Holy shit, she really wasn’t joking. Julius stepped foot into the area of Longyue Central Park. It has to be lucky for it to survive, barely visualizing any wear or damage. Maybe a few people were at the site doing their outdoor activities; however, they vacated at the arrival. He stood with Empress Cai, Victoria & her two fellow cultivators, Solomon, and Qiang as they viewed the perfect spot. Where they stood was directly perpendicular to other parts of the park to their right. It was the northernmost region if drawn on the map. The left view pointed back towards the high plateau where the palace stood high with the towering structure accompanied by multiple roofs and walls surrounding it. Victoria strolled freely and viewed to the right. A few sprints away was the lake. It was small and half-drained, leaving the edges and part of the depth exposed to the air.
Victoria summoned the energy source to the edges of her index and middle fingernails. She made a finger gun gesture and jerked it upwards to disperse the gallon’s worth of water. Others watched the direction of the water headed. The splash to the surface shook around the lake as the accuracy was there but not quite the bullseye, leaving portions to pour outside. Empress Cai went right towards Victoria’s right hand and smacked it off track, forcing it to stop dispersing water. What resulted was a refilled lake and flooded shorelines.
“Maybe you, coming along was the right decision,” Empress Cai said before turning around to see the results.
“Which is why I’m here. I need more focus, otherwise I could accidentally destroy the entire village because of an unintentional accuracy mishap,” Victoria stated, flicking off her hand of remaining droplets.
“No kidding, you almost flooded the entire battlefield of level one.”
Hands raised, “I don’t know how I got this much water in my hands and body, but if I can control it fully with the help of restrained strength, I’ll take a moment whatever I can get,” Victoria said.
Empress Cai summoned a book and had it flipped to a certain page. She glanced through a specific page while Julius waited for what was going to happen next. The book was a brown hardcover, with no rust, and trimmed with metal frames at the face of the front and rear cover. Its size has to be at least six hundred pages, which is wild to think about because the potential things described were a missed opportunity beforehand. The two weeks Julius missed because of an awkward time distortion before the Merit Universe stabilized were one of them. He then thought if that hadn’t happened, Longyue would’ve likely not been destroyed from the raid. It could be a comparative advantage because the capital getting wrecked was a bad sign for a country. Then again, that would mean he wouldn’t be at the top of the line, and Empress Cai would remain at the pinnacle. Probably for the best that the current events have led to now was for the better because it’s his control, and the levels of corruption with regional controls annihilated gave the ease of potential influence. Of course, he never told that to anyone. By the end of the rambling throughs, he would brainstorm for his parts of the bill draft while waiting for Empress Cai to finish what she was reading in the book. But she finished.
“Ok, do you know how to suppress your qi?” she asked a general question.
“Somewhat,” Julius answered, counting a couple of his fingers.
Victoria then answered. “A bit.”
“I’m decent,” Solomon answered.
Swoosh!
“I can’t miss this opportunity to say yes,” Feng replied. “I too, will be participating.”
Julius’s eyebrows raised upon hearing her. “That was quick.”
“I have a team putting the drafts down, so we already got to work. The instructions were explicit, so I don’t have to be around all the time.”
Julius gestured, bringing her into the group while Empress Cai continued: “Ok, that would be it.” She ordered everyone to stay still as she took a couple of steps back. Her rear feet stopped once the distance was preferable. Keep in mind that the distance to the lake was pretty far. It is not an average block in New York City from one end to the other. It’s at least two times more, which was longer than one football field. Also, the direction down to the lake was on an incline downward with the northernmost spot of the park at the highest elevation. He saw her mumble something with her eyes glaring at the book. The next second, she turned to her left, extending her left arm right at the open space.
The ground began rumbling as cracks appeared at the surface of the green plains. A shallow crater generated around her, tearing up chunks of dirt. The dirt flew right in the direction back up on the incline to the rest who were watching. Julius and Feng summoned a faint aura, which was enough to stop it from passing them. Others behind the two want to see what's happening below.
“You better get yourself useful to witness it,” Feng said.
