My face was iron as I headed back up the stairs, only to head down a different set. Vincent followed me, his face looking… conflicted.

  “Mutai I…”

  I looked at him, wondering what he wanted to say.

  “I am sorry. I-”

  “Vincent. My brother in arms. I don’t care. Not right now. We have far bigger things to worry about.”

  He looked confused for a moment.

  “Surely, fighting Master will be tough but-”

  “Vincent, I didn’t choose to go into the sewers. He sent me there, with no training, at a Power Level of [3]. I nearly died over a dozen times. I spent half a year there and once even saw and nearly died to a creature over Power Level [100]. It wasn’t even trying to attack me. Master never helped or even showed up once during that time. And you know what he said when I saw him again? ‘So, you survived.’ So, I’m kind of busy here, thinking about how I’m going to survive in an hour against him.”

  Vincent grew very quiet at that, which I was thankful for. Survival was one of the core things Master had taught me and I was going to need every ounce of that going up against him. I’d never seen him fight but I strongly doubted I’d be leaving without most of my body broken. He had a healing tank for a reason.

  Getting into the tank, I tried to relax. I needed to think and plan. Every moment that slipped by was a moment I could be thinking about how to survive. What struck me first was damage mitigation. I’d seen it a little bit when I’d struck Vincent the second time. He’d leaned backwards, away from the strike. It felt like I’d barely hit him compared to the first blow. That was what was going to be most important. If Master wanted to kill me, he could, but if he just wanted to beat me to near death, then I had to resist the damage with all my might. If I could just lean backwards and away a bit… I’d have better opportunities.

  What else? I didn’t have a style of fighting, not one that would work on anything but rats and I didn’t think Master would really let me bite him… But I’d seen others hadn’t I? Ragual, with his toad kicks and maneuverability. Those damn turtles that had nearly killed me with their ninja movements. And Vincent, with his fierce flurry of striking blows. They each honed in on something worthwhile. I just had to think about them and figure out how I could copy some of them, even if just a little bit. I had to learn as much as I could from as much as I could or this might be my last hour on this planet.

  What if I… I could try this or… but what about…

  *****

  Vincent floated in the tank, eyes determined. The previous fight had been exhilarating but… he’d nearly lost all control. He wasn’t simply trying to win. Despite it being a duel… he’d been trying to kill Mutai.

  The worst part was that he struggled to feel bad about it.

  He didn’t want to kill Mutai. But his brother was an obstacle, blocking him from his revenge, always outdoing him. Even without being taught any martial arts, he was so monstrous in talent. To think real life combat could do so much…

  He’d won the last spar and finally proven himself superior in the eyes of his Martial Arts Master but if he hadn’t regained control of his emotions… and even then. He didn’t forget, the moment he’d thought he’d won, only to take another punch to the face. Mutai didn’t fight like him, with the steady rhythm of punches breaking down any and all obstacles till they shattered before you. He fought like the winds and the waters. He moved smoothly, deflecting, dodging, and quick steps, until he lashed out like an iron destroying blow. His whole body seemed to be in sync too. He’d kicked so hard that his arm still hurt and despite it not being on purpose, it seemed like he’d been waiting for him to counter it.

  The memory of the fight, of the anger taking over, of the bloodlust and wanting to rip that stupid guy apart it-! He took a deep breath. He had to stay in control. It didn’t help that every dodge and deflection against him had felt so damn irritating! It was like he learned instantly how to fight him. It was, disorientating.

  It made him want to head down to the sewers himself. Some real life and death combat was what he truly needed. They were each lacking in the ways the other had, just like the Master had said. If he could gain that life or death experience before Mutai could learn martial arts properly…

  It was a race but now the goal was different and Vincent found himself losing. How strange… despite winning, he felt more pressured than ever. He had to learn the Master’s teachings as fast as possible and then…

  He needed real combat.

  *****

  Beat Beat Beat Beat

  Vincent looked over in shock. Mutai looked unlike anything he’d ever seen. He could hear his heartbeat. The look on his face was deadly. Usually, he seemed like a nice but annoying little brother in personality, despite pushing so hard that he was like a testament to willpower. Now he looked even more serious than when the two of them fought not even an hour ago.

  He followed after him, heading to the Arena.

  The moment they entered, he observed quickly. Master had changed from his typical clothes into a Gi very similar to theirs. It was black and grey with a red sash. He looked just as uncaring about the world as normal but his eyes locked onto the both of them the moment they appeared.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Ready?” He asked.

  Vincent’s brows furrowed.

  “Master, which of us will spar with you?” He asked.

  He raised an eyebrow at that.

  “Both of course. Oh, and try your best or you’ll die.”

  Mutai raised his arms, getting into a stance. He stretched his legs backward and both his palms were open, facing forward.

