Closing the door to his small motel room outside of Seoul, Chen shuffled his feet, trudging through the dirty floor to his old desk where a computer sat.
In stark contrast an expensive, clean-looking camera hung from his neck; sitting down on the wooden stool he plugged his camera into the computer.
His screen lit up as hundreds of images he'd taken were plastered onto the screen, the light from the screen lit up the room, reflecting off of Chen's eyes. The pictures of Mizuki from dozens of angles scrolled past the screen as Chen pressed keys on his computer.
Selecting only the best photos, he put them in a separate folder; Chen clicked quickly and precisely moved his mouse across the screen as dozens of images flashed by. His breathing quickened as he wiped the sweat from his face, and a small smile broke out on his face.
*Knock*Knock*
Breaking out of his momentary daze, Chen shot out of his chair and turned back to the motel room door. After a few seconds of silence, another pair of knocks was on the cheap wooden door.
Chen stepped towards the door before pausing; he glanced at the taser on the computer desk. Grabbing it, he stepped to the door, peering through the eyehole; through the small hole, he saw a man of average height in street bike wear and a black helmet with the pale motel hallway lights reflecting off his visor.
"Who are you?"
"Delivery," the voice was hard and cold, yet Chen thought the man was young.
Chen's voice was cautious as he tried to gain a better view of the man through the small viewing hole, "I didn't order anything."
The thin, cheap door was suddenly kicked in, knocking the frail door off of its hinges and hitting Chen in his face.
A series of short screams followed as the man stepped into the small motel room; dull thuds resounded in the oddly quiet motel room before the screams fell silent.
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Stepping into the motel's empty, dark parking lot, Gyun was disgusted, trying to wipe the blood from his hands as he made his way across the parking lot.
-He deserved it, I have nothing to feel bad about it, it's necessary-
He tried to justify himself, but he felt the acidic feeling and burn in the pit of his stomach and chest; it was shame and disgust. Gyun could feel it, and they were trying to tame him, make him theirs; it was a similar tactic to what he'd experienced more during his time in Murim.
Sighing, he started his bike before speeding off into the night
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Two days later,
Gyun walked up to the scales; even though it was just weigh-ins before the fight, various media outlets were there, and cameras were recording and snapping pictures. There was also interest buzzing in why someone making his debut was fighting a contender in the top 15 on the main card.
Keeping on his clothes, he took off his shoes before stepping onto the scale; Gyun knew that he would make weight; he had made the choice in his contract weeks ago to fight in a weight class above his natural weight so he wouldn't have to worry about cutting weight like most fighters.
The man on the weight scale read out the numbers, "75.9 kilograms, 176.4 pounds."
Gyun stepped off the scales before retreating back to the locker rooms, avoiding any questions from reporters; now, he just needed to wait; the fights would begin in 3 hours, and the only thing to do now was rest.
After half an hour, his eyes slowly began closing. Gyun decided to lie down on the locker room bench to be more comfortable, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
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10th Mountain Division, one of three Canto Empire's military divisions known as the Rangers, is an elite unit that chose selectively from the 2nd Legion's infantry. And it was the consensus that out of the three divisions of Rangers, 10th Mountain was the best, every single one of their soldiers were fearless.
And for a good reason, the Ranger motto was 'these things we do, so that others may live,' and every single one of their members took that seriously; in whatever major battle, they could be seen on the frontlines leading the charge.
This led to the infamous joke that a Ranger's life could be measured in minutes; the average squad had a 68% fatality rate in their first year.
An officer strode along the line of Rangers, his white square patch on his shoulder standing out on the black uniforms, identifying him as a captain. "Ready ! Ready!" the veins on the officer's neck stood up taut like whipcords as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Gyun's leg twitched in anticipation before he nodded to the captain; looking back at his squad; he tapped his helmet. "Check, check," pointing at the ropes attached to their waist; the ropes led to a nail that was driven into the ground.
"Check"
"Check"
"Check"
As all 9 of his squad members affirmed their equipment one last time, Gyun took a deep breath; feeling his sword, he took a step, peering down the cliff face i to the Aegean Fortress below; it couldn't have been less than a 200-meter drop straight down to the ground outside the wall.
Swallowing the fear in his throat, he stepped back, feeling his sword at his hip he gripped the handle tight. Glancing across the line of Ranger squadrons, the air was silent, and the sounds of nature permeated the silence, starkly contrasting to the captain's voice that had screamed at the top of his lungs just moments prior.
The captain stood at the ledge, the rope coiled at his feet as he looked over the cliff face, pulling his sword from its sheath; in one hand his sword reflected the noon sunlight; in the other hand was the flag of 10th Mountain, a Mountain with a skull at the top, it symbolized the identity of the 10th Mountain; all eyes were on the captain's back, including Gyun's.
