In her encounter with this group tonight, Kia had already started to understand that rules were nothing but illusions. They would not function unless everyone chose to abide by them.
"These people tonight, the rules don't apply to them! They were able to get past the gates, past security in the streets, and are entrenched in this town like a cancer! They are immune to the law, at least within these walls!" When this realization hit her, a sense of determination welled up in Kia's mind. She swung her sword even faster with a much fiercer momentum.
Over a dozen corpse puppets rushed towards Kia from behind Black Serpent. While Ghost Serpent was an expert in ghost control, Black Serpent specialized in manipulating corpses. It was he who controlled the "Rainbow Archer", Flame Spirit Hand.
However, compared to Flame Spirit Hand, the flesh on the corpse puppets attacking Kia was more decayed and their movements were even more mechanical. These were low level corpse puppets.
Nevertheless, while low level corpse puppets could not perform complex arts like the archer, their leathery skin was as tough as iron, their rotten bones were like hardened steel, and their claws were like high grade swords! These puppets could turn a regular man into minced meat in under a second!
At the same time that the corpse puppets had attacked, a black gooey mass oozed from Smiling Serpent's body and also rushed towards Kia.
"Disgusting!" Kia could not help but exclaim in shock seeing the mass of wriggling ooze. While it looked like a black liquid, it was actually a mass of dense and concentrated worms. These worms were meshed together similar to real world Bootlace worms. It was obvious that they had probably been hybridized through numerous experiments by Smiling Serpent.
"Hihihihihi," the man laughed in a strange manner before shouting, "go ahead and feast my lovely worms!"
"First Treasure – Heart of Stone!" The moment Kia shouted these words her distressed and disgusted expression seemed to disappear and was replaced by a stony 'no-nonsense' appearance.
As she swung her swords, numerous corpse puppets were blown away just by the wind produced by the swing. However, Black Serpent was not a 'back-bencher'. As the leader of the 3 snake charmers, he chose to fight at the front! After losing his main weapon in the first joint sneak attack against Kia, this man chose to use a heavy, black, curved club as his second weapon of choice.
"Clang!"
The two weapons clashed sending rocks, grass, and rain water flying everywhere. Both opponents were pushed five steps back. They were evenly matched! It seemed this man had even greater physical strength than the titanic were-hyenas!
In fact this was not shocking at all. As someone who specialized in corpse control, Black Serpent's body was sturdier than all his puppets including Flame Spirit Hand.
Despite being a snake charmer and a puppeteer who was suited for mid to long range combat, Black Serpent's body was immune to water and fire, capable of withstanding a rain of arrows, and durable enough to deflect all mortal weapons with his bare skin.
After repeatedly clashing with Black Serpent, Kia knew she had no advantage in a battle of muscles against this man. Not only did she have to fight Black Serpent head on, she also had to guard against Smiling Serpent's sneak attacks, dodge the disgusting hybrid Bootlace worms, and escape from the other corpse puppets' encirclement.
The strength of these snake charmers was suddenly evident. Who could escape this quagmire let alone defeat this group.
First, they had the Guam Serpent, a beast so strong that it needed all 3 snake charmers working in tandem in order to control it.
Second, each snake charmer had a second specialty apart from controlling snakes which included corpse control, ghost control, and the control of parasitic worms.
Third, their leader, Black Serpent, had a high grade corpse puppet adept at the Rainbow Archery technique.
Lastly, each of the members was a strong warrior in their own right. Without the effects of the town's formation dampening their abilities, this team was enough to strike fear in any warrior within Toro's borders. No matter how strong a warrior was, they would not enjoy being encircled by this group of three.
"Second Treasure – Bronzen Head." Kia suddenly said but this time her voice was much calmer partly due to the effects of Stone Heart.
After activating the second treasure, although there were no outward changes to Kia's body, Black Serpent could sense that something had changed. However, Kia's next action made him almost glee in delight.
When they clashed this time, Kia actually went for a headbutt.
"Go ahead; shatter your skull on my head!" Black Serpent was ecstatic as he willingly welcomed the headbutt.
After all, although living, he already had a corpse physique better than any zombie. His skin, bones, and flesh were tougher than any mortal instrument or material.
He was ready to watch Kia's brains splatter on his forehead. But he was wrong!
When Kia's attack landed, a sharp stinging pain assaulted Black Serpent going from his forehead to his neck then all the way to the base of his spine. His mind was in shock and his body was frozen as if paralyzed.
A short instance later, he fell to the ground in a stiff manner very much like a frozen corpse. Soon darkness set in devouring his clarity as he lost consciousness.
The moment he collapsed to the ground, the corpse puppets under Black Serpent's control started attacking wildly. Even Smiling Serpent was caught in the crossfire of their attacks.
"Did the corpses go berserk without his control?" Kia guessed as she watched the puppets get even stronger and wilder.
"Fourth Treasure – Leviathan Hide."
When the puppets got close to her, Kia did not even bother to dodge their sword-like claws. However, when their attacks landed, they did not even leave a single mark on her skin. This was the effect of the Leviathan Hide.
