Ch 28 – Locus

"That would be 5 gold coins, L-Lord Gu Master," the mortal woman said in fear as she held out the black iron mask towards the cloaked figure.

Slowly taking out five gold coins from inside his cloak, Kaleido calmly gave the woman 5 gold coins and grabbed the black iron mask.

Seeing his figure leave the store, the woman heaves out a sigh of relief from his encounter with a Gu Master, a Rank 2 Gu Master!

Walking into an alley, Kaleido stared at the black iron mask in his hands and slowly put it on.

With his high spatial perception, he can directly see his own body like it was a game character and observed his disguised face.

The black iron mask he just bought covered his entire face, even his eyes were covered. But for Kaleido, covering his eyes wasn't a problem because he has reached Rank 2 Middle Stage already!

With the enhancement brought by his extreme physique that grows with his cultivation level, his spatial perception is now even better than his eyes without the aid of Gu, so in theory, if he were to become blind, it wouldn't be a problem at all!

Next, he took off his black cloak and activated Formless Bubble Gu, spreading out a formless bubble to cover his entire body.

Seeing the black shadowy gas-like formless bubble enshroud his whole body, he nods his head and puts on his black cloak once again.

In the next instance, he disappeared with a flash of black light and appeared inside his hotel room in the next.

Walking up to his desk, he grabs a poster and smirked behind his plain black iron mask, muttering with a warped voice through the distortion brought by the shroud of formless bubble below his black cloak, "Let the tournament begin."

…

Near the middle of Lo Clan City, mortals and Gu Masters can be seen forming a huge crowd and numerous lines.

One by one, they entered the huge colosseum-like building capable of accommodating thousands of people.

"From the rumors, there were many sightings of famous Rank 3 demonic and lone experts around Lo Clan City recently!"

"Really?"

"Well, while it may not be real, it's most likely real. This is Lo Clan we are talking about, a super clan! Even lone cultivators would want to become its external elder if given the chance!"

"Yeah, us Rank 2 cannon fodder don't even have the chance to win in that tournament if we do participate."

"Well, you don't need to win to become an external elder or member."

"What do you mean?"

"This tournament is more of like an audition to become part of Lo Clan. If they find you valuable by showing off your strength and abilities, then they might even choose you to become an external elder (if you are of appropriate cultivation rank)."

"Ooohhh."

As many people talked with each other in excitement, the seats slowly got filled up, and the people stared at the numerous rings situated in the middle of the colosseum-like infrastructure.

All around the colosseum, the feeling of hot-bloodedness and excitement burned like fire as everyone, whether they be mortal or Gu Master, man or woman, young or old, can not wait to watch the tournament held by Lo Clan from time to time.

"Lo Clan really is a dragon amongst men."

"Yeah, not only are they gaining external elders without doing much, but their revenue is gonna be insane!"

"Cultivators all around the area are gonna enter the city, and join this tournament, while thousands of people are paying to watch this exciting tournament!"

"Sigh, if only I was also a member of Lo Clan."

"Then why don't you participate!"

"Shut up, do you want me to die?!"

Indistinguishable murmurs entered each other's ears as everyone waited for the contestants to be called out one by one into their respective rings.

"Heh, it seems like it would be an easy first win for me, Fie Ree!" A man muttered as he stared at the ring in the far distance and smirked.

His body was muscular and big, his skin was dark bronze as if he was exposed to the sun for a long time. His hair was long and fiery orange, and his eyes were blazing red. He wore a fiery red martial robe, and with a flick of his hand, the paper he held in his hand lit ablaze and turned into drifting ash.

"L-Look! Is that the Rank 3 Expert—Fiery Fist, Fie Ree?!"

"No way!"

"Who is he, Dad?"

"He… He is a Rank 3 Gu Master, dear. He is as strong as the elders of Lo Clan!"

"No, he's not just as strong, some even consider him to be stronger than the average Lo Clan Elder!"

"Yeah, many rumors say that if he were to punch you at full force even without the aid of Gu, he can kill you in one strike!"

"And his flames are even fiercer. With his close-combat prowess and fierce flames, you'll be burnt to a crisp if you can't escape his mad flurry of attacks!"

"Don't even think that you can handle him from afar, as his flames can burn you even from a distance!"

"With his killer move, he has been titled Fiery Fist! An expert among experts!"

As many chatted about the person who slowly walked up to the stage, Fiery Fist smirked confidently, and thought, 'Good, good! I, Fie Ree, am finally getting the recognition I deserve. Once I win and advance to the next stage, I'll just continue winning with my blazing strength and become the external elder of Lo Clan!'

'After that, I'll finally leave the poor demonic path and bathe in the luxury of the righteous path!'

'Pui, goodbye to eating in the wild, I'm going to become this tournament's winner!'

As he slowly walked up to the stage and heard the cheer of the people get louder, he saw his opponent appear from a distance.

"Huh? Who is his opponent?"

"Yeah, who is he?"

From afar, Fie Ree so a man wearing a black cloak that shrouded his entire body. He calmly and slowly walked towards the stage, leaving the people to wonder who he is.

'Heh, a nameless nobody!' Fie Ree sneered and waited for the man to arrive on the stage.

As he watched the man go up the stairs and stop a few meters away from him, he couldn't help but freeze upon sensing the cloaked man's aura.

'This… This!' Fie Ree stopped, his eyes widening and his mouth opened wide.

"You're Rank 2?! Hahaha! You really have some guts joining this tournament!" Fie Ree laughed, his voice boomed throughout the entire area as the spectators couldn't help but cry out in disbelief.

