Arrival at the Shi Mountains

Raijah, Teo, and the others arrived at the base of the mountain range. Blocking their path was a thirty-foot stone wall that surrounded the mountain range.

They were each wearing thick jackets and hoods to compensate for the cold.

Hashira and Val led the others to a window-like opening in the stone wall. As they closed in, they saw a man peeking through the aperture.

Like Val, he was fair-skinned with long black hair and black eyes.

"Halt," the man said, causing everyone to stop.

"Show me your markings."

Hashira began to walk forward, but Val extended her arm and stopped him.

"I'll do it," she said.

She walked toward the opening and turned her back to the wall.

She lifted the back of her black jacket and the shirt under it, revealing a long black tattoo of a dragon on her spinal cord. The tattoo began just below her neck and stretched down to her lower back.

"T-This is one of the longest tattoos I've seen," the man said, "that must mean you're a member of the main branch. Just who are you?"

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten about me, Gado," Val removed her hood and turned around.

Gado gaped at her, "Val?"

He glanced behind Val and recognized two others.

"Hashira?" he said, "Aziel?"

"Gado!" Hashira exclaimed.

"Stand back, Val," Gado advised.

"Doragonken: Dragon Fist!"

Gado slammed his fist into the stone wall. The stones blasted away into the distance, forming a perfect door.

He then walked out and embraced Aziel and Hashira.

"By the way," Aziel pointed at Raijah, Teo, and Cora, "these are our new students. Teo, Raijah, and Cora."

"Ah," Gado replied, "I was wondering who they were."

"Pleased to meet you," Gado said.

"Likewise," Raijah and Cora replied.

"Cool sword," Gado said as he stared at Teiden, which floated beside Teo.

"Thanks," Teo replied.

"You three can go on ahead," Hashira suggested, "we have some catching up to do. We'll meet up with you guys in a bit."

Raijah, Teo, and Cora walked through the opening and entered the Shi Mountains.

Although the area was mountainous, the expanse of trees ahead of them seemed never ending. As they walked, branches creaked, and leaves rustled.

After walking for a while, Raijah and Teo suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Cora asked.

"Hey, Teo," Raijah said, "you feel that?"

"I feel it," Teo replied.

Confused, Cora said, "what are you guys talking about-"

Raijah suddenly lifted his hand as if he were catching a fist.

The wind suddenly picked up, causing numerous trees to collapse.

Cora lifted her arm over her eyes to shield them from the various things the wind had stirred up.

"What was that?" Cora asked Teo, who stood there unphased.

His sword Teiden began to protect him and Cora by mincing the stray logs, tree branches, and other objects that came their way.

"This individual seems to have some sort of concealment ability," Teo explained, "although he doesn't have an aura, Raijah and I don't need that to sense others."

"Due to our heightened senses, not only can we feel auras like an elite and a typical saint would, but we can sense life itself. So, regardless of if someone has no aura, we can still sense them as long as they possess a lifeforce."

Still holding his hand up, Raijah unleashed a kick.

Although it looked like he struck nothing but air, the deafening sound that echoed through the woodlands confirmed that his attack landed.

Something crashed into a tree in the distance, and a man appeared out of thin air.

The man wore a green cloak with a hood, concealing his identity and rendering Raijah and the others unable to discern his face.

"He caught my fist and landed a hit?" the man whispered, "who is this guy? And how can he see me?"

The man stood up and grabbed his chest, "that was a mean side kick."

"Who are you?" Raijah asked.

"I should be asking you," the man countered, "I don't know how you got past Gado, but I know everyone on these mountains."

"Neither yours nor your friends' faces ring a bell. I won't let you outsiders roam these sacred grounds as you wish."

The man dashed at Raijah, who easily evaded his attack.

Raijah dropped his hips and locked his hands around the man's waist. He then picked him off the ground, using his legs to lift.

Raijah leaned backward, forming an arc, and slammed the man on the ground.

The man landed on his back, a few meters away from Raijah. He then began to get to his feet.

"An Ura-Nage," the man whispered, "he must be a skilled judo practitioner."

