Chapter 55 - Genius Martial Artist

[Warning!]

- This chapter is a draft. That means this is written with heart, not with brain. This has grammatical errors here and there and needs to be proofread and edit. The author will edit the drafts after a while.

Stomp.

Blaze rolled on the ground before Alistein's foot hit her.

"You're not getting away!" Alistein followed up a barrage of blows the moment Blaze stood from the ground.

Alistein was pissed off. He knew he was better in everything but a genius martial artist's pre-initiative was allowing Blaze to evade it by a hair's breadth. Speed and strength were all useless if Blaze could read the inception of Alistein's intent which was too linear for Blaze as her opponent lacked hand-to-hand combat experience compared to her.

[Health is reduced to 85%]

Blaze didn't bother to dodge the wave of blows knowing it had no sense in her close distance with Alistein. She guarded her vitals and utilized the Solidification technique along with Elite Body Tempering Art to minimize the damages as far as she could.

'What were you doing?' Azurion couldn't accept the sight of his host being thrashed like a sandbag.

'Just sit back and watch!' Blaze breathed in an enormous amount of air while her guard was up, glaring at Alistein beneath her guarding arms. Alistein twitched in alarm.

He pulled back with a long bounce but Blaze was not willing to let go. She waited patiently for an opportunity to strike back and when Alistein was suspended in the air, the lioness of the ember tribe's eyes shone in passion.

With Perspicacious Breathing Art and Liquefication, Blaze erased the distance between them in a single leap. Alistein could do nothing but cover his face, his superiority in speed and power was nothing if he can't maneuver in the air. Rapidly, a spear-like hand pierced through the draconic energy coating covering Alistein's body and stabbed the skin inside with hardened fingers. For the second time this match, Alistein coughed a mouthful of blood.

'Did I predict my timing wrong? Or she's really becoming faster?' Alistein rolled several times on the ground, agonizing from the severe injury he took from Blaze. He knew what technique it was and he could only mimic it in his dreams.

Dragon Slayer Fist: Dragon Lance, a technique that requires partial training in the user's fingers using all sorts of methods of body strengthening, preparing the ten fingers to be as tough as steel that could penetrate even the toughest rocks.

With Liquefication and Solidification techniques, the Dragon Lance was even more powerful than the Berserker Jab in most cases as it could pierce through human flesh and bones, perfect for assassination or one-hit killing assault without using a weapon. But now that it meshed with a dragon's power, its capabilities had magnified to several levels.

'Fascinating! You finally made some real damage to him but you're out of breath. Using various cultivation arts was straining all of you.'

Azurion observed Blaze catch her breath. She couldn't even follow up an attack. Her needed boost of overall power from Fervent Concentration Emission Art was draining her mental strength more than she had imagined. Performing it while doing breathing techniques where she should have control over her ragged breathing to fulfill the minimum requirements for the Perspicacious Breathing Art made her dizzy.

Alistein stood up and brushed the dust off of his body. The draconic energy recovered from the hole Blaze made in it but Alistein still could feel the damage it made inside his body.

'I knew it. Picking Profound Amalgamation Art was a double-edged sword. She's sacrificing a lot of herself in order to keep up with my power. Once that cultivation art wears her out, she's finished.' Alistein took a defensive position, wary of Blaze's dangerous techniques. He knew Blaze has more cards on her sleeve. There was a big pool of techniques in Dragon Slayer Fist martial art that might not even he was not aware of, especially secret techniques.

'He's smart. He's not planning to go offensive. This method is safer to win against you,' said Azurion.

'I'm not gonna fall to a simple tactic like that. I'm not letting him do what he wants. I'll force him to play my game.'

Forthwith, Blaze shut her eyes closed. Both she and Alistein were using Fervent Concentration Emission Art. The method to produce quality well-rounded power without depleting the body's stamina but would exhaust the mental strength instead. And so, Blaze decided to disengage using it to preserve her remaining mental capacity in this battle.

While eyes still closed, Blaze shifted all her attention to the absorption process, detecting the natural energies everywhere in every touch of the energies in her skin. By rapidly fusing air and natural energies inside her Dragon Core, she expanded her perception once more and unlocked a sixth sense more powerful than all her other senses combined, the Dragon Danger Sense that was only available for Superb Fusion Art users.

Alistein clicked his tongue in irritation seeing Blaze perform the Super Fusion Art and let go of all the other Cultivation Arts. 'She realized my intention and responded with another annoying stunt. Fine, you'll get what you're looking for.'

Alistein retained his Fervent Concentration Emission Art and prepared for his offense. Then, he dashed forward. He vanished and reappeared behind Blaze, throwing a vicious jab.

Although Alistein's normal speed was as fast as Blaze's burst of speed with Perspicacious Breathing Art if not faster, Blaze didn't panicked. To get the most out of the Liquefication technique, she needed to be in her calmest state.

Blaze twisted her body marvelously to evade the imperfect Berserker Jab. Unfortunately for her, Alistein was way faster and his fist still connected.

Blaze's eyes broadened, agonizing in complete misery as she flew several meters and tumbled on the ground, the Warchiefs catching her.

[Health is reduced to 75%]

"Blaze $&? $¶#!@!#"

Blaze couldn't what they were saying as if her hearing was momentarily impaired. She thought if she meshed Liquefication and Super Fusion Art's Evasiveness because of its Dragon Danger Sense benefit, she could evade Alistein's blows with no problem.

But she's not quick enough to respond to what she could perceive. If she imagined her body as water and failed to dodge, the damage she would receive would significantly be magnified as it would hit her in her most vulnerable state. And that was what happened when Alistein's fist struck her.