บท 3: Challenge
บรรณาธิการ: Hitesh_
The boy was not prepared for this assault.
Fire Crow Clan's warriors, however, were born with the talent to control fire. The boy cursed in rage; he patted his body and extinguished the flame. Soon, only wisps of smoke were left around his body.
Ji Hao proudly looked at the boy's bald head and loudly said, "Hah, a waste who couldn't even stand a mere handful of fire, who gave you the guts to clamor around here?"
Ji Xia, with his arms folded across his chest, amusingly looked at Ji Hao while he remained silent.
Several elderly men who sat around the bonfire happily nodded and oddly laughed at Ji Hao. These elderly men seemed to be the eldest amongst all the people present.
Amongst a group of muscular men who were sitting in front of Ji Xia, one man stood up. He was not shorter than Ji Xia but was born with a slim stature. Unlike other warriors, no muscles could be seen on his body. His skin was white and tender, and he didn't look like a tribesman of the Southern Primitive Forest at all. His long hair was tied into a braid by three jade rings and had it lay on his back; bright lights flashed through his slender eyes which made him look like a cunning person.
"Wu, do not humiliate our family." His voice was cold, yet feminine and gentle, emanating a gloomy atmosphere.
The boy, whose hair and eyebrows had just gotten burnt, shouted and strode towards Ji Hao. He moved nearly a hundred feet in a single step and then threw a punch to Ji Hao's face. He simultaneously growled, "Bastard! You only dare to attack from behind! I am Ji Wu, son of the powerful Ji Shu!"
The wind brought upon by Ji Wu's fists blew across Ji Hao's long hair, straightening every single strand backwards, pulling against his scalp and causing great pain.
So powerful!
Ji Hao immediately realized that Ji Wu was at least three times stronger than himself. Physically speaking, it was impossible for Ji Hao to endure this punch.
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Ji Hao's fingers changed form and interlocked together; his body flashed, exploding into seven or eight blurred shadows, and moved away. Ji Wu's fist strike thundered in the air without even touching Ji Hao's shadow.
Ji Hao mumbled a spell and tens of arm-thick, fiery serpents flew from the bonfire and rushed, towards Ji Wu under his control.
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Ji Xia breathed gently and smiled, looking at those flying fiery serpents, and said, "Honourable Elders, Hao has been learning magic from you all these years; it seems he has already made some achievements."
Several elderly men laughed and nodded triumphantly. An elder whose eyes were shining with a green fiery light said, "Hao has excellent talent in Maguspriest witchcraft. He will most likely become the first Supreme Magus in our Fire Crow Clan in ten thousand years."
Ji Xia and several warriors sitting beside him smiled; while Ji Shu and his followers, who sat in front of them, frowned simultaneously.
Ji Shu, the delicate and beautiful man, growled, "Wu! Ji Hao is a legendary genius, you must be careful!"
In the meantime, Ji Shu threw a glance of discontent towards those elders. These elders were the most respected Maguspriests in the Fire Crow Clan; their bias towards Ji Hao was completely obvious.
Ji Wu let out a growl and a shield-shaped tattoo on his left arm lit up; a metal buckler emerged out of his arm along with a stream of fire[1], shielding his upper body from behind. This bronze buckler was exquisitely crafted with a totem inlaid on its surface - a tower with a bloody eye floating above.
"This shield looks so familiar!" Ji Hao gazed at the delicate totem, immediately shocked.
His fingers subconsciously interlocked together; he had only used thirty percent of his power to control the fiery serpents before; but now, all of his force erupted at once.
Tens of fiery serpents suddenly expanded, devouring each other. Soon, three-hundred-foot-long fiery dragons appeared along with the fierce sound of wind, colliding against the shield.��
With a loud buzzing noise, twelve fist-sized twisted spell symbols emerged from the surface of the shield; a three-foot-thick cyan light shot tens of feet away from the shield; the light caused friction when it collided with the three fiery dragons, making a muffled but explosive sound. Ji Wu held the shield and withstood the tremendous power of the fiery dragons. His body slightly trembled but he did not take a single step back.
"Haha, so you are Ji Hao? The legendary child who was able to speak right after birth, learned how to run when you were a day old, and was already capable of controlling flames while being only a month old?"
