Chapter 6

“Ok Chris. What do you want to know about the outside world?” To this question, Chris falls into a deep contemplation.

This is hard. It’s like being asked ‘what don’t you know?’

After a moment of internal struggle, he returns his attention and answers Ethan’s question.

“I don’t know. I guess everything.”

Ethan internally palms his head at this answer. The teen clearly gave up thinking and just blurted something out.

“That will be difficult to answer since I am unaware of what you don’t know. Since you don’t have any particular subject in mind, I will pick one myself. However, if you suddenly think of a question, ask. It would be rather tiresome to just lecture randomly at you.”

Chris shutters, having been reminded of Mr. Harold’s chemistry class. There’s nothing Chris hates more than being lectured on something he doesn’t care about.

“Ok, I’ll try to think up some questions.”

Ethan nods before starting. “Earlier you asked what the ‘outside world’ was like. I am unsure of how to answer since the circumstances are different everywhere. I could try answering broadly, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about the politics of the world.”

Chris eagerly nods his head. “No way. Just tell me what it would be like for me if I were to travel.”

“Hm. This is still hard as I have not been everywhere in the world. However, I can tell you what Long Continent is like.”

“I heard before that everywhere else on the continent is a shit hole.”

“This is only half true. To start, if you are a normal person, traveling in Long Continent would be ill advised. There are many dangers when traveling. For one, road bandits are common. But you also have to worry about the state of your destination.

“A number of Territories are in poor shape, especially in the North. This is because the GE … you know what that is, yes?”

Chris rolls his eyes. “Yes, I know.” While he might be feeling rather irritated at such an obvious question, Chris doesn’t realize how uneducated he’s sounded up until now. The hardest part about being ignorant is that you don’t know how ignorant you are until someone else tells you.

“I’m glad you at least know that much. Back to what I was saying, this is because the GE neglects to do their yearly Territory inspections. They do this because the North has the lowest population so it never takes precedence.

“From what I understand, though I haven’t confirmed this myself, the state of things is much better in the South. Still, because this Continent is particularly lawless, traveling can be a fatal mistake.”

Chris lets out a bitter smile, unsure as to wheather he’s happy or disappointed. “So your telling me everywhere is shitty.”

So that’s what he got from it huh? Ethan blankly stares back at Chris, baffled as to what the teen thought the world was actually like. Ethan, having been hurt too many times by this world, can no longer help but see it for what it is.

“I wouldn’t worry Chris. I said this from the viewpoint of a normal person.” He points at Chris and asks, “Do you think you are a normal person? Because you’re not.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Chris tries to clarify. “I just don’t want the world I dreamed of seeing to turn out disappointing.”

“I see.”

Chris suddenly realises something. D-did I really just say that out loud?! To practically a complete stranger?! That’s embarrassing! He must think I’m weird now. He didn’t react much and is probably just being polite.

Chris sneaks a peak at Ethan. Despite my sarcasm and rudeness towards him, he’s being considerate and taking the time to explain all this to me. Is that why I felt comfortable enough to share that with him?

“Still, I think you’ll have a much better experience than most.” Ethan’s words snap Chris back to reality. “Because you are strong, you won’t have to deal with nuisances like road bandits and two-bit Conquerors putting you in danger. You can just quickly kill them and move along.”

“I-I don’t really want to kill anyo..."

“Besides, you want to travel the world, right? I hear that North Continent is peaceful, and the culture in Central Continent revolves around strong Awakened. You would fit in great.”

Chris’s eyes light up, as if he heard exactly what he wanted. “Really? I gotta go there then.”

“Don't get the wrong idea. With your strength, you'd still be considered extremely powerful no matter where you went.”

A good portion of the enthusiasm in Chris’s body suddenly dissipates. “That ... makes me happy and worried at the same time. Am I really that powerful?”

Hearing his question, Ethan shrugs and proposes an idea. “Do you want to test out your strength?”

Chris frowns in confusion. “What? Like ... lift stuff?”

He knows that this is a bad idea. Chris is confident he can lift more weight than the ground under his feet can sustain. He imagines himself lifting a boulder and watching his legs sink into the ground.

