It started off with Edward who was fighting alone against two Orc Captains. The Orcs had smelled danger on him, so while each of the eight fought one Orc Captain, he was attacked by two.
Perhaps it is just a beast's instinct to sense danger, but indeed Edward has become a dangerous opponent in close-combat thanks to the fighting style and weapon that Kairos and Jim created for him.
His combat techniques are forged with the purpose to kill or disable his opponents in the shortest amount of time using the least number of moves, so that he, as an archer, may escape quickly from close combat and go into his comfortable distance.
But being pinned down by two Entry D rank Orcs, both higher ranks than him, Edward is barely managing to hold them off. However, when he saw the danger Kairos was in, he panicked.
“No! Stay away from him!” with an outraged yell a strange power exploded from Edward. It was unlike anything the Orcs had felt, and they trembled when facing him.
The energy that Edward is using is similar to what Calculus gained after activating his family's forbidden technique. In a way, the archer had copied it with a glance, but there is a huge difference between the two.
Unlike Calculus damaging his life capacity to squeeze out his life force, Edward did not have to harm himself to use this power.
Being a Soul Force user, didn't he already have plenty of practice?
The Soul Perception that the boys use is, in fact, sending out their life energy into the surroundings to retrieve details. This time, instead of sending it out, the archer excited his life force from its dormant state and unleashed it in one go within himself.
He looked coldly at the Orcs still blocking his way. Despite feeling that he is now a threat to their lives, they refused to budge, fearing their leader more.
He knew that he could not keep this up for long. Unlike Ki that could be replenished from cultivating the surrounding Heavenly Energies, life force depends on how fast a person can recover.
Edward charged towards the two Orc Captains opposite of him, planning to use this newfound burst of energy to break through and go to Kairos' aid quickly.
He viciously attacked, aiming to blind an eye, slash a throat or pierce one's solar plexus like before, but the Orcs have gotten used to his tactics and are much more prudent in fighting him. Losing patience, the archer smacked one of the powerfully muscled Orcs that stood nearly three meters tall with his bow, and he easily sent it flying back into a tree at a distance away.
“Those that block my way DIE!” He shouted. His heart filled with urgency to get to Kairos. There is no time to lose, yet his way is barred. These Orcs has become an unforgivable existence that he must remove no matter the cost. He charged forward at full strength, far swifter than his rank would suggest.
Then like a dart, while keeping his torso close to the ground, he dashed underneath the second Orc's club and shield. Edward's blitz attack was so quick that for a second, it looked as if he had disappeared. Even the D rank beast with powerful senses found itself incapable of keeping up with Edward's sudden burst of speed.
He is now fighting at several times his usual speed and threw off the Orc that had gotten used to his attacks. To the Orc, Edward seemed to materialise right underneath its guard and promptly struck it at its solar plexus. The hidden blade strapped to his wrist sprung out like a snake and impaled it through its thick muscles.
A wailing death cry wheezes loudly from the Orc's mouth, and a mixture of pain and anger could be seen in its large black eyes, but still, it refuses to die.
The large dying Orc threw away its shield and tried to embrace Edward with both arms, but with three quick steps, Edward avoided the large Orc's hand, pushed off its thickly muscled thigh with a kick, then flew above the Orc's back and landed right on its neck.
In the time for a single heartbeat, he pierced the back of its neck and flipped backwards off the massive back of the Orc Captain.
Unfortunately, the moment he was in mid-air, the second Orc Captain noticed. It had been blown back by Edward into a tree, but with its monstrous physique, it shrugged off the impact immediately and threw its club at Edward.
The weapon made from dense mountain rock flew into the archer who barely defended it with his arm, but a cry escaped his lips as the club broke the long bone of his left arm into pieces.
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Without giving him a moment to pause, the Orc Captain ran forward with its shield in front to smash into him, but Edward only climbed back to his feet as he stared defiantly at it, awaiting its charge.
*Scinnnnnnnnnng*
Hunched slightly above the forest floor with eyes set on his enemy and one arm limp and broken, Edward's right hand slowly flips upwards as a sharp blade slowly protrudes from the hidden location of his wrist, menacingly sliding out.
The sharp metal made a slight hissing sound in the gentle wind as blade rubbed against sheath.
The Orc that rushed back to battle readied its shield, fully intending to smash into Edward, but with a hair's breadth, the boy coolly dodged to the side and stabbed its armpit as it passes. His fire inscribed blades cutting through the flimsy coating of magic that the Entry level D rank magical beast have into its soft flesh.
He pulled out his blade from where it is lodged, letting the blood spurt out. Then, with almost inhuman speed, he spun on his heel and sliced both tendons behind the Orc Captain’s knees in one motion.
Within a split second of its charge, the great beast fell in a great heap, screaming and growling. It scratched the floor and snapped at Edward with its teeth, yet its wounds did not allow it to stand back up.
At this moment the Orc did a rather unexpected thing. Almost unthinkable, as if fuelled by an unholy rage and an unwillingness to die, it pushed itself off the ground with its remaining unwounded arm.
Slamming its fist into the ground, it flew towards Edward, roaring its fury, and smashed the club it has somehow reacquired into him.
