for people to spectate the race below. There were waiters bringing expensive food and drink to the viewer who sometimes watched the street below, sometimes discussed amongst themselves. Some tables held many people while some only had a couple of chairs around them. The walls in-between the compartments were not see-through, all so that privacy could be maintained between the various groups of people.

In a secluded spot on the platform, a small room luxuriously furnished, a handful of people stood in silence.

An old somewhat tired voice asked “So? Why is the most powerful diviner of Night City here. Last time you were here, I remember you saying it was a boring activity. Ah yes. ‘JahJong is ten times more fun than watching ants chase after each other.’ Is that it?” the old woman finished with a slight provocative tone. “I've heard you’ve reached ten thousand loses consecutively.” Shaking her head and with a look wonder “I could probably ask a pig to play JahJong ten thousand times, and the pig would be confident in winning at least once.”

Mira’s face turned sour “Don't mock me old thing, you know that’s not how diviners work. I can only be told the result, not how to change it.”

The woman Mira was talking to, had a full head of white hair, the skin on her face showing her old age. She had thin elongated eyes, small forehead, and gentle facial features.

She wore a white militaristic leather coat, wide open showing her plated armor underneath.

As she stood on a chair, her back was upright like an arrow, and her hand were resting on top of each other on a sheathed longsword.

Mira stood in contrast to her, lazily slouched over her chair, looking as if she was talking to no one important.

She waved at Miu to pour another coup of wine.

Miu was watching the gathering below, squinting her eyes at the people below. She was leaning over the balcony ledge, not caring that people below might see her stare, like a cow seeing a new gate.

The glass floor underneath their feet, was a one-sided glass. They could see below, but no one below could see them.

Mira noticed Miu was not paying attention, and grumbled something about why she had bothered to bring her along.

Before she could take the bottle into her hands, the old woman leaned over and poured her a coup.

“Why are you here. You should know, in all of the black district, I enjoy your company the least.” not caring what Mira thought she used a simple informative tone.

Mira seemed genuinely hurt, and while putting the wine glass to her lips asked in an exaggerated manner “Even councilman Furya?”

With a genuine tone she answered flatly “Yes.”

Mira frowned truthfully, and her face turned serious. She looked at the old woman and asked her in a grave manner, her slouched posture, no longer to be seen.

“I need information on all the battlestars heading towards Jangala. I want to know the direction their coming from and the composition of their fleet if possible. Akane, I know you dislike me for what I did back then, but I'll own you with a divination.”

Akane’s eyes turned into slits, as she tried to peer at Mira and see through her “I can't do it unless you tell me why. Yamato, will not let me access the reports without good reason. So why should I go antagonize Yamato, for a divination coming from someone who can't even win at JahJong?” the suspicion in her voice letting itself know to Mira.

Mira sighted when she saw her this unwilling. She knew this would be the case but still hoped she would not have to say.

“Ok. I will tell you 100%.”

Mira then closed her eyes and started whispering in a low tone. The air around her tightened, and invisible shackles bound her soul tightly.

A perverse sensation caressed the soul of everyone in the room. Miu who had so far not paid any attention to the conversation of the two women, looked back at Mira horrified. Miu could feel the hair on her body stand up. A sensation someone like her should not feel anymore. One she had not felt ever since she had become a transmuter.

She could feel a presence gazing down at them, and touching their very souls.

Akane’s expression turned severe and she dared not utter a word.

After a couple of minutes, Mira stopped talking and with a pale trembling face she pulled out her cards.

Her voice not losing any strength she said “I've performed a divination on Jangala.” Akane gasped and waited for Mira to continue. “It showed battle and defeat and...” pulling out a card with two fingers, and flipping it to show its front “...the psionic devil”

Akane trembled and looked at Mira in anger “Who dares?! Yamato may be old, but he still retains his peak strength. Jangala may be a lesser world, but it still has the means to protect itself.”

Mira shook her head lightly “It could be Nassau raiders or even a devil cultivator. But there could be another reason.”

Mira made up her mind and said “There is a deserter on this planet. The child of a powerful person in the Core Military, most likely”

Akane gasped and realized the implications of it.

“Send the deserter away. When the battlestars get here, we will say we don’t know anything. We will keep strict records of whoever leaves the planet, they probably won't say anything”

Mira shook her head and said calmly “If he has to leave, I'm taking him with me.

