4/14/2019

  12:00 AM

  Bang!

  Bang!

  Julius and Qiang Zhao exchanged multiple rounds. The two then went for a hard jab, creating an impactful shockwave. Both were flipped away and roughly landed on their feet. Julius' backyard was trashed with dirt trails everywhere. Everyone else had finished their session about half an hour ago, exhausted. They became observant watchers with a good, wide view from the roof and balcony.

  [Skill Count: 12] + 5

  Julius was soaked in blood, but his healing factor has shown rapid improvement. He gotten used to it and thought of blood as regular showers. Eating while training was a bold move. He never did that before. But for Qiang Zhao and her clan, it was a common routine. A resistant abdomen was a characteristic of them.

  Above all, the session had gone on for a long time without an evaluation. Julius tried shooting his handgun into the sky. Two attempts this time, and it fired off a decent qi blast. In his mind, he was relieved at last.

  "Finally," Qiang Zhao said while spitting green blood. "It took you long enough."

  "With you in the air? Yinhai, I almost lost my pace getting the shot."

  "But you still fired right at the target I was carrying. Not a bullseye, but a hit."

  Julius wiped his mouth. "I guess that's a good thing, right?"

  Qiang Zhao nodded. "Indeed. If you can fire at a fast pace without thinking, then you're getting somewhere."

  "I better be. Because if I don't improve—"

  [Skill Count 17] +1

  "Never mind…Thank you," Julius reiterated after Maldoro's system counted another added skill.

  "Were you going to say something?"

  "No, it's all good," Julius said, then fired another shot up in the air with ease.

  Qiang Zhao breathed. She called the session to an end. Both were a little tired. Everyone who was watching had loads of drinks and snacks, as Julius noticed food debris on the floor. He told them to clean up, as he wasn't going to do it for them.

  A full turnaround, Julius strolled to the edge of his backyard, viewing the rest of his neighborhood down below. He briefly grimaced. The damage was pretty massive and almost reached the edges of one of the neighbors' properties. For reference, his neighborhood has fewer than sixty residences, but all have large plots of land. Julius' was the largest, and being up on elevation, the view had most of the residences. Now, a crater almost took a plot of one of the neighbors.

  "What a view," Qiang Zhao muttered.

  "If we weren't careful, a few bodies would come at my feet."

  "One day, these neighbors can't be here for long. We need a bigger space. It's only piling up quickly."

  The abandoned track and field stadium in Central Colemond has been used once. But the attention was a risk at the time, so training was moved back to Julius' backyard. Intensity has only gone up, and with more people, the range has to expand. Constraining it only bought more limited time. The limit was very close as the arrival of the next batch of Raal refugees was around the corner.

  Julius had one idea. Alan was inside, sitting in the messy dining room. He arrived an hour ago, so he wasn't training today. Julius went in, calling him. His face was scarred from the rebels' attack. Unlike Terrance, his qi exposure was less chaotic and more stable. So, his effects weren't rapid.

  "What is it?" he asked, taking off his reading glasses.

  "I might buy the neighborhood."

  "Neighborhood?"

  Alan put his reading glasses back on.

  "Yes, this neighborhood. Mine."

  "Wow. What got you thinking of this mad investment?"

  Julius took an empty seat. "Qiang brought up a point. My yard can't fit everybody, and for logistics, I don't want to fly around everywhere until things are stable."

  Rebecca had gone inside earlier. She sat across the table and focused on her laptop while her soaked hair was dripping water onto her shoulders. Her ears heard what he said, so she looked away from the screen. "Where are the neighbors going to move?"

  "You agree?"

  "Not yet, until you tell me about the neighbors' departure plan."

  Julius looked at Alan. "How much cash do we have in hand right now? Post-contract."

  "About eight hundred million…Don't tell me we are using an eighth of it."

  "I mean, we are going to. If we divided it off, that would be at least a million or two for each. And not everyone is going to leave. Some will stay in this gated neighborhood."

  "What if some don't accept it?" Rebecca asked.

  "Then we force them out with the cash. Intimidate and pressure them whenever we can. It's a long-term investment. We are going to turn this entire neighborhood into a magic safe haven headquarters zone."

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  Alan pulled out his laptop from his backpack. "Let's talk about the plan, then." He then turned to Rebecca. "Do you want to join?"

  "Can I reject something?"

  "Sure."

  "Then I'm in."

  4/14/2019

  1:11 AM

  A small rumbling shook outside the residence. The residence absorbed it fine. Julius, sometimes, could be hypersensitive at distances and felt the outside as if he were in the dining room. He got up from his seat. Lady Bian and Lian went to the sliding door. The latter opened it, and the three strolled out.

  Hu was already outside. Winds were blasting at least fifty miles per hour. The tree on the hill had recovered from being cut in half. It reacted aggressively to the wind. Hu summoned a giant claw on her right hand and unleashed an upward slash.

  The wind calmed, and she told Julius to open the portal similar to how he was trained in the void.

  Empress Cai came out of the residence. "Sorry, I'm late."

  "No need. I got it covered," Julius said, pulling out Valence. He unleashed a cross-shaped slash, breaking a rift in the space-time continuum. A large cross of purple light illuminated outward to the backyard. He took a glide back, standing many meters away from it.

  Empress Cai looked at him. "Did they teach you?"

  "Yeah. King Valtoris taught me about it."

  "Maybe I can ask you for help next time," she said with a small smile.

  "Only if you agree to mass arrivals."

