Chapter 19 – A Fateful Encounter

“Haha, that’s what you get for not paying your respects towards me, trash!”

A large boy arrogantly spoke down the crumpled figure on the ground, while a group of boys howled with laughter behind him. The large boy at the forefront was around ten years old and it was clear that he was the ringleader of the group.

The large boy stood at least a foot over Calron, and appeared to be more like a sixteen-year-old teenager than an actual twelve-year-old kid, which was due to the fact that he had an abnormal amount of muscles bulging through his robe.

From his attitude and the expensive-looking robes, Calron guessed that this boy must be the spoilt son of a rich household, as commoners like Calron did not have the luxury of nutritious food, and were usually weak and thin like him.

Calron abruptly stopped in his tracks and gazed at the sorry figure of the beaten-up boy below him.

It was a fat kid.

A trail of snot was dripping from his nose, and his chubby face was scrunched up as if he was desperately trying to force back his tears. Both of his eyelids were completely bruised black from the beating, and it was obvious that the fat boy was currently in a great deal of pain, but Calron could not help but contain his laughter as he continued to look at the chubby boy.

It was just that with his eye bruised black, the chubby boy greatly resembled a fat baby panda. Calron imagined that most older girls probably would not be able to keep their hands away from trying to pinch this cute chubby boy’s cheeks.

The fat kid was roughly around the same age as Calron, but was surprisingly even shorter than him. The most striking feature about the fat kid was his piercing arctic-blue eyes.

The chubby boy’s eyes faintly reminded Calron of someone he had met before, but he just could not recall it at that moment.

Seeing a stranger had appeared before him, the fat kid suddenly glanced up at Calron while his eyes lit up with a trace of cunningness.

“Big brother!”

Calron was simply stunned when the chubby kid addressed him as his brother.

Big brother? I’ve never met this Fatty before, so why the hell is he calling me his big brother? We are both at the same damn age!

While Calron was still pondering this, the fat kid quickly pounced on him.

“Big brother, these goons are bullying me! Please teach them a lesson!”

After saying those words, the fat kid rushed behind Calron in a flash and stood there with his tiny chest puffed up like a plump peacock. Although the Fatty looked really chubby, he was surprisingly very nimble on his feet.

Calron was at a complete loss for words. He had never seen a fellow as shameless as this fat boy, and it was quite obvious that the boy did not even know who Calron was, but still wanted to make him into a scapegoat to escape the beating from the bullies.

“Hey trash, who's this brother of yours?”

The large boy asked while he stared intimidatingly at Calron.

There was an evil glint in his eyes, as if he had just found a new prey and looking at Calron’s simple robes, it was obvious that he was just a commoner, so even if the large boy bullied him, no one would bat an eye.

“Mister, I don-”

Calron began explaining when he was rudely interrupted by the fat kid behind him.

“Hmph, you are not even worthy of knowing my big brother’s name, piss off!”

The fat kid boasted with his chest still puffed up. At this moment, Calron wanted to grab the fat kid and slap his face until it was swollen as the kid was just digging a deeper and deeper grave for Calron.

Being insulted by the fat kid in front of his lackeys, the large boy immediately fumed in anger as he turned a smoldering look towards Calron, while he loudly cracked his knuckles. The large boy began slowly walking towards Calron, as wisps of orange-red essence started to gather around him and coalesced into a bright flame around both his fists.

“Hey, is Chax really going to fight that skinny kid? He already reached the fifth rank a while ago, so that kid has no hope of surviving… it's a pity the poor soul met Chax today.”

While various whispers floated up between the disciples, Calron simply focused on the threat at hand.

He was furious at the fat kid right now as Calron had simply wanted to eat some delicious food, but now he was being forced into a fight that he did not want nor did he have any relation to.

The only way he could contend against the brute in front of him was to either use the Azure Lightning or the Blood Legacy, both of which were forbidden. Calron could not take such a large risk in front of so many disciples. He would have to find another way to escape.

*crackle*

Tendrils of yellow essence started to coalesce around Calron, while bolts of golden lightning crackled around his body.

Silence.

Finally, a disciple at the back spoke.

“A lightning elementalist! The rumors were true! The school had really accepted one of them as a student! Isn’t this just making us lose face in front of the other schools?”

After that, a bunch of new whispers began to circulate around the surrounding disciples.

Chax currently had a huge grin etched on his face. He had been a bit hesitant before when he noticed the complete confidence on the fat kid’s face, as there were several geniuses in the school that liked to shroud themselves in mystery and dress in common attire.

These geniuses did not care about their appearance and were completely immersed in their training. Seeing the lightning gather around Calron, Chax no longer hesitated and with a sinister smile on his face, he immediately charged towards Calron.

However, the person who had the biggest shock was the fat kid.

“Wah? This boy was a lightning cultivator? I thought I sensed a powerful aura around him…tch, if only big sister were here, then Chax would not dare to make trouble for me.”