However, Ethan offers a different type of test.

“Nothing so boring,” he says with a smirk. “No. I was talking about you sparring with me.”

Chris’s eyebrows shoot up. “Eh? You want me to fight you?”

“Yeah.”

“What?!”

“Do you object to that idea?” Ethan asks, genuinely curious as to why Chris is refusing. Ethan suggested this idea because fighting someone is the best way to gage their strength. After all, if Chris has powerful Chi but turns out to be a wimp, Ethan will discard the idea of making him an ally.

“No. It's just ... I've ... never fought anyone in my life.”

And I really didn’t want my first opponent to be the person who I was told could kill me. So this is where I end huh? Chris tries to joke with himself, but it doesn’t make him feel better.

He is snapped out of his thoughts when Ethan attempts to give him encouragement. “I doubt you'll need much training to keep up with me. You are plenty strong on your own.”

Now I really can’t refuse. Chris silently laments his life before saying, “O-Okay. I'll ... try. But I don’t guarantee anything impressive”

On that note, they both hop back onto their feet. Ethan then jumps backwards about 15 meters from Chris to create space between them.

“Choose a fighting stance.”

“Eh? I don't have one.”

“Figure one out. Just don't be flat footed.”

“No shit.”

After his snarky remark, Chris widens his feet and raises his hands into a boxing like stance, only with his hands open rather than clenched. In contrast, Ethan stands across from him with his hands in his pockets.

Confused, Chris hurriedly asks, “Aren't you going to take a stance?”

“I'll take one when I need to. Now, start.”

Having been given the go-ahead, Chris bends his knees and starts charging. The charge looks incredibly slow to both him and Ethan, however, to a normal human it would be equivalent to the speed limit on a highway.

Chris opens the fight by taking a swing at Ethan, which is not aimed at any particular part of his body. Ethan easily side steps and jabs Chris in the back, sending him flying face first.

After face planting, Chris rolls on the ground, holding his glasses to his face, before drilling his foot into the ground to stop his momentum.

He rises to his feet slowly, trying to regain his bearings. In the midst, he hears a monotone voice say,

“I saw you move faster than that just minutes ago. Don't hold back.”

Fine. I won't. Chris thinks this to himself as he throws his glasses off to the side, having decided they were in the way.

His eyes narrow, or rather sharpen as he prepares to launch another attack. Then, he plants his foot in the ground and explodes towards Ethan at his top speed.

Chris, once again, attempts a punch. And like before, Ethan side steps, causing Chris to topple over himself due to his momentum. To prevent himself from rolling too far away from Ethan, he digs his finger into the ground and drags himself to halt.

Annoyed, he grips the ground harder and launches himself forward, throwing a mound of dirt behind him. After closing the distance in an instant, he swings at Ethan with the opposite hand, attempting to change up his attacks.

Because of the speed of the attack, Ethan finally puts up his hands to block, albeit casually. He grabs Chris's incoming arm and guides it past his face. Now, with Chris's torso exposed and within striking distance, he lifts his leg and delivers a front kick into his abdomen.

Chris slides backwards across the ground but manages to stay on his feet. After he stops sliding, he grabs his stomach as his face grimaces in pain.

Son of a bitch! That hurt! I didn’t know something could hurt this bad.

Because he has been powerful all his life, he never experienced pain as a child. Sprained ankles and scraped knees were a thing of mystery to young Chris.

A look of determination glints in his eyes as he steels himself for a tough fight. While he is not especially hard working, he always accomplishes what he sets his mind to, if only out of sheer stubbornness. His new goal is to hit Ethan in the face just once.

Chris takes off again, charging in a zigzag pattern towards Ethan before striking. Ethan puts his hands up to block while dodging a left hook.

Having missed, Chris stubbornly follows it up with a series of right and left punches, hoping one of them will land. Unfortunately, Ethan dodges them all with supreme head and foot work.

Changing up his tactics, Chris then follows up with a knee, but before the strike can reach, Ethan, seeing an opening, punches Chris in the stomach.