  Vincent prepared himself, getting into the Ironman’s first stance. His Clan were metalworkers and warriors. They’d long since learned how to combine these styles into one. As the last one of the clan, he would not disgrace their memory. He had learned the basics and he would use them to defeat Vega. Learning from a master and directly fusing the two styles… it would be the only way to both honor them and reach the heights he so dreamed of. He must learn from this battle.

  He grimaced. This would be a rough spar. He had no idea how to fight with Mutai-

  “Start.” Master said.

  Bang.

  Vincent stood in shock at the sound of an explosion going off. Slowly, he turned his head to the right. The more he saw, the more he realized, the more the shock wore off, the faster his breath came. His eyes shook and his breathing grew more and more erratic.

  The master stood where Mutai stood, a single palm outward.

  And beyond him…

  Cough

  Mutai… had been embedded into the stone wall. He was leaking blood where broken bones had torn out of his shoulders and it poured out of his mouth. His back or spine being in one piece would be a miracle but even more horrifying was the palm print on his chest. It had hit so hard that it had destroyed his Gi and Vincent could see a bloody chest on the other side.

  Cough

  Another mouthful of blood was coughed up.

  “Huh.” Master said. “Good idea reducing the impact.”

  Reducing the impact?!

  Vincent felt like he was losing his mind.

  “M-Master! How, what, how?!”

  “Hmm?”

  “You… you nearly killed him! How are we supposed to learn like this?”

  It felt insane that he was the voice of reason but this was too much! This was no longer training, this was a massacre. Had he used too much strength on accident? No, no it was clearly on purpose. How were they supposed to learn anything if they were killed in two blows?!

  “Idiot. You need to learn it with your body of course. The Demon Style isn’t something you learn in a classroom, it’s something I put together through hundreds of thousands of fights. It’s a bloody, deadly, lethal style of Martial Arts. Made to kill. There is no teaching it in stances or forms, no carefully controlled footwork or precise movements done in well formed steps. You have to learn all of those through combat itself.”

  A martial arts… that had to be learned with the body?

  Vincent could see it. If you get attacked, fight, and beaten with something long enough, you’ll begin to learn no matter what it is or what it was. There’d probably be time between to start attempting to copy it. It wasn’t a terrible way to learn and for a martial arts that was particularly bloodthirsty, maybe even necessary. The same way you couldn’t learn martial arts just from reading a book, some styles had to be taught differently to be learned.

  But…

  “But this is still too strong isn’t it?!”

  “Well, it’s meant to be Lethal. No point in the training if there’s no risk of death.”

  Vincent felt like he was losing his mind. He’d taken Mutai’s words at face value but hadn’t thought deeply enough on them. Their Master… was an insane monster! His form of teaching was akin to a death sentence!

  “I… figured…” A small voice and the sound of rubble were heard.

  Immediately, Vincent turned back towards Mutai, amazed he was even talking. And in doing so, he realized something he’d missed the first time around.

  His eyes.

  They weren’t shaking, they weren’t shocked or surprised, they weren’t broken.

  They were glaring.

  “I.. figured… this would happen.”

  So saying, he gripped the wall and pulled himself out of it, never once breaking eye contact with the Master.

  “Yes yes, you have the advantage of being a senior. Now, let’s continue already.”

  *****

  I could feel my bones shredding my skin. My heart rate pumping blood that sprayed through me and out through my mouth. My spine felt, wrong. I was thankful I could even stand. Everything hurt and I couldn’t even assess what was broken or damaged properly. My chest hurt the worst though. That blow… I’d barely seen it. No, had I even seen it? I’d reacted on instinct and it’d saved my life.

  And yet I’d still nearly died from one blow.

  Fucking… Master…

  My thoughts had been right about how to fight, at least a little, but they’d been too slow. I had to be faster. I had to be faster, right now.

  I stared at Master and-

  He disappeared again. Yet my instincts said nothing! Panic flared before-

  Bang.

  The sound of an explosion. Briefly, I saw Vincent’s broken form crushed into stone, before I was moving quickly. A hit slammed into my shoulder and immediately, I could feel every bone in it shatter. The agony was almost blinding, almost making me miss the follow up. A quick leap back ended with the same shoulder slamming into the wall.

  “Mm, ring is a bit small.”

  I resisted the urge to scream in agony as the old man practically teleported at me again. An open hand came for my chest again and my mind sparked in panic. Too strong. Too strong! Death felt like it was nipping at my heels. Too fast, too close, too-

  I thrust a palm to meet it and darkness was the final thing I saw.

  *****

  The Master frowned. Looking at the two broken, beaten, unconscious forms. He had only one thought in his head.

  His disciples sucked.

  Patreon (20 Advanced Chapters)

  Discord (Get notified via ping when a new chapter comes out!)