Chapter 27: The History Of Karate Island #27
Cedric couldn't help but internally curse as he jumped from wooden post to wooden post, twisting his body in the air to dodge the barrage of small rocks Liu Fan threw at him.
"Fuck! Any more of this, and my finger will break, you dirty old man!" He exclaimed as he landed on his left index finger on a wooden post after dodging three rocks in the air.
"One broken finger is a small price to pick up chicks, young man..." Liu Fan calmly said in a resolute tone as he stopped the barrage of small rocks and approached Cedric, much to the young man's relief.
"But luckily for you..." The old martial artist said as he probingly poked Cedric's torso, trying to make him lose balance. "You don't have to pay it..." He added, nodding in satisfaction at the results as the young man didn't fall or even budge, for that matter.
"On your feet, my student. You have achieved the necessary balance and flexibility..." Liu Fan said as he stepped back, and Cidric happily obliged without hesitation. "Congratulations! You are now finally fit to practice my martial art..." He added, picking up a bo staff lying on the ground.
"Take up your spear. I will now show you what you stand to learn if you maintain the same devotion you have shown me so far..." The elderly martial artist said as he brandished the bo staff in a circular motion.
"Anything to get me out of those stupid balance exercises..." Cedric said with a grimace as he shook his hand. "God... my fingers are so fucking sore..." He grumbled as he picked up his spear and stood face to face against his teacher.
"It's too early for you to celebrate, young man..." Liu Fan said with a sly grin as he flicked his beard with one hand and spun the bo staff with the other. "I'm afraid your suffering has only begun..." He added, bizarrely twisting his body as he maneuvered the weapon around his body.
"Now come at me with everything you've got," The elderly martial artist concluded, tightly gripping the staff with both hands as he lowered his gesture and waited for Cedric to make the first move.
"Hey... you asked for it..." Cedric said with a grin, clearly excited at the prospect of getting payback as he charged Liu Fan and sent his spear flying toward the elder's chest as soon as he was within the optimal striking distance.
Much to Cedric's surprise, Liu Fan didn't move to block or dodge or show any reaction, seemingly frozen as the spear's sharp tip flew toward his chest, causing the young man to panic as he tried to stop the attack.
Cedric failed to halt the momentum of the spear in time, but the elder finally moved when the spear's tip was less than half an inch away from his heart.
Liu Fan's body suddenly seemed to sway as he stepped back and moved his shoulder, dodging the attack by a hair's breadth, akin to a leaf or a small piece of paper swaying with the wind.
"Holy shi--" That was all Cedric could say before Liu Fan suddenly spun his body and smacked the back of his head with the bo staff, causing him to swallow his words and stagger forward.
"Was that--" Cedric tried to say something else, but the elderly martial artist was having none of it as he quickly swiped the young man's feet with the bo staff, causing him to fall flat on his back.
"We'll have plenty of time to speak after the training..." Liu Fan said, his tone and expression uncharacteristically serious as he gestured from Cedric to quickly get up.
"On your feet now, young man, before I die of old age," The elderly martial artist instructed, causing Cedric to sigh as he rose to his feet with a quick kick-up.
"Again...!"
...
Later
"Are you sure that was part of the training...?" I asked, giving Liu Fan a skeptical look as I dragged my feet behind him on our way to the Red Daisies. "It felt you were just out to kick my ass..." I added with a grimace, still feeling the pain, mental and physical.
"Of course it was for training purposes..." Liu Fan said as he stopped and turned to give me an affronted look. "It totally had nothing to do with you scoring with that pretty redhead Gloria even though she rejected me..." He grumbled as he resumed walking, prompting me to roll my eyes in exasperation.
"Whatever..." I said, rolling my eyes. "That was Kami-e, what you did in the spar, wasn't it...? One of the six powers?" I asked as I sped past my teacher and stood before him.
"Oh? You know about the Rokushiki?" Liu Fan said as he stopped walking and raised an eyebrow. "If you already know, then there's no harm in telling you..." He added with a shrug as he resumed moving and gestured for me to follow.
"Yes, that was Kami-e, one of the six powers known as the Rokushiki..." The elderly martial artist briefly concluded, wrongly assuming those few words were enough to answer my questions.
"I already established that much on my own..." I said without bothering to hide my annoyance as I increased pace to keep up with Liu Fan. "But how, when, and where did you learn it? Isn't it supposed to be a top-secret world government thingy..." I asked, scratching my head.
"And where do you think the people of the world government learned about the Rokushiki in the first place...?" Liu Fan asked with a snort, clearly offended by my words. "Those incompetent fools couldn't come up with anything remotely as intricate..." He added, shrugging his shoulders.
"You mean...?" I remarked, my eyes widening.
"That's right... it was the martial artists of Karate island who invented the Rokushiki..." Liu Fan said with a heavy sigh, slightly slowing his pace as he spoke. "Each of the six powers was derived from six different martial art styles long ago..." He added as he shook his head.
Noticing I still had questions, Liu Fan kept talking without waiting for me to ask. "Any records of that time were lost, but our predecessors passed down the story by word of mouth..." H explained, his tone grave.
"There were six martial artists, each a master of their style with hundreds of students..." The elderly martial artist said, raising six fingers. "So talented the masters were, they reached depths in martial arts once thought impossible... each creating a technique that one could only describe as superhuman..." He added.
"The power to soar the air like a dragon... to stand as immovable as a mountain... to cut with a dull blade..." Liu Fan said, lowering three fingers with every sentence. "To strike like a snake... to move like the wind... and finally to sway with the wind like a leaf would..." He added, lowering the last three fingers.
"Naturally, the masters were all headstrong men, and each believed their art was the best, prompting them to start a war that lasted many years, costing many lives..." The elderly martial artist explained, and his tone was solemn and heavy.
"Ultimately, an outsider called Joy Boy stopped the needless war..." Liu fan said, pausing as he seemed to remember the details. "Like the six masters, he was a talented man as he only needed a few months to learn the six masters..." He added.
"Joy Boy not only mastered the six powers in such a short time but also combined them and created a seventh..." Liu Fan said, flicking his beard as he spoke. "He called the new technique Rokuogan and used it to defeat the six masters, one after the other..." He added.
"In doing so, he showed the six masters the errors of their ways and that it was better to work together to create and learn more techniques instead of mindlessly killing one another... and so they did..." The elderly martial artist explained.
"The six masters and their students learned to work together and joined forces to build the first town on this island, Black Leatherback town..." He continued in a calm tone.
"The study of martial arts flourished on the island, and Jou Boy left after making a promise they did not share with their students..." Liu Fan said with a sigh. "The world government formed several years after their departure, and they soon came knocking..." He added, suddenly pausing as he seemed to realize something.
"And I probably souldn't have said that much... forget what I said..." Liu Fan said as he stopped walking, having finally reached his destination. "Now stop asking meaningless questions, and let's pick up some chicks...!" He added, flashing a lewd smile as he opened the door and headed inside.
....
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