Thinking at the implication of what she said, she looked at Mira and asked “Why bother telling me then. You could have left without saying anything. It's not hard to lose their search. They only act tough to scare away people from acting against their interests.”

Mira nodded and said “I came to you, since if he is a danger to the planet, you would definitely act on it, and would not allow him to continue staying here. So, I can assume you will tell Yamato about this?”

Akane nodded “I have to. This is too important not to”

Mira expected the answer and responded “Since that is the case, please watch me perform this divination.” she started shuffling her cards.

Mira closed her eyes, vast amounts of psionic energy gathering within her. The air started distorting and groaning under the pressure exerted on it. Energy leaked out of Mira; her body unable to fully contain it within.

Akane waved her hand, and an invisible forcefield appeared around the room, not allowing the ripples of energy to be felt outside.

Mira sent the cards flying into the air, and all the energy she had gathered entered the cards. Their shapes, glowed, with the enormous energy now contained within them.

Out of the chaos cloud, twenty-seven cards came out. Only the first three of which did not spin. She placed them face down on the table, not opening her eyes to look at them.

The energy in the room dissipated and Mira put aside all the other cards.

Mira opened her eyes and with sweaty palms, flipped the first one.

Two purple stars, in proximity with each other, swirling and dancing around one another, waves of energy spewing when they came into contact.

Mira nodded lightly and said “Conflict.” flipping the next one.

A star nebula, a white shining dot in the middle, sitting in the remnants of what it once was.

“Hissss. What a terrible future.” said Akane not being able to keep her calm demeanor. She then looked at Mira and said with an accusatory tone “You said you saw defeat last time. This looks like certain death.” her face then turned to shock, moments later followed by anger. The light of understanding passing through her eyes. She looked at Mira and said in a baleful and vicious voice, “You little dragon sow! You think if you’ve showed me all this, you can scare me into not throwing the deserter off Jangala?”

Mira smiled wickedly at Akane. “Try it. I will leave as well, and with it, this the planet will have one less powerhouse.” she saw house Akane seemed conflicted at the prospect of her leaving, she decided to push one last time, sincerely saying “I really this see defeat if he stayed. I honestly hoped the outcome would be the same if he left, not worse. I was not planning to manipulate you. Since we know he gives the planet a better outcome, tell Yamato to keep him.”

Akane closed her eyes. As she stood there, down on the chair her back straight as an arrow, she gave off a heroic air. Her expression turned steady and committed. A saint capable of cutting mountains, and splitting the seas.

She opened her eyes abruptly; a sharp gaze being sent towards Mira “I will tell Yamato what I saw today. Nothing more.”

Mira’s mouth formed a wide smile, and she slumped with a thud on the chair, leaning back as much as the chair allowed. A long sigh escaping her mouth.

She nodded her head lightly as she laid one of her arms across her face, head turned towards the ceiling.

Miu had no idea what she had just witnessed. The first phenomenon was eerie, and frightened her. Someone who killed like she ate and tortured as she smoked.

While the divination seemed on a whole different level to anything she had seen in her entire life.

Seeing as Mira was tired, she decided to not bother her, especially since Saintes Akane was here in the room.

She went to the balcony to look down at the streets below, hopefully the race bellow would take her mind from it.

A loud psionic message was felt, coming from down on the street, passing through the open balcony.

It has been decided, that everyone who wins a race tonight will be able to join the main event. Moreover, the winner of the main event will receive a Mortal Adept cultivation technique in addition to the usual prize money.

The transmission was felt by everyone in the area, mortal or immortal.

WAAAAAAHHH

The crowd cheered and boomed at the sky, the nuwa ceiling trembling, purple embers falling to the ground.

Tonight, twenty people shall participate in the testing race. The winner will be able to participate in the Main Event!

Another round of cheers was heard from the crowd bellow, the spectators viewing from the top of the buildings, coming closer to the ledge of the buildings to better see the races about to begin.

IMMORTALS! INTO POSITION!

As the message reached Kira’s soul, he went to the starting line to prepare for the race.

The starting position had twenty metal blocks, each placed one meter away from half a meter away from one another.

The metal blocks jutted out from the road at an angle. Kira realized this was not done to prevent damage to the street, since the whole track was made out of a special metal, but to most likely, give racers a better start.