"Ahaha! This guy is really unlucky! A Rank 2 going against a Rank 3, he might as well surrender already!"

"Sigh, I thought the first fight would be better, but to think Fie Ree already has the win without even starting the fight."

Unperturbed by the mockery of the crowd, the cloaked figure said, "Are you ready?"

"Am I ready?" Fie Ree paused, grinned, and his two fists lit ablaze, "I'm the one who should be asking you that!"

Seeing his response, the cloaked figure unhurriedly lifted out a hand clad in shadowy black wisps, and space seemed to gather around his outstretched hand to quickly form a long black blade.

'How confident, then let me burn that calmness of yours!' Fie Ree mocked, and then rushed forward with explosive steps.

Fire gathered around his legs as he rushed at rapid speeds surpassing even that of cars.

In a second, he arrived right in front of the cloaked man, waved his two arms, and produced two whips of flames to lash forward at the cloaked figure.

But as he did so, he saw the cloaked figure suddenly disappear, and a feeling of danger erupted behind him.

By pure instinct, he activated his defensive Gu and fire solidified behind him, forming a barrier of flames that caused the black blade that was about to slash at him to burn and be destroyed.

"Offense is the best defense, is that the way of fire path?" The cloaked figure said with a deep voice, and disappeared once again, only to then reappear tens of steps away from Fie Ree.

Feeling the cold sweat behind his back, Fie Ree turned around and stared at the cloaked figure with newfound fear and understanding, 'I was wrong, he's not Rank 2! He's most likely disguised himself and hid his true aura!'

In the cruel world of Gu, those who have reached Rank 3 would most likely be wise and experienced, especially for a demonic path expert like Fie Ree who has encountered danger numerous times throughout his entire life.

His underestimation of the enemy from back then was just a momentary lack of judgement, and now that he realized how strong the enemy really was, he became sober and fully focused.

"Don't think you can win just by surprise attacking me!" Fie Ree instantly changed his attitude as his two fiery fists burned brighter.

Ignoring Fie Ree's taunt, the cloaked figure manifested another blade of space and pointed it at Fie Ree.

Without saying another word, the cloaked figure waved his blade, and a beam of space shot forward.

With its fast speed, Fie Ree hurriedly created another wall of flames to block the sword beam manifested from space.

In the next moment, flames burst from the soles of his feet, and he launched to the side to avoid the black blade that thrust forward from behind him.

Twisting his body, a fiery whip lashed out once again toward the cloaked figure, and he disappeared in a flash of faint black light.

Feeling the danger behind him, Fie Ree smirked, and like clockwork, the fiery whip exploded and he was launched towards the opposite direction it was lashing at, towards his back!

"HA!" Fie Ree shouted, his fist burning brightly as he punched with vigor at the blade that appeared from nowhere.

Clang!

With a boom, the two were pushed back, and Fie Ree stared at his fist in shock as the flames withered away.

On his right fist, he stared at the deep gash that almost reached his fingers' bones, surprising him at how sharp and powerful the blade was.

Ignoring the pain, flames covered his wounds and he watched them heal.

Restoring his wound, he stared at the cloaked figure in the distance leisurely waiting for him to heal, and he felt infuriated by this act of mockery, 'Mocking me, are you? Do you think you can win and let me heal? I'll make sure you regret this action of yours!'

As both of his fists light up once again, he charged forward with flames converging around his legs, and he arrives at the cloaked figure in mere moments.

Seeing the blade swinging at him at fast speeds, the fire around his legs burst with strength, and he dodges swiftly before charging forward once again.

As his fist was about to make contact with the cloaked figure, he watched as the cloaked man disappear just like always.

Without stopping, he twisted his body, saw the cloaked man appear behind him, and smirked maliciously, "THIS IS MY WIN!"

"KILLER MOVE—DRACONIC FIRE FIST!"

The fiery orange flames all over his body turned scarlet in color, and the flames intensified by another magnitude.

The flames around the soles of his legs exploded, and even flames burst forth from his elbow as if they were rocket thrusters that pushed the speed of his attack to the maximum.

Watching this happen in a split-second, the cloaked man instead chuckled softly and said, "Then let me show you my killer move too."

"Killer move—Void Slash."

Black miasma exploded from his black blade, and a terrifying aura exploded that shocked all of the spectators watching the fight.

With a swing of his blade, a beam of void black light collided directly against Fie Ree's fist of scarlet flames.

As an explosion of void black light and scarlet flames appeared, the crowd paused in anticipation and saw the smoke slowly dissipate.

Finally, they saw the result of the battle.

There, Fie Ree lay on the ground with a missing arm and a deep gash going from his upper right chest down to his left leg, while a deep gorge appeared on the ground between them and extended outward a few meters.

As the crowd saw this, loud cheers and cries of shock erupted, as the "Rank 2" underdog of this fight defeated the demonic path expert, Fiery FIst—Fie Ree!

With a smile behind the mask, the cloaked figure softly mutters with a coy smile, "And now starts the legend of Locus, the one who holds dominion over space."

AN: This chapter has 2153 words.

For stupid people who haven't bothered to check what Locus means, it means space in latin. Now go do your own research about Kaleido Mora you stupid lazy cunt.

Besides that, I'll just drop the names of some of the Major Arcs for Volume 1 so you can kind of know the main point each arc has.

Arc 1 - Locus

Arc 2 - Tempes

Arc 3 - Mora (maybe) or Kaleido, I still don't know.

Anyways, I expected my valentines to be mid or even tragic, but somehow, a miracle occurred.

Send power stones, comment your thoughts, and save the novel to your library.

(January 29, 2023 – 430th day of writing)