“Boom!”

“You see now right?” Jay insisted, as he stopped his motions while looking at the mirror.

“We don’t see anything, but you admiring yourself like the uber narcissist you are,” Instructor Wei mocked him.

“Sorry Jay Shishu, but I still do not see what you are referring to,” Xiaoxia admitted his doubts as well.

“The heavens have no eyes! Why are my sister and Shizhi both retards?!” Jay made an exaggerated show of lifting his hands in the general direction of the sky.

Instructor Wei and Xiaoxia were speechless after he said that, they really couldn’t do anything about him.

“Mentor, isn’t there anything you can do?” Xiaoxia asked Instructor Wei.

“I am afraid not, once he starts he won’t stop,” she replied.

“Ok listen up, you as well Yan mei so you can get better,” Jay pointed to Instructor Wei, she was visibly grinding her teeth after hearing that.

“Look very closely. I will make it so slow a pea brain can see it,” Jay let lose a sarcastic remark, before starting to move slowly.

“Boom! ………. Boom! ………. Boom! ………. Boom! ……….”

Ki energy was discharged from his right hand at set intervals, each time moving slowly while emphasizing the flow of his actions.

“Do you see now?” Jay asked when he was done demonstrating.

“Yes, how about you Xiaoxia?” Instructor Wei replied and asked.

“I think I get what you are trying to show,” Xiaoxia replied.

“So what is the exact thing I am showing you?” Jay asked him.

“There are some very different movements when you used your skills, however I am not sure what it does,” Xiaoxia replied.

“It’s called efficient movement, I already know that,” Instructor Wei said.

“That’s amazing, and yet you are still like this,” Jay was insinuating Instructor Wei is not up to par.

“Just shut up,” Instructor Wei scolded him.

“So Xia Er, you see why it’s so important?” Jay asked Xiaoxia.

“Yes Shishu, I understand the principal behind the mirrors now,” Xiaoxia replied.

Efficient movement, is achieving the best possible results, while taking the shortest achievable route with each movement of the body.

A person is unable to properly monitor his movements, therefore Jay’s idea of improving his skills via mirrors was an ingenious one. Even Instructor Wei was begrudging of that fact.

“Of course you won’t need it with Yan mei guiding you, but there are times where it won’t be possible,” Jay concluded.

“Anyway, got to go! See you both sometime soon,” Jay tried to hug his sister goodbye, but got a boot to his face again.

“Don’t touch me!” Instructor Wei vehemently said, as she removed her feet from his face.

“Hahaha! Oh well, see you Xia Er, remember to look after my sister,” Jay brushed it off and laughed, while waving goodbye to Xiaoxia and left the room.

“Good riddance,” Instructor Wei said after Jay left.

“Xia Er, you are going to train in the battle room to hone your battle instincts,” she spoke to Xiaoxia, her tone less overbearing as compared to before.

“At the same time, do not worry about the special meridian or unique skills,” she advised him, while explaining, “unique skills is only achievable after you attained Unknown Realm, as for the special meridian, there is nothing we know or can do about it. Rather, dwelling on it will just waste what little time we have for you to improve before the competition.”

“Yes, Mentor I understand,” Xiaoxia nodded.

“Try to mimic my movement earlier on when I gathered Ki to my feet,” Instructor Wei told him.

“Yes Mentor,” he replied, and started gathering the Ki around his feet.

“Ok good, now I will explain what you will do next, follow my instructions closely,” she began to tell him how it works, “with the Ki around your feet, slowly push off from the spot. In the meantime try to maintain balance.”

Xiaoxia began to push off the ground with the Ki around his foot. Nothing happened initially, but slowly increasing the amount of Ki, he was soon sliding across the ground.

“Good, now I want you to jump with the assistance of the Ki,” Instructor Wei gave further instructions.

Stopping his slide, he applied a Ki reinforced jump and managed to reach half way to the ceiling. The ceiling was 50 feet high.

“Nice work, now for the rest of today’s lesson, I want you to practice sliding and jumping till you have mastered it,” Instructor Wei informed him.

“Yes Mentor,” Xiaoxia acknowledge and started his training.

**********

“Xiaoxia!” Charlotte called to him as he approached the restaurant, she was with Libby and Sima.

“Hello!” Xiaoxia smiled in reply.

“Yo!” Sima greeted.

“Hi Libby,” Xiaoxia waved at Libby, but she remained silent and just stared at him.

“Don’t mind her, come lets go grab a table,” Charlotte said.

They walked towards the maître d'hôtel and queued in line.

