Chapter 15: The Steps Of Kinetic Force

BOOM!

SLASH!

Zax punched and Zechariah cut.

Linor could only surpass the two for a few seconds before she was overwhelmed and pushed back in a defensive posture, leaving two trails of broken stone on the stage.

Zax and Zechariah both frowned. There was not a sign of the tiniest wound on Linor.

'My last attack was the Peak of the second step. And that Zechariah's scythe attack was even stronger, at least comparable to the third step of my Kinetic Force!' Zax pondered solemnly.

In the past four years, as he got closer to the Advanced phase of the bodily maneuvers, Zax was taught by his Master and Grandmaster Kartion, a system of steps to calculate the output of Kinetic Force he can handle, to measure the precise growth in his strength as he converged more kinetic energy to Kinetic Force and to allocate it to different levels, or in Zax's naming sense, steps.

The first step was Zax's base physical strength, without the supplement of kinetic energy or Kinetic Force.

The second step was the first actual use of kinetic energy, and the Kinetic Force he generated in this step increased the power of his attacks by a hundred percent.

The scythe attack Zechariah released right now had a similar strength to the power of Zax's third step, which is a double increase of the second step, two hundred percent of his base physical strength.

Zax, of course, could utilize Kinetic Force to generate twenty percent, ninety percent, one hundred and seventy percent and so on increase of his base physical strength. He was already doing it after he discovered that the second step is insufficient against Zechariah and Linor.

However, battle wise, if treating Kinetic Force as a Martial technique, then by dividing it to predetermined increments between each step, it would be much more efficient as instantaneous means to gauge, counter, surprise and swiftly defeat any opponent.

That being said, mastering the steps of Kinetic Force was not an easy task for Zax. For each step he had to repeat and retain the same increments of Kinetic Force after convergence for thousands of times until he memorized them in body and soul and became able to execute the steps instinctively.

According to Kartius, the third step of Zax's Kinetic Force was capable of severely hurting an Intermediate phase third level Core Master. And Linor just blocked this level of strength from Zechariah, in addition to blocking Zax's punch, without a scratch!

'This woman cannot possibly be so strong. She redirected the force of our attacks after the impact to her feet!' Zax and Zechariah shared the same thought. They were able to distinguish the diminutive shivers in Linor's legs.

WHOOSH!

Zechariah evaded Zax's punch and retreated forty meters back. With his right hand he held his scythe behind his back. His left hand sprang forward, surrounded by dazzling fiery red aura; he began to sketch with it in the air a pattern of scrambled shapes.

Linor channeled her mist energy to her arm, her veins started to protrude like winding black snakes. The maces she held issued a "TING" and their heads disconnected and fell, swinging by a thirty five centimeters long metallic chain from the shaft.

"Zax, Linor, I never imagined that I would meet in the Martial competition participants that could threaten me other than Neyrar. But I'm glad, your techniques differ from mine and are very unique, so fighting you is both interesting and exciting". Zechariah's left hand finished the flaming diagram, his eyes shined and his lips stretched to a genuine smile. "From now on, I won't hold anything back!"

BANG!

Zechariah thrust the pointy tip of his scythe in the diagram. The scythe seemed struggling to penetrate the diagram, but slowly it passed through, emitting fluctuation of mist energy that propelled to every direction in fiery lights.

"Most of my techniques are meticulous and meant for assassination. The next one, however, is my only brute technique, meant for utter destruction. At its peak, I cannot stop the killing intent it is bearing. Therefore, be careful". Linor spared the two her complimentary words and solely warned.

SHOOSH!

She swung her maces, revolving their heads in the air.

BOOM!

Linor clapped her hands, the two shaft of the maces stuck to each other, their heads spun without obstructing one another. Booming sounds continued to be heard as a spiral dark black cloud formed above Linor.

Zax clenched his fists. His light brown eyes glittered with black darkness. "You two, be prepared. My force is nothing but explosive". He also gave out a warning.

'Fourth step!'

Skipping the third step and generating a four hundred percent increase of his base strength. That was Zax's utmost limit and although he could go one or two percent higher, if he will do, the burden on his body will take a tremendous leap!

In a blink of an eye, the air around Zax began to swirl, bustling with kinetic energy. In Zax's body, torrents of Kinetic Force occupied every fiber of his being. It was stable, not yet about to explode, not easily agitated like in the past, but in the moment of a strike, a kick, a punch ... mountains will split apart and the earth will shatter.

Zechariah's scythe completely passed through, swallowed and embedded the diagram to its curved blade, which increased its size by five times and issued sparks and small fiery red embers.

The dark black cloud above Linor descended, absorbed into her body. Her scarred, white skin darkened in shade and discharged hair thin black electric currents.

Anyone of the three could sense the other two's devastating power. They each tacitly agreed since the begging not to expound too much on words. The previous sentences they shared were merely to express their mindfulness recognition of each other.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

An outburst of three participants, acknowledged as three of the four strongest contenders in the Martial competition, has escalated into a battle of giants!

...

The eleven elders circling the fighting stage and protecting the crowd of spectators became frantic.

At the beginning, four of them were enough to block the ricocheting mist energies. After the three participants unleashed their full strength, all of the elven elders were required to act in order to maintain the spherical formation around the fighting stage and protect the crowd, and even together they felt immense pressure. If the three were to directly hit the protective formation they erected around the fighting stage, the elven elders were not certain that they would be able to resist the consolidated force.

"Monsters! They are MONSTERS!"

"Block! Release all of your mist energy at once!"

"DON'T HOLD BACK!"

"The stage ... It's not holding!"

BOOM!

Under the inexorable attacks of Zechariah, Zax and Linor, the first fighting stage finally could not endure and exploded.

Huge debris, imbued with either Zechariah's or Linor's prodigious mist energy, were blown, slamming the eleven elders' formation.

The spectators watched from their seats with their mind and body tensed. They saw the pieces of the shattered fighting stage flying toward them, and the weaker, young and inexperienced jumped from their seats with the intention to run. Only when their seniors and the leaders of their groups shouted at them, did they calm down and realize that the elders' formation blocked the debris.

By now, Zax's previous opponents, the two he incapacitated, Elita and Woren, already awakened and along with the badly hurt Hamer and the still fine Silvia, watched the fight with cold sweat running down their backs.