Chapter 6 - Improvement (2)

Next, it was Sylvester's turn to fight, this time against Senna.

Silvester used again the great physical advantage he had over the other boys, having become a Qi master. Senna tried to beat him by running very fast, taking advantage of the fact that Silvester was slower than the others, and reaching his back. He tried to hit him in the nape, but Silvester surprised him by rearing backwards and hitting Senna with his broad back. Senna went hurtling several metres out of the arena.

Then it was Luka and Karol's turn, with Luka coming out on top. He used his superior speed to quickly attack Karol, and overwhelmed him with his blows before he could even defend himself.

Maikal was quite happy to see the boys' progress, as well as their fighting instincts. After all, he had not yet taught them any special battle techniques.

Next came the turn of Malina and Andrew. This was perhaps the most bizarre fight, because when Andrew approached to attack the girl, she froze and started to cry.

- Boo-hoo, boo-hoo, sniff -

"Hey, this... Malina, calm down, I wasn't going to hit you hard, I was just going to get you out of the arena." Andrew said not knowing what to do.

He tried to get closer to calm her down, but no sooner did he get close, when Malina suddenly stopped crying and jumped up covering Andrew's head with her thighs. Then bending to place her hands on the floor, she thrust with her hips to throw Andrew into the air outside the ring.

Maikal couldn't help but facepalm when he saw what happened, while the rest of the children laughed heartily. 'This girl is so little, and already so insidious. She has all the tools of a femme fatale. And Andrew, I'd better give him a double dose of drills next week, so he learns to never let his guard down.'

When Andrew saw the surreptitious look Maikal was giving him, he couldn't help but shudder, thinking that something bad would happen in the future.

Finally came the turn of Nerun against Misha. The fight looked even when it started. Misha approached Nerun cautiously to avoid the same mistake as Adam. He tried to grab and punch Nerun, taking advantage of his greater height and strength, but Nerun proved to be more elusive than he thought.

"Stand still Nerun, why are you just running, don't you dare fight me you little chicken?"

When Nerun heard Misha's provocation, he stopped running and just stared at him with an angry look on his face as he started running towards his opponent gesturing that he was going to jump, just like when he fought Adam. Misha was glad, thinking to himself that Nerun was still a small boy and easy to goad and that the same attack he had seen previously would not work on him. But no sooner had he approached to fight him than Nerun suddenly vanished from his gaze.

Misha was dumbfounded for a split second after he suddenly stopped seeing Nerun. It was like magic to him, his brain couldn't understand just how had Nerun disappeared from his sight.

- BAM -

In the next instant, he felt a terrible pain in his gut and flew several metres backwards, falling down in agony outside the arena.

What happened was that as Nerun dashed towards Misha, in the small moment he blinked, he dropped to the ground without warning, and as he fell he held himself with his hands as he turned his body quickly and nimbly to give a strong kick to Misha who was unable to follow Nerun's movements.

All the other children were amazed at Nerun's agility and ingenuity.

Now there were only 4 children left in the contest. Sylvester was about to fight Luka, but Luka knew he was going to lose. So he only put up a semblance of resistance so that Maikal would not scold him, before giving up.

Maikal also put Luka on his list for a double dose of exercise, though, as he wasn't very impressed with Luka's performance. On the other hand, he was getting more and more excited with Nerun's, because he understood the nuances of how the little boy was winning his fights. The ability to use his opponents' apparent weaknesses, like blinking and the shift to the gravity centre, required a quick and able mind, as well as great dynamic vision. Given Nerun's age, it was nothing but astonishing that he could perform those feats. He couldn't help but reminisce about that other young boy he had raised himself, that rowdy lad that he loved as if he was his very own son.

As for Nerun and Malina's fight... Well, no one knew quite what to think. Malina this time was staring at Nerun while waiting for Nerun's attack since she knew that the trick she used to defeat Andrew wouldn't work easily again. Nerun approached Malina at high speed with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his clothes. But when he was still a metre away from the girl, he suddenly pulled out his hands and released a couple of things that fell into Malina's hair. They were a pair of ugly, fat, disgusting cockroaches. When Malina felt the insects in her hair, she turned pale. Then she began to scream and cry as she ran senselessly around the courtyard.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, get them off me, help me, help me!".

Nerun and the rest of the children were laughing, but Maya became quite angry with the lad.

"NERUN! How can you do that to your sister?

Nerun was a little startled to see Maya angry, and couldn't help but lower his head. Malina kept running until she reached Maya, who helped her get rid of the insects.

That's how Nerun won his third bout. This round was perhaps the most peculiar of them all, and Maikal couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought that they were still all a bunch of whippersnappers.

Finally, it was time for the last fight. Nerun versus Sylvester.

It seemed from all accounts to be a rather uneven fight, given that Silvester was twice Nerun's age and height, and had already reached level 10 Qi power. However, all the children knew that although Nerun was the youngest of the children competing, he was one of the few who could keep up with Sylvester and that his skills were incredible for his young age.