Chris coughs violently as he drives his leg back down into the ground to avoid being blown back, but his efforts do not prevent him from sliding back completely. His feet drag out lines in the dirt as a result.

After stopping his momentum, Chris once again shoots towards Ethan and throws a right punch.

He should really change his approach.

This thought creeps into Ethan's head as he dodges. Having slid himself into position, he then grips Chris's wrist and performs a shoulder throw.

“Ga!”

Having been caught off guard, Chris is, without struggle, easily swept off his feet and thrown straight into the ground, creating a small creator as a result of the impact.

Shocked, he lies still in the man-made creator, trying to regain his bearings.

W-what the hell?! What did he do?! I couldn’t even react!

This is what football players call ‘getting your bell rung.’ After lying in the crater for a good moment, Chris is snapped back to reality by the sound of Ethan’s footsteps.

“Are you still able to fight?”

While Chris is aware, based on Ethan’s expression, that his words were a simple gesture of kindness. However, at the moment, they sound condescending. Therefore, since Ethan is standing next to him, he tries to grab his ankle in an attempt to catch him off guard.

However, Ethan just smirks at Chris’s amateur attempt and Flash Steps away before contact.

“Tch,” leaves Chris’s mouth in frustration as he picks himself back up.

Damn. It's hard fighting without my glasses. I'm just swinging at a blurry figure. Besides, it’s not like I know what I’m doing in the first place.

In mid thought, Ethan's voice suddenly startles him by suggesting some advice.

“Chris, try something different than a straight-on punch.”

Yeah, you got any hints for me? Chris thinks this but doesn’t say it out loud. After all, he is a newby at fighting. However, he realises that groaning and complaining won’t do anything. Therefore, he starts racking his brain for ideas.

Having thought of something, Chris's eyes sharpen before shooting towards Ethan. He raises his fist, making it look like he’ll throw a punch. Just as Ethan starts questioning Chris’s strategy, the teen pulls his fist back and thrusts a kick at Ethan’s jaw like he wants to punt his face off.

A feint, huh?

Having reacted in time, Ethan jumps backwards to avoid the incoming kick. As the wind generated by Chris’s foot blows past his face, he lets out a genuine smile.

“Now you're starting to think.”

Having been lifted off the ground by his foot’s momentum, Chris stretches out his leg to land back on his feet. However, just Chris’s foot touches the dirt, Ethan Flash Steps behind him and roundhouse kicks him in the back.

“Huuu!”

Chris’s back arcs as he flies through the air and violently smashes through the trunk of a large oak tree, sending wood chips flying everywhere as the tree crashes to the ground.

But, the tree doesn’t fully stop his momentum, as he then proceeds to limply smash into the ground like a rag doll, blasting dirt and grass into the air.

When he finally stops rolling, Chris lies extremely still, making Ethan wonder if he knocked the kid out. However, his worries are put to rest as he sees Chris’s legs twitch in pain.

“HUUUH!”

Chris rolls onto his back and lets out a pain filled grunt after having finally gathered his breath.

So he had the air knocked out of him.

Ethan seems to take pleasure in the fact that he’s educating this poor kid on the lessons of pain. In contrast, Chris is writhing on the ground.

“MY EVERYTHING! MY EVERYTHING HURTS!”

Ethan smirks as this type of screaming continues for another minute or so. Finally after a little while, Chris finally sits up to reveal a pissed off glare.

“I’m going to punch you in your fucking smug face if it’s last thing I do!”

Ethan can’t help but snicker at Chris’s declaration. However, Chris doesn’t not see this as Ethan is too far away. Even if Chris didn’t need glasses, Ethan is still close to 70 yards away from him.

Chris tries to focus his eyes on the blurry black figure off into the distance but instead his eyes are drawn to the toppled oak tree not 20 yards away.

Damn! I liked the tree!

Chris, gripping his left shoulder which was bruised when smashing through the tree, quickly adjusts his senses away from his pain and back onto the fight. The kindness in his eyes has faded away and has been replaced by intense determination.

“What?”

