Fire Spirit Mask (I): The Shadow Of Nezha

[THE Legends Of Nezha Are A Little Obscured By History, Some Believe This God Was Derived From Other More Popular Gods, But It Doesn't Change The Fact That Nezha Existed...well In Some Form Or The Other. This Is Not Well Know To The People Of The World, Heck Even The Wulin Would Be Tickled Pink With Anger And Blasphemy Should They Ever Find Out About This, But The Gods, The Ghosts, The Monsters And Demons And Heroes Of Legends All Have On Thing In Common. And That's The Fact That They're All Spirits, And Today I Want To Talk About A Rather Peculiar Fire God Spirit.

Nezha Was Born From A Ball Of Flesh, Baptized By Fire And Blood And Chosen Unto Himself A Mandate Of Protection And Justice That Would Hold The Eastern World Sway And In Awe. With His.......Wh...….Th.......He...….Er........]

-THE INCOMPLETE TRUE CHRONICLES OF NEZHA-

Alex stood there under the shocked gaze of everyone around him as the top half of his clothes burned away, the mask on his face stretched like some sort or armor, covering much of his luscious brown hair and stretching over his ears. It's edges were jagged and it had patterns of flames on it's frame that was incredibly beautiful to look at.

Alex's eyes from behind the mask were bright orange, the color of flames the likes which has never been seen before. On his light brown skin, red tribal tattoos seemed to stretch from his mask, which at this point gave people the impression of bones. The mask now covered his entire face and neck, almost like armor, and then from where it stopped at his neck, his blood red tribal tattoos stretched allover his body as they released wisps of blood red flames that burnt away his robes and his clothes, leaving his light brown skin bare for all to see.

If it was just the mask and the flames and the tattoos, not many people would have been shaken, after all they were all cultivators and seeing things that were weird strange and unique was not a rare thing for them. But it was the fiery shadow that showed up behind Alex that got everyone talking.

It was over nine meters tall, and even if it was not as clear as most would want, it was still good enough that everyone knew exactly who or what they were looking at. The fiery spear in his hand, the rapidly rotating wheels underneath his feet, no one knew who spoke out first, but the moment he did, the onlookers of this bullying session turned supernatural display began to exclaim in shock and excitement.

"Its Nezha!"

"Are you sure, it's just a shadow that's not very clear with a spear and some round things under it's feet....Holy shit! That really is Nezha!"

"Who is that kid?"

"Don't you watch the news you idiot! That's the once in ten thousand years talent with the supreme wind emperor physique, he's the only grandson of former sect head Zhang Sanfeng! The first and only son of cloud mistress Zhang Su yan!"

"Wow he's must be not just talented, but also blessed by the Gods, look at that mask!"

"Don't say stupid things what do you mean blessed by the gods?"

"You're stupid, your mother is stupid, your whole family is stupid. If he was not blessed by the gods why then will the shadow of a god come out to protect him, do you feel the energy he's using, that's not Qi you idiot, it must be the divine energy of Gods. And Nezha is not just a god of fire, he's also a god that protects and sacrifices himself for others, this is a bloody good omen! Great things must be in our Wudang's future."

Similar conversations were happening as everyone placed all of their attention on Alex, but all that this served to do was to rapidly increase the anger of Lu Wen. Everything was rapidly turning out contrary to his plans of wanting to put his step brother in place, and now everyone was looking at him like he was some sort of hero, a good omen for the sect. Even as cultivators it's amazing how gullible humans can be after they experience a light show, but not Lu Wen, he still had all his thinking faculties intact.

"What are you waiting for? ATTACK!!!" Lu Wen shouted at his servant who had similarly been awe struck by the display of power in front of him.

Alex on the other hand had his mind clearer and sharper than ever before, with Nezha's presence in his head and with him, the young boy felt more confidence and at peace with himself. He took a deep breath and kept his patience as the servant drew closer.

The servant threw a punch at the still blazing Alex, but the spirit king moved his hands over the top of his opponents, and then softly redirected the force behind the strike, pushing his opponent to the side as he went past him. Alex was being embraced by fire right now, but somehow he felt at peace with the wind, at peace with his spirit and the sprit of the world.

He moved his right leg backwards and waved his hands in a pattern that seemed to confuse the servant who was still coming back for more. The servant threw a kick, but this time Alex moved forward, his body gliding last the servant who's momentum was still carrying him past Alex, but before he could completely move away, Alex slammed his shoulder into the servants body, both his hands clasped behind his back in a dignified fashion.

"Oh my god! It's Taichi!"

Alex successfully brought shocks to the face of everyone again. Taichi was an art that wasn't really hard to practice, but it was still difficult to master. Yet they were all clear about how long Alex has been in the sect, and given that he has not even spent a week here, his fluent use of the martial art was shocking beyond belief. But while they were all surprised, the servant fighting was in a world of pain.

After Alex smashed his shoulder into the Servant's, he took a step back as a sweltering heat invaded his body. The point of impact on his body had already been badly burnt as his clothes had been seared into his flesh, and the scent of cooked meat wafted into the air. The servant was in severe pain as a heat that completely burnt away his Qi ravaged through his meridians and organs, he was trying really hard to put a stop to it, but the advent of this energy was unstoppable, the servant realized with a startled disposition that the energy around Alex was not in anyway or form Qi. It was completely foreign, and it seemed Qi was falling prey to it. Soon enough the servant couldn't resist as he spat out a mist of blood that rapidly became vapor and evaporated the moment it came in contact with the air.

He went down to his knees screaming in pain as even his blood began to boil, it was in that moment there was a flash of light as an older looking man appeared and vanished with the servant, and soon enough Alex's grandfather was there too, looking at the piercing orange eyes of his grandson and the shadow of a fire god behind him. The old man moved his sleeves aside and cupped his hands in reverence to the shadow, even though it seemed he was facing his grandson.

"I thank the spirit of his holiness Nezha for protecting my grandson, this old man would take his duties more seriously." Much to the surprise of everyone, even Alex himself, Nezha replied.

"See that you do old man! If anything should happen to the spirit king, then no amount of Qi or martial arts would save you people from the retaliation of the spirit world. And this is not a threat, just a friendly warning as you all are my people. His ancestors are a particularly nasty bunch, trust me I know."

And then the mask receded from Alex's face, before going back into his belt. The moment the mask left his face, the tattoos faded and his eyes went back to their normal black. But as normal came back, so too did a weakness, and Alex once again found himself succumbing to unconsciousness.