"With just one technique, he put this much distance between us."

"He won't let up," Raijah thought, "I'll just hold him off until Val and the others get here."

"But, I can't fight freely in this thick jacket," Raijah said.

He removed his jacket and tossed it to Teo, who immediately handed it to Cora.

Raijah now wore a black shirt which revealed his chiseled physique.

"What kind of hell does he have to go through to keep a body like that? His physique is better than most Shi family members," the man muttered.

Raijah stretched his right foot in front, pointing forward and his left foot back, pointing to the side.

"Is that the dragon's stance?" the man gaped, "where did he learn that?"

Raijah stretched out his right hand and beckoned to the man.

The two dashed at each other and began trading blows.

Noticing an opening, the man ducked under Raijah's fist in an attempt to strike his blind spot.

Instead, he was met with a downward elbow to the face, sending him stumbling backward.

The speed at which his injury healed assured Raijah that the man was an elite, and he didn't need to hold back.

"That was Muay Thai," the man remarked, "he's a dual martial artist. So that dragon stance he did earlier. It was probably by chance."

The man swung his leg in a semi-circular motion, attempting to land a roundhouse kick.

Raijah caught his foot and wrenched it, knocking the man off balance.

While in the air, the man quickly adjusted his body. He twisted his foot with meticulous footwork and landed a kick to Raijah's face.

The man landed on the floor with a grin.

The strike had merely moved Raijah's face slightly, leaving a slight bruise that healed instantaneously.

Cora began to walk forward, preparing to strike the man. But, Teo extended his arm and stopped her.

"There's no need to interfere," Teo said calmly.

"You noticed it too, didn't you."

"Raijah could've easily evaded or countered that attack, but he chose not to. He deliberately gave him that opening and allowed him to attack to test his opponent's striking power."

Raijah touched his cheek, where the man's kick had landed.

"You're not half bad," Raijah said.

The man got to his feet and reassumed his fighting stance.

"Neither are you-"

Before he could finish, Raijah bent his fingers and thumb, forming a claw. He struck his opponent in the chin, causing his head to be tilted back.

"That was the tiger claw strike," the man analyzed, "A kung fu technique. But he used Muay Thai and judo earlier. How many martial arts does he know?"

With the man's head now tilted back and his neck wide open, Raijah followed up by curling his fingers down into a fist.

He lifted his middle finger slightly, causing its knuckle to stick out of the fist.

Raijah struck the man in the adam's apple, crushing his larynx and causing him to yelp in pain.

"That was taekwondo."

The man took a couple of steps backward to reassess his situation.

"That body of his isn't just for show. His physical strength and speed are superb. I can't keep up."

"To win this, I'll have to completely change my focus to defense and strike when he gives me an opening."

Raijah unexpectedly appeared in front of the man.

He grasped the man's head, holding it in place and allowing him to ram his knee into the man's nose.

Raijah felt his opponent's nose fracture. But due to the man's elite prana, Raijah knew the injury wouldn't last long.

Blood leaked out of the man's nose, but his bones and wounds healed shortly after.

Raijah attempted a roundhouse kick to the side of his face. But at the expense of both his arms, the man caught his foot.

Now holding Raijah's foot at the side of his face, the man had left his other side completely unguarded.

"This is the opening I needed," the man exclaimed, "now, he can't attack because I have his foot. I am in control of this battle. I can attack with my prana-"

"Doragonken: Blue Dragon's Kick!"

Still standing on one foot, Raijah leaped off the ground and swung his free leg in a semi-circular motion. His foot slammed into the exposed portion of his opponent's face.

Due to the sudden impact, the man released Raijah foot and fell to the ground.

Raijah now had nothing to stand on due to both his legs being in the air. Instead of flying, Raijah chose to perform a breakfall.

He turned his body in midair, with his back now facing the ground. He then placed his fingertips on the ground and pushed off, performing a perfect kip-up and landing on his feet.

Raijah stared down at the man who lay at his feet.

The impact from Raijah's kick had pulled his hood off, revealing his face.

His once battered and bruised face had already nearly healed. And he gaped up at Raijah.