“How many today madam?” she asked as their turn arrived.

“Just the four of us,” Charlotte replied.

“Four? Where are the rest?” Xiaoxia asked.

“They are busy, come let us go in,” Charlotte grabbed Xiaoxia’s arm and pulled him along, as the restaurant host lead them to their table.

“Ooomphh,” Xiaoxia sat heavily, his body aching from the training that morning. He was still energetic, but his body was hurting in places he never knew he had.

“You got into a fight?” Sima was asking after noticing Xiaoxia’s expression as he sat.

“Nope, training is too tough,” Xiaoxia honestly replied.

“Oh, are you training for the competition?” Charlotte asked excitedly.

“Erm, yes, are you all as well?” he answered while asking them as well.

“Yup we all have to,” Sima replied.

“The rest aren’t here because their empires and alliances have sent people to train them, and the Academy isn’t doing anything about it since it’s an official request,” Charlotte informed Xiaoxia with a look of sadness.

“Are you guys training as well?” Xiaoxia asked other three.

“I do not need to train, neither does Libby. We are good as it is,” Charlotte smiled proudly, while Libby remained quiet.

“For me, the competition is not my style. I will forfeit on the stage, so I am not training,” Sima replied, Xiaoxia wasn’t sure if he was joking.

“He lies! He doesn’t need to train as well, since he already is good enough,” Charlotte cast Sima a playful look.

“Haha, doesn’t matter let’s all order some food I am hungry,” Xiaoxia replied, as usual his appetite was made much stronger after the training.

So the four friends had their meals, and walked along the mall. Charlotte and Libby did their usual shopping, while the guys just stood around and chatted. All seems nice, but the absence of the others could be felt.

Accordingly to both Sima and Charlotte, the rest will not be joining them till after the competition. To make matters worse, even after the competition some may not return.

The alliances who have students among their members, are usually link intimately with the empires they are in, as such both have an active say in the training of the student. Usually they conform to the regulations of the school, however at times, the rules are bent in various situations.

Both the alliances and empires, provide vast resources to support the student if they qualify for the Academy of the Six Elements. Their conditions are extremely strict as well.

Students who fail to meet a set of criteria each academic year are no longer supported. It is with this in mind, those students were extremely hardworking, they spare no effort to meet and achieve every criteria.

The same cannot be said for students whose families are able to afford the astronomical tuition fees. Some sent their children to the Academy as a public status, while some for legacy, while others just want their children out of the way.

Besides Charlotte and Sima, Winfrey and the others did not have families who could afford the school fees. Libby was a special case, the details were not privy to Xiaoxia, he only knew she was qualified enough to be in the Titled freshmen classes.

“I hope the girls get back soon, lunch break is about to be over,” Xiaoxia’s lunch timing has been adjusted by Instructor Wei due to the strenuous training. With this, his lunch perfectly aligned with the others, he no longer needed to leave earlier.

“Aiiiiieeeeee!!” “Ahhh!” “EEeeeeeekk!” suddenly piercing loud screams and many loud noises were heard coming from the south end of the mall strip.

“Someone is in trouble,” Xiaoxia turned towards the sound and started to move off.

“Stop!” Sima restrained Xiaoxia, before speaking to him, “Xiaoxia, we are just freshmen, there is nothing we can do. There are plenty of upperclassmen around, if there is trouble they are more than capable to deal with it.”

“Sima, I thank you for your concern, however I am not one who just sit around doing nothing when someone is in danger,” Xiaoxia replied, waiting for Sima to release his arm.

“Ok, but just don’t do anything stupid, or I do not know what to explain to Charlotte and Libby when they come back,” Sima relented, then winked once and released Xiaoxia’s arm.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I will take care of myself!” Xiaoxia shouted and wave back while rushing to the scene.

Using the technique Instructor Wei just taught him earlier in the day, he gathered Ki around his feet and rushed past many others. Nearing the origin of the noise, he could see the bodies of students as well as instructors sprawled on the ground.

There was a group of unidentified people with masks, who were fighting with instructors near the center of the mall’s south end. There was only four intruders compared the instructors who were in the dozens.

However these four intruders were extremely strong, and killed many instructors instantly. The defeated instructors fell like dominoes one after the other, there was no one strong enough who could stop them.

“Hey you guys!” a very familiar voice shouted clearly amidst the turmoil, when all the instructors were almost decimated.

Everyone suddenly stopped, and looked towards a cloaked figure standing among some of the bodies. Xiaoxia immediately knew who it was.