However, unlike the zombies, Kia was still cautious about the mass of black parasitic worms released by Smiling Serpent. She did not dare take them lightly. Once these worms got into someone's body, either through the orifices or pores in the skin, the victim would be in for a world of hell.
"Fifth Treasure – Hand of Glory."
"Earth Splitting technique." Kia's next attack was a strong palm strike to the ground. With this strike, it was as if an earthquake was released shattering the ground beneath her feet and sending all the worms around her flying into the distance.
Even Smiling Serpent who had still been fending off the zombies as well as the remaining zombie puppets themselves were all sent flying into the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
However, even while reeling in pain, Smiling Serpent still retained a smile on his face. But at this point, he had already understood that his group of three had thoroughly lost this battle.
The main reason for their loss despite their formidable strength when fighting as a team was Kia's activation of the Body of 9 Treasures.
This martial skill was a comprehensive technique that combined numerous body forging arts into one technique.
The nine treasures in this skill were:
1. Heart of Stone – This was a skill that focused on strengthening the martial heart. After mastering this skill, the warrior's heart would transform into a peculiar triangular shape. It was said that at the peak, a practitioner of this art would gain the power to withstand the immeasurable.
2. Bronzen Head – Naturally, this was a skill that strengthened the head. However, not only did the user gain an extremely strong defense, their entire heads received a comprehensive boost in all attributes.
3. Starry Toe – At the peak of this technique, one's toes gained the weight of the stars. Any random kick from them could dig through mountains and part the oceans.
Leviathan Hide – This was a skill that imitated the defensive capabilities of the mythical Leviathan.
4. Hand of Glory – The 5th treasure was the Hand of Glory. A ridiculous fact about the original skill that was used to develop this treasure was that it originated from a band of thieves and a hanged man. This skill granted the user the power to unlock any door. However, over the ages it improved to the point that it allowed users to freeze people in place. Not only that, the user's palm strength was also raised to an extraordinary level. Further, there was an even stranger associated skill linked to this treasure - the God nails also titled the Holy Whetstone.
- Holy Whetstone: A warrior who had these nails was like a whetstone of good and evil as well as courage and cowardice. Against an enemy, the nails would draw blood as long as the user was brave and full of courage. However, if the user was cowardly, then the nails would draw no blood whatsoever.
6. Statue-like Bones – with these bones, the user gained a connection to Ikenga – the God of Beginnings. Ikenga was the embodiment of human endeavor, victory, and achievements. Naturally, the owner of these bones that honored Ikenga was bestowed with super strength from this divine connection. A common feature of this skill was a ridiculously strong and skilled right arm. The user also gained joints similar to a brazen bull. This secondary ability was aptly named Brazen Bull power.
7. The True Gateway – This treasure was also labelled the Infinite Devouring Stomach. Given its name, it is obvious that it was a skill that allowed the user to digest all kinds of food and easily transform anything into energy with minimal wastage. Apart from energy efficiency, the person could even digest poison, rocks, metals, and other harmful materials.
The remaining skills in the Body of Nine Treasures naturally targeted other body parts.
Overall, the Body of 9 Treasures was an extremely overpowered ability that combined numerous other skills into one major skill targeting different parts of the body. It is also noteworthy that the 9 treasures were not truly accurate in their exact number. Instead, the figure 9 was just symbolic.
In fact, in the myths of tribes like the Agikena, the number 9 was used to hide one's offspring or property from the evil eye by disguising their true value. Similarly, many other cultures used the number nine in place of infinity.
Technically, the Body of Treasures could have as many skills as there were body parts, both external and internal. The technique even extended beyond the basic human organs.
For example, the tattoo of the Winged Sun was part of the Body of Nine Treasures as a skill that granted greater mobility and enhanced speed. When this skill was activated, a tattoo of wings placed around a sun would appear on the user's back. According to ancient Toro mythology, the winged sun was a symbol associated with power, royalty, and divinity.
Further, some body parts such as the head housed multiple smaller parts and organs such as the eyes, ears, mouth, brain, nose, and hair. These parts also had their own martial skills within the Body of Nine Treasures. And even the same organ could have multiple skills. For instance:
- Valori Eye – the user's pupils would enlarge and gain supernatural abilities. Based on the god named Valori, at the peak of this eye art the user could wreak destruction just by opening their eyes. The mages of old had once termed this eye art as so poisonous and destructive that no army could withstand it.
- Rota's Eyes – In this instance, the user's eyes would glow like stars in the night. The star-like eyes could also emit powerful waves of heat that could burn even gods to ashes.
- Ogre Fang – This skill naturally targeted the mouth and teeth allowing a warrior to bite through virtually anything.
While the Body of Nine Treasures had many shocking skills condensed into one martial art, the main selling point of this art was its capacity to evolve. Shockingly, the art had different levels ranging from the lowest mortal warrior level all the way to a divine level that could challenge the gods!
Basically, it was classified in 3 major categories:
1. Spirit or Human level
2. Sacred or Saint level
3. Divine or God level
These 3 levels corresponded to the three major realms of the world. Anyone or anything below the Martial Saint stage was at the spirit/human level. Let alone Toro, Martial Saints were extremely powerful beings that did not even exist in the vast Zika world. Naturally, Martial Saints could practice Saint Arts. As for divine or god level arts, only a divine being or a True God could use them.
