Karni's biggest bottleneck in Disordered Drumstick Resonance was the current one. The 45th hit.
The biggest problem with it, was that he didn't actually see how to progress. Each of his bottlenecks so far had at least given him some hints on what he had to do. Whether it be the staff suddenly magnetising, the Sound turning discordant, the sound exploding without control, or the sound somehow just dissipating.
Here nothing happened. The Sound stayed strong, but it just did not want to continue building up, and on the next one, it simply stopped working as if it were the end of the technique. Karni knew it wasn't the end, but he was missing something crucial to continue it. Technically, the 45th hit already existed. It was just a copy of the 44th, and Karni could still use it as a normal last attack, but that was not exactly useful.
Karni was left with nothing to lead him in the right direction, so he started experimenting in odd ways—from weird movements to irregular effects that had nothing to do with the technique until now and so on.
Since nothing worked, he decided to focus on the next best thing. Making the transition from Disordered Drumstick Resonance into Resonant Drumstick Spiral as smooth as possible, and maybe even start a bit of the fusion process in between. He was well aware that this was skipping a step, but he hoped that partial fusion might give him some hints on how to further his abilities.
… … …
Karni walked up to the arena, looking at his opponent. The Wind King. Lin San. A man who Dai Yueyan, Su Mu and even Long Yue respected. A man who had come this far based on his comprehension on speed.
Karni breathed in deep, like he always did when faced with a challenge. Today Sound would challenge Wind.
The match started, and Karni's ears thanked the heavens for what he heard from his opponent.
A Sonic Boom. A wonderful explosion of sound when someone breaks the sound barrier. Music to Karni's ears.
But as sonic booms go, Karni heard it after he flawlessly intercepted Lin San. He could not help but grumble even as the sound of the Sonic Boom reached him, because the man already forced him to use Purple Demon Eyes together with Golden Insight.
Lin San did not wait for Karni to do something. No, he was the epitome of Agility Types. He immediately slashed at Karni's neck without hesitation. A Wind Blade in one hand, a Wind Blade in another.
Except Karni intercepted it. His ears rang aloud, listening to the future, ready to act.
He considered himself lucky that he saw Xie Xie's improvement in Speed at the end, otherwise, Lin San would already be difficult to fight with. While Xie Xie did not break the Sound barrier yet, he was incredibly close. The battle gave Karni some experience with how to follow this speed level.
He could not afford to hold anything back. His Soul Bone showed immediately, and his Sound was not only inside his Bo Staff but was constantly travelling in close proximity to act as a sort of sixth sense.
This exhausted a lot of his Spiritual Power, but it was necessary if Karni wanted to put up a fight against such speed. Besides, his reactions to Sound were faster than-
Karni Shifted, eyes fully open, but not surprised, as he shot a Spiritual Ray just after dodging an attack. Yet the Wind King was not hit. He was constantly on the move. Wind Blades kept on attacking Karni.
Many, many Wind Blades. What were held weapons became flying weapons filled with Tang Sect techniques. Or was the man just that fast that they looked like they were flying. Karni wanted to cruse but found no time to. His Detailed Level of Purple Demon Eyes combined with Golden Insight and his Sound had trouble keeping up with the Wind King.
Yet Karni saw the simple way forward. In a matter of seconds, the 27th Hit Rang true, completely releasing the Sound, and for a tenth of a second even stopping Lin San in his tracks.
Karni was not fast enough to make good on that slight pause, even with his precognition. He could only focus on the already incoming next attack. He did not worry. He just proved to himself one thing. Time was on his side.
The Wind King did not play games. As soon as he saw Karni getting stronger, he sped up, his Second Soul Ring shining.
Karni couldn't help but curse, despite not having the time for it. That was his base speed? What the fuck!
Thankfully, every attack Karni parried with his Drumsticks, delayed Lin San more and more.
Lin San focused his eyes. Whatever that Sound Karni released was, he had definitely been underestimating it.
He did not understand Sound deeply, but he was more familiar with it than most people due to his affinity with Wind. Lin San felt danger as he felt the Sound shift, just like twice before. The Sound turned quitter, but also deeper. Frightening. Lin San intercepted a single hit and was immediately forced to stop.
