Chapter 239: Chapter 216 : Bloody Aftertaste

Victory always brought great pleasure but this one, even more so. It was hard-fought and hard-won. Having his being injected with victory’s unique concoctions of positive emotions, a radiant smile naturally arose on Silver’s face.

But this smile would lose its lustre seconds later as his mind suddenly blanked and blood gushed from his lips. His body entered a wobble and threatened to topple over. However, as it appeared imminent, Silver managed to regain control of the reins at the last moment. Coming to, he balanced himself and then immediately stuffed his mouth with Psi to prevent further spillage.

‘Ah, how could I forget about this,' Silver rebuked internally as he patched up his injury. Following the action, his Psi swept through the rest of his body, aiding his overworked healing factor to repair the dozens of injuries sustained. He did so speedily and flawlessly.

Clarity somewhat returned, he breathed a sigh of relief and then moved to clean himself. He ran his telekinesis over his strained figure, starting with the blood and then removing all the dirt, stone powder and liquids off his person. Seconds later, he was as decent as one with torn clothes could be.

“...Ah?”

As Silver finished, the slumped-back Lamar suddenly came to. The light of awareness returned to his gaze, and after a second of confusion, his Natural mind finally pieced together all the pieces of the puzzle he called his current reality.

'Ah, I see, so I lost...damn.'

Bitterness poured into Lamar’s heart as this realisation settled in. He wasn’t as victory-obsessed as Silver was (no one was), still, he hated losing all the same. The negative emotions didn’t persist for too long though; it wasn’t like this was his first loss or anything. Plus, it had been a great fight, one of the best he had ever had. As he recognised this fact, the bitterness cleared and a smile rose to his face. His gaze moved to the person/people who made it all possible, gratitude shining in his golden eyes.

The crowd quieted down as they foresaw an exchange incoming.

“Silver never loses,” he started with. “I suppose, you can keep saying that without fault,” he said, slowly getting to his feet. “You were one hell of a dance partner, Silver. I knew the Fawkes’ bloodline was filled with crazies, but you’re surely in a league of your own. I could never expect such an insane tactic.”

Lamar’s words saw agreement from many in the crowd, who had already caught on to Silver’s match-winning tactic. Those in the know looked on in horror, their faces white as sheets as they trembled in place. They couldn’t fathom the mind that could commit such a horrific act and this incomprehensibly inspired great fear in their hearts. They didn't keep their knowledge to themselves, spreading it to those still ignorant till they were ignorant no longer. Once this group learned the terrifying truth, they too were rocked by feelings of shock, awe and agitation.

Silver shrugged. His mouth opened to speak before quickly closing; he wasn't one to bite his tongue but the occasion called for it. He summoned a Psi Clone and had it speak on his behalf.

((If it works, it works.))

"Indeed indeed," Lamar said after a slight pause before breaking into hearty laughter.

Yes, the brilliant idea that had struck Silver was to bite his tongue to blind his opponent. With self-harming ideas already swirling in his head, arriving at the idea was easy. He bit the tip of his tongue and let the blood pool in his mouth. Then, once sufficiently filled, he concocted a sequence of events that would get him in close before spraying the blood at his opponent’s eyes.

The tactic wasn’t one a sane person could easily arrive at. Even with an enhanced body and high healing factor, biting one’s tongue remained biting one’s tongue; it was psychologically very hard to do and could even result in death.

Silver, even after all the blood loss and injuries sustained so far, wasn't at risk of dying; his White Asura body would prevent the possibility. However, what it wouldn't prevent was the feeling of lightheadedness. It had plagued him for almost a minute now and biting his tongue had only worsened the condition. Had another ten seconds passed, his sharp mind would become blunt, no sharper than a butter knife...and that would almost certainly ensure his defeat.

[A thrilling match, one for the ages. In the match between Combat Master versus Martial Grandmaster, Silver came out on top. A big congratulations to him and a big thanks to both fighters for allowing us to witness this epic clash of titans.]

Landing on the platform, Sigurd did the closing announcements and the stands quickly became boisterous again. The Golden Fang Hunter handed over the reins to the senior Anzi practitioner from before and approached the fighters. Arriving before them, he couldn’t help but sigh a long sigh.

“You two are really too much, my poor old heart nearly gave out several times, especially at the end, ” he said, clutching at his chest, still feeling his rapidly-beating heart. “Silver, when your bit your tongue, I’m pretty sure I saw the Great Aether flash across my vision. Such excitement at my advanced age is deadly,” he sighed again.

((My bad, sorry. I’ll make it up to you, Sig.))

“Hmm, I see, I'll take you up on that, later that is. For now, you two will be transported to the hospital to heal your wounds. Rachel is up and ready to fix you two up.”

((Rachel?)) Silver’s eyes flickered at the name. ((You mean Rachel Norton? Nightingale? She’s here?))

At the words, it was Sigurd’s turn to react surprised - no, shocked. Those listening in from the crowd reacted with similar feelings. They were under the impression that Silver already knew she was present before committing to his tactic, so learning of his ignorance shook them to their cores.

