56. Spar begins
The next day, the first thing Jiwoo said to me was, "I'm gonna go see the other students. Since Mr. Kayden never refused a spar, I can't let others look down upon him by refusing one. Eunwoo, you should stay here and rest I don't want you getting hurt by being caught in the middle of it."
"It's fine since I wanted to take this time to improve my skills. Mr. Kartein and Mr. Kayden will be with you so I'm rest assured."
He nodded and left. Determination flared in his eyes. I guess I know why he is Kayden's disciple. I returned to continue my force control, ignoring the two cats chatting in the background.
Being a healer gives me the advantage of healing a person's body and also of destroying it. Mr. Kartein helped me to understand and practice the techniques in the book since it was way too advanced for me. However, if I'm not wrong, this is a rare book not many awakened ones know of, so why did the old man give something so precious to me? I'll never know what goes through his head.
I had nearly mastered the art of paralyzing a body no matter who it was with only a slight touch to its skin. I send a small wave of my force to the person's brain which messes up with their nervous system on my command. This technique can be used within 2 days of activating it in that person and the paralyse lasts for about five minutes which is good enough for now but the best part is that it doesn't take up much of my energy like my large Sword which I named 'Deathsong'. That thing takes up all of my strength and I've decided to only use it as the last measure.
Since Kartein has returned the other half of my energy I was able to complete one more technique which is so unique that it takes as much energy as the Deathsong. Although using it might put me in some dangerous situation...
"Hey, Eunwoo", Kartein called out, "do you wanna tag along to watch Jiwoo's spar? You can learn a lot just by observing."
I agreed to go along with them. On our way, we bumped into Earthquake who looked like he was roaming around.
"Aren't these Kayden's disciple's cats?", he said eying us and picking me by the skin of my neck.
Let go of me you jerk! Take Kayden or Kartein! That freaking hurt- Wait this is my chance!
I sent a small wave of my force control in his body. Taking this chance to evaluate myself.
"Tsk! This tiny little thing can be a combat monster? That's bull! It'll die if I squeeze it with a little more strength", he said and applied slight force on my neck which started to hurt.
Sh-should I activate the paralysis now? No... It's too soon...
"Mew...", I groaned in pain.
Kayden and Kartein hissed loudly at Earthquake making him tsk.
He tossed me on the ground not so gently and expressed in an annoyed voice, "This is no fun. If only that brat Duke could do one thing correctly."
I whined in pain. My neck and left ankle hurt a lot from the impact but the two cats were quick to rush to my aid. After Earthquake was out of sight, Kartein hastily cured my neck and leg.
I whimpered when the white cat tried to check my ankle after healing my neck, "Ugh... Th-that hurts!"
"Just hold on a moment. Who told you to become a kitten of all things?! This weak body is helping you with nothing. Kayden and I are strong enough so our cat bodies developed quickly but it's not the same with you, kid. Even though your body has gotten stronger and now your stamina is better than before, the bones are still weak..." Kartein continued babbling until he was done healing.
He does act like a mama-bird though I don't know when... but I started seeing him as a father figure. Surely he scolded me many times and his training is as bad, his attitude toward me is more of a father to his son rather than a master to his apprentice.
"There's something... *cough* *cough* very wrong here...", I say feeling hostility radiating off Earthquake. "He's planning something. We need to need to warn hyung about him and Duke."
After the short conversation, we arrived where Jiwoo was to spar with the Frame's students only to find Jiwoo challenging Duke for a spar in his exhausted state. I'm pretty sure he has already sparred more than twice and still wants to take on Duke? Kayden and Kartein aren't gonna be happy.
I looked at the two cats and saw them trembling furiously. "He already fought three people and still wants to fight Schneider's disciple? Gosh... Why does he act exactly like you?!", Kartein exclaimed and I think it would be best to get away from him for now...
Muse and Roist stopped the fight telling Jiwoo to fight when he has recovered to his normal state.
In Jiwoo's room, Kartein had finally lost it has went on about how reckless he was being. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! ON TOP OF THAT, THAT DUKE IS KNOWN FOR BEING CUNNING. HE AND EARTHQUAKE ARE SCHEMEING SOMETHING FISHY AND YOU'LL FALL RIGHT IN THEIR TRAP!"
His rant went on and the next day Jiwoo challenged Duke again. Jiwoo came later to the arena and spoke up, "Let's begin."
The whole arena was surprised at his confidence.
No! Not yet!
I nudged Kayden and Kartein to follow me and went up to Jiwoo. I scratched his shoe to grab his attention and told him to come along.
"I f-forgot something. Let's begin in a bit", he said and followed us.
Once we were away from the crowd, I asked, "Is there anyone nearby, Mr. Kayden?"
"We're clear here."
I looked at the confused boy and explained, "Hyung, dude barely ever played fairly till now. He even sold off the Top 10's information so I'm pretty sure he must've tried something to rig this fight as well. Did something weird happen on your way here?"
He thought for a bit and said, "Hmm... Nothing- Oh wait! I met Earthquake on my way here. He tried to attack me but Muse stopped him."
Kayden and Kartein exchanges worried glances.