Nue moved first, but the slightest twitch, the way she breathed in, was being counted and tracked by Siu's eyes.

  "One... two... stop on three... four..."

  She was not using the Red Fang’s opening chain. It was just one of the sect's basic forms, which he was very familiar with by now. Still, in her hands, it became a furious straight punch, coming from her shoulder, hip, putting all her weight behind the strike. It was still carrying all the identifying personalities of her. Then, just by how she spaced her legs, he could tell that it was to be followed by a short step and a palm strike, aimed at his ribs. With the first one, she just wanted to test him, maybe to provoke him into forcing a response that would make him reveal what he had learned in only one month, before sliding past all his defenses to break some bones.

  But it didn't go the way Nue thought it would. Siu did not flinch from the first strike's apparent intensity, and he wasn't dodging either, surprising Nue. Was he this... slow? Laughable! Then, when she was already so close she could hear his body break, Siu's forearm curved, right around her opening punch, and it let the strike slide past as he stepped forward. He felt the wind of the girl's momentum brush past his clothes, tearing apart the fabric like some kind of knife. Yet... in that microsecond where her arm still hung in the air, Siu was already inside her defenses, interrupting her flow as his elbow found the seam at the center of her chest. It was quick, precise, and ruthless, striking at Nue's heart right behind her ribcage.

  A hit like this should have broken her, but the moment the tip of his elbow made contact with her body, Siu could already feel that it would not have the desired effect... She was... strong. Despite it all, his strike still landed, and for now, it was what mattered, because it hit her hard enough that she spat blood and staggered backwards. Seeing it happen, watching as Nue's red spit landed on the ground, a man who had bet on her easy win cursed out loud, standing up in surprise. But it was not only he who felt shocked and angry, as Nue’s eyes went red from fury. The taste of blood in her mouth was more shocking than the fact that she was hit. Whatever cautions she may have had, the fact that Siu made her spit blood before everyone had stepped over every line she thought would be crossed in this duel.

  "I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" She roared as she moved in to attack again.

  She pushed in before Siu could capitalize on her stumble and kick her in the neck, her Red Fang technique appearing in full strength. Her shoulders rolled with the technique’s momentum-chaining philosophy, while her breath altered its rhythm once again.

  "In two, out three, in three, out five..." Siu counted, his eyes not even blinking, watching her whole frame, seeing the same movements that he had trained against, appear. It was just how Elder Thane had been moving, but more... crude.

  Even then, each of Nue's strikes flowed into the next without pause, increasing the tempo in the same increments so that a defender had no breaks to learn the rhythm or react to where the next attack would come from. Her punches were heavy, all of them capable of breaking bones if they made contact. Punching through a brick wall was not even an issue for Nue at her level.

  Watching, Elder Thane’s face did not change, but his body tightened, ready to step in if Siu would eat one of those punches and fall unconscious. He was sure that Nue wouldn't stop, having seen this form in action before, wielded by others to maim and kill. But then, he almost smiled as he watched... He expected the boy’s shoulders to drop for a tick of misstep, or an irregular breathing coming out of fear... But nothing. He was composed and facing her without a hint of worry in his eyes.

  Siu took the attacks with a perfect counter-rhythm, already knowing that the Red Fang had a significant drawback: If the rhythm weren't raised, the chain of attacks would be broken. And it couldn't be increased if the user of the technique couldn't keep up physically. Remembering his training with Elder Thane, he had invited the force behind Nue's first punch, just to fold it into an arc, and let it move past him. But there was no countering this time, as Nue's second strike was already coming in the form of a roundhouse kick... which was redirected the same way, the impact still sending a shockwave through his forearm, causing some micro fractures to spread across his bones. Still, he didn't flinch. Instead, his eyes were already on the third link in the chain as Nue's body lifted into the air, following her kick with the other leg, trying to smash into Siu with all the momentum of the first two as a combo ender.

  There it was, the opening.

