Invincible Dragon Path

Du du du – Dum!

Du du du – Dum!

Du du du – Dum!

Du du du – Dum!

The primal rhythm of drums, beating from soft to loud, echoed around the hexagon-like arena, each beat a pulse of anticipation. The music formed a solemn hymn and a welcoming crescendo announcing the start of the Reikan ceremony. Named after the god of balance, peace, and combat, it was expected that his worship would serve as the opening of the Reikan tournament as well as the dragon-calling ceremony that followed. It was natural, then, for his music to resonate within this arena.

From the outside, the structure of the arena seemed deceptively small, no larger than five boxing rings clustered together. Yet, stepping inside was like entering another dimension. The strange thing was that for anyone standing inside the arena, it was massive, as wide as several football fields – there was a space of hundreds of square meters within that seemingly small arena. Magic, they said, made the impossible a reality. Appearances, in this place, were utterly deceiving.

This small arena was the 'pit'. Although the name did not sound grand, this arena had many functions woven into its very fabric. At a fighter's whim or preference, the arena could transform. A regular fighting stage could become a muddy quagmire, a snowy field, or a scorching desert.

Fighters could customize the stage as they saw fit, a privilege earned through hard-won victories in the tournament. A winning streak granted advantages, paving the way to the top. On one hand, once a fighter was on a victory streak, it was much harder to lose a fight given the advatages that they unlocked. On the other hand, for a fighter on a losing streak, turning the tide against an opponent who controlled the very environment was a near-impossible feat.

The Top 10 Gauntlet: that's where Mwana aimed to be. Battles were categorized by rank: Legend (fighters 17 and under), Heroic (18-30), and Myth (30+). The fastest route to victory was as brutal as it was simple: challenge, or accept challenges from, fighters in higher ranks. A Legend like Mwana, holder of the Green Dragon Mask, could accept challenges from Heroic or Myth ranked opponents. The rewards? Doubled for Heroes, quadrupled for Myths. The risks? Catastrophic.

If Mwana followed the traditional route of only fighting against other Legends, he would probably need to accumulate dozens of victories to enter the Top 10 Gauntlet and qualify to enter the Reikan ceremony. However, if he challenged and accepted challenges from Heroes and Myths, he could cut those requirements by half in the case of defeating a Hero and a fourth if he defeated several Myths in succession.

'But things are not as simple. Even though the strength everyone can exert is relative, age still means experience and the gap between me and them only gets wider not narrower.' Mwana was young but he was not naïve. His own confidence was unshakeable but he could not deny the truth. Taking on fighters that were 10 or 20 years older than him with decades of experience on their backs was not going to be an easy task.

But still, he had to fight.

Whispers followed Mwana's every step as he approached the betting master. A generous wager placed on his victories, a few well-aimed taunts at potential opponents – the crowd was burning with excitement.

Mwana knew how to play the game.

It is only when Mwana entered the fighting pit that he realized its sheer magnificence, an arena designed for chaos. Standing opposite him was his first opponent, a man who the announcer introduced as 'the Rogue'.

"Are you Jura the Sea-worker?" Mwana's opponent was the first to speak, his voice loud and his tone arrogant. This man was tall and thin with arms like an orangutan. At a glance Mwana could tell that this was either a feature he was born with or a mutation from practicing certain kinds of martial arts.

The man's back was slightly hunched and his entire body leaned forward like a gorilla. It was obvious at a glance that he practised martial arts that imitated other apes.

"Uh-huh" After a long delay, this was the only response Mwana could muster for such a rude guy. For a second, Mwana had forgotten that he had registered under the pseudonym Jura.

The Rogue – "Uh-huh? You dare speak casually!"

Mwana – "Uh-huh."

The Rogue – "You, you dare to mock me?!"

"Uh-huh." Mwana responded once more while picking his nails. 'What kind of questions are these? It's like dealing with a toddler.'

"Aaaah aaaaah!" The Rogue seemed to have lost his mind in anger. Opposite him, Mwana stood flabbergasted. He could have sworn that nothing he said or did warranted this type of reaction. 'I have always been a calm and respectful boy ehm ehm, a calm and respectful man, how could this man act like this?!'