The road was not made of the usual material, it was made from metal, with a crisscross pattern molded into it, metalic grey in color. This would give people the traction needed to push themselves as hard as possible.

Neontrail’s voice sounded in Kira ears. “Listen carefully. You can win this easily, just make sure you don’t trip on your own legs. The track is 2 kilometers long, a personal project of Saintes Akane. Made out of faux battlestar armor. So don’t be afraid of cracking the street. Even a rank 1 would find it impossible to do it while running.”

Kira looked at him, sensing the man had an ulterior motive. He sent him a quizzical look.

Neontrail frowned and said a heavy tone “You need to win. Got it?” saying this in a tone as if he was ordering Kira he was not allowed to lose.

Kira laughed and asked sincerely “Why? If I lose, so be it. If I win, so be it. Why should I care if I lose or win. I want to enjoy the race. Winning is not in my mind.”

The words hit Neontrail’s soul like a hammer. He had in front of him a man who did not care for winning.

Kira saw Neontrail face turn pale, and smiled mysteriously, suddenly having an idea of what might have happened.

“Yo..u, you can't! You HAVE to win.” he sounded a bit desperate.

Kira waved him off with a joking smile on his face “No. I don’t actually.” his behavior then changed and he joked saying “But I will try my best” he then winked at Neontrail and went to get into position with a loud laughter.

Neontrail watched him go, sweating harder than a pig, thinking, who did I bet all my credits on.

Kira got into position, and suddenly looked up, seeing a tall tower somewhere in the middle of the track. He then noticed a person standing on a balcony, situated on the tower viewing platform. He felt something familiar from that person but put it out of his mind.

“HAH!” he let out a loud shout, scaring the people behind him even further back. Thick lighting snakes flickering around him. A wave of dust formed with him as the center, as he powered up more than ever before.

For the first time in his life, he let excitement fill his mind. Since he decided he would have fun tonight, he would do it while testing his limits. He had a huge grin on his face, as he looked at the end of the track far into the distance.

All the other cultivator who got into position looked at him in surprise, and also powered up, sending waves of energy out of their body's.

Up on the platform, Miu made an excited face as she finally felt who it was who had seemed so familiar.

“Big sis!” shouted Miu in her heavy female voice, she then gave Mira a look who was annoyed at having had her nap interrupted.

“Stop screaming, my head hurts” let me sleep I am bored.

“It’s him.” Mira looked a bit confused, but then understood who she was referring to. She glanced down at the floor, sending her gaze towards the crowd. There she saw the twenty people all lined up, and revving themselves up. Among them she saw someone familiar. She gave an unexpected yelp, and Saintes Akane, also looked down at the race who was about to begin.

Akane asked in a thoughtful voice “Is it him?”

Mira looked at her, and after a couple of seconds nodded in confirmation. “Yes. He has only awakened for a week. Did you know?”

Akane looked at Kira, realizing that’s the one since he was the most outstanding of the bunch. She clearly saw his excited expression and frowned, noticing the wild and unrefined use of energy.

“Young, and impetuous. He does not have the right temperament to be guided.”

Mira did not say anything at her complaint. She merely gave a small smile, not denying nor confirming. She wanted to pull out her cards and try to predict the outcome of tonight for Kira, but she refrained at the last second.

GET SET!

As the announcer said these words, everybody looked up at the tower, as if waiting for something to happen.

Akane up in the tower nodded slightly and got up in swift movement. When Mira saw this, she had an excited look on her face and said hastily to Akane “Let me do it!” cutting her off violently and going to the balcony ahead of her.

She frowned at Mira, but before she could even say anything, Mira was already out, emitting a dignified and saintly aura. Doing anything now would result in damaging the face of the Night Empress. No need to go that far for such a small matter.

Mira shined with psionic light upon the world. Her whole being radiating the purest psionic light people had seen, lighting up everything for kilometers.

Holy, and with a saintly disposition she spoke “As the guest today, I, the Empress of Night City, have decided to award the winner of the main event with a Lightning Qi cultivation manual.” her voice sounded high and aloof, thundering into everyone's hearths. This was not a psionic transmission to the soul, but physical proof of how mighty she was.

All the people down below gasped at her words, not only was the Empress showing off her holiness to the masses, but she would also reward the champion with an elemental cultivation manual.