The duo/Silver wasn’t someone/something to be trifled with, this notion reverberated strongly in the souls of those in the audience.

“Yes, um, she’s here,” Sigurd said, after collecting himself.

He gestured to the two Rank 8s who had landed on the platform and said, “These two will deliver you two to her. We’ll clean up this place and continue the Anzi event as planned. Now, off you two go.”

“Wait,” Lamar spoke up in a hurry. He looked to Silver. “I don’t think I’ll have many chances to speak with you, so I’d like to seize this opportunity. Will you humour my questions?”

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((Sure, you’ve more than earned it with your stellar performance here today. Though, there are certain things which I can’t divulge. Anyway, ask your questions.))

Lamar nodded. “Thanks. My questions relate to your combat prowess. Sigurd here tells me you’re not Dimitri but I can’t fathom how someone so young could possess such ungodly skills. What is your secret? Who taught you how to fight?”

Sigurd and the others listening in appreciated the questions, all transforming into elves to better capture what was said next

((My secret is yours and every other formidable martial artist’s secret, practice, a lot of practice. Without revealing too much, I practice an advanced form of visualisation training. This brand of visualisation training has allowed me to rack up a lot of experience in a short amount of time, decades worth, in fact. As for who taught me, well, I’ve had plenty of teachers early on. They weren’t notable by any means and didn’t contribute much to my development,)) Silver shut his eyes as he remembered Ray’s various combat instructors. ((The best teacher of all, the one responsible for the polish I displayed here today is an entity named Grey.))

“Grey? An entity?” Lamar and the crowd were confused at the words spoken by the Pather.

((To explain its existence will take too long and reveal too much. So instead, think of it like this, if Grey and I were to fight 100 bouts, I’d lose 99 out of that 100 - no,)) Silver’s face turned wry and he quickly corrected, ((that's not true. As Grey is now, I’d lose every bout.))

“What?! There’s no way right!”

“Yeah, he just beat a Martial Grandmaster, there’s just no way that could be true.”

“But would he lie about losing, that’s even stranger…”

The crowd erupted into a frenzy at the incomprehensible statement.

Lamar and the Martial Masters were stunned by the revelation. They had just witnessed the pinnacle of norin combat, hadn’t they? Silver’s statements about Grey overturned their sense of scaling and reality as a whole.

Silver shrugged as he took in their disbelief. ((Don’t believe me? You don’t have to. Words are words, after all. How about this, swing around sometime, I’ll let you face Grey and you’ll quickly come to understand what I mean. And, if you manage to defeat it even once, I’ll answer whatever question you have without reservations. How does that sound?))

“Deal!” Lamar’s voice practically exploded out of his throat, damaging it further. “Deal. I’ll take you up on that, Silver,” he said, extending his hand out.

“Very well then.” Silver shook the starry-eyed Lamar’s hand, sealing the deal.

The issue of what next, had already made the rounds of the Martial Grandmaster’s mind. After such a thrilling match, living a regular life without anything to look forward to, had dampened his spirits. However, now hearing about Grey and its supposed prowess, he felt himself reinvigorated. He would train, sharpen his skills and then confront this Grey thing, whatever it was.

“Silver.”

Finishing his handshake, the fused being turned to lock onto the voice that had called out to him. Charlotte and the others had leapt onto the platform and were fast approaching.

He waved them over with a smile on his face. ((Yo, not exactly how I planned to meet you guys, but here I a-))

The Onic Master crashed into him before wrapping him up in her arms. “You idiot, how could you do something so reckless, what if you died...you’re really an idiot,” Charlotte said as she nuzzled herself into his chest, her voice echoing with concern.

Silver showed amusement at hers and the rest of his friends' concern. It was unnecessary after all. He returned Charlotte’s hug while caressing her head. ((Sorry for worrying you, Charl. You guys too.))

“Kuhum, I don’t want to ruin your precious moment or anything, young ones, but Silver should get treated sooner rather than later,” Sigurd said, eyeing the group with a warm look.

Charlotte took to these words and pried herself away at once. “That’s right, sorry. Silver, get going already. We’ll catch up when you’re out.”

((Sure thing. Then, off I go.))

One after the other, Silver and Lamar entered their respective Psi cubes. Seating themselves in the one available seat present, they made themselves comfortable. Their respective Telekinetics secured the cube and then took flight along with it, starting off slowly before picking up speed. A minute later, the two arrived at the hospital and were subsequently sent to different rooms. Lamar was treated first, but only because he was closer to Rachel’s waiting room. Finishing up with him in all of thirty seconds, the Unique and her two companions made the short walk over to Silver’s room.

The door slid open and they entered. To Rachel, this was to be a short routine visit. She didn’t expect anything from Silver and had no great curiosity regarding the Silver Path as a faction, its members or its supposed capabilities. She would walk in, trade some words, heal up his injury, do an inspection in the aftermath, trade some more words and then leave. This was what she expected to happen.

However, their encounter wouldn’t go as blandly. No, it would be one to remember - one they would be forced to remember.

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