Child of Destiny



...

"This is fun!" exclaimed Shin as he continued to exchange moves against Ezikiel. He was showing great excitement during the battle. He was completely enjoying the current state that he was in.

He was able to move his body in a more desirable way. Everything that he was imagining inside his head was able to be executed in the real world.

The only thing that he was feeling right was complete freedom! He felt that anything that he wanted to do would be achievable in this current state.

As Shin was executing a series of techniques while attacking and defending, Ezikiel was gradually losing his confidence in this battle. He was confident that he would be able to hold himself against any opponent, but the current person that he was fighting was crushing that confidence slowly but surely.

Seeing his opponent constantly growing during the battle was more than enough to put pressure on him but seeing that this opponent was also able to improve and polish their techniques and fighting styles was making him more discouraged.

He still felt that he could and would fight pretty well. The problem was that he was slowly getting pushed back despite the advantages that he had.

He could obviously feel that he was in a higher realm than his opponent, his fighting style was also more mature than the latter, and he even possessed the powerful Natural Force that he got from the organization. But despite all the tools that he could use to gain an advantageous position in this battle, he was still feeling that he was fighting a hopeless battle.

He was not sure why he was feeling that way, but he knew that it had to do with the pressure that Shin was currently emitting.

From his knowledge, this was something that came from the fighting spirit of an individual. Or to be more precise, it was something produced by the combination of a fighting spirit and the aura manifestation of an individual, the Battle Spirit.

A Battle Spirit was a sign that someone was reaching the maturity of the fighting style of a Martial Artist or a Mentalist. It was a sign that they were reaching the stage where they could build a systematic style that perfectly suited them. It was a sign that they were reaching the stage where their Natural Style was gradually being built.

Shin had already close to reaching that stage when he was using his Martial Arts. He was able to build a partial Battle Spirit before his Martial Arts was sealed.

Compared to his Martial Arts, which had two styles fused together, his Mentalism was a little more complicated. It did not only have multiple styles, but it even possessed different natures which made it harder for him to create a Battle Spirit, much less a Natural Style.

But with the help of his current state, Shin was able to gradually build a system that could temporarily act as his Natural Style. And with his with his combat talent, as a Battle Genius, Shin was able to polish this style during a battle.

Out of the three aspects of becoming an expert at the Peak of the Grandmaster Realm – the Spiritual Force (counterpart of Natural Force), the Natural Style, and Natural Body – Shin was slowly building the second aspect.

He might be able to perfectly build it, but he was sure that he was steadily building a solid foundation for one.

At the same time, Shin also discovered something during this battle. There was an additional aspect unique to individuals, who possessed top combative talents such as himself.

He did not know what it was, but he was sure that it was a unique aspect that only individuals like him could possess.

This state was called the 'Natural State'. It was a state where someone could fully showcase their talents and battle styles with absolute freedom.

Shin had heard it from Arthur before, but he almost forgot about it since the latter could not explain it to him very well.

Arthur had told him that during his training with his 'master', who he could not remember who it was or what he looked like, he was able to utilize his combative talent to its full potential.

As a Martial Art Prodigy, Arthur was able to immediately learn a martial skill or technique with a single glance. At first, that was how Arthur used that talent since that was all he knew about it.

But after meeting his master, Arthur learned that this combative talent was much more amazing than he believed it to be.

By relying on the eyes of a Martial Art Prodigy, he was not only able to learn a martial skill with a single glance, but he could also spot the flaws in the movements and techniques of his opponents. And with it, he was able to counter them by taking advantage of those flaws.

Other than that, he was also able to improve the skills he had already learned by fixing the flaws that he saw before turning them into another skill or making them reach a whole other level.

With this knowledge, Arthur could enter a unique state in battle, where he could constantly read the movements of his opponents and counter them by utilizing the unique eyes that the Martial Prodigies had.

This state was the ideal state for Martial Art Prodigies. It was a state where they were in a constant form fitted for learning – a state where they were in complete focus and constant comprehension.

It was the state where they could fight to the best of their abilities.

With all of these, Shin knew that he was currently in that state. He understood that his current state was that thing called the 'Natural State'.

A Natural State which was perfect for Battle Genius.

Shin did not know how he awakened it, but he knew that he had to take this opportunity to comprehend this state and engraved the feeling that he was feeling to the best of his abilities.

Unlike the Martial Art Prodigy, who had to be in a constant state of comprehension, a Battle Genius needed to be in a constant state of enlightenment during a battle.

By combining the ability to be able to grow in battle and the constant state of enlightenment, a Battle Genius was almost unrivaled in battle!

…

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Shing!

Ezikiel dodged a series of slashes from Shin before creating more space between them. Sweat was dripping from his forehead as he almost got caught by those slashes.

He was trying his best to read Shin, which was constantly failing up until now.

During their first few clashes, Ezikiel was still able to read the movements of Shin. He was able to predict the next moves and what kind of techniques Shin was planning to use.

But as the battle progressed, the movements and utilization of techniques that his opponent was using were becoming more and more unpredictable. Even a simple downward slash turned into a series of zigzag slashes that were coming from different angles.

What was even more upsetting about this was the fact that he could see the rapid improvements that his opponent was undergoing.

Shin's movements might be complex and hard to execute, but all of them were steadily becoming more refined as the battle progressed.

Ezikiel knew that if let this continue, then he would most likely be defeated at the end of the battle. Unfortunately, he could not do anything about it in his current state.

He originally wanted to retreat but the moment when he tried to do it, Shin quickly attacked him more aggressively and prevented him from escaping.

Left without a choice, he could only continue fighting Shin to the best of his abilities and 'assist' the latter in his growth. Even though he was unwilling to make this monster grow more stronger, he could not do anything to stop it.

In the middle of all of it, he could only think of one thing. No matter what, he had to kill Shin regardless of the price. Even if he had to sacrifice his life.

This guy in front of him was a huge ordeal that would affect the organization. In his perspective, this guy should be much more dangerous than the one that was accepting the ancient inheritance.

Ezikiel was not sure whether it was actually the case. After all, he hadn't seen the possessor of that ancient inheritance yet. But given his current situation, this was the only thing that he could think of.

He continued to exchange a few more moves against Shin before finally gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve.

He finally decided.

He would abandon the mission given to him and take this down with him.

Having that thought, he quickly forced Shin to move away from him before creating more space between them. He then took out a vial from his pocket.

He did not know if the higher-ups had planned this to happen, but he was sure that they must have somewhat expected his current predicament. He was somewhat suspicious that one of the higher-ups was using him as an experimental subject, but he could not refuse it after seeing the 'monster' he was fighting.

Gritting his teeth once again, he held the vial tightly before stabbing it on his neck and pressing its tip.  The serum that was within the vial sank into his neck and entered his system.

In the meantime, Shin, who was too focused on remembering his current state, could not help but pause for a moment when he saw Ezikiel take something from his pocket.

At first, he thought that it was a hidden weapon or something, which made him halt in his tracks for a moment. But after seeing the vial in the hands of Ezikiel, his eyes suddenly turned wide as he found it somewhat familiar.

And when he realized it was the same thing that Shaun had used earlier, Shin could not help but cursed inside before charging ahead.

Unfortunately, he was already too late.

Ezikiel had already emptied the vial. He pulled it back from his neck before crushing it with his hands.

In the next instant, the transformation quickly followed.

"F*ck!" Shin could only curse himself as he was pushed back by the powerful pressure that was coming from Ezikiel.

....