"Hehehehehehehehe. Nerun, you have nowhere to run this time. Unless you want to give up, of course. In this arena, you will understand how much my strength has grown." Sylvester declared, feeling proud.

"We'll see who's the one who gives up, fatso. It seems that when you became a Qi Master, not only did your fatness increase, but the grease got into your head as well. You keep talking gibberish, I wonder if you even have a brain anymore?"

Sylvester turned red with anger when he heard Nerun. It was definitely hard to beat the brat at word games, and he always ended up being the one getting the short stick. So without waiting any longer, he pounced on Nerun, wanting to end it all in one attack.

Silvester gathered all his Qi in his right arm and fist. A faint mist of white colour could be seen surrounding Silvester's limb, the mark that a person had entered the gates of a Qi Master. He then struck hard where Nerun stood, the latter quickly jumping backwards to dodge the blow.

- BOOOOM!! -

Silvester ended up hitting the ground, which made a tremendous noise and a crack half a metre in diameter and thirty centimetres deep appeared in the ground. Nerun was blown away by the wind unleashed by the attack and moved his arms quickly like a chicken to try to keep his balance. He almost fell out of the ring.

'I have to admit the fatso is pretty strong. Fighting against Qi masters is definitely quite difficult when you are not one as well. Not only has his physical strength increased, but he's also much faster and more agile than before. Also, it's quite commendable that the fatty opened the meridians in his right arm. That has allowed him to double his normal power'.

Maikal thought to himself.

Nerun, meanwhile, gulped as he considered what he could do next to win the fight.

Sylvester was feeling blissful as he looked at the damage he had done to the courtyard floor. He hadn't told anyone that he had been doing the damnedest things to open the meridians in his arm for some time. He finally managed to open one. This was his secret weapon and he was thrilled with the results.

During the first steps on the path of Qi, people try to connect with the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth. Once they have made that connection, they then do everything they can to absorb it into their bodies. The amounts that are absorbed are usually quite small, especially in the absence of a legitimate Martial Model. Moreover, of all the little energy that is absorbed, more than 99.9% is expelled and with difficulty and effort only 0.1% remains permanent.

This is also one of the reasons why advancing to Qi Master is so difficult. Because it takes such a long time to accumulate Qi, since at first the body has no place to store it. It usually accumulates a little in the muscles and bones, but in scarce quantities.

Even with the best Martial Models, the absorption rate is usually not more than 3-5%, and that was already considered to be incredible in the Great clans.

For this very reason, for the children of Maikal to have the levels of Qi they boasted of was nothing short of prodigious. What they did not know was that the morning exercises they did every day allowed their bodies to work out fully, exhausting themselves to the max. The work they did later in the village to earn money, much lighter than the morning exercises, allowed their bodies to recover slowly without fully lifting the level of strain. This cycle inadvertently caused their bodies to absorb more and more of the Natural Energy of Heaven and Earth in the afternoons as their bodies slowly recovered, and in the evenings when they rested, the Natural Energy was more easily absorbed into their recovering muscles.

It was normal for people to do physical exercise, but most either did too little, not pushing their bodies to their limits, or they did too much, creating injuries, tears, sprains, etc., which made it difficult for them to continue exercising, and many would not have thought to do active recovery as Maikal forced them to do. This balance was even more important as the children were still developing and a bad injury could cripple them.

This form of training was one of Maikal's secrets. Martial Models often consist of meditation techniques and ways of stimulating the central meridians, which allow users to sense, absorb and store natural energy. While all Qi Warriors also exercise their bodies and practice martial arts to supplement their training, Maikal is one of the few warriors who learned how to supplement Qi training through continuous physical activities. The absorption rate through this method is 2.5%. This might not sound like much, but without a Martial Model, this percentage is indeed very high, and it also kills two birds with one stone by allowing children to develop their muscle mass as well as training them to use their Qi in a personalised way.

Qi slowly accumulates in the human body in the form of a mist. When the accumulation reaches the limit of what the individual can bear, it is then that the first great core meridian must be opened. It is precisely the opening of this first meridian that marks the conversion of an ordinary person into a Qi Master. In the meridian, the amount of accumulated Qi can circulate around the body, strengthening it little by little, and the meridian allows even more Qi to accumulate much more effectively (from 0.1 to 1-2% naturally). The next step will therefore be to open more and more meridians to accumulate more Qi.

There are 9 major central meridians and 47 auxiliary meridians. The 9 central meridians circulate in the axis of the body - in the torso and in the abdomen and pelvis. While the auxiliary meridians are located in the 4 extremities as well as in the head and neck.

Sylvester had managed to open not only one of the central meridians but also one of the auxiliary meridians in his right arm. This single meridian brought the destructive power that Nerun saw on the courtyard floor.

'Looks like I'm going to have to use my secret weapon'. Nerun thought to himself.