Post by Saito Kito on Jul 15, 2014 12:58:45 GMT -5
Sure enough, as Kit cleaned up the inner library of the dojo, a few books were still around. While most had been stolen and pawned for money by local drug addicts, a few of the books, especially the ones in the locked cases, were still in perfect condition. Kit had no issue ripping the locks off in order to read the respected journals, and found that they were actually hand written accounts by the previous master Ju-Long. Ju-Long had been the master of the crane school prior to the master that had contacted Kit, and prior to Sekai’s time of training. Unfortunately this meant that like all those after him, he too was already deceased. His journal however served as a portal into his thoughts and mind. What Kit would learn from this would be monumentally important to his training, even if all he learned was the mindset of the old master.
The book was less like a diary, and more like a public record of his actions, studies, and findings. It noted the progress of many students whom Kit did not recognize, and even mentioned a fight that Kit seemed to recall as a story his father had once told. It occurred to him that this was his father’s visit to the dojo, and that was the connection they shared and the entire reason he had hunted the school down. Kit was sitting at the water damaged table atop a warped wooden chair. Though the scene was uncomfortable, the reading was too good to be passed up.
~This week Calib surprised us all with his mastery of the spirit gun. His talents as expected have proven even greater than any of us could have hoped for, and soon he will be a teacher here. Undoubtedly this will be the favored son of the crane. Perhaps he shall even return us to the days of Shinhan.
Shinhan, one of the legendary protectors. Although the stories from millenniums earlier had been warped and changed, but the name Shinhan stood out as one of the protectors of Earth, and it was believed he had been trained at the crane school. It of course had been thousands of years ago, and like any historical representation, it was limited to the author of the history books. Few knew the truth of those days of legends. Kit continued reading.
~Seventeen new students. Our goal had been twenty so this is a disappointment. Our numbers on recruitment day once hit fifty or even sixty. I fear if membership does not improve, we may have to find an alternative route to pay the bills. After our third consecutive loss to Masamune at the World Martial Arts Tournament, we have only the membership fees to pay our bills. It has been suggested that we allow the northern quadrant to be sold off to Central. They intend to expand the city and turn this into another suburban nightmare.
Kit couldn’t help but let out a sigh of frustration. The dojo he was in was no larger than one or two houses. Which meant that the entire neighborhood at one point had been a sanctuary for the Dojo, one where fighters lived, trained, learned, and grew. The history he was learning from the journal was not only disappointing, but explanatory as well. He now understood why the dojo had begun its descent, and unfortunately his father had been to blame. Historically winners of the tournament would spend their earnings both on their own luxuries, and their own schools. It occurred to Kit that the compound he had come from was the result of several consecutive wins on his father’s behalf. Those wins, and his selfish hoarding of his earnings, would leave the other schools unable to continue full operation. Kit continued to the next page, and found something remarkable.
~Calib has successfully done it. Much like the old Dodompa of lore, the spirit gun can be charged and improved, and Calib proved this. Prior to his execution the shots had all been of the same basic power level, yet now it appears that the gun can be charged and released in the form of a shotgun, scattering the attack over a larger area.
The book detailed this occurrence, it was the spirit shotgun. By focusing his energy into the palm of his hand, and then dispersing that energy into each finger, he could fire five simultaneous spirit gun blasts at a single opponent. The attacks were scattered, so unlikely to all hit their target, but at a close enough range the blast would be nearly impossible to fully avoid. He read on, becoming enthralled in the idea that he could actually accomplish this. His heart sank as he read the most important detail. Calib had been an incredible twenty-five to thirty thousand power level when he completed this task. When Kit had spoken with Sekai it appeared as though he was only at about sixteen thousand. He couldn’t imagine having leapt forward so exponentially since that fight. He would soon find out that his assumption was wrong.
No matter what he wanted to try it. He had no reason not to. If he failed it only meant he wasn’t ready for such a difficult challenge. But if he was successful it meant a new attack to add to his arsenal. He wanted to impress the Master atop the lookout when he did finally journey too him as Master Shen had recommended. He had to prove that he was capable of learning and honing the mighty Dodompa, and what better way to do that then to prove he had further mastered the Dodompa’s distant son, the spirit gun. Closing the journal and putting it back in the case it had come from, he made his way out to the training yard. He wasn’t sure exactly where Ethan had been, but the solitude would serve him well for training. First thing was first, he had to enter his focus state.
That was easier said than done. While he now knew how to activate it, he wasn’t entirely capable of it yet. He certainly wasn’t strong enough to hone the shotgun without the focus state, and even with it there was a chance it wouldn’t work. On top of all that how could he possibly focus with the heavy leering weights attached to his arms and legs? He must have weighed a ton on his own, and it wasn’t easy to stand up straight with such a pressure pulling down on him. He stood in the yard for over an hour, breathing deeply, and trying to find his energy source as he had on that fateful day only a week ago. His injuries had only barely healed, and his forehead was still sporting a white bandage. His bruises had mostly healed, and his ripped chest looked better than ever. He wondered however if he had exhausted himself too much with that final spirit gun into the air. That had after all been his fourth in a single day, which was definitely pushing it. It did tell him however that he could successfully use four in a day if he had a short break in between the uses. If that was true, maybe he had worked his way up to five. Or maybe the opposite had happened and he had strained his Ki muscles. Kit wasn’t exactly sure how all that worked, so he continued to focus on finding the power source. He was about to give up, nearly an hour and a half spent standing in the center of the field hot field. Turning around to face the dojo the man walked forward, hitting the tip of his foot on a fallen tree branch.
