Chapter 302 - True Karate

Lounging inside a private room, Caelum quietly remained to contemplate the enlightenment from earlier. 

He never felt defeated in his life after growing stronger and though it was not brute force nor mythical abilities still considered a loss.

The word loss has many meanings to many individuals and Caelum loss was his lack of devotion and appreciation in martial art.

He could not even feel worthy of performing martial arts from his shamelessness.

It had trampled the pride of each individual who poured their hearts and soul into improving their martial arts. 

"You realize it doesn't you? The impurity that I've spoken of."

"I have and must apologize as in the past I've only thought of it as nothing more than a means to survive but now acquiring your insight made me realize what I lost. I was utterly defeated."

Caelum cast down his head showing a sincere display of reverence at the man before him. 

Doppo Orochi felt that the young man's talent maturing was by far the quickest compared to his son that recently became pure. 

"It's great that you've understood but don't let it get to you and forge ahead. "

Giving his advice, Doppo patting his shoulder before opting a serious expression at the young man who felt wary and raised his guard in case of conflict.

"I went to investigate your Identity...tell me who you are and why there aren't any records of your existences?"

Doppo Orochi individual far and wide with having students capable of acquiring information regarding people and in a single night find that the young man did not exist. 

He finds nothing even about how much his people tried. There were no records of the young man from every country. It was as if the young man just appeared out of nowhere.

Caelum remained silent for a moment, unexpected that he had been seen through that quickly. 

Though, he understood Doppo's intention as he's not that naive to invite a stranger without the ability to control the situation.

"You don't need to answer. I was merely curious and I'm certain you don't have any ill intention."

"Thank you, Doppo-Dono."

Before long the door opens revealing the son of Doppo quickly took a seat while observing Caelum. He knew that the young man had the same maturity as he had from a fight not long ago. 

The air that Caelum exude gradually became clear, lessening the impurity from before. In the past, he would feel jealous of how quickly the young man had progressed and matured but he had gone through a profound change after his battle.

"Kasumi you've finally come. Take a seat  as I was about to ask this young man his martial art."

"Oh, I've been curious since last night. Now tell me this martial art of yours."

From what Doppo had seen, it was a mixture of many styles that were primarily rooted in Taekwondo and Full contact karate.

When he moved it appeared to be unable to bring out its true potential and had yet to be completed. 

However, Doppo knew that this young martial art could be considered the strongest as if every movement had been forged for thousands of years.

Yet despite this, it was nothing more than random movement imitating a martial art lacking the 'Essence or embodiment' of their martial art. 

It was compared to actors knowing the martial art and movement yet never the passion to truly pursue them. They lack the pride of martial arts. 

This was the same with Caelum who had continued to bury the martial art to his body to become a muscle memory before combining then but it was out of the pursuit of strength and never had the passion.

He failed to discover this from early on but now has the opportunity to correct his foundation and remove the flaws of his fighting style.

"My martial art is…unnamed and incomplete. You've already guess that my style is a mixture of many different martial arts. For this reason, I am lost in ways to improve it. I've already accumulated all the martial arts yet now I face a wall."

Caelum was at an utter loss, unable to find the answer alone. He had taken nearly countless years in mental meditation only met with something blocking him.

Doppo leaned back thinking to himself trying to find good advice for the young man. He could see his youth to the young man who had explored the world to hone his skills. 

"...I can't give you any concrete advice as to the impurity and ways in completing your martial art. Our martial arts are vastly different therefore we can't give advice. The only suggestion is find the answer yourself only then you would gain what you lack."

Caelum understood as they both lack the philosophy in their respective martial arts. He needs to spend a bit more time to completely find the answer. 

"That is enough advice, thank you."

"Wait, I've been dying to see your martial art. Why don't you demonstrate?"

Son of Doppo, Katsumi Orochi exclaimed while his father only chuckled. 

"Sure, I don't mind."

Caelum stood up from his seats and the three went to an open space where he could move more freely. The two at the side observed his next move. 

He took a deep breath circulating the blood flowing through his body and veins began to pop out showing how rapid the pump of his blood was before it disappeared upon exhaling then in the blink of an eye he moved beyond human speed. 

In quick succession, his legs had worked their movement skillfully that made the two observers drawn at his move that was akin to dances. The sound of each strike produces a loud whip allowing them to understand the weight and power of his movement.

Caelum made a mental image of an opponent from the tall stature to the well-built, the silhouette began to appear before his eyes evading and grazing.

Everything from the weight to the texture of this individual. Those watching witnessed the same thing yet did not shed any awe, only interest.

It was as if the manifestation of this phantom was normal. The more Caelum the image became more clear, the spectator flinched. The one who he was fighting was Doppo Orochi. 

"Though it is just the mental image of myself yet to see him closely capture my technique is baffling."

Doppo gave his honest opinion and did not feel offended seeing himself fighting the young man. It did not annoy him to see the imperfect execution of his beloved Karate and only continue to observe what he would do next.

Meanwhile, Caelum felt his every muscle tearing and bone creaking yet ignored the raging pain of his body. The pain helps him understand more about his current state and improve his martial art.

He barely evades the attack of his opponent with every strike that had been countered or canceled. It was relentless never in his life if he found it difficult fighting someone. 

The most terrifying thing is this was only how Caelum understood and felt when faced with Doppo Orochi. This meant it was barely the power of the real Person and yet it was already this powerful. 

 The phantom proceeds to do an elephant stance before palm striking his solar plexus.

Boom!

Upon instinct, Caelum was able to backflip, then did a high straight kick flinging the phantom into the air.

He did not wait for his opponent to take action and used his hand that was on the ground to spin his body hitting the side of the phantom.

It flew to the wall before dissipating into nothingness and Caelum catching his breath. 

"What did you think?"

Despite his exhaustion and bruised body from the phantom still able to question Doppo who places his hand on his chin contemplating along with his son. 

"That martial art of yours is amazing that I won't deny. Being able to counter and interact with my Karate even if it was just imagination is praise-worthy. I could see that you know the way of Karate and exploited its weakness."

Doppo pointed out the pros of his martial art that was able to hold his own with his Karate.

"However, what you fought was a mere fundamental to Karate and did not contain any devotions of True Karate. This is what Karate truly looks like."

Caelum could barely react when Doppo arrived in front of him then did the same elephant stance and struck his abdomen. It was completely different than how he had to perceive. 

His eyes rolled back, passing out from the attack. This was his second loss in a single day.