ANNOUNCEMENT
Hey guys!!! We did it!!! We hit 100 Power Stones yesterday! As promised, here is your bonus Chapter! Enjoy!!
Chapter Start
1 Month, 3 Weeks, 5 Days Later
Ray slammed his fist against the man in front of him. The man crossed his arms before his chest and took the blow head on. Ray grinned and followed up with a straight to the face, then with a low hook to the ribs.The man blocked the straight but was hit by the hook. His ribs thundered.
"Damn it! How're you getting stronger so fast, Ray!" The man yelled as he gritted his teeth and retreated, using his soul brand to cover.
"Hahaha! Just train a lot, Felix! You'll eventually get it!" Ray yelled back, pursuing the man named Felix.
For the last almost two months, he had been at the Black Tortoise Barracks, training under Vaisravana personally. Her training was, in short, hell. Every morning started with a gruesome thirty laps in thirty minutes. He hadn't beaten that at all. Not once. And as punishment, Ravana would make him run another five laps as she pressured him with her oppressive Reiatsu.
Once the morning runs were over, he would have to exercise for yet another hour. Every day, he'd have to do ten sets of ten push-ups, ten sets of ten sit-ups, and ten sets of ten squats. If Ravana was feeling like it, she'd join in, multiplying the count by two. And he had to do these three times a day—once before breakfast, once before lunch, and once before dinner. And if he didn't finish within the time limit of one hour, then no food. Though unfair for Ray, it pushed him to his limits and helped his physicals improve.
After food was meditation time. Half an hour of sitting in the middle of the training ground and focusing within himself, trying to open up new reishi pathways within his body to strengthen it and improve his reishi control and manipulation.
After the morning meditation, he'd spar with the dummies set at an advanced level. After afternoon meditation, he'd be given free reign. So he'd stay back at the training grounds and practise making new moves for himself. After the evening meditation was sparring time. At first, he would spar with Ravana, but when she was unavailable, she had introduced him to one of her prodigies stationed at the barracks—Felix.
Ray's first impression of Felix was... loud. Much like a certain other guy he had known since childhood. But Felix was surprisingly competent. He managed to keep up with Ray even when Ray had an advantage. His Quincy race allowed him to passively strengthen his physique using reishi from the air. Coupling that with his usual training? His physical growth was a cheat. Not to mention that his reishi absorption had taken in a humongous amount of reishi, making it ten times more than what he had when he first arrived. An absurd but satisfying amount.
Yet, even with all these cheats, Felix managed to keep up with Ray's growth. Now that was real talent.
As Felix retreated, Ray rushed forward in pursuit. Felix's soul brand was a floating orb that could attack, defend, and be used as a means of transport. Not only that, but it could also change its shape.
"Shield!" Felix yelled as Ray attacked again, this time with a divergent fist. The orb expanded and turned into a shield floating protectively in front of Felix. Ray struck it hard.
The first strike sent the shield toward Felix, his defence backfiring. The second strike accelerated the shield's advance on its owner, slamming into his nose and making Felix stumble.
Ray capitalized and appeared in Felix's blind spot. But from the multiple times he had fought Ray, Felix predicted it and kicked Ray back. Ray saw it coming and switched tactics mid-move. Instead of attacking, he grabbed Felix's outstretched leg and swung his own at Felix's supporting leg.
Felix lost his balance and fell hard. Ray moved fluidly, pulling Felix's leg closer and executing a flawless leg lock. Felix grunted, trying to break out of it, but Ray held steady, pulling slightly at the leg.
"OW!!!!" Felix yelled as he felt his leg stretch more than it should.
"I GIVE! I GIVE!"
Ray released him, breathing heavily himself.
He had managed to recreate famous hand-to-hand techniques from Earth, such as boxing, grappling, jiu-jitsu, aikido, Muay Thai, karate, and many more. Of course, he only managed to recreate some moves from each style that he had seen online in his last life.