Mira waited for what seemed like an eternity to continue speaking her next words, keeping everyone waiting with bathed breaths.

“THE ODIN FORMULA!”

Everyone below gasped. None of them knew what the manual would teach and what insights it would provide to someone, but they knew the name Odin. Ruler of the Odin Force.

His name spoken in the same sentence as the gods. Rival to the godly serpent Boros.

Anything related to Odin, had to be exalted and beyond immortals.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

The crowd exploded into cheers, booming for kilometers around.

Mira smiled mischievously, since she was so bright at that moment, no one could see her anyway.

“LET THE RACE BEGIN!” she let out an orb of light out of her hand which quickly rose up into the sky. The people could sense the energy inside it pulse, slowly at first, and faster and faster as it floated up.

All the competitors leaned forward, pumping energy into their legs.

Kira clicked his tongue, wondering what Mira was planning with this. She must have known he had lightning qi, so he wondered why would she do this.

Kira leaned forward, muscles taunt with energy. He waited with his eyes closed for the sound of the signal.

The auras of the runners were flaring reaching a crescendo, with everyone focused on them, ready to see which dragon would win the race.

Perhaps there would be someone who would surprise them.

As the orb reached higher and higher, the racers expelled enormous amounts of energy all together causing a storm of psionic energy at the starting point.

People who paid attention to the orb shot by Mira, could feel the waves of energy come out of it reach a peak, like a high-pitched sound, beating faster and faster and faster on their ears.

Kira sent all the energy he could take into his legs, pressing against the metal block, making it creak and groan from pressure.

The sound reached a peak, flatlining with a loud piercing sound.

BANG the orb exploding shaking everyone’s soul.

kiri kiri kiri kiri

A storm of lightning appeared in Kira’s place, masking his disappearance.

“Chidori!” Akane’s eyes shot wide open.

Kira accelerated so fast, only a purple lightning trail left in his wake.

As he moved forward, piercing through the air at maddening speeds, he looked like a lightning cutter slashing the air apart, beams of energy chasing after him from behind.

At the one-hundred-meter mark, he had already reached five hundred kilometers per hour, his bones creaking from the acceleration.

He quickly approached the tower, reaching the half way mark. Kira looked up briefly at Mira smiling.

He was having fun, pushing his limits.

He kept running and pushing, the wind blasting in his ears, the roadside a meet blur. I

In a mere couple of seconds, at the fifteen-hundred-meter mark, he had reached a top speed of eight hundred kilometers per hour. This was even faster than a couple of days ago. His face skin was pulled back, and it burned red hot.

His clothes barely hung on to him, and the military boots he was wearing were starting to tear apart. He could overcharge his muscles with psionic energy, but that would tear them apart in the couple hundred meters he had left of the race track.

If this speed could not win the testing race, then he would not even bother with the main event, even if he was allowed.

A loud thundering sound could be heard as Kira rocketed passed buildings, lifting up all the loose debris up into the air.

Two thousand meter. He had reached the end.

As he reached the end, he used the leftover runway to gently lose his momentum mass to the metal plates underneath.

As he looked back, he saw that most of his competitors were at least half a kilometer away from finishing, practically, only passing through the settling dust of the lightning arrow that was Kira.

As he stopped fully, he looked back and counted the number of people who passed six hundred and hour, and counted only two, with only one of them barely coming close to seven hundred.

If close to seven hundred gets you as a qualified racer, then most likely everyone who is going to be in the main event will be above that. This was Kira’s thought process.

He knew, the difference between seven and eight, was actually not as additive as that. The required effort one needed to put in, to reach higher speeds was in fact somewhat exponential in nature. The faster your speed, the harder you needed to work to reach higher values.

As he paced back towards the starting line, he looked inside himself to see what was the reason for the dramatic speed increase in the past few days.

Pumping more psionic energy into his legs would not be the answer, since he had already reached the limit of what his body could endure. So, it must have been something else.

As he sensed inside, he tried perceiving more about his lightning qi. And he found that he more easily understood it now, having a better connection to it.

He now was able to sense it holistically, as if finally, being able to see the whole picture, whereas before, he could only see parts of it.

He could tell that his lightning qi was more of a feature of his soul then something separate. It seemed tied to his soul intrinsically. He could also sense a certain limit to how much he could have access to in a certain period of time, unlike psionic energy which he felt as if he could pull on oceans of it.

