20 Chapter 20: All in Combat

As he reached the spot Mwana and Uchoyo were fighting, Cheza was suddenly intercepted by Maji 1. "You snake!" He did not have time to curse before activating his Moon Bracelet and releasing dozens of Moon Blades. These blades were made of some type of bright blue glowing energy and were curved like a crescent moon. Maji 1 responded in kind activating his own Moon Bracelet. The ground constantly shifted below Cheza's feet as he tried to get past Maji 1 but to no avail, the latter would stick to him like a loach.

Behind them, Uchoyo stood glaring at Mwana as his eyes brimmed with fury. He could swallow humiliation but not from a brat 2 years younger than him. Worst of all, he had already been humiliated twice in one morning. He was extremely furious not just at Mwana but also himself. No one doubted he was stronger than Mwana yet he still ended up humiliated. While Mwana was still looking at him, his opponent was no longer in his sight, 'Fast! Extremely fast!' That was all Mwana could think before quickly ducking.

He felt the heat of friction on his scalp as Uchoyo's fist grazed past the top of his head like a meteor. If this punch had connected to his chest or face, he would be down in one hit! Mwana was 100% sure he wouldn't have been able to dodge this attack if it were the previous day. His bloodline awakening boosted his senses and reaction speeds while his accomplishments with 100 Steps in an Instant boosted his speed,

As Mwana and his opponent came to blows once again, his other friends had already stepped into the fight and among them, Duma easily slipped past Uchoyo's 'guards' trying to help Mwana. However this was a fight Mwana wanted for himself. "I'm not even losing yet and you are talking about saving me? At least wait till he gets a few licks in before 'saving me'," Mwana responded to Duma with a chuckle. Uchoyo was even more infuriated after hearing this, "Looking down on me brat. What do you mean until I get a few licks in? You think you'll be so lucky to continue dodging?"

"Kiboko keep them away." Uchoyo's 'guards' were indeed Kiboko and the Maji brothers. After Cheza had charged in, Nyaga and Mwanga had followed. With Nyaga at the front, Kiboko had easily knocked him away into the air before Mwanga caught him. Mwanga was relatively better off from the collision before performing a mid-air flip and landing elegantly on the ground but the 2 brothers had been besieged by Maji 2 and Maji 3 instantly.

"Leave this to me," Tembo quickly charged in with his large body. Tembo and Kiboko's collision was like a battle between an elephant and a hippo as they clashed body to body. The ground trembled and cracked when they collided. After a short pause, both of them shot away from each other at extreme speeds like rockets before crashing heavily into the ground creating small craters. Despite the might of the collision, they remained relatively un-injured.

Kiboko's hide clothes seemed to have a reflective property forged into them that could deflect part of an attacks physical force. As for Tembo, he had a village Blacksmith Apprentice tattoo just like Uchoyo though the latter had even more tattoos. Tembo's tattoo was that of a hammer on his shoulder and it was currently shining with red light to counter the effect of Kiboko's clothes. He had received this tattoo from his smithing teacher and it had the effect of increasing Kiboko's physical might when activated.

Despite his friends being tied up and refusing Duma's help, Mwana kept persevering under Uchoyo's constant pursuit and attacks. His opponent was faster than him but he was always dodging his attacks at the last second. 'It's like I can sense them with my soul.' At this time, the other spectating children were shocked when witnessing Mwana's movements. Uchoyo was so fast that they could barely see him. As for Mwana, his speed was indeed fast but nothing special, however Uchoyo still couldn't hurt him.

"What is that movement technique? It can't only be 100 Steps in an Instant."

"It's Withered Wood Dance, no, not just that. He is combining them!" The speaker was one of Mwana's classmates, Vitali. She was a blonde girl with green eyes and wearing a white butterfly robe. From her looks and clothing, it was clear she was of foreign origins.

"Aren't both techniques just basic techniques? How could they be so formidable as to go up against Bone Forging!" Jua Jode, another one of Mwana's classmates heavily exclaimed.

Indeed, the gap between Skin Hardening and Bone Forging was sizeable. The first 3 levels from Entry level, Muscle Quenching to Skin Hardening were the early phases of martial practice and were relatively easier to get through. As for Bone Forging, it was considered the first among the mid-phases and was relatively harder to train.

After a warrior underwent muscle quenching, they would gain considerable strength as high as the strength of 10 bulls. Additionally, these weren't ordinary bulls but Long-horned Crimson Abyssinian bulls. However, before attaining Bone Forging, warriors like Mwana and his friends at the 3rd level, only has access to at most 4 or 5 bulls of strength. If they went past this limit, they risked broken bones and injured tendons. This was because their skeletal structure could not support the strength of 10 bulls before being forged anew, hence Bone Forging realm.

Even for those at the 4th level like Uchoyo, they could only safely access about 8 bulls of strength even though their maximum strength increased beyond 10 bulls of strength in the late stages of Bone Forging. It is only when a warrior achieved Tendon Strengthening that they would get maximum access to their power. After all, while bone fractures could be healed easily, no one wanted to risk damaging their tendons which would be far more complex to fix.

Hearing the conversation around him Uchoyo was getting frustrated by the minute. He started regretting getting pulled into this. He had always caused trouble for Mwana and other children, sometimes on behalf of the Maji brothers. He had indeed sucked up to them in the past as the Pweza family was one of the 10 Great Crafting Families in Jua Village. 'Who in this world didn't want free lunch?'

Uchoyo knew he should have won easily as he was an Intermediate warrior at the mid-phases while Mwana was just a junior warrior at the lower phases. The nine levels of martial training were divided into 3 phases each with three levels before one entered the 10th level, the Apex of Mortal Martial Arts! These 9 levels were: Entry Level, Muscle Quenching, Skin Hardening, Bone Forging, Tendon Strengthening, Blood Boiling, Organ Quenching, Perception Domain, Spirit Sense Awakening, and the Apex Level.