“Jay, what is he doing here?” Xiaoxia wondered to himself, thinking perhaps this was one of those groups who Instructor Wei and Jay had told him about.

“Who are you?” one of the intruders stopped and asked Jay.

“Me? I am just a nobody, just an employee of this Academy,” Jay replied.

“If you value your life, you better scram,” the intruder replied, apparently the leader of this group.

“I am sorry, I may be a nobody, but I am still an instructor,” Jay rejected the offer and move towards the intruders.

“Bastard! You asked for it, attack!!,” the leader shouted and all four intruders rushed Jay.

One of the intruders started using foot techniques similar to what Xiaoxia learned, he disappeared from sight and end up at the back of Jay. Another did the same thing and appeared on Jay’s right, this continued till the four of them caught Jay in a pincer attacked.

As all the four intruders lunged at Jay, he calmly activated his Ki defense and rapidly blocked the attacks. Lashing out suddenly, his counter attack caught one of the intruders in the chest and the intruder crumpled onto the ground.

The other three hastily retreated, they were analyzing the situation. Clearly Jay was on a different level as compared to the other instructors.

“Haha! Sorry for not knowing our strength, but dear friend, we need that child over there,” the leader indicated to a body lying on the ground, it was a female upperclassmen, and continued speaking, “If you let us leave peacefully, we promise there will be no repercussions to this school.”

“Friend? Wasn’t it ‘bastard’ earlier on?” Jay mocked the leader.

“Whoever you are, we do not want further trouble,” the leader said.

“You do not want further trouble? Then why did you create it in the first place?” Jay roared angrily, he was beginning to gather Ki.

“Don’t push us!” the leader warned.

Seeing the increasing Ki aura from Jay, the intruders placed something into their mouths and suddenly their auras were rising as well. However their Ki was fluctuating wildly and was not as defined nor as refined as Jays.

“Boosters? Hahaha, it won’t be of any use!” Jay laughed at their meager attempts to fight him using enhancement drugs.

“Everyone cover your eyes and lay on the ground!” Jay shouted to all the bystanders looking from afar. Then he just vanished from the spot he was in and appeared behind the trio. Jay literally went ballistic at this point.

“BA DA BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!” an ear splitting explosion followed by various others, shook the entirety of the mall’s south end. Dust blew up everywhere and bystanders within five hundred feet of Jay, were pushed dozens of feet back.

“Ergh! You…you…wil...will will...regret this!” a broken figure was speaking to Jay, it was the leader of the intruders. All three of them were taken out in a flash by Jay.

“I already regret arriving here late,” Jay snorted as he replied.

“Cough, cough, the.. there will be more of us, if..iff..if she is not ou…ours,” the leader collapsed, dead after conveying those words.

“Sheesh, is this all they have, gosh! They are weaker than I thought!” Jay rattled on, with a sad expression on his face, he had wanted a more challenging fight.

“Jay Shishu!” Xiaoxia called out to him, after picking himself up.

“Oh Xia Er! What brings you here?” Jay asked curiously, as Xiaoxia ran towards him.

“Jay Shishu, I was shopping after dinner with my friends, and heard a commotion coming from here, so I rushed over,” Xiaoxia replied.

“Oh no! Where are your friends I hope they didn’t get caught in my skill!” Jay exclaimed.

“No they are fine, I left them behind and came here alone,” Xiaoxia replied.

“Trying to be a hero huh?” Jay grinned and slapped Xiaoxia on the back.

“Ack! Cough cough ahem ahem!” Xiaoxia had the wind knocked out from him again by Jay.

“Oops! Sorry,” Jay apologized, and at that time a shadow flew overhead.

“Whoosh!” it zipped pass where Jay and Xiaoxia were standing, and was soon far away.

“Instructor! They have taken her!” someone among the spectator shouted.

“Damn!” Jay cursed.

It was the first intruder that Jay had knocked out, he regained his consciousness shortly after his companions were taken out. Grasping the opportunity when the cloud of dust was obscuring the entire scene, he crept to where the female upperclassmen was and carried her away using a sole plate.

“Shoot! I was too careless, I should not have left one alive for questioning,” Jay was lamenting after the fact.

“Whoosh!” this time a huge gust of wind blew up right beside Jay.

“Oh no! Xia Er wait!” Jay shouted loudly, but was already too late, Xiaoxia was in an instant a tiny spot, chasing after the intruder. Jay immediately followed on the ground.

Xiaoxia did not think of any plan, the moment he saw the intruder on the sole plate, he immediately took out his own from the quantum bag. It is now always in there, even though the Academy banned the use of it.

