God Eye

Early in the morning, just as the sky lit up, the whole of San Francisco was still hidden in the darkness before dawn. A young man reacted on instinct, throwing off his warm and comfortable covers, jumping up from his bed, and putting his clothes on—all of this was done in less than one breath. At this time, most of the other students were still sleeping.

The young man was between 13 and 14 years old, with a slim body and a childish face. He wasn't super handsome but still good-looking. His eyes were especially clear and full of fighting spirit. "Just a bit longer and I will be eligible to finally get my orange belt. Then I'll have all these other idiots shut up," the young man says, still sounding a little sleepy. This young man's name was Bobby Brown.

Half a year ago, he came from the recruitment center at Belmont to the San Francisco city training facility based on his superb performance. The city's training facility was very reputed as the fighters that reached the top there were said to have mystic abilities of controlling things such as their Chi, helping them on their path to becoming immortal beings. Back at Belmont, he was a genius for his age and was the first to receive a yellow belt. From then on, he left the life of mortals and stepped into the gateway of becoming one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived. At that time, every old person in the city praised him for his talent, saying his future could not be measured. His family, friends, and other relatives all had big hopes for him. However, only Bobby knew how much more effort he put in than his peers, allowing him to become the genius of Belmont's recruiting center.

With the goal of becoming one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived, he knew that one of the only ways to get there was by learning to control his Chi at the main training facility in San Francisco. Chi was the latent life force that exists in everyone and everything. By learning to harness this latent energy, a person could gain superhuman capabilities and use them in extreme forms of combat. The control of one's Chi would allow them to have extraordinary abilities like super strength, speed, stamina, elemental control, hyper-awareness, and at times even invulnerability.

The Belmont recruitment center was one of the main martial arts organization's side branches. Every 5 years, there would be two people recommended to the main facility. The person who came with Bobby was Jessica Park, a girl who had received her yellow belt from the recruitment center only 2 months after him. After leaving Belmont, Bobby was full of fighting will, determined to go to the main facility and show off his skills. However, it was only after he had reached there that he realized that he was just a frog at the bottom of a well.

In terms of population, the recruitment center at Belmont only had 100 people, with just seven or eight around his own age. At the main facility, there were tens of thousands of people with the rich people who controlled large amounts of land and had huge resources. Compared to the competition of Belmont, the competition here was 100 times more. Back at the recruitment center, he was considered a talent, even a genius by some. Here at the main facility, he was merely considered to be one of the lowest level of fighters for his age, a lowly amateur student.

Throughout the history of his family, there were many kids his age who had broken through to go on and achieve great things at the main facility in San Francisco. There were even some who were so talented that they managed to secure a black belt just a year or so after coming there, and according to some rumors, some of the family elders had even attained the ability to completely manipulate their Chi. Confronted with this reality, Bobby started to realize that he was nothing compared to them. He had been innocently ignorant and small in comparison to all of their greatness.

Also, Jessica, the beautiful girl who came with him from Belmont, slowly became distant from him after she began to interact more and more with the other students that had joined from the city itself. While they were still at the recruitment center, Jessica had looked up to Bobby in awe and even adored him, but at that time, Bobby was always so busy focusing on his skills, ignoring her. Now he became more and more desperate and put in even more effort into his training. After feeling a sense of growing despair, he had to be amongst the top-performing students to have his place at the main facility intact. With every passing year, there were students that were called up, and there were those who could not make the cut and were sent back to the towns they came from. He made an oath: he would take a spot right amongst the best there at the main facility, and he had decided that he would never come to the point of being sent back home.

After washing up, Bobby Brown took a deep breath and then ran towards the facility's training ground. "Haha," he exclaimed as he practiced the technique of the Flaming Metal Fist, a secret family fighting technique. Flaming Metal Fist was only a core martial art, but Bobby practiced it carefully, polishing it beautifully.

In layman's terms, normal martial arts were divided into five categories: core, low, middle, high, and peak. Normally, the higher rank of a martial art, the higher the damage dealt by it would be, and the better it would be for increasing the strength of the user, helping him or her in the process of cultivation. Core martial arts, the lowest of martial arts, were used to strengthen one's body and blood, and the damage dealt by them was very low. However, with Bobby having no exceptional talent, it was very hard for him to learn martial arts of a higher rank.

