Chapter IV: Combat Techniques

Shizukana Gake

Heian Kingdom

The Great Plateau

Month of the Pangolin 2, 172 ,328 DE

Fujiwara-sensei turns his attention back to Hoshi. "You explain to him, Kage-kun. I'm busy with this Okada brat's leg."

After giving Fujiwara-sensei a grim look, Otoko no Kage toward the door out of the surgery, without looking at Vorn and me. His scent becomes more complex. Embarrassment or shame seem to dominate his emotions. "The Empires and Kingdoms west of the Kami Kaze Mountains looks down on everything to the east of the mountains as a backwater."

"They aren't wrong." Despite telling Otoko no Kage to explain, Fujiwara-sensei butts in almost immediately.

Otoko no Kage grimaces again but continues to look toward the door out of the surgery. "No. They aren't. The Twelve Great Cultivation Colleges only hold an enrollment competition in the Sengoku Empire once every three years. As long as you are least fifteen years old and less than twenty years old, anyone can try to enter the Twelve, so they probably assume they won't miss out any talents that might show up.

"Every time the Twelve Great Colleges hold an enrollment competition in the Sengoku Empire, their stronger clans will go on a hunting mission to eliminate any talents outside the noble clans of the empire. This time, the Tokugawa clan came here to eliminate the best of our young generation of Engineers."

Simmering anger seeps outward from my Soul. "They targeted Hoshi?"

Otoko no Kage nods. "Him. Matsuda Sakura. Your little girlfriend that disappeared. You. Those were all the targets they demanded us to bring to them."

Vorn sneers. "And you would have given up your own people? Are all of you cowards?"

Without saying anything, Otoko no Kage looks at Fujiwara-sensei, and after a long stretch of silence, Fujiwara-sensei sighs. "We would have given them duplicate for Okada Hoshi and Matsuda Sakura. They would have been sent to the enrollment competition to compete under false names. That is how the kingdom deals with elimination teams form the empire."

"What about Beast and Aoi?" Even the dead sense of a human should not be able to miss the burgeoning rage in Vorn's question.

Otoko no Kage stares straight at Vorn and points at me. "That animal is nothing but a gaijin. The girl Aoi is just a commoner. They don't matter."

Vorn's lips part in an expression that does not come close to being a smile. "Then you shouldn't have any objections to me killing of the younger generation of your noble clans. As a Prince of Amber, commoner trash, like your self-proclaimed noble clans, does not matter to me."

As silence fills the surgery, Otoko no Kage's face turns nearly purple with rage. The throbbing veins in his temples look ready to burst from his skin. After ten or fifteen seconds, Fujiwara-sensei laughs and Otoko no Kage's snaps his head around to stare incredulously at the old man.

"Kangan-kun, he has you by your short hairs. Just a few companies of warriors from a Jewel Kingdom would destroy the Sengoku Empire faster than the empire could destroy our kingdom. If he wants to kill our younger generation, what right do we have to complain? We willingly let the empire kill off our commoners with talent. Often, our clans do it before the empire even notices them. If it were not for the threat of Grandmaster Jones, who can control the Watch Tower, the City Lord would have let the clans kill Raymon here years ago."

With silence filling the surgery, threads of Yuan Qi extend from Fujiwara-sensei's fingers into Hoshi's leg. Without using my awareness, I cannot tell what he is doing, but I imaging that he is trying to repair the damage done by the armor fragment.

While long minute pass, Fujiwara-sensei continues to work on Hoshi's leg. Otoko no Kage seems to stare into space, but his face remains flushed, and the odor of his anger dominates his scent.

"Kage-kun, get me an Elixir of Regeneration."

In silence, Otoko no Kage retrieves a vial no lager than his index finger from a cabinet and hands it to Fujiwara-sensei. While the Physician removes the vial's cap and pours it into the wound in Hoshi's leg, Otoko no Kage retrieves rolled-up bandages from another cabinet and give them to the Physician, as well.

After his finishes bandaging Hoshi's leg, Fujiwara-sensei move away from the table. "Kage-kun, put the Okada boy in a bed and have a messenger sent to his clan."

With a half-bow to Fujiwara-sensei, Otoko no Kage uses his Yuan Qi tendrils to pick Hoshi up and carry him out of the surgery.

After Otoko no Kage leaves the surgery, Fujiwara-sensei stares at me. "There is more to you than meets the eye. You saved that boy's life, and you did it in such an interesting manner. I don't suppose you could teach me how you did that?"

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"You can't do it. You lack the talent."

