Chapter 239: Middle Path

Rather than get angry at Feng's statement, Mira asked "You feel you could have done better?"

Feng said "I know I can do better". Mira said "Go ahead then!" Feng said "Most people have their skills overtaken by the abilities of the race they evolved to. So I plan to put those people on the right path before the competition. But you are not like that, you are the opposite; your skills have overtaken your race's abilities so you don't see the point using them".

Mira said "Well how is growing a claw or a tentacle going to help me to scratch you?" Feng said "I apologize for what I said earlier. The fact that your skills overwhelm your racial traits means the person who taught you must use a similar fighting style, which is not terrible. But there is a middle way, a balance that can bring your power to its peak and beyond. Your race abilities must match your skills only then can you be the best that you can be. The best of both worlds".

Mira said "I get what you're saying but as I said before my race abilities only have physical implications. I'm not like you who got spirit organs and soul glyphs and what not. And besides my skill is quite simple, it blows stuff up, there's only so much that can be done with it".

Feng nodded and said "I feel your pain even if it may seem unlikely. I know my race gives me many advantages but I understand the curse of having a simple energy form".

Feng pointed his palm toward the lava below and the lava splattered as a force pushed air into it. Feng said "My skill just allows me to create force. Something everybody with a strength stat above grade 4 can accomplish. But even when I was a Primordial Human, before the soul glyphs, before the spirit organs, I was still powerful. What have you done with your race's abilities? What do you plan on doing with them? What do you see them as?"

Mira said "I basically took different traits that I wanted and mutated with them. I've copied a few races and I plan to learn a bit of biology to be able to properly use the traits and I'm planning on learning how to edit genes before I copy them.

"When I picked this race, it was because I felt it was the best option out of all the other options. I didn't really feel like it was the best race I could get. I didn't even understand most of the abilities; I was mostly drawn in by the stats. So it doesn't really have a special meaning to me".

Feng asked "Who told you to learn biology?" Mira answered "The person that taught me how to resist space, time and reality manipulation and another friend of mine".

Feng said "I'm assuming the person that championed the idea made the ring that allows you to teleport, right?" Mira nodded and wondered 'Where is he going with this?'

Feng smiled and said "I like you race and in some ways, I wish I had it or a race with a similar ability. Your attitude is nice too so I'll tell you what has messed with your style. You are taking advice from an accomplished Magician, not a Martial Artist; that is why you have plans that don't fit a Martial Artist.

Learning biology is the correct answer but not for people like us. From my Martial Artist expert perspective, you still don't understand what your race abilities allow you to do. You understand the scientific implications of the ability but you don't understand the martial implications. Gene copying allows you to take the genes of other creatures. Do you know what those genes contain?"

Mira shook her head and Feng said "Instincts. A lion doesn't learn how to roar or hunt and a butterfly doesn't need flight lessons, this knowledge is buried in their genes. The animal type Shaolin Kungfu basically tries to copy these types of movements ingrained in animal genetics by observing and replicating. Why did they do this? That's because human instincts suck. Or used to at least, mine are awesome.

"You can take the source material of these instincts and add them to your own to make your own new specific type of combat style. That is the essence of Gene Copying, Mutating and Morphing in a martial light. Growing a tentacle or a wing is just a parlor trick".

Mira smiled and said "I don't fully get what you're saying but I get it on some level. I still don't understand what all those instincts will give me though". Feng said "Watch, I told you that I only have the ability to create force".

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as he took a stance for a punch. He opened his eyes and punched toward the lava below. A tremendous amount of force travelled toward the lava, threatening to make it splash and even crack the ground beneath.

Mira could sense more than force in the punch, she felt Feng put a part of his heart in the punch. It was a punch that had more than force, it had a meaning. The force didn't splash the lava, instead it seemed to seep into it and cease to exist.

Time passed and nothing happened, Feng said "Wait for it…". And a few moments later the lava compressed and formed a little lizard that looked like a dragon without wings and horns.

Feng said "That is what I call Living Strike. It is a martial art that I could not achieve simply by training because I didn't have the right instincts for it. Only by taking the Essence of Spawn could I achieve this. The Essence of Spawn gives me the instincts required to make spawns like a Rank 7 King. It is a very rare and expensive drug but the results are undeniable. Even with the drug I could only get about 78% of the instinct to make spawns, the rest went out as waste.

"Your race abilities allow you to take 100% of these instincts with no waste. This is what makes your race so special. You don't need any drugs for it; you just need a part of the creature".

Mira said "Damn, I was sitting on a gold mine all this time". Feng said "Copying 100% or any percent is only the beginning. You need to be able to take what you've copied and apply it in a way that fits you, that fits your martial path, your skill. Only then can you truly own the instincts you copy.

"It would be a shame to copy the instincts of a creature you killed only to use it the exact same way the creature used it. As I said before, you have to take the middle path. You must combine them with your skills and grow them together, only then can you reach the peak, Nirvana".