Ethan, having noticed a change in Chris’s aura, unfocuses his senses as he prepares to take a look at Chris’s aura with the naked eye.

It’s visible.

Ethan can’t help hide his surprise. Normally, aura is only visible to people with trained senses like Ethan. However, now, Chris’s aura would be visible to any random joe-schmoe walking on the street.

His aura is overwhelming! He wasn’t this strong a minute ago! To have visible aura without any training means he’s reached 7th tier!

Ethan is saying that Chris’s is now his equal in terms of raw power. One can protrude their aura from their bodies in lower tiers, but that requires one to know how to sharpen their aura through precise control or through intense killing intent.

Ethan, having realised he underestimated the kid, bends his knees and readies himself for an attack.

Damn. I got cocky and pissed him off. Guess I’m in for a real fight.

The yellow aura around Chris begins to glow brighter as his Chi levels continue to rise. The soil beneath his feet begins to crack and dirt around him starts to rise.

Chris leans forward, digs his fingers deep into the ground and uses it to explode off towards Ethan. He closes the considerable distance in an instant.

Having been caught off guard by his speed, Ethan’s eyes widen in shock.

The word “fast” flashes through his mind.

He Flash Steps backwards to create some distance between them, only to have Chris keep up with his speed. The teen appears on Ethan's right, preparing to dish out an attack.

Then, Chris throws a right hook. Ethan puts his arms up in time to block the punch, but upon impact is sent flying across the field and through the side of a barn, scattering wood chips in every direction. Because of the loud crash, the horses within start going berserk.

Ethan lays flat on his back, staring at the barn ceiling, with pieces of broken wood scattered on top of him.

Ow.

He then sits up and looks at the bruise forming on his right arm. Squeezing his numb hand to regain its feeling, he picks himself up and jumps through the hole he created in the side of the barn.

After exiting the barn, before having a chance to regain his barings, Chris charges at him and attacks at a frightening speed. Barely reacting, Ethan ducks under a right hook and tries to drive his fist into Chris’s stomach.

However, Chris then counters by dropping his right elbow into the back of Ethan's head, stopping the momentum of Ethan’s fist before it reaches him.

Ethan’s head is pounded into the ground by momentum Chris’s elbow, dislocating his nose and creating a small crater in the ground. Ethan, ignoring how badly that hurt, plants his feet and launches himself forward in an attempt to create some distance from his opponent.

If I don’t put some distance between us, I’ll keep taking unnecessary hits.

However, his efforts are thwarted as he notices the teen about to stomp down on his head in mid air.

His reaction time is insane. I’ll definitely lose if I keep playing defense.

Just before Chris’s foot drives his head into the dirt once more, Ethan Flash Steps to about 50 yards to Chris’s right, disappearing from his line of sight. Knowing Chris will cover that distance quickly, with only a brief moment to spare, Ethan resets his footing to a battle ready stance.

Finally, a break. He thinks this while twisting his dislocated nose back into place.

Sure enough though, Chris crosses the distance in less than a second, throwing a series of right and left punches upon arrival. Only, now that Ethan is ready to receive the attacks, none of the punches meet their mark.

He stopped thinking and is now just lashing out at me. I can handle attacks like this with reaction time alone.

Ethan continues to dodge Chris’s fists whilst looking for an opportunity to counter attack. After dodging another 4 to 5 seconds of attacks - which is equivalent to over a hundred punches and some kicks thrown in - he finally weaves his way through the barrage and drives his knee into Chris’s diaphragm.

Having the air knocked out of him once more, Chris involuntarily stops his attacks, allowing Ethan to casually elbow him in the jaw.

Because of this, he is sent hurtling backwards and lands high on his back, causing him to fold over himself. Due to his momentum, he continues to roll quite a ways before finally stopping.

After a few seconds, he pops his head up and looks at Ethan, only to see a blurry landscape.

Shit! I can’t see where he is!

Chris quickly puts his hand in front of his face in case Ethan decides to hit him again, but then notices his throbbing jaw, causing him to wince slightly.

His ears perk up as he hears a yell from, what sound like, far away.

