บท 1: Hybrid Styles
Some say that humanity's concept of combat was introduced by a caveman who created a spear with merely a rock and branch. However, the disciple of the world's strongest martial artist had to disagree. His opinion was that the concept for combat had long been ingrained into humanity's very bloodline far back in ancient times.
In his view, the creator of humanity's way of combat wasn't the caveman who created the spear, but the caveman who began to use his limbs for battle!
It was that prehistoric man who created the concept of weakening an opponent through combat, and as time passed, the modern era evolved that concept to the martial arts of today.
The disciple who believed in the theory of man being born for battle since he was a practitioner of a certain style of martial arts which prioritised on killing using everything one could muster up.
The disciple's master had once asked him a series of questions: "What is the purpose of your arts? What is your way of martial arts? Why do you fight? A man must follow their own path while training, so what is your martial way?"
However, the disciple laughed in response: "What 'way' is there in martial arts? Martial techniques themselves are dead, but we are the living. In the end, my 'way' of martial arts will obviously be to do as I see fit!"
'Hah... Whether it is Northern, Eastern, Western, or Southern styles of martial arts.... All forms of martial arts are lifeless techniques practiced by the user in order to search their life's goals' Was what the disciple firmly believed in his heart. Not once did his opinion change of waver in the face of numerous foes.
It's harsh to the ears but reality is just that cruel. Take Boxing as an example of that: Even though Boxing is a martial arts that's centred around weakening its opponent, if the user desired, he could change it to become a savage martial art used on the street.
Boxing can easily become Street Boxing if the martial artist wasn't able to accept it as an art for self-defence. That is because only the living can 'desire' while martial arts themselves are dead.
The disciple didn't deny that martial arts cultivated diligence, but cultivating diligence alone doesn't change a person at their core. It is the martial artist himself who decides how he will use his power to control his own life. No one can take this 'freedom' away from him.
In the garden of a expensive mansion built atop of a private island was a white-clothed man admiring the intricately ordered plants around him.
"Alex." The disciple's master, an old grandmaster of unarmed martial arts named John Stuman called out to him.
"What's wrong?" Alex, who had the same surname as his master, curiously asked in response. His voice was filled brimming with vigour as he turned around to look at his aged teacher.
He was now thirty eight years old today, about twenty years younger than his master in age. His body was more lean than his master's and looked less muscular on the outside, but only he knew how much effort he put into training his body to have no excess fat.
Alex was quite a handsome man with manly facial features, combining his looks with his strength, it wouldn't be surprising if he already had children.
However, oddly enough, despite the obvious advances of several women over the years, a martial art fanatic like himself wasn't interested in anything besides martial arts. He purposely estranged himself just to train his martial arts and techniques to the perfection he had always dreamed of.
"You've changed a lot..." His master answered while giving him a deep look.
Alex's master was someone respected by the government as a secret martial arts instructor with a lot of war merits on his shoulders to display his valour.
The only thing stopping him from becoming a famous figure among the military was the secrecy of his position and the lack of information regarding the various practitioners he had taught.
Why was he kept a secret?
If he was merely a master martial artist, he wouldn't be too big of a deal.
Those titled as masters of martial arts weren't exceedingly hard to find for those with a lot of money since every country was able to get into contact with martial artists of such caliber as long as they were willing to pay a price.
After understanding this reason, there could only be one answer: The bulky old man named John Stuman wasn't 'merely' a master of martial arts.
The only reasonable deduction would be that he was a man titled as a grandmaster martial artist! An existence on an entirely different plane than 'mere' masters of martial arts...
John was a white-haired elderly man with a build that was not too massive but also not too fleshy. He was an entire size larger than even Alex whose body was practically the embodiment of what's truly perfect health. A knife scar on the old man's face was enough to indicate the many battles he fought.
When the old man remembered his past, all he could remember was the words of his master. The hardships he faced and the blood he shed in order to reach such a mastery of martial arts.
In the past he was known as the 'Lion' of his militaristic family because of his innate physical strength that was already at peak human condition.
He was the pride of his parents and those he was affiliated with, a man among men. However, he still trained himself to become stronger despite the criticisms given about his efforts.
Many laughed at him due to how his physique had already reached the peak it could reach a long time ago. They said that there was no way he could become stronger than he was in his prime, but he shut them all up after meeting his master and learning the ways of martial arts to keep his pride.