He pushed his Soul Power to the limit and dodged, but the comfort in that move was gone.
Lin San made a quick decision. No more touching those Drumsticks.
Yet that was easier said than done. Lin San attacked from the side, and the Drumstick was there to meet him. Instead of making a detour, he bent to dodge and continued on, yet the Drumstick was just behind, following him, almost touching him.
Lin San ducked and tricked it, only for another Drumstick to appear where he wanted to go.
In terms of movement options, Karni would not lose that easily. It was easier to follow along knowing Lin San wanted to avoid the Drumsticks.
Lin San saw that he was quickly losing control of the battle, but he managed to stay patient. He utilised Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track along with his speed, only to notice that Karni was doing something similar every time he moved.
No, it was worse than that. Karni utilised the techniques while he was teleporting around like a maniac.
But Karni also noticed a problem. He actually could not touch Lin San unless Lin San wanted direct confrontation. Sure, endurance wise, Lin San was being more wasteful at the moment, but Lin San had also yet to reveal his cards.
Karni noticed Lin San's eye twitch. He was about to change something.
And something did change. Karni Shifted in to attack, yet just as he got out of the Shift, his 42nd Hit ongoing, Lin San's third Soul Ring shone.
Karni used this chance to use skill of his own. His Second Soul Ring. Whatever Lin San had planned, Karni would get some leeway in dealing with it. His second Soul Skill was arguably the hardest to figure out, because all people knew was that Karni's opponents started acting strangely. Only the opponents knew the extent of the skill.
And it worked. Except Lin San's attack worked as well. Karni was enveloped in a humongous Wind Tornado that was more of a cage than an attack. He closed his eyes, focusing on Lin San and the vision Karni bestowed… he needed to stall.
He opened his eyes in a second, then looked around. He gave himself at most 5 seconds before he would be utterly fucked.
He allowed himself a single second to brainstorm. Shifting wouldn't work. He could not feel Space outside the tornado. He could force his way out, take a lot of damage. His Sound could quite literally ride the wind.
Another second. Time to try it out.
His Sonic Rhythm beat to the rhythm of the Heart.
Third Second. He threw a Drumstick. By the end he threw the other.
Fourth second. The two drumsticks circled and bounced off of each other. The hits grew further.
43rd.
44th.
Fifth Second.
Karni saw a golden hand of wind daggers enhanced by the Tornado slash at him.
He Shifted to the very top, grabbing one of the Drumsticks, pulling in the other one in and just as the two would hit for the 45th hit he spun.
The Resonant Spiral Force went into full effect, spinning together with the tornado. Enforcing the tornado.
And he finally felt it. That missing link, whatever it was. The tornado ran wild, the force of pull and push making it rage, the senses inside seemed to affect the very gravity itself. And at the bottom of it all, Lin San was losing control of it, getting battered, due to his own ability becoming too strong too strong to control thanks to Karni.
Karni watched as the tornado dissipated, Lin San spinning with it to mitigate as much damage as possible.
A chanc-
Karni was stopped by the sight of something new. The Drumstick was spinning on its own. Karni watched in awe as he slowly started falling from the sky.
One of the Drumsticks was spinning around the other at the right angle. Perfectly balanced. Not slowing. Not speeding. It was there in perfect equilibrium. And the Sound was powerful. Mighty.
When Karni almost fell on the ground, his instincts finally kicked back in. He Shifted immediately, far up in the sky, then cursed.
"Fuck!" He just wasted a perfect opportunity for a win. He was too enamoured in this amazing feeling… which was gone! "FUCK!" The Shift required spinning, and the Shift disrupted this wondrous state he discovered.
Even more than that, he just Shifted so high in panic, he used up a whole third of his Spiritual Power. And the battle until now also used a third, which meant he only had a third of his Spiritual Power available.
Right. He just had to build that feeling back up… and then… and then… shit.
Lin San's Soul Rings all shone beautifully in tandem. Five. Five Purple Soul Rings, the latter two being slightly darker.
