Victor stepped out into the ring across from his new opponent. It was the second round of the night and Anne was leaning forward, enraptured at what was happening. His opponent looked to be in his late twenties and was wearing a black training gi. They squared off across from each other and Victor looked excited. When I wasn't pounding knowledge into his head he was asking me about combat between practitioners. I think after tonight Victor was no longer going to compete in regular martial arts tournaments. The center of the room was farther down so you would have to hop to get out of it, the old man was standing on one side just out of the fighting pit. He raised his hand and brought it down quickly, starting the fight.
Victor had both his arms up in guard and was taking a step forward when suddenly his opponent was in reach. Victor threw a punch as a reaction but they had already dropped down and swung out with a fist. The punch was a live blow forcing Victor to drop his arm and catch it with the meat of his elbow. I watched his chi flex as the blow connected and dissipated a lot of the energy. To Victor it would have been a love tap.
His opponent started to draw back and using the same arm he blocked with Victor threw a punch. The guy weaved past it, using chi to enhance his speed, then spun around and snapped a kick at Victor. I had trained Victor in one thing very well, how to accept blows with chi. The guy's foot connected with Victor's stomach and all the force dissipated. Victor grabbed the guy by his ankle and twisted it, trying to force the guy to bend. The guy bent but not in the way Victor intended. He twisted with the ankle Victor held, planting a hand on the ground and used his other leg to come around and try to take Victor's head off.
Victor let go of his opponent's ankle and leaned back, dodging the foot that flew by his face by a hair. The guy catwheeled back and Victor set his feet ready for another go. Anne let out a gasp, “what the hell.”
“What did you see this time?”
“I saw the first punch from Victor and the kick from the guy.” She replied to me.
Royce hummed, “Victor is quite durable.”
Anne gave me a look and when I said nothing she turned to Royce, “Victor's always been like that.”
Victor and his opponent started circling each other. They would step in and out, trying to bait the other person into attacking. It was a few seconds of that before the guy committed and lunged across the distance leading with a jab. Victor shifted and rolled it off his shoulder then threw his own blow. His opponent fanned it away and stepped into his guard throwing another jab. It was a flurry of traded back and forth jabs and punches that built up in tempo and speed. The tension in the place increased as blows were traded. It was a masterwork of the art and Victor held on for longer than I thought he would. He just didn't have experience at fighting on this level, the fact he was holding on was a show of his potential.
It was quick when it ended, Victor's opponent slipped through his guard and caught Victor in the cheek with a palm strike. It rolled Victor’s balance to the side making him step off his line to keep his balance. His opponent stepped in and continued striking, laying out a smooth combo that told me it was trained in. It was a light uppercut that lifted him off his feet, a kick that spun him and a solid palm strike to his chest that shot Victor across the room. Victor hit the wall that circled the room hard, the sound echoed across the room and dust was kicked up from the impact. I heard Anne suck in a breath and I leaned forward. If these people were going to attack Victor, it would happen right now.
His opponent held his pose, his palm out before relaxing and watching Victor. Victor released a groan and started to pick himself up, the room let out a sigh of relief and the old man called out Victor's opponent as the winner of the spar. Victor staggered over and took his seat while the next people were called out to fight. I watched the next fight play out while Victor glared at Royce, “Happy?”
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Royce glanced at Victor then turned back to the fight. The two people were exchanging blows in rapid succession, “It was not me you needed to impress.”
Victor let out a snort, “I’m not here to impress anyone. You came to me and forced me to come here.”
“There are masters here that could teach you to harness what you have.” Royce replied.
Victor looked to me before replying, “No thanks. You guys are pretty much assholes.”
Royce glared at Victor, “The wallow in the small puddle you seem to enjoy.”
Victor looked to reply but I leaned forward getting between the two. They could still glare at each other above me, “Victor Ignore it.”
His jaw shut with a click, then he gave me a nod and we turned back to the fight. We didn't talk much the rest of the night, just watched fight after fight with little breaks in between. Royce kept giving me looks in between bouts, I think he was wondering why Victor listened to me. The spars slowly finished and I saw the second new person, they stood out in how they barely had any chi technique. I was starting to put together how the place functioned when some of the older looking chi practitioners came down to where they sat and talked to them, offering teachings.
After the new people fought some of the older people with more chi came out and did some exhibition matches. One guy did a double jump, another put his fist through a steel plate. A very small part of me thought it was cool but the Suneya part of me could only look at the flaws in their techniques and how to do it better, they were flashy with little substance. A few people looked like they were going to approach Victor but Royce glared them off. He had been stewing since Victor turned him down.
The night ended and the old man said some parting words, then everyone started cleaning up and leaving. Royce gave us a look and motioned for us to follow him. He didn't talk to us on the way and when we got to the exit of the mountain he left us without a backwards glance. It was night as we stepped outside, we didn't talk as we walked to the van and Victor let slip a cuss when he saw it. The paint had been scratched up, I walked around it and saw the tires were fine.
We got in the van with Anne driving and Victor in the passenger seat. We had driven about a half an hour in silence before Victor spoke out, “This night felt like a waste of time.”
“Why do you think that? I thought it was fun.” Anne asked.
“We were forced to go there by Royce. I got beat up for nothing. Sensei, can you teach me everything you saw tonight?”
I leaned back and chewed on the mouthpiece of my kiseru as I thought about it. The things I saw tonight made me doubt that, “I don't think I could teach you something so sloppy but that shouldn't be what you're worried about.”
Victor sighed and nodded, “They are going to be coming for me.”
“WHAT?!” Anne shouted. She glanced between the rearview mirror at me and Victor. “What the hell do you mean they will be coming for you?”
“They said that place trained ninjas and they stomped out rogue practitioners right?” I asked.
She nodded her head to show she was following along then her eyes lit up as she put the pieces together, “They still use the ninja training and are stomping out the competition?”
Victor nodded at her, “Something along that line.”
“Are you going to be ok?” She asked.
I reached forward and grabbed the arm of Victor's shirt and ripped it off. He let out a shout then gave me a look. I tore it into a single strip and handed it to him, “Tie that around your eyes.”
Victor sighed before taking the cloth and looking at it in his hands, “What am I supposed to do then? Channel Chi into my ears?”
“Your ears, your skin, your tongue, your nose, Channel it everywhere. It will feel weird until you learn what I am teaching you.”
He looked at the thing in his hands before grunting and tying it around his head. With his eyes closed off he asked, “If the last one was called Hardened Oak, what is the name of this one then?”
“Its good that you remember.”
“Kind of hard not to when you beat it into me over the last few weeks.”
“It's called Whispers of the Wind.”
“That's cool and everything but you guys didn't answer me. Is Victor going to be ok?” Anne cut in.
Victor and I chuckled before I answered, “Victor will be fine. The ninjas I'm guessing will have some skill in stealth, maybe a technique to quiet their footsteps or something. When victor learns this technique they won't be able to hide from him.”
“Is this going to be something I will have to focus on to understand it?” Victor asked.
“When you learn it you will understand. It's a passive thing. I can feel the road passing below our van for instance, all the cracks and bumps. I see them if I pay attention but otherwise it's just more scenery.” I answered him.
That's something he would feel when he learned it. I could feel other things too, like what I assumed to be mana or something like it in the air. There were other things too but they were not harmful and seemed to be part of the world around me.