While the fat kid continued to mumble, his once puffed up chest had now completely deflated as he miserably sat down on the ground and began mindlessly plucking the grass near him. He knew that he would get an extra beating from Chax after he was finished with the lightning boy, after all, he was the one who had caused all this drama.

………..

“His movements are slow and sloppy. He’s also breathing too heavily while focusing purely on strength and not technique. I think he will most likely punch with his left arm, a straight jab, no, it will be a side swing.”

Calron unknowingly began muttering under his breaths as he analyzed Chax’s movements. His normal golden lightning might be weak, but in matters of Martial Arts perception, Calron was in a completely different realm from Chax.

There were only a few more seconds left until Chax would reach him.

Taking a deep breath, Calron released his essence as well. The previous thin bolts of golden lightning started to slowly grow thicker and thicker as they wildly crackled around his body.

Calron had learned this trick of increasing the power of the golden lightning after practicing the second stage of the Thunder-bird technique, and it allowed him a complete control over his essence.

In a flash, Chax’s fist had almost reached Calron’s chest. It was a side swing, just as Calron had predicted. Crossing his arms just before Chax’s fist was about to impact against his chest, Calron hardened the muscles on his arms. At the point of collision, a vicious gust of wind and flame erupted from their brief contact.

*Crack*

A small figure violently flew back and painfully crashed against the tree. Sounds of bones being broken could be clearly heard in the background.

“Urgh!”

Calron spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground as he gingerly clutched his broken arm.

Even with his cultivation of the third rank, it was still impossible to contend against Chax. Blood slowly dripped from the corner of his lips, but the murderous gaze within Calron’s eyes remained undiminished. Wild killing intent started to emanate from his body which caused even the nearby Chax to shiver slightly.

What is with this brat? He’s still conscious after taking a direct hit from me!? That attack contained more than half of my strength! If others knew about this, then I would be mocked for the rest of my life!

Chax inwardly thought as he glared at the injured boy in front of him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gathered disciples eagerly waited for Chax’s next move. They thought that Chax was just playing around with the lightning kid, otherwise, how could Calron still be standing after taking a direct hit from him?

The fat kid’s mind was in complete shambles.

He was the one standing the closest to Calron, and he clearly saw that Chax’s punch was extremely powerful, but even more surprising was the fact that the lightning boy had actually withstood it with just his bare arms.

Suddenly, the fat kid sensed a foreign killing intent around him, and it was coming from the lightning kid! Fatty had never been so terrified before, and that fear was not born from logic, but it was a fear that came instinctively whenever a prey met its predator.

However, within that fear, a seed of admiration started to grow inside the fat kid.

He had always been treated like trash ever since he was born, as his mother was a servant in a rich household and was impregnated by the Lord there. Ostracized by his own father, the only one who truly cared about him in this world was his big sister.

Even though they were not born of the same mother, she had never mistreated him and always brought him all kinds of delicious food and sweets. It was only because of her insistence that he was even allowed to join the school, and the fat kid had promised himself that once he grew up, he definitely repay the kindness and protect his big sister.

Looking at the back of the boy in front him, the fat kid felt his heart ignite in flames of hope. He had always cowered from bullies and took a beating every day, but this boy in front of him had actually dared to fight back with such tenacity.

…….

Meanwhile, Calron was completely unaware of the thoughts going through the fat kid’s mind, and his focus was solely on the large brute in front him.

Calron felt a cold rage burning through his veins, and he sensed the Azure Lightning trying to force itself out from his body in order to seek vengeance. This was Calron’s first real fight, and although he wanted to act rashly, he still remembered his Master’s teachings: Control your body and control your mind.

Seeing the apathetic expression flash across Calron’s face, Chax felt his face heating up. This kid was looking down on him.

No one had ever dared to look down upon him before, as he was the son of the city Lord and he had the right to be arrogant. Everyone had told him what a genius he was since an early age and his father even collected rare magical beast cores for him to cultivate with.

He was the pride of the city Lord’s family, and now a commoner like Calron, and furthermore, a lightning cultivator trash, had the audacity to look at him with contempt? Unacceptable!

Abruptly, a violent red wave of essence rolled out from Chax, and his flames gushed out in a wild inferno around him. This time, he was going to put his entire strength of a fifth rank cultivator into this final attack.

The surrounding disciples gasped at the abrupt change. They could clearly sense the dangerous aura surging around Chax at the moment.

Calron forced back the struggling Azure Lightning and instead began to draw large amounts of source energy from the Blood Legacy’s pool. Even when consumed with rage, Calron knew that the Azure Lightning would spell an even greater disaster if revealed, so he chose to risk the Blood Legacy instead. At least it was not as easily detected as compared to the Azure Lightning.

With the source energy flooding through his veins, Calron prepared to unleash the punch from the First Layer. Although his technique was not as powerful as his Master, it was still enough to deal with the large brute in front of him.

Chax’s fist was almost upon him when Calron forced all the source energy towards his right arm.

Calron felt a faint tingle from the symbols on his palm.

However, just as the two fists were about to collide with each other, a furious shout resonated in the air.

“STOP!”