Jin Jinlan knew the end was near. He realized this subconsciously when the redheaded woman had dodged his first blow, and as he stood there, waiting for her to return, it only settled deeper in his mind. His opponent this time was not simple. No, a better word would be “possible.” She was not possible.
When she turned to face him after escaping his onslaught, for a moment, all he felt was frustration. Frustration that he had been delayed. Then, he looked into her eyes. Rather than the terror or confusion or betrayal he had come to expect, he was met with intense annoyance. Annoyance, and something else that looked almost like boredom. Like he was an unpleasant, but ultimately harmless bug that had decided to land on her dinner plate.
He was reminded of his time back in his hometown in the outer area of the Tower. His grandfather, a distant relative of the famed Jin clan, had managed to reach the twentieth Floor, allowing his descendants to live a somewhat luxurious lifestyle. As the strongest group in their town. That had all changed though when he arrived.
Every ten Floors in the Tower, there was a huge difficulty spike. They were walls that most were never able to overcome. The one at the twentieth Floor had stopped Jinlan’s grandfather, but the man who had ruined their hometown made it all the way to the fiftieth. Needless to say, the difference in power was immense, and not something the Jin family could hope to overcome.
That did not mean they didn’t try. When the newcomer set up his own household, using his power and influence to more or less take over the area, the Jins had tried to stop him. Not through violence, of course, but through law. The newcomer made no attempt to hide his bribery and threats, and though no one did anything about him, it was an open secret what kind of man he was. In the end though, it didn’t matter.
When he stood in the courtroom, the judge spouting nonsense about lack of evidence, Jinlan had momentarily made eye contact with the man, and realized the truth. The man was never for a moment concerned. The Jins were nothing more than a small prick in his finger. A minor annoyance to be brushed aside.
The woman in front of him gave the same impression. She lacked Oum. Her body was weak. She had clearly been exerting herself before, based on how she was covered in blood. And yet, she did not doubt her victory. Her choice to go for the treasure was not one borne of greed, but rather of absolute confidence.
Jinlan cursed his fate, but deep down, he accepted it. He knew he deserved it. In his desperation to achieve the power he needed to climb the Tower and rescue his family and reclaim his homeland, he did something he shouldn’t have. He immediately regretted it, and not just because he was arrested, but it was too late. Far, far too late. No amount of regret could bring back the dead.
Shortly after his arrest, he was sentenced to death himself. He managed to get the sentence commuted to community service on the first Floor, but he was only delaying the inevitable. He was tasked with being a monster in the labyrinth trial, and his sentence would only be served when he failed 10,000 Aspirants in a row. The moment his streak was broken, his commuted death sentence would be carried out.
He was a dead man walking. His only hope was to kill the woman. By all metrics, that shouldn’t have been an issue. No one from an oum-less planet should have been. But of course, he had to run into the one to whom the rules didn’t seem to apply. The one whose existence seemed impossible.
Still, he would not give up. Not without a fight at least. His despair did not outweigh his determination. He still dreamt of reaching the fiftieth floor. Even if it took him a century, he would do it, or he would die trying.
When the redheaded woman finally reappeared down the tunnel, a chill ran down his spine, but he set his jaw and prepared himself. It was the fight that would determine his fate. A fight for survival. And while he despaired, he did not plan to lose.
***
While I stretch, I keep my eye out for the cat. It still has not reappeared, but I can sense something. It’s hidden at the back of my mind, and I half-wonder if perhaps I’m just tricking myself into believing it, but I’m sure the cat is around. I thought I would feel better if it’s gone, but now I only feel worse. At least when it was on my shoulder, I knew where it was and what it was doing.
Regardless, I can’t afford to let it distract me. Unlike the chained man, the cat has yet to show any hostility. It may be dangerous, but it’s not an immediate threat, and I can’t afford to have my mind wandering while I’m fighting.
Jinlan watches wordlessly as I swing my arms around, loosening them for the coming battle. This is probably something I should have done for the wolf as well, but it frankly wasn’t ever much of a threat. With Jinlan, the risk of death is much greater. Not that I expect to lose, but the margin of error is much smaller.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
When he attacked earlier, I got a good measure of his skill level and fighting style, which only makes me more confident. He is skilled, yes, but his martial arts do not fit him. He has a strong body, a long reach, and his ki techniques make the most of that, but his mental attributes are antithetical to his style. His build and talents are best-suited toward being a calm, collected counter-striker, but his personality and emotional volatility make him more suited to be a more reckless brawler.