“Do you still want to continue?!”

Chris, unable to see how far away Ethan is, yells out at the top of his lungs.

“OF COURSE!”

Ethan, hearing his response, Flash Steps over to where Chris is, covering a distance of 80 yards in an instant. For those wondering, the farthest distance he can Flash Step is just over 100 yards.

With his increase in power, I’ll need to step it up.

Now standing right in front of Chris, who is still kneeling on the ground, Ethan speaks in a normal volume. This startles Chris, who hadn’t seen him approach with his face still covered by his arms.

“From here on out, I won't be holding back. You okay with that?” he asks in a blunt tone, letting the teen know he’s dead serious.

Chris, whose nose and mouth are dripping with blood, forms a huge grin as he stares Ethan in the eyes.

“No way I'm stopping now. I haven’t punched you in the face yet.”

Ethan cracks a smile. He’s impressed by the guts the inexperienced Chris has been showing.

But,

“I should warn you. I haven’t fought at full strength in 3 years, so I’m not sure how strong I actually am either.”

Hearing his warning, Chris gulps slightly. D-Did I just unleash a monster? This thought shoots through his head as he looks at the seemingly sinister smile which has crept its way onto his opponents face.

Ethan closes his eyes and steadies his breathing. A white aura starts forming and eventually engulfs Ethan’s whole figure. Due to his chi’s strength, the large dirt chunks surrounding him slowly levitate off the ground. However, not a second later, his aura becomes brighter and all the dirt chunks shoot back down to earth .

Chris is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a tremendous downward force.

“What the hell? Why do I feel so heavy?”

Chris looks at his surroundings and notices all of the grass in the area is laid flat, as if an invisible metal sheet has been placed on top. In fact, the dirt next to Ethan’s feet has begun to collapse under the pressure.

“Unlike you, when I release my full power, my chi does not run rampant and taper off into the air,” Ethan explains. “The pressure your feeling now is what happens when 7th tier chi is concentrated and stabilized in my surroundings. It’s called a chi master’s sphere of influence and it should feel not unlike a rise in atmospheric pressure.”

Chris stares blankly at Ethan in astonishment. So something like that is possible, he thinks to himself.

All of a sudden, the pressure stops as the massive aura that had surrounded Ethan condenses into his body. Taking a deep breath, Ethan raises his hands in clenched fists. Those fists start glowing a bright white light as he uses the Chi Fist technique.

Chris's eyes widen in awe, thinking back to the first time he saw Ethan use the technique. He drops his guard thinking about how his world has been turned upside-down one too many times these past few days.

“Get ready.”

Ethan then disappears from Chris’s line of sight. However, before Chris can even comprehend what happened, Ethan appears at his side and drills a glowing fist into the teen’s head.

His feet leave the ground as he flies off to his left. Chris, completely unaware of what just happened, while still in mid flight, suddenly sees Ethan’s fist appear from the front. Absolutely helpless, his face rams into Ethan’s fist and his whole figure is drilled into the ground, displacing a massive amount of dirt and leaving a 5 meter crater.

Chris lies in the crater on his back, his face rapidly bruising while he stares up at the clear blue sky.

Wha … what the fuck was that?! I couldn’t even see him move! I … got hit only twice, right?

With his mouth and nose bleeding even worse, Chris stumbles onto his feet and glares at Ethan with the angriest look he can muster.

Ethan, however, is not intimidated by this. He can tell there is no murderous intent in his eyes.

He’s angry. But he’s no killer. I can’t feel any bloodlust.

Ethan then starts pondering, If I teamed up with him in the future, would he have a problem with the way I operate? I hope that's …

Interrupting his thoughts, Chris lunges to attack Ethan. Thus, Ethan flash steps behind the kid and jabs him in the back. Recognizing his pain was caused by Ethan, he twists his body and swings his arm backwards in an attempt to hit him.

But his fist hits nothing but air as Ethan, having already flash stepped behind him again, chops the teen in the neck.

“GAHH!”

