"Stop it. Please! What have I done to deserve this," the juvenile voice of a kid who hadn't passed the age of ten barrages him? His awareness, dampened by a mystical force that superimposed itself over his reality, never questioned the oddity of events. He was in a bustling market, filled to the brim with the loudest of individuals, yet the people's voices were nothing more than a whisper.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins when he noticed the cries for help. He channelled qi to his feet and blasted off towards the cries. A second barely passed and he found himself in an alley between two high-rise residential buildings.
A small kid was held by the throat in the hands of someone. He immediately recognised someone as one of the bright stars of Myriad Academy.
"Why you little shit," Jotire said, slowly blocking the kid's air supply "Your insolence deserves nothing short of death."
Clouded by a rising rage and anger, Ast dashed, whipping a kick at Jotire's face. The kick landed squarely on his face, pushing him into the pile of rubbish behind him. The child fell against the wall, smacking his head against it.
Jotire leapt up and gazed at Ast.
"Mind your own business, idiot," Jotire said. "Go back and pretend as if this never happened. This little piece of shit tried stealing my blade and now he has to pay. Don't make me kill you too."
"Jotire, stop this shit at once. When have you have killed? Get out of that idiotic mind space and think clearly. Do you want to risk your chances at entering a sect because of a peasant?" Ast noticed something was wrong with his thoughts as well as Jotire's.
The moment he brought up logic, his rationality took a nosedive. All that was left was a desire to save the kid and punish Jotire to the best of his ability. He reached south for his sword. He would rain justice on the foul idiot, and wipe out his nine generations. No one threatened the life of an innocent within his presence.
"Let me call the patrol," he thought for a second before it died out replaced by an urge to tear Jotire apart limb from limb.
He grasps for his sword, but it wasn't there. Where was it? He didn't know. But justice must still prevail even if his trusted weapon of justice wasn't by his side.
Jotire underwent a similar thought process. He felt that Ast was hindering his justice and deserved to be crippled, killed and thrown aside by the road.
They both roared as they dashed into each other. Jotire slashed out with his blade. It was encased in a sharp layer of Qi as it met Ast's bare fists. Ast never realised how much of an idiotic move it was to meat a graded sword with his bare hands. Blood spurted out as the blade wedged itself in between his knuckles. Pain swam from his hand to his mind, further impairing his thought process. He gritted his teeth and bore the brunt of it, choosing to pull his hand downwards. Jotire hadn't expected his qi enhanced attack to get stopped by Ast's blood and flesh. Caught off guard, he was tipped off balance by Ast. He fell forward.
Ast prepared for it and formed a claw with his right coating in it a layer of Qi. He went for Jotire's throat, hoping to end the battle in one exchange. A sense of dread washed over him when he caught a glimpse of Ast's claw gunning for his throat. He didn't know what to do. His sword was caught between Ast's knuckles and he'd long lost his balance. He practically heads straight for the claw.
With a stroke of pure genius, Jotire used the moment of his fall to duck underneath the claw and spear Ast into the ground, letting go of his sword.
*Crack*
Ast felt one of his ribs crack from the force. Both of them slammed into the ground, pulverizing the stone pathway into powder. Jotire with the upper hand-mounted Ast and rained a series of jaw shattering punches at his face. The first punch dislodged Ast's lower jaw. The second punch shattered his front teeth. . Ast fished for a brick with his free hand and smashed Jotire's face with it, stopping the descent of the last punch.
Jotire rolled away from Ast to gather himself. Ast took that moment to catch his breath and channelled qi to his open wounds, stopping the blood flow.
The bits of adrenaline coursing through his veins disappeared with each cycle his blood went through. He gathered the last bits of his energy, enhancing his entire body with large amounts of Qi. He slammed the ground with his palm, sending him into the air. His feet barely touched the ground. He twisted towards Jotire and leapt at him, knew first towards the groggy son of bitch. With a loud bang, Ast's knee crashed into Jotire's skull. Blood splattered. And Jotire's blade tore a hole just above Ast's pelvis. The sneaky bastard had reached for the sword when Ast had smashed the brick on his skull.
Whether due to shock or blood loss both Jotire and Ast dropped. With their qi no longer under their control, the wounds that they were suppressing opened up. Blood pooled beneath them, drenched the stone path, and formed a pond just outside the alley.
The little kid's eyes popped open. The eyes were as black as the night sky. A small smile, ridiculing the ease of his task hung on his lips. The wood behind his skull closed within seconds. He pulled himself up and chuckled as he gazed at the unconscious Jotire and Ast.
"What a bunch of weaklings," He cracked his neck. "They better give me a Coalescence Pill for my hard work."
He went to Ast and threw him onto his shoulder before disappearing into a mass of shadows.
The alley merged with the bustling market once more. The sounds of peddlers chirping prices and people arguing those prices filled the alley.
A patrol guard noticed the blood flowing from the alley and called his squad. they were confused at how a battle of such proportions went under their noses.
"A ninth layer Qi Gathering kid," One of the guards examined Jotire's pulse."How did this battle escape our perception? We have to report this to the higher-ups. It stinks."
"There were clearly three people here. Where did the other two go?"