"Helmets on!"
With the sound of the helmets being pushed down, the line of scared faces of the rangers disappeared, replaced by faceless steel helmets with slits to peer through; Gyun shoved the helmet down over his head. The hot steel helmet was hot and stuffy and narrowed his view but it felt comforting to Gyun on some level, even though the helmet offered little in terms of protection from any sort of Qi-enhanced attack.
"Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra!"
The chant started with the captain, but soon the rest of the rangers followed; the shouts would attract the attention of the fortress spotters, but it was meant to. They were tasked with distracting and, if possible, taking the Southern Wall and opening the defensive fortress for the rest of the 2nd legion to assault the walls.
"RAAANNNNNGGGEEERRRRSSS!!" The Captain screamed swinging the flag of the 10th Mountain
"Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra! Ra!" The chants echoed from the top of the cliff,
A horn resounded from the fortress below, and shouts could be heard from below the cliff face as the fortress soldiers rushed to man defensive positions against the incoming attack.
"WHAT DO WE DO?!"
"WE WIN!!!"
Taking a sharp inhale the captain turned back to the fortress below, "ON MY ORDER!!!!"
"Ra! Ra! Ra!" The chants persisted; Gyun pounded his armored chest, chanting, taking deep breaths, trying not to show the cold sweat running down his back or the hairs standing up on the back of his neck.
"GO! GO! GO! GO!"
The captain desperately swung the flag, Gyun's legs stopped bouncing in nervousness
Swallowing his fear, he sprinted before jumping off the cliff face; the wind whipped past him, his vision blurring, time seemed to slow, and Gyun could hear the blood pumping through his body.
Drawing out his Qi as he neared the ground, he drew the sword,
"Kugh!" as the rope pulled taut, preventing Gyun from smashing into the ground, only a meter from the ground; all the air left his body, and he sliced the rope as he began to bounce up.
Landing on the ground roughly he rolled with the momentum jumping out of the way as the Rangers landed behind him. Scrambling up, he ran charging forward; artillery shots flew past and behind him, exploding the ground.
A voice screamed out on the battlefield, "Arrows!!!!" Gyun looked up, and a massive wave of arrows rose up in the sky from the fortress.
Reaching onto his back, gripping the leather strap to his shield, he pulled it off his hold; holding it up, he shouted to his squadron just as the arrows neared. "Charge through it!!"
He could feel the thuds in his shield as the arrows hit his shield, churning his legs as he charged through the barrage. A stray arrow pierced his shield, grazing his arm, but stopping an inch from his metal helmet, screams erupted from all around him.
-I must reach the wall, or I will die-
"Keep Going! Don't Stop!"
Gyun felt his hot breath bouncing back into his face from inside his helmet; his boots dug into the loose gravel as he used Qi to run forward with his shield protecting him.
Voices could be heard from all around; Gyun peered around his shield as he ran, and he noticed there were no Rangers in front of him. His head whipped back, and he saw that the 200 Rangers that they had started with were dropping like sandbags; at least 30 had been wounded or killed before even reaching the walls, and he was at the vanguard.
Nearing the wall, he saw in his peripheral vision that a ballista on the wall was turning to aim at him; just as the ballista fired, Gyun tilted his shield, redirecting the ballista bolt. His shield's hardwood crunched as it bounced from his shield.
Gyun gasped in pain, dropping to the ground. His shoulder felt numb, but he rolled desperately, scrambling again to run.
He was close enough to the walls to hear the foreign language of commands; recomposing himself, he grabbed his shield.
Stopping for a moment and hurling the shield as hard as he could, it sliced through the air making a piercing whistle through the air, cutting through the sounds of the battlefield.
Sticking out of the wall, the shield was lodged at head height for Gyun, channeling Qi throughout his legs; he jumped onto the shield, leaping up onto the walls.
Gyun came face-to-face with a guardsman; the man's eyes widened before he was decapitated.
A series of yells erupted from the walls as the Rangers reached the walls, jumping into a sea of Aegean soldiers; blood was splattered everywhere, and steel was slicing flesh and bone.
Recognizing a voice, Gyun heard it, "Aegean Knights!!" cocking his head, he could see through the number of bodies a distinct trio of knights in silver armor cutting down rangers and trying to reinforce the Aegean lines.
Gyun jostled and cut his way through the Aegeans, blood splattering onto his uniform, and stepping over the dead bodies of Rangers and Aegeans he stalked his prey.
Gyun yelled out, enforcing his voice with Qi, "Rangers! Kill everyone! Leave no man alive!"