And now, the lion named John Stuman who had been destined for greatness had become just a regular old man. His pride had been hurt by reality, by how pointless he found his years of training in the face of death. He was unable to accept such an ordinary outcome after having dedicated his life to martial arts.
"And you haven't changed one bit, you old bat! It's been a full twenty whole years and that's all you got to say to me?" Alex barked in annoyance. John wryly smiled upon hearing his words since he didn't feel malice in his tone.
Although the words spoken by his disciple sounded harsh, he felt a familiarity with his disciple's short-temper. It made him feel that the Alex in front of him was indeed the same person he taught at a young age. The child with similar strength to his own.
He was glad that his legacy would be carried on by such a genius fighter.
"It seems traveling the world outside of this big mansion has helped you mature. Was the Ancient Style I taught you effective against others? Or did you have to make alterations to it?" John warmly asked as he approached. It was almost like the bloodied killer on the past had faded, leaving behind a regular old man who was full of care.
"I discarded your martial arts and created my own Hybrid Style." This short answer stunned him. John's face darkened as looked at Alex complexly without saying a word, the meaning behind his eyes were extremely clear.
'Discarded?' As a Martial Artist, how could he stand hearing that his and his own master's legacy had been discarded by his disciple? A blazing fury appeared in his eyes as an aura of savagery made him look like a beast.
"Don't look at me like that. You yourself knew for a fact that I would one day surpass you with my monstrous talent. That ancient Chaotic Demon's Dragon Horn style you had taught me was just too violent and doesn't really suit my personality." He arrogantly shrugged while ignoring John's piercing gaze. It sounded like he was just boasting nonsense, but one had to know that he had already reached the level of a master martial artist at the age of eighteen. He was and even now IS the most a gifted martial artist ever born on Earth!
"Doesn't suit your personality? How laughable! The Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn passed down by my ancestors is the only style that is truly fit for you." John locked his eyes with Alex before remarking viciously. He had already forgotten the happiness he felt upon seeing his disciple after so many years and was burning with rage.
He remembered the child he reared at young age so that he could create a suitable successor for the ancient style of martial arts passed down to him.
The bloody image of a truly evil child who brutally murdered the closest friends he made at the government orphanage appeared in John's mind.
"I am not that same person I was before." Alex couldn't take those words laying down and retaliated. He hated it when other brought up his childhood.
If it wasn't his master who brought it up, that person would have been beaten to the ground by his fists. He wasn't no pacifist, but a martial artist!
"The Harmonic Dragon's Angelic Halo is a hybrid style I created through these twenty years of research. I travelled around the world, finding many opponents and studied various martial arts from different regions of Earth.
I researched and deconstructed the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn you taught me in order to reverse-engineer a style that counters it perfectly." Alex continued with a noticeable frown. His solemn eyes displaying his seriousness.
"You gave up using 'violence' in your martial arts?" John asked as his eyes narrowed, an unnoticeable smile curved on the corner of his lips as he sinisterly gazed at his naive disciple.
What was a hybrid martial art? Unlike martial arts that only focused in certain areas of expertise, hybrid styles are created by mixing different martial arts in order to create its so-called 'Dao'. A style that heavily focuses on a 'concept' despite being a mix of traditional and already existing styles of martial arts.
The Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn was an ancient style of martial arts that focused on humanity's primal instincts to survive and killing to acquire food.
The one who created it was actually a caveman from the prehistoric era, a man who copied the movements of dinosaurs and other ancient beasts in order to bring out his potential and exert unnatural control over his body.
The 'Dao' within every movement of this style could be summed up in one word: 'Violence'. A cruel and vicious style of martial arts that only brought forth destruction to both its wielder and the opponent it is used against.
"My new hybrid style doesn't focus on 'violence'. Instead it focuses on my 'health'. It represents my will, my choice, and a promise that I will keep in life. Didn't you once ask me what was my way of martial arts? Well here it is. Be proud of your genius disciple's success." Alex said with deep meaning before turning away from his master.
It was late in the afternoon, the light of dawn fell down on the leaves of John's garden and coloured it in an autumn gold. Although Alex still wanted to admire the scenery, the corner of his eyes twitched as he felt his master's presence distort. He turned back to find his master had initiated a stance.
An aura of madness surrounded John as he put his right foot forward, his hands balled into fists as he held them together in front of his chest, he was unmoving as his eyes sharpened towards his disciple with killing intent.