What Karni saw was a storm of terrific proportions.
"Thanks for giving me a chance to do this, but I will not hold back due to that. This skill is called Wind Dragon Blades. It was meant to be for Long Yue, yet I can see I won't have a chance against you without this."
Karni's breathing turned sharp due to the wind. He spun his Drumsticks, before seeing the storm become larger and thicker at the same time. A storm of Wind Daggers. Thousands of tiny Wind Daggers.
Karni took in the terrifying sight and knew. He would not survive that. So he summoned the one thing that could help. His Battle Armour.
Five pieces enveloped him. His right arm, left armguard, his chest and most importantly, his head.
The world seemed to slow, and the power in his arms increased. The first of the daggers came.
Lin San spoke as if he had won already. So what if the ability was meant for Long Yue? Karni wouldn't allow him to get there. He'd make this guy's mouth shut up for looking down on him like that. Even if Karni was unable to win, he'd make Lin San sweat for it.
Karni's eyes sharpened when he realised his thoughts—a sudden anger directed at himself for thinking something so weak. He'd make him sweat? Fuck that. He would make him eat those words and choke on them!
Karni threw the Drumstick flying. He needed to find that feeling again.
The Drumstick hit one of the daggers and then bounced off of four other Wind Blades before finally returning back to Karni.
Thousands of Wing Blades was flying at him. No matter what he did, he would not be able to stop that. However, with his Silver Crown Piece and his Hidden Weapon Hundred Separation techniques, this was also a playground. A playground for his Drumstick.
The two abilities were perfect counters for each other. The Thousand Wind Blades were unstoppable, but so was Karni's Disordered Drumstick Resonance.
It was perfect to regain that feeling. He could imagine it so clearly, despite only just discovering it. And he would have it again. All he had to do was last long enough.
The drumsticks in the hands dropped, his hands clasped. The drumsticks in almost freefall, hit each other, rebounding. Karni kicked one of the Drumsticks flying, before going full in on the Drunken Ghost Dance.
The daggers swooshed past, cutting flesh, colliding with drumsticks, bouncing around, returning, flying out again. But Karni danced. He did not Shift. He was saving the Spiritual Energy, only using the abilities of the Tang Sect and Disordered Drumstick Resonance to continue the fight.
The Drumsticks jumped all around, but every 5 hits or so, and always on the 9th. They returned… and Karni kicked again. And again. And again. The scratches grew with building up power. Scratches turned to deep cuts.
The dance was heavy and low. Especially on Karni's arms. One could say he was dancing on all fours, depending on how he was moving.
The 36th hit was closing in, and Karni had his hands on the floor, yet the Drumsticks came higher. He pushed himself up with force, and grabbing the Drumsticks with his hands. One of them normally, but the other in the opposite way. Backhanded.
Then he threw them again and restarted the Drunken Ghost Dance.
The dance was wild, but the daggers grew in number. And there was this one not-so-small problem being gathered at the very top of the tornado. A single glowing dagger, the shape of a dragon, slowly getting larger.
The Drumsticks returned, and Karni, for some reason, held them in opposite ways again. One normal and the other backhanded.
He just hit the 40th hit. Instead of sending the Drumsticks out again, he deflected and started spinning. Greatsword style spinning… that felt oddly natural in this reverse grip Drumstick style.
Karni could feel a spiral starting to form on the main Drumstick. All the while the other one hit with Disordered Drumstick Resonance. Fusion of the two techniques. Before his very eyes. A fusion at the very end of the technique. Was it all reversed?
"I can't allow you to do that." Karni heard Lin San from all around him. For a brief moment he saw the Armour. A full suit of Battle Armour.
Karni huffed, only getting more firm on beating the shit out of this guy. He saw the path forward. Just four hits.
He saw a flash of wind from the left, and deflected, yet still got hit. 42nd. His left hip gained a big gash.
A torrent of windy blades blew from the side. Karni threw the Drumstick bouncing off of only one, yet that Wind Blade bounced into another, then Karni spun and smoothly squeezed between them. Two of them cut at his neck. Shallow wounds. 43rd hit.