Ji Wu resisted the flames with the shield and growled, "But why're you so weak? You are too weak, ah, Ji Hao, you couldn't even harm my hair!"
Ji Hao oddly laughed, releasing control of the three rapidly shrinking fiery dragons and looked at Ji Wu, "Harm your hair? Do you still have any hair that I can harm? Hey, how does being bald feel like?"
Ji Wu got provoked by Ji Hao's words. His eyes turned red and his body suddenly lit up; a faint, fiery light erupted outwards from his head.
While laughing, Ji Hao grasped towards the wall; a spear with a flint spearhead and wooden handle flew out from a wooden shelf and steadily fell into Ji Hao's hands.
With a loud shout, Ji Hao held the long spear which was two times longer than his height, and twirled it around in his hands. An intense power flowed from his palms into the spear; a series of red spell symbols lit up on the spear and a stream of flame erupted from the flint spearhead.
Ji Hao's spear collided hard against Ji Wu's shield. A large fire appeared around Ji Hao and Ji Wu; the spear appeared to be a dragon within the fire. In an instant, Ji Hao attacked more than a hundred times; the spear intensely pummeled the shield; blazing flame and cyan light collided against each other which created a loud piercing noise.
After attacking over a hundred times, Ji Hao stopped and took a deep breath. Ji Wu then pushed the shield forward, the three fiery dragons exploded, and a strong force emitted from the shield. A tyrannical power that was too powerful for Ji Hao to withstand with his physical strength was sent towards Ji Hao's body through his arms.
Ji Hao retreated as the spear was knocked into the air by the tremendous force.
Ji Wu silently waved his right arm and an axe tattoo lit up; a dark, metal axe appeared in his hand. Ji Wu waved the axe, relentlessly chopping towards Ji Hao's head.
Ji Hao looked Ji Wu in the eye; he sensed bloodthirst from within Ji Wu's eyes. Was this guy really planning to kill him here?
Fingers interlocked, Ji Hao activated multiple magic spells. His body suddenly disappeared. A whirlwind manifested behind Ji Wu and Ji Hao appeared within the whirlwind, catching the spear which was falling from the sky and smashing it onto Ji Wu's back with all of his strength.
Ji Wu was hit by the spear and slammed onto the wall; dozens of weapons fell from the wooden shelf and hit his head.
Ji Hao used all of his strength in this attack. His internal power[2] formed a spot of light which intensely pulsed between his eyebrows; after which all of his power suddenly erupted.
A gentle yet blazing force invaded Ji Wu's body through his bones and muscles, intensely shaking his internal organs. Ji Wu felt the blazing force inside as though a bomb exploded from within his chest; blood spurted from his mouth, quickly turning into flames, and burning on the ground.
Ji Wu looked like a bear that was kicked on the ass by someone else. He shouted and stood up, picking up the axe in an attempt to continue the fight.
"Enough!" Ji Xia stood up and shouted. "Enough! This is a place for clan meetings, not for you brats to fight."
Ji Shu snorted and coldly spoke with a feminine voice, "Big Brother Ji Xia, why not let those brats finish the fight to let us see who will become the victor? The two of us are competing for the position of leader; let our kids compete as well. Just let everyone watch this show!"
Ji Xia took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Everything will be settled according to the rules of our ancestors. In the Ancestral Worship Ceremony in two weeks, we will settle everything with all of our power."
Ji Wu's face reddened in shame. He dropped the shield and the axe on the ground, pointed at Ji Hao, and yelled, "Ji Hao, will you fight me in the worship ceremony just like a real man? If you lose, you will hide your balls and be a coward for your entire life!"
Ji Hao snorted coldly; he slowly raised his right hand across his neck as he made a slitting gesture, accepting the challenge.
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[1] Weapon tattoos: Special magic which allows Magi to fuse with their weapons; the weapons will appear in the form of tattoos on their skin and will materialize in accordance to the Magi's will.
[2] Internal power: Different from spiritual power, internal power is a force that exists and grows in both the physical body and the spiritual world of a Magus. Can be improved through both internal and external means, and is able to transform into physical force.
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