"You should have understood the moment you received my letter that this would be inevitable. I'm growing old and don't have much time until my strength is weakened by age. You are the only one who can give me a death I'd be satisfied with, so stop this useless charade and fight me properly." John spoke sharply. As the inheritor of a ancient style of martial arts that focused on violence, he too had killed the man who passed him the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn through following tradition of his ancestors.
'There is no going back...' John thought as his shoeless feet firmly grasped the ground. He wanted to make Alex take back his criticisms and understand the greatness of his martial arts before he dies by natural causes. He didn't want to die without the honour of battle...
Alex knew as well that fighting John was inevitable, even if he tried to avoid John, the result wouldn't have changed since there was a chance his master would attack those close to him in order to successfully grab his attention.
Alex knew that no matter what he said to John, his master would stubbornly insist on dying by his hands, yet even so, he felt like rebelling against fate!
Alex's aura also changed as he joined his hands into a sign of praying, his body didn't emit any grand intentions nor ambition, only containing a serenity that was as calm as an ocean.
John felt humiliation upon seeing such a neutral stance that contained not even a drop of killing intent. It felt as if he wasn't fighting a warrior who has survived many battlefields but a scholar who only knew how to boast.
Unlike his own straightforward and vicious aura, his disciple's aura seemed to be meek and harmless. He felt almost as if the stance Alex took was merely a cunning ruse to deceive him.
'Is this your 'hybrid style'? ...You've wasted your own potential!' John was furious as he felt nothing from Alex's strange stance. The fact that he couldn't feel any threatening vigour from Alex's body at all incensed him.
As someone who has experienced countless battles, John couldn't help but feel his disciple's new stance was weak. John's arms separated as his body shot towards Alex like he had been shot out of a powerful catapult.
John's intention was clearly just to test the strength of his disciple's new hybrid style of martial arts himself. A savage light appeared in his eyes as he opened his fist to stretch his fingers into a claw.
The sound of air being torn apart could be heard as the tip of his fingers aimed for Alex's acupuncture points at a breakneck speed. Hundreds of ways to completely slaughter his disciple appeared in John's mind in the instant he was about to touch him, yet his full-force attack was countered easily.
Alex didn't step back, but instead stepped forwards, his timing was so abrupt that John's fingers missed their marks. A gentle force enveloped John as he felt his feet leaving the ground. It was only after he saw the the sky above him did he realise he had been thrown.
John's body surprisingly turned in mid-air in order to stop the fall. He was aware of how dangerous it was to be taken off guard for even a moment.
Once he landed in his feet, he looked back at Alex's position only to find that he had somehow passed straight over where Alex stood and was now at the other side of his own beautiful garden.
His emotions were stirred as he once again looked closely at Alex's stance and tried to gain a more in-depth understanding of his disciple's form.
No one would be able to comprehend another person's martial arts without personally experiencing it and he was no different as he gained insight to his disciple's hybrid style of martial arts.
A light of realisation appeared in his eyes as he found the reason Alex named his personal hybrid style 'Harmonic Dragon's Angelic Halo'.
Not only was Alex's moves extremely disciplined and practiced, his priority towards defence had created a indestructible silk-like barrier around his body due his stubborn resolution.
No... It was much more than that...
John vaguely felt Alex's new form was reminiscent of the one he had just used, the Dragon form of the ancient Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style.
After replaying how he used his wrist to first break his attack and following up through using his force against him in his mind, he found that the martial art Alex used was contrasting to his own.
The Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn had a total of four interconnected 'forms': Chaos, Dragon, Demon, and Horn. These four deadly forms had their own stances of their own.
The uncountable variations made from switching between each form randomly is what created the inner foundations for his ancient style of martial arts.
Although having so many variations was quite unorthodox, each form of Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn has its own strengths that made up for the other's weakness, creating a hurricane of attacks that viciously struck at foes.
The Dragon form in particular was created to deal with multiple foes, it turned ones fingers into spears that would accurately hit the vitals of all opponents within its 'Territory'... or to describe more specifically, its 'Domain'.
His own 'Domain' focused rejecting all forces entering it, killing anyone who would dare to invade its borders like a territorial beast. Alex's 'Domain' on the other hand focused on accepting the forces invading it before allowing those forces to cleanly pass straight through.
It was practically a democratic domain that was more sophisticated that his own... A fact that made him speechless.
"I don't want to fight you." Alex said while changing his stance to the Halo form. His two hands moved away from each other until they seemed to be holding an orb in front of his chest.
John smiled ferociously as he ignored Alex's words outright. He joined his iron fingers together into knife-hand in order to change into the Horn form of his style before lunging once more.
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