The dirt continued to barge right at them, despite the sudden change of the ground wasn’t that much. The problem was it kept getting worse. Between the tiny openings, Empress Cai remained standing at the same spot, doing whatever she did. Solomon and the two cultivators went up right behind Julius with their arms above their heads. Eventually, Solomon let his orange aura out. The first time he saw his face up close under a thunderous aura with staggering, flashing eyes. Any of them would think that would counter the barge of dirt. The gusts became so strong that it was like a sandstorm.
The aura progressively became worthless. Julius tried to amp it up. He made some effort to resist the dust, only for it to overwhelm him. He flexed the calves of his legs and forced both of his arms up. His sky-blue aura dissipated from his body. A dirt storm swirled upon the moment directed right at the open and blew towards him. The arms directed it away, passing his peripherals. In response, the rest of the group broke off in the cluster as bits of the dirt struck them. Julius remained in place with both of his arms blocking his face like an X-cross.
Jolts of solid dirt clashed right on his forearms. He felt the solid bullets hitting right at it, and the muscularity braced against further punches. The pain stung his nerves. What kind of rock is this? He wondered while the barrage of rocks continuously slammed right into his arms, expelling raining dust all over his face. Instinctively, his mouth spat out the rocky brown dust and punched right at the upcoming wave, glaring a second at what turned out to be a manipulative tactic. The barrage wasted no time and struck his forehead, lacerating a tiny cut. He punched again right on it, splitting the wave into a v shape. Therefore, he rolled down the incline with an inch to spare.
Continue, continue down. His mind repeated as he rolled. He didn’t stop until he was out of the fairly steep decline. With one turn to the left, he saw Feng running through it. One arm covered her face, and the other wielded her katana, striking back at the stampede of dirt projectiles. Julius got himself up from the spare grass and ran back to the scene. Even outside of the range, he can’t trigger his qi or aura. Feng doesn’t have her bloody red aura around her either; she goes in raw.
Julius sprinted and lifted both of his arms, ramming through the dirt stampede. Feng swarmed past his view in a second. He twisted his feet to the left and tailed behind her while withdrawing Licht in his grip. While running, a motivated grunt came from behind. Solomon, with glowing orange eyes, dashed out of the barrage, thrusting the two cultivators out of the way. The three followed behind him. Feng led the way downwards. Empress Cai appeared to notice them closing the distances; the path of the dirt rocks steered right to them from the left.
“Duck!” Feng yelled. She gave a tiny lift for her back to steer downwards parallel to the ground, and therefore, she landed flat on her back, rolling down the steep elevation.
Here it goes. Julius jerked his feet upwards almost for a jump, slamming down. The impactful landing boosted his speed as he got a couple of inches ahead of Feng. She then sent a physical message of jealousy by grabbing his arm as leverage, thrusting herself down further and closer to the curve. He didn’t react to her gesture other than maintaining focus on the barrage of dirt that was now a couple of inches above everyone. All brown and black obstructed the view of the sky, followed by a sharp, gritty noise amplified in the vicinity. It’s like dumping a bag of grains down into a pot or any container.
A couple of seconds passed. Julius and Feng clearly saw Empress Cai’s feet about five hundred yards away. The former looked at his forearms where the rocks of dirt punched. It tore bits of his dragon-vinyl black overcoat. There were bits of vinyl design shredded from the overcoat's forearm, exposing his bare skin. Surprisingly, no scrapes as he would’ve expected. A moment of recognition swarmed his mind, prompting him to thrust his left in the opposite direction. It was mad. He continuously punched the open space behind him until it clicked through his knuckles, generating a shockwave boost. Immediately, he sped down fast, like he was driving down the passing lane on the highway. He swarmed past Feng in a blink while eyeing Empress Cai’s feet. When it got closer, his right grip clutched on the hilt of Licht, and Julius stabbed through the swarming dirt, breaking its momentum. He bent his knees and thrust his body upwards with the blade directed right in front.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
He brought the force to the greatsword and deterred all the projectiles, clearing the way for him. Pressuring his shins and thighs, he came to an abrupt stop and struck Empress Cai with an upward swing of his greatsword. Sunlight reflected off the blade before the sharpness hit right at her stomach; too late for her to deflect anything. A flash of light emitted from the impact. It swam past his pupils as his light resistance took over, witnessing through the void of light. He indeed got her. The blade forced her book to loosen from her grip, giving the opening. A vibrated echo inflicted from the clash. Empress Cai silently turned her head to Julius, appearing surprised because her eyes widened full circle and eyebrows raised. The next second, the impact sent her away from the spot. She zoomed like a missile with her back facing the lake. Quickly, she crashed right into the lake.