"That was certainly doragonken. But that's not the reason I lost."

"My analysis of his power was completely off."

"It's not just his strength and speed that's off the charts. His skill and battle IQ are also phenomenal."

Raijah reached a hand down to help the man up.

"Sorry about that. If it weren't for your elite cells, I wouldn't have had to hit you that hard."

"He's too amicable," Teo said, still examining the situation.

"We haven't seen that stranger's prana yet. But, based on what I was able to assess from their quick clash, Raijah could've killed him at any point."

"He was just suppressing himself as much as possible in order to avoid that."

"Yeah," Cora agreed, "Raijah's martial arts were incredible prior to our two years of training. But since then, he's only gotten better."

The man on the floor reached for Raijah's hand. But before he could grasp it, everyone was distracted by the sound of feet shuffling through detritus.

They all turned toward a bush in the distance. And Val, Hashira, and Aziel emerged.

"Val?" the man muttered under his breath, "she's back?"

The man on the floor immediately changed his attitude and slapped Raijah's hand away.

He got to his feet and brushed the dirt off his clothing.

Attempting to look intimidating, he looked at Raijah and balled his fist.

"You're lucky they showed up. If I got a chance to use my prana, the outcome of that fight would've been totally different."

Amused by his comment, Raijah returned the man's gaze with a loud, almost mocking, laugh.

The man turned away and walked toward Val.

"Hey, Valerie," he pointed at Raijah, then Teo and Cora.

"Do you know these guys?"

"Yeah," Val replied, "they're with us. But, Nezumi, you haven't seen me in years, and you can't even acknowledge my return?"

"Well-" Nezumi began.

"I'm just messing with you," Val said as she embraced Nezumi in a warm hug.

Nezumi reluctantly accepted her hug.

"You seem off," Val said, "did you not miss me?"

"It's not that," Nezumi lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I'm just confused as to why someone like him can learn doragonken, and for some reason, I can't."

"So that's what's bothering you?"

Nezumi nodded.

"Well, don't blame me. Raijah had already learned and mastered it before I met him. Hashira taught him."

Nezumi freed himself from Val's embrace and turned toward Hashira, causing him to throw his hands up in submission.

"It's true," Hashira admitted, "but let's head to the village first. I'll have to explain it to the others anyway."

"I'll lead you all there," Nezumi said as he walked ahead of the group, "follow me."

He walked by Teo, who snickered as he passed.

Unable to control his anger Nezumi said, "Hey, you with the golden eyes. You should probably do something with all that hair on your head."

Teo ran his fingers through his long hair, which had grown during their time away.

"Oh," Val added, "he agreed to get it done by someone here-"

"Or I could just cut it for him."

A tree behind Teo suddenly began to rattle. But before things could escalate, Nezumi felt a sudden pressure that caused him to drop to his knees.

He then felt something sharp touch his chin. Just hard enough to where it didn't pierce through.

The rattling stopped, and Tieden pushed harder, causing Nezumi to lift his head.

In a state of utter shock, Nezumi blinked.

He opened his eyes to him engulfed in dark prana. And he saw Teo glaring down at him.

Teo patted Nezumi's head and said, "you should be cautious of how you talk to beings like me. Unlike Raijah over there, if you so much as disrespect me, I'll send you somewhere hellish."

Teo's aura ceased, and his sword returned to his side.

Nezumi stayed on his knees, and he continued to shiver in fear.

"There's something distinct about his aura," Nezumi said.

"Come to think of it, that other guy. Raijah was it?"

"His aura isn't normal either."

"The guy with the sword has a sort of demonic feel to his aura. While Raijah's is more angelic."

"But nonetheless. Both are monsters in their own way."

Hashira appeared between Teo and Nezumi.

"I think you all got off on the wrong foot. For now, let's just head to the village. It sits on a plateau at the center of the mountain range."

Hashira attempted to help Nezumi up, but Nezumi slapped his hand away. Saying, "I can get up myself."

He met Teo's glance and quickly turned around.

"Follow me," he said as he began to walk forward.

"The village is this way."