I wonder when this happened. Kira tried figuring out, when this change had occurred, but he found it difficult to pin point. He could tell it was not recent, or tonight at the race.

He then remembered he had tweaked his use of lighting qi, while he tried running stealthily in the woods. But he could not tell why that, in and of itself, would have caused a better connection to his lightning qi.

Mira returned to the room, as the race concluded. She had a satisfied smile, and motioned to Miu to pour her a drink.

Miu pushed the glass forward towards Mira, who was standing legs crossed, eyes closed, an arm hanging to the side of the chair, with a smug smile on her face.

“Your drink Big Sis” bowing towards Mira.

Akane looked at the way Mira acted, and smirked at how child like her demeanor was, compared to moments before.

She then looked back at Kira “He causes such flash of qi even while at Mortal Adept rank. He has some talent for lightning qi.” she nodded her head, and looked as if she had given the greatest praise possible.

“Some!” Mira opened her eyes and snapped lightly at her. “What do you guys call it in Sun Ri? Chidori? It has not even been ten days since he awakened, and he already spews such massive amounts of lightning.” looking confidently at the old woman.

“Past deeds do not guarantee future results.” saying this stoically. Akane did not seem to be convinced of Mira’s praise for Kira.

“Hah. Is Sun Ri still in turmoil? Will it ever leave the Sengoku period? It would say past experience, predict future outcome, pretty well.” Mira did not hide her derision and sarcasm in her words.

“You dragon sow! Is Huoxia not the same?!” Akane snaped harshly at Mira, insulting her without abandon “Furthermore I've received reports saying Goda has united all the clans.” she smiled coldly at Mira “Where do you think he will direct all the resentment of subjugation to?”

Mira’s face kept the same disdain in her voice saying “Again, you prove you are from Sun Ri. Seeing with your eyes, rather than your soul. Do you think Huoxia is what it was during the spring of legends? There are provincial warlords more powerful than Great Xia ever was. Goda will smash his teeth into Huoxia, so that he may not bite his own hands with them.”

“Enough!” Akane thundered at Mira. “This is childish. We both left the east in search of some other soil to plant our seeds. Let's not pretend we care about our realms, since we know full well, we do not.”

Mira’s sarcasm disappeared, and she gave a gentle smile. “Again, you prove why you were able to leave. Being able to leave your pride behind, sigh, is something an immortal should always be able to do.” she then cast her gaze up towards the clouds, as if she could see through everything and reach somewhere deep into the sea of stars. She said softly “Unlike some others who would not.” her voice leaking melancholy for just a tiny moment.

Akane seemed to be touched by her words and stopped talking, she simply closed her eyes and listened to the crowds cheering below.

“Old hag I envy you. Have I, Mira, ever told you that?” She spoke softly towards Akane, while looking at the ceiling, leaning backwards on the chair, both her arms hanging on the chair.

“Many times.” said Akane softly.

Down below, Kira had reached the starting line, where Kid, surrounded by an ocean of people, were waiting for him.

“Kozo, hahaha! You did good you brat! Why did you not tell me you were an elemental user. That was some good show you put up for those people up there! The rules tonight say you get to go into two more races. But if you want you don’t have to participate in a qualification race, since you already get to go in the main event. What do you want to do?”

Kira thought about it for a second and asked “If I lose a qualification race, I get to go regardless to the main event?”

Kid thought about it and frowned “Heh. Hungry kid. Hmm, fine. You can do both even if you lose the qualification one.”

There were ten qualification races in total. More than a hundred and fifty racers would compete for a spot in the main event tonight.

Racers were selected at random for the races, in a random lot draw. You ended up with a random selection of people, their skill not being taken into account. After all, if you were beaten in a qualification race, you would be beaten by that person in the main event as well, no matter how close you were to them in skill.

Kira was in the fifth race. This was luck since he could meditate and recover his muscles in the meantime. There was a small break in-between races for bets to be collected.

On the fourth race, Kira saw someone familiar lining up to race. It was the ashen woman.

Kira smiled and decided to watch the race to see how she fared. He felt as if he had some fate with this woman, since he kept stumbling on her.

As she lined up in position, she threw away her grey long coat, a loudly fluttering in the air.