Not expecting such an attack, Edward hastily threw up his arms to block, but the impact sent him flying backwards into a dark bush.
Silence loomed heavy in the air. The Orc, with its powerful regeneration, slowly regained the strength to stand back up.
Now that it can move, it knows it must end the human boy quickly. It could sense that its target is still alive, and more than that, it smelled something dangerous in the air.
From within the shadows of the undergrowth, Edward stood back up. His body quivered from all the damage he suffered. His eyes clouded as he muttered under his breath, "The five elements of creation revolves on my arrows."
He drew an arrow from his quiver, and five glowing elements of Ki rushed out from his hand and spiralled around it.
"Upon its tip carries my frozen will. Its shaft made of lightning. Its feathers guided by wind."
With his broken left arm hung by his side, Edward planted his bow onto the ground and nocked an arrow with his right. Stepping on its lower limb, he drew back.
Lightning flashed eagerly at the shaft of the metal arrow, while the arrowhead turned blue with frost as great gusts of wind blew outwards from the back of the arrow.
The wind blades cut through the nearby falling leaves, slicing them into bits relentlessly. Those that saw him felt as though a legendary warrior of myth has reemerged.
"I call upon the true name of destruction. Enyo!! Deliver my rage!" His voice resonated through the forest with untold power.
His fingers slipped off without any strength from the arrow nock that was fully drawn against the bow. Drained of all his energy, Edward fell unconscious to the ground.
It was a shot fire without any follow-through, but regardlessly, it flew truly homing into its target. Eight colours, representing the eight elements he invoked, created a blinding flash, and then before everyone's sight, it suddenly disappeared.
The Orc Captain stood petrified in mid-charge. A gaping hole left in the middle of its body where Edward's arrow flew through. It had died while standing, with an expression left on its face as if it couldn't understand what happened.
Moments later, the arrow landed on the far side of this forest into a blinding explosion that created a small crater.
.....
Edward was not the only one that forcefully drew out the strength from their bodies.
When the other three, Tommy, Jim and Alan, felt an overwhelming surge out from Edward, they quickly noticed something had gone wrong.
There could be only one reason for Edward to act so recklessly.
They turned their heads, and to their horror, they saw the Orc War Chief now uncomfortably close to Kairos.
In a desperate bade for power, the three Soul Force users followed suit and tapped into their life force like Edward.
Unfortunately, Alan noticed that he is the only one in position to help.
With his overall speed and power improved, he can now match his opponent in combat. Twirling his tonfas until they are a blur, he swiftly stuck several soft areas of the Orc Captain's arms. Hitting the Tai Ling point of the anterior wrist, the Median Cubital Vein point of the elbow pit, the Tian Chuan point by the armpit and the Tian Chi point by its side in rapid succession.
Immediately, the Orc found both its arms fell limply by to the side, as a look of fear crept onto its face as it stood helpless against him. It had not the time to comprehend what happened.
The tonfas that he uses are a pair of weapons with very short reach but allows its user to fight swiftly with spins, thrusts and smashes.
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Though it lacks killing power, Alan had made it into an effective weapon for disabling one’s opponent.
Although he had not learned any pressure point martial arts before, he knows how a person's arm is structured, and fortunately, it is similar the way an Orc's arm is also structured.
Before the training grounds examination, each of his brothers sought ways to improve themselves.
Pressure points were Alan’s obsession.
As a required step to bring forth his soul force, he must delve into the deep recesses of his own body to better understand himself. Thanks to that, he already discovered which places are the weakest spots on a person’s body, and this gained him insights on the meridian points. The crossroads and gathering points of a person’s Ki.
Using this knowledge, he spent his time studying and practising how to strike without erring. When Alan attacked, those places he strikes will lose all power and sense of feeling.
But this is only a start. Not only is he confident to use this against human opponents, he believes that no matter what he is fighting, as long as weak spots exist he can use this fighting method.
He smiles lightly in satisfaction. His first attempt had gone as he expected, but the Orc will soon recover. Leaving a foe to wreak havoc would turn out to be a disaster. Alan continued attacking. Starting from the solar plexus of the now defenceless Orc Captain, using multiple thrusts with his Tonfas on both his hands, he struck a flurry of blows almost too quickly to be seen.
The attacks hit different points on the Orc, moving outwards towards the edges of its limbs and head. Two strikes, then four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and finally sixty-four hits in a matter of seconds.
Even though a purple coating of mana and the thick slabs of muscles armoured it, those blows that should be trivial made it gasped in great agony. It pitifully whimpered at each thrust that lands solidly on it as if it was weathering a rain of twisted shrapnel. Yet, it found itself unable to flee even a step away from Alan.
The 64 powerful consecutive thrusts struck it in the pattern of the Bagua array, in layers after layers of circles, in eight sets of eight. The attacks were intricate and precise, falling like rain upon the Orc's massive frame until suddenly everything ended and it no longer had any gasp that escaped its lips. The great Orc falls lifeless to the ground, received back into the void eternally.
Then Alan disappears with blinding speed, dashing towards Kairos.