From a squatting stance, the Rogue launched himself into the air leaping a distance of 50 or so meters in a single bound. Before Mwana could even complete his thought, a giant palm the size of a basin came slapping at his face.

"Monkey Paw!"

It was too late to dodge so all Mwana could afford was a lackluster defense by bringing his hands up to protect his face.

Twaaaa!

It was like a bullet went off as Mwana was slapped into the air his body tumbling back as he tried to regain his foothold.

"I will teach you a lesson, pup!" The opponent's voice entered Mwana's ears from the left but when he turned to look, no one was there!

Twaaaa!

This time the hit came from behind making Mwana feel as if his spine was dislocated.

"...How dare a weakling like you act up in front of me... go to sleep!" The Rogue mocked as his 'monkey paw' slapped Mwana away as he saw his opponent fall beside him.

However, this time Mwana did not fly off, he withstood it! Although his body slid backwards slightly, his feet stayed rooted to the ground!

His opponent was right in front of him.

Although it was risky not to disperse the force of the attack, Mwana was confident that as long as his body was balanced and his eyes were fixed on the enemy, he would not lose.

"Is that all you've got? My grandmother hits harder!" Mwana mocked as he launched his own fist towards the Rogue's face. Since the opponent was being disrespectful, there was no reason for Mwana to lighten his words.

In fact, Mwana had never even met either of his grandmothers, maternal or paternal, since they died long before he was born. So he did not feel any shame in 'soiling' his grandmother's reputation. 'Which grandma would want to be known as a soft hitter…never mind.'

While Mwana's mocking almost had the blood in the Rogue's head exploding, he held on to his anger turning it into pure power. The Rogue was fast, his body as agile as a monkey, from the moment Mwana threw a punch towards him he had already ducked. He turned and threw a spinning back kick towards Mwana's temple.

The kick was thrown like a whip cracking through the air.

Twaaaaaaa!

"What a ruthless kick!"

"If that hits, someone's head could go flying off!" People in the audience had their eyes glued to the battle waiting to see how Mwana would tackle this move.

In his mind, the Rogue could already see his foot embedded in Mwana's skull crushing the latter's nose and sending his teeth flying. 'Your Green Dragon mask will be mine!'

"Hey, you will get hurt if you don't watch your step." However, the next moment a voice entered his ears from behind.

'Who is it?! Who is behind me?! Did someone else sneak into the ring?' The Rogue was filled with dread. He could still see Mwana right in front of him hurrying to guard against his kick with a panic-ridden look. No matter how hard he tried, Mwana's arms would never make it in time to block the kick; it was only a few millimeters away from his face!

Hearing the voice behind him, the Rogue's senses sharpened; he could feel the surge of inexplicable power charging up behind him. But it was only when his foot made contact with Mwana's face that he understood what was happening, but it was too late.

"Rushing Thunder Charge!"

A burst of bright red electrical energy rippled throughout the arena; each arc as wide as a basin. When the stray arcs of lightning arcs made contact with the dry ground of the arena, they would dig it out for dozens of meters. The audience could not even imagine the kind of impact that the recipient of this move suffered.

Rushing Thunder Charger; this move finally saw the light of day again.

At the center of the arena, a figure staggered out of the range of the electric discharge, his skin scorched black. The Rogue who was once a very hairy man now had skin as smooth as a baby's. And it was not just the hair on his skin, his head which previously had long thick red hair was now smooth and bald. With each step he took, he looked more and more like a rickety puppet as the electricity coursed through his body causing his muscles to spasm randomly.

"Whoa there, I told you to watch your step. Take care not to fall." Mwana joked as he walked from behind his opponent. Whenever the Rogue would take a step, Mwana would also take a step with him seeming like he was ready to catch the former and help him up if he fell.

"The audacity of this man!" It is an understatement to say that the audience was more shocked by Mwana's mocking behavior than his strength. After all, mockery towards an enemy's strength was one of the taboos of fighting.