Fujiwara-sensei frowns. "I suppose I do. I can't use Beast Power. After all they use Powers that resemble Yuan Qi, Mind Force, and Soul Force but are not exactly the same. They also use something else, Beast Power. You used Beast Power to bind Hoshi-kun's artery."

As Vorn's muscles tense just slightly, Fujiwara-sensei holds up his hands. "There is no need for violence. I have no intention of spreading rumors about Raymon. I would not want to see Shizukana Gake leveled by Grandmaster Jones. The clans and the City Lord might be stupid enough to think that he has left, but I have no doubt he would return if something were to happen to Raymon."

Fujiwara-sensei smiles at me. "Considering your unpleasant reputation, I suspect you will seek vengeance for Hoshi-kun. You should prepare yourself before going to the enrollment competition. A once in a thousand years talent has shown up in the empire, and he is a few years older than you. He has already stepped into the Martial Warrior realm. The Sengoku Empire is far too small to hold his future. You will not have an easy time."

I snort. "I doubt the okama and rat pack were here to kill Hoshi over their cultivation prodigy."

Fujiwara-sensei shakes his head. "Of course not. The Tokugawa clan and the Hoshino clan have both turned out Engineering prodigies in this generation. They should want to sweep aside any pebbles that might be in the path of those two entering Black Turtle College's Hall of Engineering."

My lips part in a predator's grin. "It's too bad for them that Black Turtle College is a Cultivation college. They'll have to at least compete in a sparring and show a certain level of competence."

Fujiwara-sensei smiles coldly. "I look forward to hearing about the failure of the empire's prodigies. Only fools step on a tiger's tail."

"Don't call me a fucking cat!"

Vorn laughs. "Beast gets embarrassed when people expect him live up the majesty of a cat. The bigger the cat the more inadequate he feels."

I stare coldly at Vorn. "Go fuck a cat. If you keep up your shit, I might stop holding back when we spear."

Vorn grins at me. "I'm looking forward to it."

I turn my cold stare on Fujiwara-sensei. "Take good of Hoshi. He matters to me."

Fujiwara-sensei frowns, and a hint of fear seeps into his scent. "I am a Physician. I take good care of all my patients. Whether they matter or not to society, if they are my patient, I heal them."

With a nod to Fujiwara-sensei, I leave the surgery, and Vorn follows right on my heels. "What are you planning to do now?"

"We're going into the Mind Net. It's time I start using a few real combat techniques."

* * * * *

Once we are back in the training hall in the compound, I toss a connection crown to Vorn. "If you become a Triune, you won't need one anymore."

Vorn frowns. "That could take a while."

I shrug. "You don't have much Mana, Psi, or Ki in you. It shouldn't take too long to bind it to yourself. That's an advantage of being a Cultivator, but once you become a Triune, it will probably take you longer to grow."

After sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, Vorn puts the connection crown over his head. With the chain links hanging over the top of his face, he leans back closes is eyes.

Sitting down cross-legged, I fully connect my Mind to the Mind Net, and the physical world disappears from my sight. I completely lose and sense of my Body. As the world of the Mind Net takes shape in my "vision', it feels like a few seconds pass, but the actual time is only a sixtieth of that. The Mind Net is a sort of artificial Realm connected to the Sirius Realm. For every hour in the Mind Net, only a minute passes in the normal Realm.

I appear in the plaza at the center of City 19 and see Vorn looking around. Other than Vorn and me, everyone else is dressed in the standard white robes. Their masks are the only only signs of individuality show by any of the others.

Turning his head slightly, Vorn looks me up and down. "At least you don't try to hide your identity like some dickless coward. When we enter the Dream World from Amber, no ones hides like gutless bitch."

Dozens of people, who hear Vorn's comment, glare at him. Visible through the eye-holes of their masks, their eyes burn with anger or hate. Despite their anger and hate, no one makes a move. It seems just the mention of a Jewel Kingdom is enough to turn their guts to water.

I look at the humans surrounding us. "Do any of you have the balls to step into the arena with us? You can even attack us five or ten to one."

When no one responds, I bring up the control tome for the city and flip through it. With the access permissions that Old Man Jones gave me, I have some degree of control over any and all of the cities. Unfortunately, I have no control of the land outside the cities.

"What is that?"

"What in Diyu is he doing?"

"Do you know what that is?"

"It looks like a book. A big one"

Not bothering to hide my grin, I activate and area teleport. Along with me, everyone within a hundred meters teleports to the City 19 Arena. Te make sure no one runs away, I change the security status and exit parameters for the arena.

"Anyone who wants out of the arena, you have to fight for it and earn enough points." My words boom like thunder inside the arena.

Vorn laughs. "Abuse the weak and the strong? You're just a bully."