"I have been on the rank of the yellow belt for a long time. I need to practice a lot before I am worthy of the orange belt," he thinks to himself as he pushes himself harder. After practicing for a while, Bobby's face was drowned under a screen of sweat, and he was breathing heavily. He was not a bad fighter; he was just slower than the others. The reason why he couldn't catch up to the others was that he didn't have martial skills of the higher ranks. He also wasn't rich like the other students who could buy precious pills to help increase their strength. There were a few families who would give their children precious strength pills right from their birth. These students would have enough strength to break through the first three belts by the time they were just 10 years old, gaining an unfair advantage over the others. At the starting line of life, Bobby Brown was already far behind them.

Half an hour later, the sun slowly rose into view. On the training ground, some of the students grudgingly dragged themselves, while some others laughed and joked with their peers. However, when their gazes landed on Bobby, their eyes suddenly became cold, and some even showed disdain. This attitude wasn't pointed to Bobby alone; these students looked down upon anyone who came from the other lower facilities like the recruitment centers from the nearby towns. In front of these students, they felt a certain amount of pride and entitlement.

While Bobby was lost in his thoughts, a voice came whistling from the back. "Little broomstick, stop right there!" A hand as strong as metal hit him hard on the shoulder. "You," Bobby said, looking at the person behind him as he was caught off guard, almost falling to the ground. He stabilized himself and stood straight. Luckily, his core skills were good, and he steadied himself in time. The hit came from another student dressed in black, his body was fit and muscular, and he had thick eyebrows. His eyes had a tinge of playfulness inside of them as he looked down at Bobby Brown, who had just regained his balance.

"Tom, why would you do that?" Bobby said with a face full of anger, wanting to hit him. When Bobby first came to the city, the two of them had a little conflict. This was because Tom was mocking those who came from the poor towns, and Bobby was not happy with this and spoke out against him, calling him an entitled bully. Tom was a person who took revenge at every possible opportunity, and from then on, whenever he found Bobby alone, he would humiliate him every time while his friends backed him up.

"Tommy, with your strength, if you cannot take this weakling in 10 moves, it'd be a shame." "10 moves? Tom is already at the peak of the list of students going to get their Green Belt. To fight this weasel, I think three moves will be enough." "Three moves? If they fight straight on, it will not be that easy." Tom's friends all started talking amongst themselves, ready to watch the show. Most of them did not care about what happened, so they spoke without restraint.

"Three moves?" Tom raised his head and laughed with the look of disdain on his face. "You were all embarrassing me. To beat this kid, I will only need one move." "Only one move?" someone from the group was heard saying in shock. The students who were present there had looks of shock on their faces.

"One move? Is he that strong?" Bobby thought to himself as his eyebrows scrunched up, and his face changed color with anger blazing in his heart. He and Tom only had one rank differentiating the both of them. If Tom did well, maybe he could win in three moves; now was true. However, just one move—that was a humiliation.

Facing his provocative eyes, Bobby calmed down and thought, "I cannot fall into this trap. Even if I live through this one move, he will still humiliate me." Having been in the city for half a year, Bobby Brown had been beaten a few times and had learned to bear with him.

"I'm quite tired from training today. Let me rest for a few days, and then I'll fight you," Bobby says with a blank, expressionless look on his face. "Okay, kiddo, I will let you off the hook today, but the next time we see each other, do not forget about today's one-move battle," Tom said as his eyes gave off a cold look. Bobby's heartbeat started rising once more, and he thought, "It looks like Tom isn't going to let me off the hook. I need to become eligible for the orange belt; only then I'll have a chance against him."

After leaving the training ground, Bobby returned home. Since he had managed to gain entry to the main training facility in the city, his parents gained a bit of his prestige and came to the city as well. This was supposed to be his parents' reward. However, Bobby felt ashamed because his performance at the training center might disappoint his parents. He might also disappoint those of the older generations who had high expectations of him back at Belmont.

"I'm back," Bobby said with his head down. A deep, calm man walked out of one of the rooms. It was Bobby's father, Deonce. "Bobby, come quick and have something to eat," his mother, Ashley, said with a caring look in her eyes as she walked out of the kitchen with a plate of food in her hand. Every time Bobby came home, he was able to feel the warmth and love of his family.

"Thanks, Mom. This tastes so good," he mumbled with his mouth full of food. While they ate, Bobby realized that his mother and father did not speak much, as opposed to normal days when they would keep asking him about his day. He felt as if there was something on their mind, something they were hiding from him.