German suplex and shoulder throw from grappling. Weaving, straights, hooks, and defence from boxing. Hip lock and leg lock from jiu-jitsu. Brazilian kick, low kick, high kick, roundhouse kick, push kick, etc. from kickboxing and Muay Thai combined. Distance management, one-hand throw, hip throw, and single-leg takedown from judo. And more. His hand-to-hand combat arsenal had increased by a lot, partly thanks to Ravana, who helped him refine some of the moves to fit his fighting style.
Ray's Kojaku had finally levelled up thanks to all the experimenting he was doing with it and the Heilig Pfeil. It now had three forms. The first was the basic Kojaku. The second was the Ginrei Kojaku—the one he wanted. But the third was unexpected. It was Ryuken Ishida's one-handed bow. This was perfect for him, as he could now use Seele Schneider in one hand and the third form, the 'Einarmiger Bogen'—German for One-Handed Bow. They had perfect synergy, and his close combat was boosted again.
Ray steadied his breathing as he helped Felix up.
"Damn you, Ray. How do you come up with all these moves, man? Why don't you just rely on your swordsmanship? It's good enough to make Captain Ravana approve of it. I've never seen her give anyone above 84 out of 100 in anything. And you got a freaking 92 out of 100 evaluation for your swordsmanship. That's amazing!" Felix said, his usual enthusiasm leaking out of every pore he had to offer, his eyes turning into stars.
Ray sighed.
'Great. Another Asta acquired. Who's next? The Underworld's version of Yuno?'
Just then, the sound of soft yet commanding footsteps reached his ears. He sighed once again.
Ravana's voice reached him before she entered his vision.
"Relying on one type of way to fight is a double-edged blade. Although it means you have one thing to devote all your time to, it also means your opponents will know what you can do. So I approve of Ray's method. He has multiple ways to fight, and that means his opponents can't predict or prepare for him," Ravana said as she walked into the training ground, hands behind her back.
Felix nodded in understanding. Then Ray spoke.
"Ravana-sensei, I... need to go back. I've been here for a long time now. Something big is going to happen back home," Ray said.
Vaisravana nodded.
"About time, kid. Let's go. First meet Lord Minos, then I'll portal you away," she said, turning to Felix.
Felix understood and quickly moulded his orb into a surfboard. He got on it, with Ray climbing on right behind him. The smoke that was always curling from the edges of Ravana's mask thickened, enveloping her and lifting her up.
"Go," she said simply.
They all shot off toward the colosseum, flying over the city sprawled below them.While they flew, Ray took the time to check his status.
DING!
User Data –
Name: Ray
Age: 15 (+18)
Race: Human (Quincy)
Race Passives: Reishi Absorption (5.4 Reishi per day in World of Living; 21.6 Reishi per hour in Underworld), Reishi Strengthening (0.5 per day in Underworld (All stats); 0.0625 per day in World of Living.)
Magic (Reishi): 3088 + 29,034.4 = 32,122.4
STR – 26.5 + 28 + 5 (Affects User's Natural Strength)
DEX – 28.5 + 28 + 5 (Affects User's Natural Speed)
DEF – 23.5 + 28 + 5 (Affects User's Natural Toughness)
INT – 143 IQ (Gifted)
Innate talents: [Archery (Unsealed) Lv. 4], …, [Hand-to-Hand Combat (Unsealed) Lv. 8], [Dual Souls Lv. ???]
Grimoire – Quincy Cross
Spells –
[Seele Schneider; Modes: 1. Normal, 2. Dragon Slayer (New!), 3. Demon Slayer (New!); Moves: (Strum), (Stich (New!)), (Great Mayhem (New!)), (Overpowering Slash (New!)), (Blitz (New!))],[Hirenkyaku Lv.2 (Air Step {10})],[Heilig Bogen (New!); Modes: 1. Kojaku, 2. Ginrei Kojaku (New!), 3. Einarmiger Bogen (New!)],[Heilig Pfeil; (Focused Shot), (Explosion Shot), (Slowing Shot), (Volley), (Minenfeld (New!)), (Volt Pfeil (New!)), (Wave Shot (New!)), (Lock On (New!)), (Dodge Shot (New!))],[Battle Instinct, Stage 1],[Blut; (Vene (New!)), (Arteria (New!))]