Since the previous incident with the flying club, Xiaoxia found out they can only fly in one of the Academy’s various indoor stadiums. These were gigantic structures over a thousand feet high and thousands of feet in length and width. Hence he always brought along his sole plate, hoping for the opportunity to fly it in one of them.

“Ah, its been a long time! But what am I going to do?” Xiaoxia was wondering to himself, while actually more excited about flying.

The intruder was very strong, besides Jay, none of the other instructors had any chance against him. Xiaoxia had to come up with something or he will end up as one of the bodies on the ground. He was catching up really fast against the slower moving sole plate, and would immediately be within range of the intruder's attacks.

“Whiz!”

Without warning, bright blue bursts of Ki attacks lashed past Xiaoxia, one almost hit him directly in the face, thankfully the distance between them was sufficient for him to avoid the rest with ease. After a while, other Ki attacks followed suit when he was much nearer, and he had to maneuver the sole plate skillfully to avoid them.

The intruder started slowing down drastically, busy trying to take down Xiaoxia instead of moving farther ahead. This caused the gap to decrease rapidly and was soon gone. By this time, Xiaoxia had already gathered all the Ki for his defense. The strain is less pronounced now than before, because it was not constantly activated.

Whenever he was unable to avoid a Ki burst attack, he would instantly create a high intensity defense around his hand and deflect it away. The intruder’s Ki burst attacks were powerful, and soon Xiaoxia’s hands started to feel numb.

A thousand feet above ground, the struggle continued. The intruder who was injured by Jay prior to this, was tiring quickly and his reactions dull. Xiaoxia knew the opportunity will arrive soon.

Unexpectedly, the intruder began to plummet to the ground, it looked like he had lost consciousness. Immediately Xiaoxia dived after to save the upperclassman who was held under the intruder’s arms, speeding headfirst into them.

In no time, Xiaoxia was so close he could almost touch the upperclassmen, when all of a sudden the intruder turned around and lashed out with Ki. There was no way anyone can avoid it at this distance.

The intruder tricked Xiaoxia into following him in a headfirst plunge, making it extremely hard to maneuver and avoid Ki attacks. The intruder was sure that this time Xiaoxia will die.

Not expecting the attack, Xiaoxia took the hit right through his chest. The pain seared through his whole body and he almost lost consciousness. Instantly he began to feel an extremely warm sensation, and he was looking at himself.

From below the intruder was staring in disbelief, he managed to hit Xiaoxia straight in the heart, but he did not die and there was a golden aura emitting from his chest. The next moment, Xiaoxia vanished from the intruder’s sight.

Confused the intruder tried looking around and felt a pressure on his back, immediately all his Ki directed there and set up a defense.

“Do you think you can protect yourself with such measly defense?” the intruder heard a voice saying.

“SHZLARK!”

A single intensely strong light was seen shooting across the sky, it original form was only a sliver, but the intensity of the light made it seem much larger. The color was even more magnificent, it had the hue of bright yellow gold.

“Urgh!” blood spurted out the intruder’s mouth as he struggled to breathe his last breath. The person who he was holding onto was removed as he plummeted a little over 100 feet the ground.

Xiaoxia could still feel the pain on his chest, he was no longer plunging headfirst to rescue the upperclassman. Now he was carrying her over his shoulders and slowly descending onto the ground.

“Woah! Xia Er, are you ok? I saw everything, what happened to you?” Jay was already on the ground, having given chase from the mall.

“I do not know,” Xiaoxia replied, looking down at his shirt, there was a circular bruise visible on his chest through the torn fabric of his uniform.

“It felt like I was looking at myself from somewhere,” he continued and added, “I saw myself teleporting behind the intruder’s back and pierced through him with a golden beam.”

Jay kept silent as he digested the information. Then he spoke, "Xia Er, what you did up there was not normal. It was not a foot technique, and that golden beam was not a normal Ki color."

"I could see the intruder's defense being set up the instant you placed your finger to his back. I am certain at the very least he was at peak Grandmaster Realm. For your skill to penetrate and go right through his defense like it was nothing, means its not just any skill," Jay explained his observations while pausing before speaking again,

"There are similarities to certain skills I have, but its power is way more impressive, being able to take down someone who is at least three realms above you," Jay looked at Xiaoxia with admiration.

Then his looks changed to a more serious one, "Xia Er, it would be proper to congratulate you on this, but in view of the circumstances it might not be wise."

"You have a Unique Skill," Jay concluded.

Copyright © 2015 Loke Weng Tuck. All rights reserved.