Chapter 157: 1000 Monster Valley Summits

Howard walked down by the river with the sun starting to droop beneath the clouds. The orange rays cut through the strange amber clouds while four man sprawled against each other.

They seemed to be doing basic boxing, but also seemed to be completely covered in a thick layer of Ki. It was almost as if they had synchronized with their element. With a right hook, one of the four men caused the river behind him to split in half and for a few small aquatic Authoritarians to scatter in fear.

It was amazing, but at the same time seemed impossible. It was like they had created a permanent Ki Armor around their bodies that didn't shut off no matter what. It almost seemed like their Ki was not being controlled by them, but by their dreams.

'I doubt I'll ever be able to do that. Is that something only Authoritarians can master?" Howard crossed his arms and waited for the four men to respond.

10 minutes passed and then 20 minutes before one of the brothers finally seemed to falter. The Ki Aura around his body stopped manifesting before a thunderous punch tore through the air. The tallest of the four brother, though perhaps only taller by an inch, sent a searing punch right into his gut from a foot away.

His black buzz cut hair seemed to stand on its ends like little needs of a porcupine before a punch went into his brothers abdomen and sent him soaring back. 

His brother in response pushed his hand into the ground and smiled before laughing hysterically.

"Ha, not bad! You finally hit me once little brother!"

"Of course! I'm only twenty minutes younger than you! It's a shame our mothers all got pregnant at the same time, but we didn't share a womb! It's too bad! Now who the hell are you, man? Why you just standing there and not fighting with us!" 

The four brother Authoritarians nearly spent all of their time fighting, and when they saw Howard immediately expected him to join in the fracas. One of the things about Silver Night Authoritarians, the four brothers that Howard was looking at, is that they literally never didn't participate in some type of battle.

Even when they ate, the brothers always tried to out eat each other, and when they dated or made children, tried to best their brothers in the number of women. Howard, unaware of this, thought the black haired man was joking. In fact, all four of them had similar buzzcuts and only remotely different features. One had bigger busy black eye brows with a slightly more muscular frame while the other three were more scrawny. However, other than that, they literally seemed like they were cut from the same cloth!

"Uhm, I'm not nearly as strong as you four."

"Then what the hell are you doing? Get stronger now! Brothers, let's fight him 4 v 1, hahaha! Let's see what he's got!"

Howard gulped and tried ot shake his hands before a flash of light turned into a fist traveling towards his face. Activating his dream ki, he jumped back and spun away from it. However, turning behind, he felt three large fists traveling towards him.

"Fire King's Embrace!" Howard created a large fire double behind him that blocked the fists only to feel a powerful force pushing into his gut.

'Damn it! It's that weird energy! It's just like Oclen's eyes!"

Boom!

Howard spun into the river and crashed into a small boulder corroded from centuries of wear and tear. However, he felt somewhat excillerated. He saw an opportunity to learn how Oclen's ability worked here! This was it! This was what would make him victorious!

"Not bad. My names' Bracston." The most muscular one said and jumped and pulled up Howard. "Hah, delighted to meet your acquaintance! You okay? I didn't hold back too much, did I?"

"No, it was great!" Howard smiled. "However, aren't you all going to ask anything about me? Your brother saw me with Varne and didn't question me or anything. Aren't you afraid I'll attack you or something?��

"We're authoritarians," Bracston shook his head. "We spend our entire lives waiting on peaks for someone to challenge us to take our territory. If they take our territory, we lose our women, and if we lose that we lose our progeny. Ha, you think we can't tell you're here just to explore? We spent our entire lives fighting people more powerful than us! What the hell do you think we are?"

"Ugh, just curious!" Howard smiled and jumped up. "Anyways, I really do need to train, but there are really powerful people about to attack me. Uhm, I was kind of hoping to find somewhere to hide."

"Hah, hide? Hmmmm, why?" Bracston said, "You're like a block of unpolished jade. Let us beat you up until you'll a little bit sharper. How about you train with us for 1 day, and if you still feel like you need to flee, then run."

"Are you sure? I-I left people behind, and I regret it," Howard said, "I-I can't let anyone else get hurt but me. You guys are strong, but these men are called the Arthraku. I heard they have special techniques to kill Authoritarians twice their strength. I can't risk letting you guys get hurt."

