Chapter 20

“Ha, I finally got it!” Zephyr said as his hearty laugh rang about. Right then, his aura changed. “Earth-shatterer!”

“Impossible!”

The man’s look changed swiftly, unable to comprehend how this pest-like fledgling could emit such powerful energies. The force was as if a hill had struck thee, and shook the earth. All the man could see was a frightening fist come his way, and brought with it the power of the Earth itself. “This is where it ends!” Zephyr’s tone was calm, yet it was cold and decisive in his actions. The power behind his punch was unimaginable — like the powers of the ancient, capable of cracking the Earth. The manifested snakes were shredded into pieces, like paper, nothing could stop its journey. The man could do nothing but stare at the unrivalled power headed his way.

A loud booming noise echoed throughout the Forest, vibrating the air. “Im… Impossible…” The man struggled, his eyes wide with tiny streaks of blood that leaked out. His gaze could not leave Zephyr, he could not comprehend the power which exploded from the young man. His lips moved, yet no words were uttered. At his chest, a bloody hole bled profusely. He knew, no matter how much he struggled, he could not stop the blood from flowing. All he could do was stare meekly before he slowly collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.

“Not bad, not bad at all!” exclaimed Zephyr, who nodded approvingly. He felt his body has changed in fortitude since then. Every fibre of muscle in his body felt powered, a power which was further imposed upon with limitless reserves. This reserve must be Focus!

Focus was a mystical element. In the martial arts world, there were many skills and techniques under each fighter’s employ, and Focus was an element that better allowed the user to exponentially enhance their fighting capabilities. Focus itself could be further categorized into different styles: blade, polearm, staff, halberd, fist, palm, etc.

The Focus that Zephyr noticed was Focus of the fist! Earth-shatterer had granted Zephyr it’s inherent Focus, a clumsy yet barbaric trait, it allowed its users to further enhance the power of their blows. “Earth-shatterer’s Focus is amazing, all I did was summon an ounce of it and yet my power had risen manifold!” Zephyr was ecstatic,and hoped to see more Earth-shattering action.

…

The Feather Forest was a dark and empty place, often smelled of blood and rot, a terrible place to be in. A rustling sound forced its way through the Forest, a silhouette akin to faded lightning barreled through the trees, true energy encompassed the figure, and decimated the trees before him. “You little runt, show yourself!” the man called out, voice full of anger. He had nothing but bloodlust within him and thought nothing good. He was the other hunter that was pursuing Zephyr.

He was not going to make the same mistakes his partner did, he longer underestimated his opponent's power, in fact, a look of worry painted his face. In just half a day, he had witnessed the power unleashed by this Strength of level six fighter. The thought of his hidden abilities sent a shiver down the hunter’s spine. “How on earth did this runt manage such powers? How did he acquire the strength to perform such feats?” The man could not stop thinking about it, his mind grew more and more wary.

In the martial arts world, most people accept that although one may differ in a single level of skill with another, their powers are greatly different. However, the hunter now wondered how accurate this concept was. A Strength of level six just bested a Strength of level eight without much difficulty. Not only were they two levels apart, following the status quo, the other hunter should have easily wiped Zephyr. But that was not what had happened.

‘Sh*t! I must report back to master Kerr. Facing his wrath may be more desirable than whatever I’m hunting!’ he thought to himself as he quickly turned his heels. No sooner had he turned, a streak of energy suddenly appeared, coming his way. Faced with greater odds, the man could not help but felt his fear rise within him. He turned to face his attacker, only to see Zephyr coming at him with fists raised, Zephyr’s intentions were clear. “F*ck!” The man spat through gritted teeth, and hastily dodged the fist, he knew better than to take the hit head on. “Die, c*nt!” The man launched his counterattack, he covered himself in the visage of a viper, and rushed towards Zephyr.

Zephyr huffed, he did not falter, in fact, he armed himself as he rushed to meet his aggressor. “Earth-shatterer!” He sent a powerful strike towards his attacker; nothing could have blocked the force coming its way. Met with such an immovable force, the hunter found himself dumbfounded as to what to do next, incidentally, he slowed down. Both fighters exchanged blows, each step a well thought out move, it left nothing to chance; lest their opponent press the advantage.

Before Zephyr sent a full-forced attack towards his opponent, he screamed a war cry.