Her back was bare, revealing her chiseled muscles. She wore a red tank top, that revealed her whole back, leaving it to be seen.

She bent forward her muscles bulging slowly with psionic energy. The air around her started twisting, and embers appeared in the air around her, as her energy climbed higher and higher.

With a violent sound of air boiling, flames started spewing out of her entire back at an angle parallel to the street. A thundering sound being emitted from her back.

The air behind her groaned and boiled, as the flames became a steady stream of flames flying with high speed towards her back.

Kira was intrigued by this used of qi. He wondered if he could do it as well.

The psionic bang of an energy ball hit everyone soul.

With a loud boom, the grey-haired woman, blasted forward a jet stream pushing out of her back.

Kira would not tell how fast she was moving, but she was definitely reaching higher speeds the he had.

If he were to guess, she was approaching nine hundred. She was more efficient with her use of fire energy than he was with lightning.

The ashen haired woman won, beating the next place by at least a hundred kilometers in top speed.

Next it was Kira’s turn. If he won this race he would receive four percent of the betting pool, while the succeeding two would receive, three percent and two percent, respectively. The fourth placed would receive one percent.

The prizes depended entirely on how much people bet on your race. If the lineup was not exciting, then you would receive nothing. If the lineup was composed of titans and saints, the you would win allot. People did not have a habit of betting big on a turtle race.

The psionic bang beat on his soul, and his muscles snapped powered by a mixture of psionic and lightning energy.

As he ran, he focused on trying to manipulate qi to aid in his movements, expelling it through various body parts. As he did, lightning snakes started leaking out of him, exiting his body, and leaving a messy trail of lightning as he passed, unlike the line left before.

He noticed no increase in speed, and nothing much happened except leaving some black marks on the metal ground.

Two people past him. He could not sense any qi coming from them. All they were using was psionic energy to power themselves.

From one of them, Kira felt the psionic energy that cultivator was using, having a weird flow to it. It exited his body and somehow pushed him forward, while at the same time it protected him from the wind pressure.

Kira realized at that point, there was more to psionic energy than using it to power or enhance your body.

He managed to finish in third place.

Back at the starting line, Neontrail, laughed and patted him on the back.

“Luckily, I didn’t bet on you this time around, or I would have lost every gain I had made.”

Kira laughed at his words, not minding the joking manner.

He shook his head in acceptance. “They were better than me. I still have a long way to go on this path of cultivation”

“Heh. Watch me as I plow through and take that cultivation book. I have recently gained some insights into psionic energy, and have elevated my connection to it a hundredfold. I’ll definitely win today!”

He sounded extremely heroic as he said it, and he seemed to be saying he would win for Kira as well. Don’t worry fellow cultivator, the cultivation book will be put to good use.

“Hahaha! Very well! Go win it!” Kira encouraged him smiling, then he went to watch the race that was about to begin.

He paid close attention to Neontrail, as he was curious about how he would use psionic energy to win the race.

As he got into position, Neontrail started pressing the neon studded clothes on him, activating the neon mineral, and making him take the characteristic neon glow of the Night District.

He then started pulling on psionic energy, and his muscles bulged slightly as he did so.

Something peculiar happened, as Kira kept his perception focused on him. The psionic energy in his body, started following a mysterious flow, culminating in it finally gathering in his legs, making his legs glow brightly in Kira’s perception. This glow was not one normal people could see, but an ephemeral one that could only be sensed if one had a connection to psionic space.

Neontrail then grinned, and swept high in the air with one of his legs. Cutting the air with woosh.

A psionic half-moon energy projectile, was ejected from his legs, cutting the night sky, slowly dissipating, as it flew further and further up.

The air where the projectile passed through, was energized, and a gale of win formed in its wake.

The projectile dissipated before it had reached the nuwa ceiling, the gale formed by it continued forward, forming a small storm as it hit the wall of purple glowing leaves.

Thousands of leaves fell from heavens, making people cheer and shout with excitement.

“I want to retract my bet, let me bet on Neontrail!”

“Neontrail! Teach me the ways of the heavens!”

“I’ll bet all my fortunes tonight on you Neontrail!”

Neontrail remained stoic and calm in the face of all the cheers. For two seconds.

Eventually he grinned slightly, barely stopping himself from breaking act. Swishing his arms in the air, flicking his sleeveless jacket, he thundered.