The lake reacted negatively, following the colossus splash of water up into the air. The crash generated immense heat, causing the vapors to emit around the lake's circumference. Each vapor swirled up to the illuminating sun. The temperature rose as the heatwave generated around the scene, visualizing through his eyes a certain view. Julius looked at the lake, concerned that Empress Cai got the worst of it, despite knowing she had unpredictable strength. Eventually, he ran right to the edge of the lake. Approaching further to get a better view, the water had drained to near-nothingness. The drainage exposed the lake's ridges; it was like being intensely scratched that the chunks were discarded and scattered around the plains above because of the force coming from the splash. Feng and Solomon came from behind, viewing the lake’s damage.
Julius saw Empress Cai soaked. He leaped into the lake’s depth, sliding down the ridges; the only smoothest left his back felt as he sped down. Both of his legs thumped down the bottom, followed by a splash of the remaining inches of water, stopping him right at Empress Cai’s side. No scratches or signs of wounds on her abdomen. The impact tore off both layers of her robe, which was how he confirmed her situation. The robe’s belt was the last thing that held her robe from being completely open, exposing all underneath.
“You good?”
“I’m fine,” Empress Cai said, without a hint of annoyance, and lifted her book up where water dripped from the pages.
“The—”
She placed her palm right above the page before jerking her fingers upward. “This is fixable.”
The gushing blow departed from her fingers, then her hand, overwhelming the soaked pages. A couple of seconds of a human hair drier wiped out the wetness of the book and dried as if nothing had happened. When she showed him the results, the softness of the paper impressed Julius. No wrinkles or stiff and undamaged ink that did not bleed through the other pages. He got a glimpse of the book on the page Empress Cai focused on. The written words were formatted to the center, and to realize it was a poem with each cut at the end was a stanza. He handed the book back and helped her up.
“That was a moment of restrained strength you just performed. How does it feel?” she asked.
“Not bad, but it felt like a workout…So, that’s how it is? No qi, nothing?”
Solomon, Feng, and the rest arrived soon after.
“Exactly,” Empress Cai excitedly said. “If you could let your body embrace the excess of qi and turn it into raw power, that’s restrained strength. For now, it’s a little rough, but you will get the tick after a couple of attempts.”
Julius walked away, following Empress Cai up to the surface.
“How long do you think I’ll succeed?”
They stopped after departing from the depths of the lake. Empress Cai turned directly to Julius, eyes directly at each other. “You made the right choice of not going to the fishing village, as restrained strength requires significant patience for the long term. Victoria thought she could go through the basics today and proceed with the mission once the bill successfully passes.”
Victoria, who heard what she said, came up right next to her and curiously asked. “What led you to that judgment?”
“It’s fairly obvious. You are a water element cultivator…The fishing village is right next to the Gulf of Cold-Swirl. And your qi magnitude isn't as on level with his or dangerous if left unchecked. Everyone has a different time to take with restricted strength. After the basics, it only comes with the individual being committed to take the mantle.”
“What should the result be?” Solomon asked.
“Whatever you want, as long as the results satisfy your milestone.” Empress Cai then flipped to another page in the book before adding it, pointing at Julius. “I almost forgot to mention about dealing with Königin (Queen) Gertrud. You can’t introduce yourself with a sword. Renos doesn’t respect that in battle. You have to go with your body.”
“You mean martial arts?”
“Can you wrestle?”
Julius nodded quickly. “I can.”