He appears calmer now than he was earlier, but I can see it in his eyes. He will lose his cool again, and when he does, any chance of victory will disappear.
In order to facilitate this, I take my time stretching. I’m in no rush. While we are on a timer, I doubt it will be very strict for how quickly we’re moving. The eight hours is for people who are not like me and Vanessa, able to choose the right path every time and avoid traps while hardly trying. Honestly, with how long we’ve been moving, it’s likely that we’re near the end. Taking an extra few minutes for this won’t hurt. Well, it won’t hurt us at least. It’s doing a number on Jinlan’s mental state though.
It looks like he had resolved himself to fight me as soon as I returned, but with every minute I spend acting nonchalant, that resolve crumbles a bit more.
“Scared?” he asks, a bead of sweat running down his temple.
“No,” I say casually. “I just don’t want to pull a muscle.”
Jinlan smiles, probably trying to seem confident, but it’s unconvincing.
“You’re only delaying the inevitable. You have no oum. You-”
He stops and his face pales as I gather a small amount of ki and toss it at him. It’s about all I can gather at the moment, and without a ki center, it dissipates as it gets near him, but it still reaches him, ruffling his clothes slightly.
“What did- ? Wha- ? H-how did you do that?”
I smile as I turn to face him, bouncing on my toes. His confusion is understandable. While it was simple, what I did should not even have been possible for a first rate martial artist, let alone one without a ki center. The concepts at play require an understanding of ki that is usually only possible after reaching the Peak realm, the one just past first rate. I can almost see his mind short circuiting. With that, the mental battle is won.
I don’t respond, instead walking toward him with my hands raised. He takes a nervous step back, and my smile widens. He takes another step back, but then realizes what he’s doing. After a moment of hesitation, he steps forward again, getting in range, and then the physical battle begins. And it hurts.
While I’m confident I can win, it’s a simple fact that he has too much ki for me to do so unscathed. With every strike that I dodge, I get a bit more battered. My sweatshirt has a few small tears in it, and beneath, my skin is bruising. It’s nothing a few hours of ki meditation won’t fix though, so I make sure to maintain my smile, not letting him think for a moment he has any advantages.
He is much faster than me, but his moves are so obvious and telegraphed that dodging is no problem. Counterattacking is a bit trickier, since his openings are narrow, but after thirty seconds or so, I get a feel for his rhythm and aim a short kick to the inside of his left knee. His eyes widen and he mobilizes his ki, nullifying the attack and sending pain shooting up my shin.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vanessa biting her nails in nervousness, but I ignore her. Despite how easily he blocked my attack, everything is still going according to plan. His defense is even sloppier than his attack, wasting far more ki than he needs to. He has a lot of ki, but at this rate, he will run out within a few minutes. Probably less, since he’ll no doubt start getting desperate and wasting even more soon.
A few seconds later, he does just that. As my sense of the battle’s flow improves, my movements only get more fluid, his attacks getting even further from making contact, which in turn, makes him try harder, making him even easier to read, and therefore easier to dodge. The vicious cycle continues, Jinlan spiraling further and further out of control until finally I have a good opening.
He throws a wild haymaker, overextending beyond anything he’s done before, and I step in to take advantage. I lift my leg to kick at his knee as if trying to hyperextend it like I did before. He quickly moves back, reinforcing his knee with ki, but I had been expecting that. Rather than continuing with the kick, I plant my foot on his now stable knee and push off the ground with my back foot, bringing my other leg up until my knee hits his nose. With a satisfying crack, I feel his nose break, and he stumbles backward, blood pouring down his face.
It’s the first significant blow either of us have landed, and both of us know it signals the beginning of the end. Jinlan stares at me for a moment, and then does something I didn’t expect. Suddenly, his ki surges, and he dashes toward me.
Fucking dumbass! Why the hell is he using his innate core ki? Is he suicidal?
For the first time, my smile vanishes, and I’m forced on the defensive as he unleashes a barrage of attacks, faster and more powerful than before. I duck the first punch, sidestep the second, turn my body to let the third slip past, then leap backward to avoid a low kick, then further to escape a spinning back kick, but the wave of ki coming off that last attack forces me off balance, and when the followup punch comes, I don’t have time to dodge it.
I raise my arms to block, and his fist smashes into my forearm, snapping it, before continuing forward and striking my chest, sending me flying backward toward the tunnel.