“How could I, Neontrail, climb the nine heavenly steps, if I don’t leave every mortal thing behind! What is money on my path to enlightenment? What is fame in the eyes of heaven?!”

He then forced himself to get into position. Kira could see his mouth trembling, sometimes almost forming a smile. The energy orb was already high up in the air.

The psionic bang resounded, and the race began.

When Kira looked at Neontrail, he saw a trail of neon light in his wake, and realized why he was named that way.

He assumed, he himself, had given himself the nickname.

Kira could feel that if he so pleased, he could eject the energy out of his legs, and fly the race. He assumed there must be a reason he did not do it, but could not figure out why.

Neontrail reached a bit over nine hundred. A speed Kira found to be frightening.

When Neontrail returned victorious, he could see his clothes were burned black, the neon crystals being still functional, to Kiras’ surprise. Their material, apparently not as good as Kiras.’

Kira went to meditate on his lightning qi, wanting to find a way to use it better. He told himself he would ponder on the use of psionic energy some other time.

‘It's time for the main event! The whole night you have waited for this race! IT... IS... HERE!’

People went to frantically bet on their favorite cultivator, the man in charge of noting down bets, requiring additional people to help him.

“You know he isn't going to win this race, right?” Akane glanced sideways at Mira.

Mira smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I have not looked at it”

Akane raised an eyebrow in interest “Why are you betting those notes then. They are still valuable if given to the right person. In fact, that boy down there, is, the right person. Chidori before the soul link is established, given his new awakening, incredible comprehension. If, I use the past to examine the future, the he might have a small chance at reaching saint level. So why not give it to him?”

Mira smiled while gazing down below. Akane had ordered a couch brought for Mira. Mira sat on the couch, laying down on her side, her head being propped up by her hand lazily.

She looked at Kira, who was getting into position on the battlestar metal plates.

“Because I want to. No other reason.” she then turned her head towards Akane and said “Plus I have a good feeling about it. And it's not that precious to me. I got it as fake gift. It would ruin my heart if I cared to much about it.”

“Well, if the Empress of night city has a good feeling, that’s probably good enough.” saying this with a flat tone, she then turned her attention to Kira who had already charged up his body.

Lightning and psionic snakes of energy, flickered around him, all while the air heated up and groaned from his presence.

Kira slowly closed his eyes, trying to once more, see the lightning qi in his soul.

Abruptly, the phenomenon around him disappeared.

Mira frowned as she looked at Kira from up top. She was confused at his actions. He should be revving up even more, not lowering his energy intensity.

This time, only lighting flickers appeared around him, as he kept letting lightning qi run wild into his body, in a bid to better understand it.

He observed it, let it flow as it willed, merely watching it dance under its own rules. He simply let it flow, not interfering with it anymore. He watched as it flowed and crashed, choosing a path of its own.

Lightning chooses the shortest path, discharging itself in one swift deciding blow. It does not care who it strikes, merely flowing under its own rules. The path it follows, not known to anyone except the heavens, until the very last moment.

The lightning coursing through his body, flowed freely unguided by anyone except his soul. He did not think of how to guide it, he only flowed with it.

As he did so, even the lightning flickers around him started disappearing.

Mira’s frown became more obvious, as she examined that ridiculously small amount of residual lightning qi, escaping his body, even her superior senses saw, he no longer exuded any meaningful amount of qi, meaning he was not wasting allot of it anymore.

Akane smiled lightly “I was wrong. This one is not young.”

The lightning formed a path, through which it now traveled in the body. Only observing with his soul, unconsciously guiding it.

The revolutions, coursed through the body in a mysterious way, along some meridians he did not know he had. Forging their own path according to the laws of the heavens. By letting go of control of the lightning, only then did he achieve this.

Lightning did not choose a target, it merely struck down, crashing into the forest according to heavens will, and splitting the tree in half. Lightning could not be controlled; one could only watch it flow.

As the qi kept revolving around his body, it gathered in his body according to its will. Kira no longer fed his body lightning, it only allowed it in.

At his side, the woman with ashen hair positioned herself at the stand. She once more repeated her previous action, expelling jet flames from her back.

She glanced at Kira and saw him with his eyes closed. In her heart she felt as if she was looking at a tree, so at one with the world around, he might as well be called a thing.