“That…branch”
It had been the branch Sekai had blown off while teaching Kit. What would he say now if he were here to see this failure? Kai wouldn’t have accepted it. He would have pushed Kit to try again, and again until he did it. Kai may not have known it, but he had been an excellent teacher, and Kit really wished he was there to provide guidance. In some ways he actually was. Kit looked at that branch for a full minute before looking back at tree it had come from. He could do it, he had to. Just the thought of failing Kai brought a wind around the man’s ankles, one that wrapped around his legs and up his torso. The wind was an invisible wall of Ki making its way around him in an aura. Kit could finally feel the energy. Now he just needed to push himself a little further. How could he enter a state of ultimate focus without the endangerment of his loved ones? Was it even possible? It was, but Kit hadn’t any clue how to do it.
His body was torn between wanting to settle the energy and return to normal, and wanting to allow Kit’s prodding to be successful. It was as if a little lever was being taunted in his body, the Ki brushing up against it, but not pushing hard enough to actually turn it. Kit grunted, closing his eyes to focus further. This would be the first time he had successfully entered the focus state through his own force of will power, and so far it was still possible. The aura was slowly flickering around him, going from a clear invisible translucent to a lightly colored teal. Finally his frustration and physical strain was too much. He let out a growl, and then a yell. Kit had no way of knowing that this was the usual way that someone transformed. The yelling tensed the inner muscles, releasing the tension in the body and allowing the Ki to flow more freely. The yelling too was indicative of the state of mind he was in, and supported the focus state greatly. There was after all an explanation for all the yelling (I like to believe so at least…)
Finally his body was at its peak, and the clear had made its way into a visible teal that clashed with the sunlight, flowing up and around him like a small tornado that Kit was the center of. His hair stuck out as though he had spiked it with cosmetics, including his beard which made for a much larger appearance than it actually was. His eyes too had changed. His normally deep blue eyes had been replaced with the yellow of his hair, making the iris an almost golden hue. His muscles had almost doubled in size, making them almost comically too big for his body, and ripped the open tunic off of his shoulders as he grew. He had been in his focus state before, but never had such intense power come from it. Kit had left the basic level of human intensity, and had ascended to a much higher level. He didn’t know numerically how strong he was, but he was reminded of Sekai’s transformation. His hair had spiked, his muscles grew, and his aura evoked a similar windy response. Was it possible that he was as strong as Sekai had been a week before? Had his encounter with Nyu actually improved the man so vastly that he now surpassed his own tutor? No, he wasn’t equal to Sekai’s strength, he was stronger. As a matter of fact his energy reminded him of Nyu’s own thirty thousand. He was almost as strong as the enemy that they had encountered.
He then remembered Sekai’s words. Because Kit was limited physically due to his weights, the appearance of power was actually half of what it would have been thanks to the physical strain. That meant that although he possessed the Ki of someone at Nyu’s level, he couldn’t handle a fight at that intensity. It was more likely that he was around ten to fifteen thousand in fighting capability. The energy still felt great pulsing through his veins, and even cause Kit to laugh out loud a bit, enjoying the high of combat.
“Unbelievable, I’m unstoppable!”
Of course there was no one around to challenge that declaration, so he couldn’t actually know that he was unbeatable. But he surely felt that way. He had doubled his strength, and it occurred to him that he was very possibly above the level Calib had been when he successfully launched the shotgun. Looking down at his open palm, he knew he had to try. From the state of focus it took little effort to gather the first bullet on his index finger. The next four however would be tough. His middle finger took on an orb right after the first, followed by his ring finger. The smallest finger had trouble sustaining the energy, and it was at that moment that Kit recognized his energy draining. It was remarkable that such small marble like orbs were capable of draining his seemingly endless power supply. By the time he had four orbs all that was left was his thumb. Static seemed to form as Kit’s head began to hurt. He was pushing himself, and he knew it. Failure wasn’t and option, and right before his eyes the final orb formed. With the five spheres gently floating over his fingertips, he knew he had not only competed the technique, but assured himself that he had at least a power level of twenty five thousand.
Looking over at the door he had hit the last time, and only removed the rust. Kit thrust his palm forward, releasing the five beams in the shape of his hand. Each one struck a different spot on the large Iron Gate, and within a few seconds exploded, sending dirt and dust into the air. Kit’s breathing had intensified, and before the smoke could clear he was on his way to the ground. His expanded muscles immediately shrinking back to their normal size. It was unwise to use all of his energy at one time, but Kit had to find his limits, and that he had. The gate was gone, leaving an empty doorway with bricks from the top of the gate scattering the ground where it used to be. The metal had shrapnelled into the street as if a grenade had been funneled through the doorway.
Kit’s chest rose and fell quickly as he tried to catch his breath. He couldn’t help but start laughing which strained his breathing even further. What would he accomplish next? Maybe there was still hope for him to learn and train after all.