Therefore, it was understandable when the Rogue, who was never good at holding his anger, lost his mind at Mwana's actions. "You pup! How dare you do this!!" He was so angry that he kept repeating himself like a broken recorder, "How dare you! How dare you! How dare you! Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you are the Rogue. Why are you asking me, did you forget your own name?" Despite Mwana's playfulness, he was on high alert.

From the moment, the Rogue withstood his attack without losing consciousness; he had noticed a thick and primal energy growing deep within the other party. 'It seems as if the angrier he gets the more that mysterious power grows, accumulates, and then maybe explodes!'

"Jura!" the Rogue rumbled, his voice a guttural growl that shook the arena floor. "Prepare for me to shut that trap of yours, I am..."

He began his introduction, a roar of self-proclamation, but Mwana didn't wait. He'd learned long ago that in a real battle, hesitation meant defeat.

"...my na—"

The sentence died in his throat. Mwana exploded forward, a blur of emerald energy. His fist connected with the Rogue's face with a sickening crack.

Teeth erupted in a shower of blood and bone, scattering across the arena floor. The Rogue staggered backward, his eyes wide with stunned disbelief.

"One punch..." he sputtered filled with disbelief, his voice thick with blood. The next moment, his eyes lost the sight of light; then he fell with a thundering boom, face downwards.

In fact the Rogue was not stupid. From the moment he was stunned by Mwana's lightning attack, no it was even before that when he realized that his opponent possessed frightening speed, the Rogue had started preparing his ultimate attack. Whether it was his show of anger after Mwana's Rushing Thunder Charge or his attempt to tell his true name, they were all means to an end. It was an attempt to buy time so that he could charge up his strongest move.

Unfortunately for him, Mwana did not fall for it.

The Rogue's quick defeat left everyone stunned.

Like a blown out candle, the noise of the rowdy crowds instantly faded.

"Come on, I thought you were supposed to be tough. I barely broke a sweat!" Mwana's gloating broke through the crowd's silence but no one could fault him. Even they thought that the Rogue would do better given his dominant opening.

The next moment the crowd burst out in loud cheers and even louder discussions.

"He didn't even let him finish his intro!" a spectator shrieked breaking the pin-drop silence. "That's cold, even for the Pit!"

"Serves him right," another bellowed. "All that talk and he gets his teeth knocked out in one hit!"

"How did he do it?!" From the audience, a man whose face could only be described as 'always has something to hide' asked in shock. It was Asu Bu, one of Gurudumu Keire's 'friends' but in fact he was just a follower. What he was asking about was not Mwana's final punch nor was it about the lightning attack. The thing that shocked him the most was Mwana's almost imperceptible movement when he dodged the Rogue's final kick. Like the Rogue, Asu Bu and most of the audience had their senses deceived as well.

"Extreme Speed + all-sensory disappearance! Is that NoS?" Keire's calm voice entered Asu Bu's ears. Maybe on this arena, he was one of the few people who actually saw how Mwana moved.

"NoS? The no state?" Asu Bu exclaimed in shock. This was a state that was said to be the domain of only the best assassins.

"Yes, it is said to be perfect camouflage. But I can see that that man is not truly there yet." Keire concluded. Although Mwana had not truly achieved the perfect state, he was not far off.

"He calls himself Jura the Sea Worker, what an interesting man." From another corner of the spectator seating area, another fighter had his eyes locked on Mwana inspecting every detail. Although he wore a dark cloak covering his entire body, there was a deep green fire burning where his eyes should have been – he looked extremely eerie.

"I wonder whose speed is better, his or mine." Another voice commented. This man did not hide himself at all.

At first glance it was clear that he was not human. His entire body was armored with a thick dark carapace exoskeleton covered in orange tiger stripes. His head was even scarier, looking like the fusion between some type of insect, a tiger, and a human!

Tiger Beetle – a high rank fighter and a three-time champion in previous Underground Masquerade Tournament's. For that alone, some even called him 'The King of Reikan'; and his fight was up next!