Ray smiled to himself in satisfaction.
They reached the borders of the colosseum and landed. The security took one look at Ravana's mask and looked away, recognising the captain of the 4th Combat Company and the main guardians of the city.
Ravana led the way toward the centre of the massive structure. There he saw the three familiar judges sitting on the raised table and sorting souls. Aeacus looked up at their arrival and smiled upon seeing them.Minos noticed next and then descended, approaching.
"Well, well, well... look who it is," Minos said as he stood before them.
"Looks like my disciple forgot about me when he started training with a new teacher," he teased, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Apologies, Minos-sensei. I was fully focused on making myself stronger. Everything else slipped my mind... hehe..." Ray said, scratching his head nervously. He could feel Ravana's glare bore into his back, but he stayed facing Minos. Apparently, Vaisravana respected Minos a lot, and seeing Ray talk so casually with him... well, you know—she was angry.
"Well then, seeing as how you've skipped your precious training time to meet me, it seems like you've decided to leave, haven't you?" he mused.
"Yes, sensei. I'll be returning to the world of the living briefly. My friends and loved ones must be worried about me. It's been almost three months without me contacting them. They'll be worried," Ray said.
Minos smiled. "Alright then, boy. Safe travels. If you need help, speak my name. However, do not utter it casually. Names have power," he warned.
Ray nodded. "You need not worry, sensei. I'll be careful."
"Good. Get going then. I sense something interesting going on in your kingdom," he said.
Ray nodded and then turned left with Ravana and Felix.
'Something interesting, huh? He obviously means the dungeon arc. The Clover Kingdom and the Diamond Kingdom must have both already noticed it and are sending troops to occupy and clear it. That is, if the original timeline is going smoothly,' Ray thought.
They arrived at a secluded spot. Ravana stopped and turned to Ray.
"Alright, kid. You ready? Make sure you have everything you need," Ravana asked.
"Yes," Ray nodded.
"Great. Go break a leg," she said, her voice carrying a hint of a smirk behind her mask. She kicked him backwards as a crack appeared behind him. He fell straight in.
"Also, watch out for the Koku within the Nullrift. He's always grumpy this time of the year!" she yelled as the crack closed.
As Ray fell through the void, he sighed.
'What the heck is the Nullrift, bro... couldn't she at least tell me that much? Also, what is the Koku?' he thought as he suddenly landed.
Puzzled, he found himself floating in the void, similar to how Yhrael and he had first travelled to the Underworld. A familiar roar tore through the quiet. From beside him, the monstrously grotesque beast charged at him at full speed.
"Shit! So this is the Nullrift. And that's Koku, huh?" Ray said under his breath as he rushed away from the beast using Hirenkyaku.
Thanks to the lap training, his speed and stamina had become monstrous.
As he raced for his life, he heard a sickening crack.
He turned around to look and saw that a crack had manifested itself near the place he had just run from. The Koku was right on his tail, though. Ray used Hirenkyaku's air step and propelled himself upward, running toward the crack.
The Koku didn't bother turning. It raced toward him backwards, closing the distance dangerously. While Ray didn't know what exactly that thing was, he wasn't planning on finding out. Using his last air step, he lunged toward the crack and entered it safely, the Koku slamming itself against the crack as it slowly disappeared.
Ray breathed a sigh of relief as he felt weightlessness take him once again.
After falling through the void for a few more minutes, a crack appeared and he dived into it, falling straight toward the ground. Ray landed with a roll as the earthy smell of vegetation and soil hit him at once. With a smile to himself, he turned to look at the crack in the sky slowly closing.
Once it closed, he looked around himself.
"I'm back. Home sweet home," Ray said. Though he didn't really know where he was. All he knew was that he was within the Clover Kingdom... somewhere.
_*AUTHOR'S NOTES*_This chapter, I refrained myself from adding any sound effects. So here is a purely content-ahh 2K words chapter, just in case you wanted a... sample...😅
If you want me to keep adding sound effects, vote hereIf you want me remove them and instead add more story building, vote here.If you want sound effects only for combat scenes, vote here!
Thank you so much for reading! Have a great day!