Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 384 (Part 1)



384 (Part 1)

“Just once.

My father definitely said that.

He said that if I succeeded in one attack he would tell me where my mother is.

‘…Can I do it?’

I had spat out that I would try but honestly I wasn’t confident.

More than ever.

I would usually try to bite and claw my way through but there’s a limit to that.

‘What should I do?’

The air was still.

Only the sound of the wind brushed through the open space. My father and I faced each other keeping our distance.

The serious and somewhat poignant atmosphere that had been there just moments ago had completely vanished. Only a chilly vibe lingered.

My father stood with his hands behind his back quietly watching me. The moonlight rising behind him cast a shadow making his red eyes appear even more striking.

“Come.”

I focused my eyes at his words.

Heat surged up quickly rising to my center filling me with qi.

“Shhh….”

Heat escaped from my lips. It was proof that my body was properly warmed up. Feeling the power starting to circulate throughout my body I asked my father.

“Will you not give me a few concessions?”

My father tilted his head at my words then released his hands from behind his back and extended one hand forward.

“I will not use one hand.”

That was quite a condition.

Since my father was also a martial artist like me not using one hand meant he was giving up complete balance while simultaneously widening the range of his attacks.

“…Then can you not use one leg?”

I decided to play a bit more cunningly. It was easier for me if my legs were restricted rather than my arms.

“…”

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“That won’t do. Understood.”

Of course I immediately gave up at the look in my father’s eyes.

Had I been too sneaky?

I let out a sigh inwardly and looked at my father with a serious gaze again.

‘Does that mean he won’t use his left hand?’

Considering that the hand behind his back was his left it seemed to imply that he wouldn’t use his left hand.

Then it would be right to aim for the left side if possible.

Kuuuuuk-!

I focused my strength on the tips of my toes thinking about my movement.

Flames began to swirl from the soles of my feet.

I bent my body. The speed was for the sake of qi.

I had no intention of testing the waters from the start.

I had to go all out.

Even then it might not be enough.

Using the boiling heat as propulsion just as I was about to leap towards my father.

Pat-!

“…!”

My father’s figure vanished before my eyes.

I immediately moved my head.

Nothing was caught in the spread-out sensation of qi. I couldn’t properly feel my father’s presence either.

This was purely instinctive movement.

As if that choice was not wrong something swiftly brushed past my cheek.

It was my father’s arm.

Boom-! Crackle-!

The speed was so fast that I only felt my father’s movement after I had dodged the attack.

It was a close call but somehow I managed to evade it. However judging by the pressure and the sound of something breaking behind me.

‘If I hadn’t dodged it would have been the end.’

The power contained in that single strike was no joke.

‘In the midst of this…!’

I frowned as I checked my father’s state.

The arm that was behind his back was clearly the left one. The arm he used to attack was also the left.

I had naturally thought he would attack with his right arm.

‘I was caught off guard.’

Had he lured me into a false sense of security?

I clicked my tongue inwardly and moved my body as well.

If his left arm was extended and he couldn’t use his right arm.

That meant his side was open.

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I twisted my waist to aim for that spot.

Guuuu-! Suddenly flames erupted from my father’s body obscuring my vision.

I immediately narrowed my qi perception to enhance my accuracy and speed.

I felt something near my chest. It was too late to dodge. I concentrated my defensive enhanced qi at a single point.

Crackle-! I felt the impact.

The enhanced qi I had gathered shattered in an instant.

Was it my father’s knee? It was hard to tell.

Bang-! As the defensive enhanced qi burst I was sent flying backward.

Thud-! If I fell like this it would be the end so I had to somehow plant my feet on the ground to slow my speed.

My gaze remained straight ahead; I had to grasp my father’s next move but.

He was already nowhere to be seen.

“Damn…!”

I missed him. Where did he go…?

Thud-!

“…!”

As I was flying backward it felt like my back hit a wall and my movement came to a halt.

All I could see was the open space so there couldn’t be a wall.

That meant….

I quickly turned my body feeling a chilling sensation.

Thud-!

At that moment my father’s fist connected with my chest.

“Ugh…!”

As soon as it made contact the shock sent me flying far away rolling on the ground.

The pain wasn’t that great.

Considering I hadn’t properly deployed my enhanced qi it was surprisingly mild.

It seemed my father had controlled it.

The shocking fact was.

If my father hadn’t controlled that last attack.

I would have been dead on the spot.

As I got up from the ground hurriedly trying to find my father.

He was standing in the spot where he had pushed me away looking in my direction.

Was he waiting for me?

Seeing that I asked incredulously.

“You didn’t say you would take the initiative.”

“I also didn’t say I would allow you to take the initiative.”

“…Damn that’s true.”

Was it my assumption that he would let me take the initiative?

That was a problem but.

The most important issue was.

‘The level difference is too great.’

What is this?

No matter how incomplete my martial arts were isn’t this a bit too much of a gap?

Especially since he had declared he wouldn’t use one arm.

He was truly treating me like a child.

It was absurd to the point of disbelief.

As I looked at my father with a feeling of emptiness he was also looking at me with a subtle expression.

“Your reactions are good. Although you relied more on instinct than calculation in your responses it wasn’t wrong.”

Was that an evaluation of my movements?

It felt like he was giving me a lesson.

“However it seems you are not accustomed to handling heat which is a flaw.”

My father’s words resonated with me.

The Fire Wheel Technique would soon surpass the sixth level and reach the seventh but my understanding of martial arts wasn’t that high.

Increasing speed with flames.

Exploding them for destructive power. Was that all I could do?

Is it reasonable for a martial artist who has reached this level to have such a low understanding of martial arts?

But it couldn’t be helped.

“I haven’t really learned from anyone.”

“…”

At my words my father’s expression slightly twitched.

It was a sin for me not to immerse myself in martial arts but it also implied that my father hadn’t really paid attention to me.

Realizing that my father briefly averted his gaze from mine.

‘Now’s my chance.’

The moment my father’s gaze shifted even for a moment.

I burst flames from my body and charged toward him.

At the same time I gathered qi onto my palm.

The flames surrounding my body moved toward that direction quickly generating a Flame Gem.

I reached out the Flame Gem toward my father but.

Thwack-!

“Huh?”

My father swung his hand and struck the Flame Gem from my palm.

The Flame Gem flew helplessly into the forest beyond the open space.

Boom-! Not long after it exploded creating a massive sound.

What is this? What just happened?