-Vol 4: To The North Pole!-

-Fight of Powerhouses(1)-

“Leo, don’t interfere. I will fight him alone.” The old man impersonating a Chinese novel character said as he looked at the buffed man with anticipation. The thirst for battle was clearly visible on his face.

This old man was a very eccentric character, since his childhood, he was very fond of reading. In particular, his obsession for Chinese culture couldn’t be matched by anyone. He even applied for China citizenship but was denied by his own country’s government. He was, after all, no ordinary man, he was, not only a very powerful hunter but also one of the few who had reached the Mystic level of WIL, the next stage of Intent.

WIL, to this date, only three stages were discovered. One was the basic form which exists in the form of willpower, then came intent, which was the manifestation of that willpower in the physical world, and finally the Mystic level, where one could literally do mystical things with WIL alone. At this stage, even flying was not impossible for humans, although it was for only a short distance. There were many descriptions for this power, in China, it was called qi or chi, in some other places it was called Force, and in other, it was called Blessing of God. It was a truly unique realm that was touched by select few people.

On this mission, including this old man, there was one other person also came who possessed the same ability.

“Okay! If you say so!” while saying so, the middle-aged man wearing a ninja grab backed away.

“haha! Human fool, do you think you can defeat me alone? Don’t be naïve, come to me together, then only you have a chance of survival.” The muscle man wearing skin fitting cloak laughed in disdain.

“That won’t be necessary. I alone am enough.” The old man said as he swished his sleeves stylishly, pretending a typical Chinese novel elder.

“Hmph! Your arrogance will be your cause of death old man.” the muscle man jumped towards the old man then aimed a punch towards his head, intending to squash his head with just one attack. But how could the old man allow him to? While coating his hands in the same golden light as before, he lightly touched the incoming fist and changed its trajectory. It was just a subtle and gentle push, but in turn, the muscle man completely missed his target and in turn showed his vulnerable sides to the old man’s follow up the attack.

Not missing the chance, the old man kneed his ribs as heavily as he could while coating it with the same golden colour as his hands.

*Crack* “Aaah!!”

A distinctive crack could be heard, followed by a loud cry of pain. While clutching his sides in pain, the muscle man backed away from the old man.

“Impossible!! How can that be? In this form I am impervious to all physical damage, how can I feel pain?” the man couldn’t understand what was happening, as he had said, in this buffed up state, his muscles become layered and hardened. Even if he were to be punched by someone above his level, he wouldn’t feel any pain, let alone taking damage. Even their leader couldn’t make him feel pain without using his unusual skills.

“Nothings impossible for me, for I have the power of chi.” The old man boasted as he caressed his cheeks. In his heart, he lamented the fact that he didn’t have any beard or else he could have totally pulled off that elder look.

“Stop it old man!” the middle-aged man to the side couldn’t help but cover his face while h looking down. He was very embarrassed about this old man’s 8th-grade syndrome.

“What are you talking about?” the muscled man couldn’t understand their innuendos as such he was very confused. But he wasn’t answered to like he had expected, in return, he was greeted with a golden aura covered fist to his stomach.

*Boom*

Making a booming noise, the muscled man flew back like an arrow from a bow, creating a few air rings in the process. But in his mid-flight, he did a back flip and regained his centre of gravity. After that, he did a few more backflips and stopped his fall. But after stopping his flight, he was assaulted with a blinding pain in his abdomen. It was so painful that he had to use all his willpower to not puke on the spot. Suddenly a metallic taste invaded his buds as a red liquid flowed out of his mouth.

He puked blood.

Unable to stand up, he kneeled down while placing a hand on his abdomen. His face contorted in pain as he tried his hardest to endure it.

“I have underestimated you! It won't happen again.” suddenly with a very low voice, which was very different from his usual loud one, the buffed up man spoke. As he slowly stood up, the muscles in his body began compressing themselves. As if they come to life, they started to move around randomly. Slowly the buff on his body disappeared completely and replaced with a slim and fit man. The cloak which was like a muscle shirt to him earlier was like a baggy sweater on his body currently. As his buffed up muscles reduced, a layer fo steam came forth from his body and blanketed his form, shrouding him in mystery.

Although all the buff and fat on his body had disappeared, his threat factor, on the contrary, has increased. If earlier he was like a bull, charging to his enemy, currently he was like a tiger who stalked his prey and kill with one fell swoop.

‘The chi around him has changed!’ The old man realized this as soon as he saw the changed man. Except for a few facial features, not a single thing could be seen on the current him of his past self.

“Old man! Do you need help?” the middle-aged man couldn’t help but shiver once when he saw the newly changed man. The current him reminded the middle-aged man of a tiger in the bushes that stalked its prey, waiting for it to let its guard down before making his move.

“No need! Stay back for now.” The old man still believed that he could take on this beast alone. Although his confidence didn’t waver, he was still ready to accept help at any time.

“Old man! You have really forced me to this state, today, I will surely kill you, or else my name won’t be Ska’re. From within the steam that covered his visage, Ska're spoken in a very deep voice that made one feel pressure to the soul. Then with slow steps, as he came out, his visage was visible to the two men. He still looked like a human, only, his skin tone was scarlet. Six blackthorns were emerging from his shoulders, three on each side. Then he carefully removed the cloak and placed it on the ground, after that he looked at the old man. His eyes had also changed, gone was his white sclera. Instead, it was green now, and there was no pupil.

His looks, as well as the atmosphere around him, could be described in one word, terrifying.