“Show m—umph!”
Thump!
Empress Cai crashed to the floor, with Julius on top of her. “Like that?” he asked. Julius immediately rolled away and hopped off from the floor. He held out his hand, waiting for her. She nodded, then gripped him. “That’s a start. I guess we can move ahead a bit with you. "
“I’ll help you out,” Qiang said, insisting on providing her input to others. “…should make things more efficient since I have some knowledge of restrained strength from training to be a marksman.”
Julius snuck his words. “You better go easy on me.”
“I don’t intend to. That moment ain’t the last.”
“I better not get elbowed in the eyes again. Being half blind wasn’t fun, you know.”
“By the time you have maintained a consistent, restrained strength, that’s the least of your worries…You’ll be fine,” Qiang said with an optimistic tone underneath. She pulled her dual revolvers out from her holsters. “But…I’ll try not to.”
----------------------------------------
Despite being a fast learner, Julius didn’t finish the basics until the sun descended on the horizon. The planet-sized moon levitated into the night sky, illuminating the vicinity. Ironically, he struggled and was the last of everyone present to understand how to control it. He ended with a thrusting punch, generating a shockwave in the shape of a beam right to the concrete pillar. It shattered into table-sized chunks as the constant thumps hit the grass floor. Empress Cai, from a distance, performed an upward hand gesture, summoning another pillar. Julius leaped up in the air right when the pillar peaked. He went for the pinnacle and the axe kicked straight down from up high. He free fell as the soles of his boots gave a clean, wide cut. Before reaching the floor, he bolted his foot away with half a foot remaining. Afterward, he dashed out backward, using his right foot that was nearly tiptoeing to the ground. He landed steady; both feet were on the ground and brought friction to the surface. He flexed his thighs to come to an abrupt stop, and subsequently, he lifted his right leg with his knee up parallel to his torso. Eying at the concrete pillar, Julius turned his body to get the ankle as the weight shifted to his back and left leg.
One. He quietly rehearsed, and after one refilling breath, his whole body moved, finally striking the remaining half foot of concrete that held the two halves of the concrete pillar. The two halves collapsed while breaking into chunks. The cracks emitted dust from the particles. He rolled away from the scene, rejoining Empress Cai and Qiang, who stood at one spot watching Julius’s performance.
Empress Cai sighed in relief. “Finally, after fifteen times. I didn’t see that coming. You have too much qi.”
“Unfortunately for me…at least I finally did it,” Julius said, feeling proud. “It sucks that others have left. They finished quicker than I did.”
Qiang randomly fired one Qi blast into the night sky before putting her revolver away. “What matters is that you passed after five hours. But remember, your style was off the book, so we three had to improvise.”
Julius agreed. “That’s true. Gotta give credit where it’s due. That battle was wild enough.” He wiped off the dried, crusty blood that was stuck in the scalp. He summoned a couple of drops of water to let it all out. “You two are okay, right?”
“I’m ok,” Qiang replied, not minding the open gap at her right temple. It was vivid inside, which was a little gross. A part of her skull was exposed vividly and flooded with green blood. She turned to Empress Cai where she burned the book, dissipating it from her hands. “I’m fine. We three need a loaded dinner and some rest. My back is sore.”
Grumble!
“Oh, crap. Yeah, I need some food. I haven’t reached the minimum of seven thousand calories…shoot I didn’t eat today!” The realization forced him to save the conversation until back at the cafeteria hall. “Let’s go. Otherwise, Skoltor will be screaming my head out to fucking eat.”
The three boosted into the air, heading back to the palace. They left behind the trashed park. No more of a lake except a dirt graveyard; the disruption of the greenery, and the entrance region, was a mess. Skoltor’s visual flagged warnings as Julius flew with them two. His stomach grumbled.
--
Daily Calories: 0/7000
Warning! Warning!
--
He let his left hand hold his abdomen while Empress Cai and Qiang sped up. Consequently, that made Julius’s stomach grumble louder, enough to hear through the wind rush. Qiang turned to the sound where she commented. “Oh my, hang on!”