"Mom, Dad, what are you..." Bobby said as he saw the solemn expressions on their faces, looking as if they had something to say. Deonce and Ashley looked at one another and then they took a long sigh together.

"Let me say it," Ashley says, taking a slight pause. "Some people came over from the training center with a letter," she added.

"Letter? What letter?" Bobby asked, not understanding what his mother was talking about. With a long face, Ashley continued, "The martial arts training center has now made some new rules. If the recruits from outside the city do not receive the green belt before the age of 15, they will be sent back, and not only that, they will not be able to take part in the center's sparring competition."

"What?" Bobby said as his heart stopped for a second, and his face changed dramatically. The center's sparring competition was where the youth fought to show off their skills. The ones who won would get rich rewards and have a chance to become an inner-course student who would be fully trained by the higher-ranked fighters of the center, free of cost. Thus, it was a chance to turn into a dragon from a fish for the poorest student like Bobby. If they lost the chance to enter, it was the same as being thrown away, and the rule that made Bobby Brown's heart cold was the last one: before the age of 15, those who were not able to be awarded the green belt will be sent back to the towns they were selected from.

"No, no, this cannot be true," Bobby said in a soft voice, with both his hands clenched together. He and his parents wouldn't have the face to be sent back to Belmont. "This rule is only applicable for the recruits from outside the city," his mother says with a look of dissatisfaction on her face.

"Mother, father, it is okay. I'll train even harder and get my orange belt before the center sparring competition," Bobby said as he clenched his fists. "There's still 2 months left to register. You need to sign up a month earlier. To break through and get your belt in such a small time, it's not an easy task," his father said, trying to console him.

Bobby's eyes went dim as if he had fallen into darkness. If there were 2 months left and he doubled his efforts, there was around a 20 to 30% chance of success. To break through in a month, however, he believed would take a miracle.

After staying silent for a long time, Ashley wiped the corners of her eyes and spoke softly, "Bobby, it doesn't matter if you fail. You still make us proud every day. The most that will happen is us returning to Belmont and living a normal life."

"Yeah, if we return, you will still be the most talented one there. I'd rather have you be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix," Deonce said as he nodded his head in agreement. Being parents, they would rather have their children be safe, even if their lives would be normal.

But return to mediocrity? That was what was bothering Bobby the most. "No, I am not going back to Belmont to lead a normal life," Bobby said, shaking his head in determination. He once swore an oath to perform well and become a master of the martial arts. His heart yearned toward the teachings of Chi control, which lay beyond the attainments of the black belt. How could he be willing to lose and return back in this manner?

Bobby restrained himself from crying, screamed, and merely ran out of the house. "Bobby, don't be stubborn," his parents shouted. Boom! Suddenly thunder and lightning rumbled in the sky, and it started raining. Bobby kept the despair in his heart, howled back at the sky, and ran out into the rain. The lightning flashed everywhere, making his face light up.

"Not good," Bobby thought to himself as he felt the cold wind bearing down on him. When he looked up, he was shocked by what he saw. From the time of his birth, he had never seen lightning like this, so closely packed together like a spider web. In that short moment, the lightning above seemed to be controlled by some power, something that made it concentrate in such a small space.

Sh! A black streak came from out of the light in the sky. It passed through the lightning and caused beautiful dreamlike ripples to appear. It was impossible to imagine what the black line was, as it even engulfed the light from the lightning in the sky. Bobby Brown felt his feet go numb, his hair and clothes turn black, and thunder rang in his ears non-stop. And then suddenly, the whole world went dead silent.

"What? What is this?" he thought to himself as he looked around himself in confusion. His face was white, and looking down at his feet, he saw a weird black marble like an eyeball. It looked like all the black energy was emanating through this marble itself. The eye-like marble seemed like it had life, giving off a thumping sound as it moved around and then began to stare at Bobby right in the eye. However, the eyeball seemed to thump in sync with his own heart, giving him an unusually friendly feeling.

At this moment, he felt some kind of impulse, almost as if he was being summoned. "Does this item have life?" he thought to himself as he held his breath, ready for any signs of danger. However, before Bobby could move, in a swift motion, the marble swooshed into his left eye.

"Ah!" he screamed and then fainted immediately after. Before he blacked out, he had only one thought: "I'm screwed. I think this is going to blind me."