Therefore, for the Body of Nine Treasures to have all 3 levels, it was most likely created by a True God!
The fact that the snake charmers had forced Kia to rely on the Body of Nine Treasures, even if it was at the lowest level, was already a testament to their strength.
"If I was pushed further, I might have been forced to use the Might of the Underworld! Then who knows what would have happened," Kia's next words surprisingly revealed that she had even another scarier martial art under her sleeves!
As the battle ended, the black fog that was emanating from the snake charmers and their unholy creations slowly began to dissipate. However, the Smiling Serpent was still standing; only very far away. He had basically run away.
Witnessing this, Kia did not have the energy to chase after the strange man yet still look after the girls in the carriages. After all, some of her defeated opponents could wake up at any time.
Seeing her opponent going further and further away, Kia could only shout after him, "Even if you escape today, I will come after you with everything I have got. For what you have done to these girls, for desecrating the corpse of a great warrior, for treating human souls like slaves and weapons. None of you shall get the luxury of escape."
From this experience, it was evident that the law was not gonna do anything about such evil. Even if she was not a lawmaker, Kia would be these children's guardian angel.
However, despite her harsh words to the fleeing Smiling Serpent, the man kept smiling as he disappeared further into the dark night.
"Why are you still smiling? Either you are stupid or you are ignorant." Although Kia uttered these words, she started to consider another possibility, 'Perhaps this man's mouth is permanently glued in that smile-like shape. Whether he is sad, angry, in pain, or in joy, he is stuck like that. If that is truly so then he is one pitiful beast.'
In this battle, the only person who had gained Kia's admiration was the Rainbow Archer. Even though his corpse had been used for nefarious purposes by Black Serpent, Kia still respected what Flame Spirit Hand once was – a warrior, and a particularly strong one at that.
"If he had been alive, I am not sure I could have defeated him."
Importantly, Flame Spirit Hand had not used the last 4 arrows of the Rainbow Archery technique some of which were extremely formidable. Kia speculated that this was because his overall skill had dropped due to brain degeneration after his death.
The remaining arrows were:
1. Green: Venom Arrow – This technique involved shooting a highly poisonous arrow. As the arrow travelled through the air, the poison on the arrow tip would react with the air thus becoming even more poisonous during the arrow travel. Therefore, the longer the range, the more lethal this arrow was.
2. Blue: Malleable Arrow – The unique feature of this arrow technique was that the archer could alter its trajectory mid-travel. This was achieved either depending on the wind or by bouncing the arrow on the water vapor in the air. As a wind and water element arrow art, this form naturally stressed great flexibility. Therefore, for Flame Spirit Hand who was not only a stiff corpse but also someone with a fire affinity that was opposite of the water element, he was least achieved in this arrow form.
3. Indigo: Silent Arrow – It was also called The Assassin's arrow.
4. Violet: Devil Arrow [Quick-shot] – By applying a special purple powder on the hands, bow, and arrow, the archer could can enhance their shooting power while also boosting their reloading speed thus allowing them to fire off multiple arrows.
When one not only fully mastered all 7 arrow techniques but could also use them all in tandem, they were said to have achieved Rainbow Form Mastery.
There were two more levels above full mastery which were:
- White Arrow Form: a higher level of mastery.
- Transparent Form: an even higher level where the practitioner no longer even needed a bow or arrows to perform archery.
While Kia was pondering on the wonders of Rainbow Form Archery, she suddenly realized that something was off!
"Something is wrong; where did the woman go? She seemed to be the one giving out orders."
However, as she looked around, Kia did not see anyone else. Apart from her downed opponents, the woman was nowhere to be seen!
Suddenly, wind pressure assaulted Kia's back!
"Ramming Canon!"
The attack seemed to have come out of nowhere! Kia did not even have time to turn around let alone dodge. The short-haired muscular woman had crashed into her back like a charging bull exerting all of her body strength and mass into the charging attack.
When this attack landed, Kia felt like she had been rammed by a freight train! The body blow sent her flying like a canon through the park destroying the ground and any structure in her body's path!
"Barbarian Bull Queen!" Witnessing their leader in action, the broken and barely conscious were-hyena brothers exclaimed at once.
However, what they got in return was naked rebuke.
"Stop wasting time. 7 men ganging up on one little girl and you cannot even win? Shame on you, you pieces of trash! Do I have to always do everything myself?!"
Mwana's Book of Knowledge
Bonus Notes 3: Kia's Lesser Heaven Techniques so far
1. Blood Maiden skill
2. Violet Mansion skill
3. Body of 9 Treasures
4. Might of the Underworld
Bonus Notes 4: Rainbow Form Archery
1. Red – Blazing Arrow
2. Yellow – Morning Sun Arrow
3. Orange – Journeyman Arrow
4. Green – Venom Arrow
5. Blue - Malleable Arrow
6. Indigo - Silent Arrow
7. Violet - Devil Arrow: Quick-shot
- Rainbow Form Mastery
- White Arrow Form
- Transparent Form