"Try the Gong Bu we practiced, using the sword!"

Kai turned a still face to Yung Mai, then frowned. He turned his gaze back to the sword pulsing in a silver light in his arm, then exhaled.

The cold air, which should have faded, pressed against his skin sharply, as if it had turned into a sword of its own.

'Let's try,' a smile tore on Kai's lips as he thought and shifted the sword forward.

Gravel crunched beneath his bare foot as he slid into the Gong Bu stance, bending his front knee and locking his back leg like it had grown roots.

Dust lifted in a low wave, letting leaves scrape across the stone and rattle like dry bones, as if the land itself had accepted the stance.

Saliva snaked down Kai's throat the moment he felt the ground through his heels. The silver light pulsing from the sword brightened, forming into heat as he sliced it forward.

A deep thrum traveled from the hilt into his palm, then up his arm, in a steady rhythm like a second heartbeat.

Without thinking, Kai tightened his grip, letting the blade of the sword hum as it cut through the air before he could even move the sword itself.

Hrrnnng

The air split as he thrust, sending in a low swipe that sounded like the air itself was trapped inside the sword's blade.

Leaves burst apart mid-flight and spun on his face in fragments. Dust exploded forward, stinging his eyes.

At that instant, Kai's breath followed the blade, inhaling and exhaling in sharp and short pulses. His waist twisted instinctively, pouring everything in him into a single line.

For a moment, the world narrowed as Kai's front foot felt heavy, his back leg burning, and his spine turning straight.

The pulse of pain surged stronger than he had ever endured the moment the sword vibrated in a hard tone, causing his fingers to go numb.

Under the moon's rays, a faint ringing flew across his ear as a rush of wind moved across his face.

When he drew the blade back and stared at Yung Mai, the ground, the gravel, and the leaves all exhaled with him.

The leaves drifted down slowly, tapping against the stones as if bowing to a god.

Though his chest rose and fell as heat spread through his legs, his arms trembled not from weakness but from holding something that wanted to move faster than he did.

For ten minutes, Kai stood in the Gong Bu stance, gasps exiting from his mouth. Not because he was tired, but because he knew if he moved a step, the sword would drag him twice his steps.

…

'This kid can surpass Jack, or maybe Jim, if he undergoes the right training.' A smile tore on Yung Mai's lips as he narrowed his eyes at Kai.

He shook his head, closed his eyes, and exhaled sharply.

Cracking his eyes open, Yung Mai picked up a tiny piece of wood from the front of the building he stood beside and closed in with the boy.

"Kai," a loud voice echoed, shaking the leaves sideways.

"Fight me with the same movement you just showed."

Before Kai could hear the last word, he saw Yung Mai move forward at great speed.

Kai's eyes widened as he saw Yung Mai holding onto a tiny twenty-inch stick in his left arm, while his right arm remained hidden at his back.

The ground snapped in a sharp tone that echoed like cracking a stone with two small stones.

Before Kai's breath could settle, Yung Mai was already in front of him. There was no warning or wind-up.

The impact caused the leaves that were closer to his feet to press flat and drag sideways by something that seemed heavier than the speed of the wind.

Kai shifted his weight deeper in the Gong Bu stance, biting his heels into the gravel and the roots of the leaves.

The sword moved, almost as if by its own will, surging Kai forward, letting the silver light flare.

With a single slice of the sword, the air screamed the moment Kai breathed.

Though Kai thrust the sword in the perfect stance, he saw the same grin he had been seeing whenever he faulted.

The wooden stick held in Yung Mai's left arm tapped Kai's blade, parrying all the fifteen strikes he threw within one minute.

Knn. Knn. Knn.

As the sixteenth strike was paraded, Kai's wrist screamed as the force from the stick pushed his arm to slide off-line.

Sweat traced down Kai's forehead, tilted down his cheeks, and thudded on the dirty white cloth, which became loose after his strike got blocked.

There, a tiny movement erupted from his chest as the part of his skin that had darkened raised itself upward, almost as if something hidden in him was pleading to be released.

Cold air tore into Kai's lungs as he paused and bent down, gasping heavily.

"Tired!"

For a second of rest, Kai forced himself as he saw Yung Mai surging toward him like a shooting star.

Kai ground his foot down, causing dust to burst up as he reclaimed the Gong Bu stance, but in a weak manner.

Thrusting the sword forward in a defensive stance, it pulsed harder, changing from a bright silver color to a darker color, almost as if the sword itself was angry and could feel emotion.

Then he thrust again, pouring everything left in him into the line like he tried earlier and failed.

This time, Yung Mai moved first, turning his waist before moving his arms.

Strong air gushed out as the stick circled like drifting smoke, drawing Kai's blade to the boy's left side.

A whoom sound echoed as the wind collapsed at where Kai's strike should have landed, causing more leaves and dust to spiral upward.

Though Kai's sword missed, his foot stamped in a precise stance, almost as if the ground was holding him by the waist.

A shock wave ran through the stone and into Kai's bones, causing his stance to crack and falter. Pebbles and leaves leapt skyward the moment Kai's bat slammed the ground hard.

The back of Kai's leg burned so deeply it felt as if his bones had been cracked and were being ejected from his body.

Though he rose before Yung Mai could counter, his eyes widened when he saw the stick thrumming and stopping at his throat.

In an instant, Kai's chest heaved as he froze, but the sword remained in his grip as if glued.

Sweat slid down his spine the moment he felt the tip of the stick touching the center of his throat.

At that instant, the sword that wasn't shaking began to shake as if it was confused about what to do.

In Yung Mai's eyes, Kai saw a tiny flicker of blue and red light, his dual eye color trembling and glowing.

Hhhew

Yung Mai exhaled and moved the stick backward, releasing the boy's skin.

Then he saw the dot of reddened skin at the center of the boy's throat. Laughter surged in him so hard that he moved his right arm from his back and wrapped it around his stomach.

A loud growl erupted as Kai swallowed. As he reset his foot, the gravel scraped as if resisting.

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