She was stunned for a moment at how serene he was, but then gently shook her head. Turning her face forward, she gazed at the finish line ignoring everything around her. Her muscles turned even harder, the air around her screaming.

The jet stream at her back, turned hotter and hotter, thundering and quaking the air behind her.

BANG!

All the competitors boomed forward, making the metal plates groan under the pressure.

Kira moved forward, not thinking of how to run. He merely pumped psionic energy into his body. The two energies mixed, causing him to crash forward.

Mira’s eyes shot wide open.

“His eyes are still closed!” a small gasp escaping her mouth.

Akane smiled, and nodded saying softly “He is probably turning insights into power, as we speak.”

Four cultivators had reached the middle point at almost the same time.

Kira, the grey-haired woman, Neontrail, and one other cultivator.

Akane smiled when looking at the cultivator saying “Yamato chose well.”

Mira turned her attention to the cultivator Akane was referring to. “So that’s who Yamato chose? But he is still a Mortal Adept. Did you not say I should not place to much hope based on past experiences?” she was genuinely intrigued.

A defeated smile, hung on Akane's old face “Yamato said he had decided on him. He did not bother explaining why. He did say I would find out in the future. I guess you are not the only one who does things based on how they feel.”

The one-kilometer mark, he had reached nine hundred and fifty kilometers per hour.

He could no longer hold his eyes closed. The pain his body felt making him aware of the speed he had reached.

With elation he realized that the only trail left behind him now, was only caused by pure psionic energy, no longer was he wasting lightning qi.

The lightning qi was all being devoured by his cells, making him reach unimaginable speeds.

He noticed that three cultivators were somewhat close to him, hence he decided to push his body to the limits and pump even more psionic energy into his muscles.

He slowly moved forward ahead of them, steadily gaining ground ahead of them.

His muscles started tearing, his bones started breaking, his ligaments started unraveling, and his skin started burning.

Nine hundred and eighty-five.

A hundred meters before the finish mark, he pushed one last time on his body. Blood exploded outside and evaporated, leaving a fog of boiled blood behind him.

He had reached the limits of what his body could go through. For one fraction of a second, his body was put true torture it could not endure.

He managed to cross the finish line. As he tried to slow down, he crashed to the ground, tumbling and spinning, leaving a trail of blood wherever he landed.

Boom

He crashed into a building, at the end of the extra runway.

It seemed five hundred meters were not enough to stop his uncontrollable crash.

He passed through the building, punching through it, and exiting on the other side.

Boom

He crashed into a nuwa tree, shaking it, the transfer of energy, causing some purple embers to fall down from the sky.

Akane drew a sharp breath “What an insane spirit!” her eyes showed shock at the recklessness he displayed.

Mira frowned heavily “Well he is a lightning user. I’ve never seen anyone as calm as him use lightning.”

“Miu.” without even telling her what to do, Miu laughed and jumped out into the night.

Mira stood up and started walking towards the exit. “Please inform me of what Lord Yamato has decided. Tell him if he decides to let him stay, I shall own him a divination.”

“Wait. Furya is getting restless. Be on your guard.” Akane warned with a light tone.

Mira nodded without even turning her head. She then disappeared from the room.

She reappeared at the ground floor, in front of a car without wheels. Miu appeared running shortly after. She had Kira hoisted on her shoulder, his hair cascading down hiding his bloody face.

Mira touched him with a palm. She frowned. All his bones in his body were broken in multiple pieces, his skull had suffered cracks, all his muscles, were practically useless.

He would need a week of recovery at the very least.

Shaking her head and sighing, she motioned for Miu to get in the car.

A cultivator in a suit came out of the car, and opened the door for her to climb inside.

As the car rose into the air with the sound of the impulse engine humming, she thought of her homeland and how someone just as reckless as Kira had remained there.

She shook her head lightly, letting such matters leave her mind.

“Big sis, there was a man trying to reach Kira, just as I got there. I could sense killing intent. I scared him off, but I could tell he was on my level.” her tone low, as she reported this to Mira.

Mira pondered on who would send a killer after Kira. She had some suspicions but she could not know for certain who it was.

Mira waved it off “It is probably not a big fish. At least not someone we should fear. Be on your guard, and try to stay by Kira’s side, as long as he does not leave the city.”

Miu nodded. If Mira said jump, she would not ask how high, she would simply jump.