Howard really did want to stay, but if he did these Authoritarians really would get killed. The Arthraku youth that he'd met had ancestors that spent years creating traps and techniques that damaged Authoritarian's ability to manifest their energy. One of the things about Authoritarians that Howard didnt' know, but the Arthraku did, is that the Authoritarians needed Ki to breath. If an Authoritarian went to the surface, it would instantly die from the lack of Ki. By decreasing the Ki in the area, they had an extremely powerful way of dominating them in battle.

Of course, past the SS rank, certain Authoritarians could completely create their own external environment and thus avoid getting trapped by the Arthraku. The Arthraku used a technique called Ki Drain, that sucked up the Ki out of the air. To do this, they had spent years perfecting small doorways that activated much like the Aresouls, however, rather than storing energy they took it to a different place.

Verses the Horned, this skill was almost useless because a person like Howard wouldn't get affected by a lack of Ki. However, against Authoritarians that needed it. It was like opening a doorway to hell! Howard simply couldn't rely on Authoritarians to help him against those youths! He had to do this himself.

"I-I heard of the Arthraku," Bracston said, "However, I also have to defend this mountain peak. This is first Authoritarian Mountain peak out of 1000 Mountain peaks. If I left because of someone being stronger than me, I'd be a loser living in one of the 1000 valleys!"

1000 Valleys were the lowest points of 1000 Monster Valley and were also the harshest places. Many Authoritarians went there to train against other Authoritarians in hopes of claiming one of the peaks. These peaks represented the 1000 most respected places an Authoritarian could conquer in the valley. By being on one, it meant that others had to respect you and you could get all the women you wanted! There was simply nothing more precious to an Authoritarian than procreation and strength! Thus, Howard instantly realized there was nothing he could do.

"I-I guess… If you'd be willing," Howard bowed, "I'd like to learn how to defend those I love! Please teach me how to use Ki the way you do! Please!"

"Sure,"

"Of course!" Two of the four brothers replied,

"Hell yeah!" the other two said in unison. "We're going to beat the crap out of you until you have some confidence! The only thing you should be scared of is stopping this fist right now! Screw those Arthraku, when they get here, we'll see if they're so tough!"

###

Oclen could sense Howard's Ki had traveled all the way to the other side of the Furnace, but couldn't stop sweating when he thought about Howard.

He felt extremely intimidated by that Silver Flame. He needed to make sure he planned properly for killing him as fast as possible. This required him, Macron and his other two followers to unleash attacks in nearly perfect unison.

Even though they were stronger, they had yet to fight a battle in such a low Ki area. Even when they used Ki Drain in the Abyss, their energy would only drop a certain amount. However, here, it was literally like they went from being in a bountiful ocean of Ki to a small river that was suffering from a drought.

"Macran, you're not doing a good enough job!" Oclen shook his head and lowered his arms.

It was Macran, and the other three versus him and they kept making silly mistakes. "All three of you should have enough strength to defeat me! Try harder, and stop holding back!"

"But Oclen…" Macron replied. He was in his most powerful Authoritarian form, the steel rebel ape. "You're bleeding. We've been training so hard that you started bleeding."

"Do you realize this is about our future?" Oclen transformed into his eighteen eyed juggernaut form and cracked his neck. A small door appeared behind him that began to spit out Ki. This was Ki Drain Reversed, and he was basically putting Ki back into the environment so he could heal. "I-I could care less about a little injury! Now come! Attack again at full strength! Use the best strategy you can think of and make sure I fall!"

###

Howard's fist twisted in the air towards Bractston while a small Ki Flame fluctuated around his body. 

He was trying to copy Bracston, but every time he did it seemed to fail. The flame dissipated before he felt a leg touch against his and sent him tripping forward. Watching a fist travel right towards his face from Renace, Bracston's youngest brother, he tried to cover his face but soon went soaring into the air.

Boom!

Howard used his Dream Ki to land on the other side of the river.

A few nearby Authoritarian women seemed to be watching and smiling while winking at Howard. However, he needed to focus! This was a perfect opportunity.

"If I can just master their damn ability I'm sure I can protect them against Oclen! These damn people won't leave the mountain no matter how much I beg! And now all these women keep showing up and also don't care! I'm going to get stronger! I swear!"

"Heh, behind you," Bracston swung his fist straight into Howard's back before he shot into the river. "You're a long, long way from being able to face us. Let's see how tough these Arthraku are. I'm excited."