However, Chris doesn't give up. He blindly throws another punch, hoping for it to hit his target. Ethan easily ducks the incoming fist and uppercuts Chris in the chin, sending him rocketing backwards.

Only, Ethan’s uppercut sent him too high into the air. Exercising the philosophy of ‘never give your opponent time to think,’ Ethan flash steps up into the air next to Chris and drives his hands down into his torso, blasting the kid back down to the ground.

“UHHHHH!”

Chris lets out a large grunt as he smashes into the grass field. Another large crater has formed on the Sheffer property, this one with a radius of 9 meters.

Ethan flash steps back down to the ground as well, landing next to Chris’s crater.

“Still want to continue?”

Wheezing, he answers, “Shut up. I’ll tell you when I want to quit.”

“Ok. But I’ll tell you now. Even if you are as physically strong as me, you are outmatched in speed, skill and experience.”

“Yeah, I know.” Chris lets out a bloody smile. “But if I gave up at stuff I struggled at, I’d never pass any of my classes.”

Then, without any previous indication, Chris let’s out a mighty roar and smashes his fists into the ground, throwing dirty everywhere and further enlarging the crater.

The shift in the ground causes Ethan to lose his footing for a second. Chris takes advantage and throws his strongest punch at his opponent's face. Ethan, taken by surprise, places his arms in front of his face, barely in time to block the incoming punch.

He, as a result, is driven backwards, skipping across the ground. He then smashes through the trunk of a tree, just like Chris earlier.

With another tree having been destroyed, Ethan lays on his back in pain while Chris drops back down to one knee, trying to catch his breath after being thoroughly beaten to a pulp. Both of them stay still for a moment, trying to regain their bearings.

Shit! I still didn’t hit his face! Chris lightly hits the ground in frustration. This 'light hit' from Chris still puts a small dent in the soil.

After a brief resting period, Chris stands back up and charges at Ethan once more, prompting Ethan to roll back onto his feet.

Chris tries a right punch, but Ethan expertly catches his fist with a glowing left hand and twists his arm outwards. He then puts all his strength into kicking Chris, whose torso is completely exposed, in the stomach, sending him flying across the field again.

This time, Chris flies over 200 yards and crashes through his house. He hits the side of the house at over 180 miles per hour, exploding into the dinning room, which is next to the living room where Joe and Gertrude are sitting.

They are startled by the sudden implosion of their dining room wall, but Chris doesn't even notice them. Grunting, he gets right back up, pushing the scraps of drywall and 2X4 off of him, and jumps through the hole in the side of his house.

Ignorant of what the hell is going on, Joe and Gertrude run out the front door. There, they look out and see that their field has been completely wrecked with craters everywhere.

In the midst of the field, they also see two figures fighting at hyper speed. Their eyes can barely keep up with the figures’ speed. The only reason they can see them at all is due to being far away.

Chris and Ethan, not having noticed Joe and Gerts' presence, charge at each other for a head on clash. At this moment, they hear ...

“The fuck did you do to my field?!”

Ethan is distracted by the sudden yell, at first thinking it to be an enemy.

But then,

So a guardian was here. Grandfather maybe?

Seeing Ethan distracted, Chris pools all his strength into fist and clocks Ethan in the face. The concussive force of the impact creates a shock wave which carries all the way over to Joe and Gertrude.

Ethan drives his foot into the ground in order not to be blown back by the punch. The kinetic energy of Chris’s right hook is then concentrated through Ethan’s body and down through his leg, resulting with the ground underneath his foot crumbling under the force.

“I DID IT!”

Chris screams with joy at the fact that he managed to punch Ethan’s face. But his celebration is cut short by the sound of his adoptive father yelling something at them.

“Eh? Joe?”

Chris can’t make out what he’s saying from the considerable distance, but the tone implies that he is angry and worried at the same time. Ethan starts to approach Chris, holding his now throbbing cheek.

“Is that old man yelling at us your Grandfather?”

“No. That's my adoptive Father.”

“I see.”

Standing there for a moment, they watch Joe slowly walk from the house over to them. He does not cease his yelling.

“We'll be here for a while waiting for him to calm down.”

“I see.”