  A foot stepped out of the purple rift.

  One more step revealed a tall lady in a black kimono. Her long, black hair flowed like a silken river, cascading in vibrant waves that reflected the purple light within a glimpse. It settled back on her shoulders and down her back near the waist as if it were directed by her hands. King Valtoris appeared behind her in a flash.

  The two came out of the rift, walking their first steps on Earth. And the rift immediately closed.

  "Where are the others? This was supposed to be a massive crowd. Why are there only you two?"

  The lady briefly turned to Empress Cai. Both were confused, as the latter was also expecting a crowd.

  "I thought I told you it was only a few."

  Empress Cai shook her head. "No, Mizuhana. You didn't. I remembered that you said it was at least two digits."

  King Valtoris walked around Mizuhana. "So, this is Earth. It's just like home."

  "Welcome to Earth," Julius said to the two.

  Mizuhana turned to the view of Colemond's surviving skyline. "Demolition?"

  "A couple of days ago. Rebels are trying to make their move."

  "How many do we have that are here?" Mizuhana asked while fixing her blue haori.

  Julius unsummoned Valence. "If counting us, almost a hundred."

  Those numbers, in Mizuhana's opinion, were low. She told him that it should be at least half a thousand by the time she arrived. That day, when the rebels came and attacked the city. It was only inevitable that more ambush attempts would come sooner or later, seeking new claims.

  Mizuhana was then looking at Julius from top to bottom. She then asked Empress Cai and Lian. "Is this Julius?"

  "Yes, it is."

  "Hmm…He looked different from what Lian showed on paper. How long has he been like this?"

  King Valtoris spoke. "Almost five days."

  Mizuhana then swung her sword and plunged right towards Julius. The latter reacted with a swift dodge with his left foot, twirling away from her trajectory.

  Julius summoned Valence. This time, he purposely let its blade leak qi. A look-up in the sky revealed a full moon. "Yinhai, you wanted this, huh?"

  He summoned his gold and black robe with a snap of his fingers; a skill he learned from the void. It was his first time wearing it.

  "It's my way of knowing someone," Mizuhana said. She took off her haori and threw it to Empress Cai. Julius saw her boots, the kimono tightened up, and armor quickly formed around her body. Mizuhana now appeared like a buffed-up samurai, letting off a little black and red qi.

  Julius' qi encircled him. A supersonic vibration escaped Julius’ feet. “Are you ready?” He asked, going dual-handed on the hilt.

  “I’m starving,” Mizuhana answered, wielding her black katana.

  The two flashed away from their spots, clashing with their thirsty and desperate blades. Sparks were inflicted by friction. Julius’ immense weight and towering height from his newly trained weight gave some balancing against the experienced Mizuhana.

  King Valtoris and others down below were watching and fired a barrier to contain the two from going beyond what they needed to.

  Julius kneed Mizuhana to the ground. He saw her smile, and her back exerted qi through her armor’s open spaces like a jetpack. Mizuhana thrust her body upward, regaining her footing. She pushed him away from her and blasted a shockwave that nudged him away by a couple of steps. With no choice, he reverted to one-handed swordsmanship and thrust his left hand out, directing it at Mizuhana. Julius cast three Hanzi, 千稻雨

  "Annihilate! (消灭!)" he exclaimed. A variant of the attack was summoned. A bag's worth of rice grains levitated from the ground floor, forming into countless swords. It encircled around him like a disc. Some of the swords then blasted out.

  Flash!

  “Not so fast!” Mizuhana’s voice exclaimed from behind Julius.

  The latter swirled abruptly, finding himself to be fooled. He got caught in her trap, and Mizuhana swung her katana, inflicting loads of cold water that Julius saw ice fragments flowing with the wave. All the water came like a tank, smashing right into him. Julius' mouthplate formed right up, covering his lower face. A thin layer of defense qi formed around his face. The water was extremely cold, forcing Julius' body to expend large amounts of heat.

  Julius barged out of the water and went for a hard left jab, punching right to Mizuhana's right shoulder. He heard a tiny cracking sound as his fist transferred energy towards her. She didn't have time to react and flew back to his residence.

  Mizuhana crashed into the walls. Impressively, the residence absorbed the impact efficiently, leaving no marks or damage. She lay right on the wall for a second. Julius was high in the air, about to launch an attack from the sky. Mizuhana's back launched loads of qi like a rocket booster. She sped away, dragging her bottom through the lawn. Julius' attack unleashed a bubble burst. Qi spread across the lot.

  King Valtoris, Mizuhana, Lian, Empress Cai, and Hu activated their defense mechanism to counter its thrusting effects.

  "You're something new," Mizuhana said while stretching her back.

  Julius stood up straight, turning directly to her. "We're not done yet." He flew right at her, preparing to thrust his blade right at her.

  The two clashed, and Julius' eyes and qi turned gold. All the revolving rice swords went into Valence's blade.

  "What are you doing? You're pulling a suicide!" Mizuhana exclaimed. She summoned a qi blade and stabbed right through Julius' abdomen, causing the latter to spit blue blood.

  Qi burst out of the clash. Gold and blue qi accumulated against Mizuhana's black and red. Despite the wound, Julius pushed downward, bringing more leverage. Both qi accumulated so much that it became a ticking time bomb.

  Julius cast a different Hanzi, 地球雷霆.

  The ground began to shake. Thunder echoed. Lightning bolts popped out of the lawn like sprouts. It struck Julius, fueling his power to the blade.

  Kaboom!