A light of thunder clapped from above, Lin San crashed, though that terrifying dagger stayed up. Karni got knocked back, but not without getting that 44th hit in. His chest are didn't look quite right.
The Drumstick returned and the two Drumsticks almost crashed apart, but Karni held firm. 45th hit.
There it was. That beautiful, wonderful feeling. A perfect fusion. A balance. Equilibrium. Yet, Karni Shifted. Freefall began.
The feeling remained. The movement stayed. This time, he would not forget to continue.
Lin San raised his hand up then pointed at Karni. His body fused with the great attack above. Karni spun while falling. A Spiral force joined together with a force of Disorder.
Just before hitting the ground with full force, Karni Shifted again. Yet the Shift looked odd. Instead of falling, he suddenly started flying upwards. No, with all that momentum, he started falling upwards.
At the peak of Karni's speed, the giant draconic dagger fell, and Karni's Drumstick flew at it. All the force left him. The wonderful feeling gone, all the power stacked inside the single Drumstick.
He heard a clang. Which then turned into a grand explosion of Sound and Wind.
Karni couldn't see what happened. His eyes sharpened. His Spiritual Power almost gone. Damn it. He Shifted again into the fray of the collision. The feeling was gone, but he still had some power left. Lin San had to be stunned. He had to be open for an attack.
He looked forward, wary, yet could not see his target. Until the dust cleared and the daggers fell. The storm lifted. Inside laid Lin San. Unconscious.
Wait. What?
Karni walked closer. He saw Lin San almost frothing at the mouth, and quickly tapped the man's head. It immediately stopped, but he was still unconscious.
Karni was shocked when he tapped it. The amount of Sound he retrieved was basically back at the 36th hit worth.
The referee announced as he approached the scene. "Val Karni is the winner."
Karni quickly pressed his Drumsticks on Lin San. No more power of Sound remained, but he kept on shaking. Karni calmed the vibrations trapped inside. Lin San woke up soon after.
Lin San looked at Karni, his face then twisted in frustration. He could barely speak. "Fuck." Was all he said, then moved his hand, and offered a handshake. "I will not lose next time."
Karni took the hand and helped him on his feet. Su Mu came forward to help Lin San off the field.
But Karni had a question before they left. "Wait. Can I ask you something?"
The man turned to look, clearly annoyed. "What?"
"Why do you put it into a shape of a dragon?"
Lin San fell silent. "Because Dragons are the strongest creatures."
"Not for you. Yours is just poor imitation. It would have been faster in a pure dagger like shape. Dragons don't have anything inherently connected with dragons." Karni said in an awfully blunt force.
Karni could feel the stare from Lin San, but he didn't care. That tornado of Wind Blades danced with Sound. Air was the universal transmitter of Sound. Karni knew surprisingly well how it worked. He knew that was inefficient.
Lin San. That guy, for some reason, bowed to Karni and nodded to Su Mu who was looking harshly at Karni without saying anything.
Odd.
Karni decided not to care. He quickly returned to the resting area and looked at his Martial Soul, gripping it tightly. This new feeling was so special, so… foreign. Like nothing he had felt before.
What was that odd stability? Karni felt it even before he reached the 45th hit. The movement, the actual joining of the two. Disordered Drumstick Resonance and Resonant Spiral Force. Disordered Spiral Resonance. And then that end state, where the equilibrium simply… was. That was something different. More than just the fusion.
He wanted to get that feeling sooner than the last hit. He wanted to understand it all.
He knew three things. First, the new—and purely accidental—way to grip the Drumsticks turned out to be better. It complemented with the Drunken Ghost Movement more than normal grip, and it felt similar to principles of the Greatsword. Second, the fusion—Disordered Spiral Resonance—fused backwards. It fused easily at later hits. That was the first thing to work on. That was why he could not pass the 45th hit. It turned out both techniques were needed to get to it. Third, that very 45th hit was weird. Something new. Something different. A complete unknown. A wonder.
He knew what to work for. He had found a path forward.