Chapter 303 - Metamorphosis

Opening his eyes, Caelum finds himself looking at an empty ceiling laying on the bed while unbearable pain aches within his abdomen. 

He tried to recall what happened then frowned. The sheer force of the strike had ruptured his diagram and a few internal organs that were extensively bleeding. Caelum had been far used to his rapid regeneration in this kind of situation. 

'I am the only one who could find the answer huh?'

Caelum muttered under his breath, taking the advice of Doppo in facing his dilemma alone. He took the moment in recalling the attack that made his body into this state.

The power and speed partner by near-flawless execution of the technique bringing out the devastating forces akin to raging storms and enormous tsunamis. It was like a natural disaster that once faced with this calamity led to sheer devastation. 

Caelum tried his best to stand right back up before replaying the scene everything from the beginning.

He may have lost his mythical abilities and energy but the high-speed thought that connected with his Sea of Consciousness remained.

The Jade Pagoda is in a sealed state unable to enter, only drawing out a small percent of its power while his Yggdrasil would take a while till it opened. 

Everything repeated itself in countless flashes of images continuously felt the pain wincing the process. He did not let himself pass out again and gradually felt something welling up inside him.

Caelum refused to give in, wanting to know what made them grow to such a perfect state. His desire for an answer drives him further and further, disobeying his pain. 

Millions of times being struck nonstop by the memory helped him tempred his body and rapidly went through a metamorphosis.

The air around Caelum grew heavy while he blended into the background. His old immature and childish had been removed, he had matured and blossomed something within him that anyone seeing him would feel shaken or in awe. 

It had only been a few days yet his ability to attain a profound change was bewildering.

Caelum took the step closer to finding his answer and managed to decide on a name for his style. It embodied his end goal and power. 

"Firmament Paragon Martial art. The name sounds childish yet it embodies my journey that I need to forge."

His demeanor completely changed yet still had some of his antics. The name of his art sounded like it was made by chuuni but he prided himself and refused to give it an unfitting name. 

He noticed his wound had fully healed, similar to a butterfly breaking from its cocoon. Caelum stood up and felt he had lived a fulfilling life from the metamorphosis and took a deep breath.

Whoosh!

Twisting his body performing a roundhouse kick that flicks the air that broke the sound barrier and shatters the nearby glass.

He remained indifferent witnessing the power of his strike seeing his legs swollen from the backslash yet the pain outweighed the sudden pride. 

This is his true talent and power without adding mystical arts only a mortal body that has been tempered by the martial arts containing the essence of the past predecessor.

Caelum embodies not one but all martial arts throughout time and now becomes the inheritor of their will. 

It sounded weird for anyone but at this moment he placed both his knees into the ground and bowed deeply finally coming to terms with his past self. 

'Now I understand what I've lacked, it was the pride and essence of martial art. These people do not use martial arts as a way of fighting, rather they show their devotion.'

To put it simply, a person who worships a god and spreads their doctrine to people. Martial art and warriors do the same only with the way of fighting. 

A normal person would not condone this way of thinking yet it was the truth. They are not warriors and do not take the route of warriors therefore would never understand them.

Caelum only took everything for granted now and enlightenment gave a solid foundation to his spirit as a warrior. 

He needs more time and opponents to gain their insight that truly embodies their philosophy and beliefs. 

'If this was an anime world then it would be a series about fighting for fighting sake rather than like Dragon balls that just love to fight.'

These normal Martial arts pursue perfecting their art rather than reaching the goal of becoming the strongest. 

The strength found in martial art is their understanding of their body and ways of using them. 

People who lift weights and bodybuilders won't be able to execute the potential of their body even if they tried.

Moments later, Doppo and Katsumi arrived after hearing the ruckus only to find Caelum emitting another change. 

'This young man…I'm glad I've found him and see how quickly his processing won't take long to compare him to that person.'

Doppo thought of the person who had nearly killed him and wounded his pride as the grandmaster of Karate. The person that gouges his other eye. 

'Did he perform the same technique as I did!?'

Tatsumi recalled the reason behind his severed arm was due to a technique that made his limb into a powerful whip by imagining his bones to have countless segmentation to make it flexible yet solid. 

The backlash that came from the attack left his muscles severely destroyed and exposed bone. He was only able to execute the movement twice before passing out. 

However, what he gains after outweighs his loss. This is what the person before him acquired in a short amount of time. The blossoming pride of a martial artist. 

"Doppo-dono, Katsumi-dono, how long was I out?"

"Hehehe you're quite the monster.  It's only been a whole day since you've passed out."

"A day huh?"

"I know you're hungry, why don't we eat first while talking about your change. Also, I want to ask something."

Caelum nodded, felt his stomach growl, and headed their way to a nearby buffet. They ordered their meals while the former devoured his food, taking the nutrients from the meal leaving nothing but the bone.

"You should savor the meal. Though it is not our hands to decide the life of these animals, the necessity for nutrients is vital, and we must show respect when we take their lives. Understand the life and hard work of the people behind them."

He nodded and slowed down his eating while savoring more of the meal, understanding the journey that this animal went through.

The people who poured their hearts into harvesting and nurturing this ingredient along with the people that prepared this meal. Each individual gave their devotion at every meal. 

It could be said the same thing with Martial art. Once you've understood the nature of martial art and learned to savor it would bring out everything hidden within them.

Enlightening advice that even Caelum had long known about this fact had still felt its insight. In the last world, the path of martial art is in the pursuit of absolute strength and immortality.

Now, it was pursuing in proving their philosophy in martial arts having the pride of facing death as an honor rather than plead to live.

"Now then, I want to know how old you are."

"....I'm 17"

"I see, I've believed since you don't have any record of identity, I took the time to make one and enrolled you in one of my private schools. I've also given you a place to stay for the time being."

Caelum was perplexed hearing his words going beyond for strangers like him. He could have helped but be dumbfounded and question if his luck was responsible for it. 

"I know you're surprised but seeing you have helped ease my boredom by witnessing the birth of a new martial artist. The only thing you can repay me with is a fight once you've perfected that martial art of yours."

"Same here I want to see how it would fair with my one-hand style."

"If that's the case I won't fail you and vow to perfect it."

Caelum is motivated to perfect his martial art and show it to the person that he might as well consider a teacher. He took a bottle of sake and poured one for Doppo and Katsumi to show his respect and sincerity.

"For my pursuit of completion! Kanpai!"

"Kanpai!"