  Capitalizing on it, Siu had moved again, his breathing perfectly in sync with his steps as he caught Nue's twisting body mid-air, his elbow striking at the exact same place. Yet, it was not over. Although he couldn't chain every attack to build on each other's force and amplify his output, he could still link up multiple attacks together from the basic, foundational forms he had learned.

  Pack-pack-pack!

  All his attacks landed as intended because Nue couldn't change direction while still in the air, exposing herself to Siu. Worst... all of it landed in the same place, without missing even a fraction of a millimeter. By the time she was down, landing on her back, another grunt escaped her throat, followed by a mouthful of blood spraying out from between her lips, making the observing crowd go up in a roar. What they saw was Siu slamming Nue into the ground, once again drawing blood while he himself looked unharmed.

  What was happening?! How could it be?!

  Even Nue wanted to ask, but her mouth was filled with copper-tasting, red nectar, coming straight from her marrow that she felt were being cracked apart. Her heart hurt... Her chest ached, and her already small breasts were screaming at her for mercy. This was bad... why was it this bad?!

  Gurgling, gulping down the blood, she roared again, what remaining in her mouth spraying into the air as she kicked herself up from the ground, and she lunged at Siu again, this time more recklessly, her breathing and technique turning ugly. It was so much... sloppier, making Siu grimace as he took the strike and turned it, made use of it, and his elbow found its mark like previously: the same place, the exact same pinpoint... bang. But this time, Nue didn't go down; she tried to swipe at him from close range.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "No form...?" Siu asked himself, realizing this was not part of... anything. "Pathetic."

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  Every move Nue tried was answered with a counter by now, not even letting her build up any tempo. It was simply strike after strike at her weakened chest, right until...

  Crack.

  It was an audible sound, echoing out loudly, followed by blood spurting from Nue's throat and nose, as her eyes dilated. It was not just the breaking of her sternum, but how the splinters of bone pierced her lungs and reached even her heart. It was almost fatal.

  "Enough," Elder Thane's word echoed over the roar of the spectators, and Siu's incoming elbow, aiming right at the caved-in chest of Nue, stopped immediately. Only the wind was pushing forward without any change, hitting the woman, making her fall to her knees, blood constantly flowing from her mouth and her nose. For a moment, nobody moved, realizing this was it... this was the end. Already? Just like that?! It didn't even last longer than a minute or so!

  "I don't like your eyes," Siu said, finally opening his mouth, his breathing quick, but uniform, unlike Nue's painful, disjointed wheezing, trying to focus and look up at Siu, "I saw it enough times." He crouched to be at eye level with Nue, and it seemed that Elder Thane was letting him say what he wanted.

  "Ggh...hrgh..." Nue tried to speak, but she could only gurgle up blood.

  "Shut up and listen." He continued softly, yet his voice was cold, "If you try anything," He leaned close, so much so that their noses almost touched as he pierced Nue's swimming gaze with his own, making sure she was seeing he wasn't joking, "Nobody will be able to stop me from breaking you. I won't kill you... I will ruin you and watch as they throw you out of the Sect... I will make you suffer... I am not a nice person to my enemies, Nue Toah... So be happy that we are in the same Sect... and you get this last warning."

  Finishing what he wanted to say, Siu straightened, looking at Elder Thane, who simply nodded, glancing at the trembling, gurgling girl.

  "Winner: Siu!" He yelled, before leaning down and picking Nue up, "I will take her to the Medicine Hall. You go and enjoy your victory."

  "Thank you, Elder." Siu bowed, cupping his hands, noticing that one of his arms was trembling from the pain, close to being cracked. By the time he refocused and looked up, the figure of Elder Thane and Nue had disappeared, leaving behind nothing more than her blood, which was shining in the still rising sun's golden rays.

  ...

  ....

  .....

  Dui’s hands were still half raised from where he had been trying to control the crowd as the battle started... Now they trembled slightly, caught between fear and astonishment. His first thought was stupidly practical: Elder Thane’s going to kill me for letting this circus turn into a riot with all the shouting that was going on. His second was something colder: That boy… actually did it... How?

  Not wanting to think too hard about it, he straightened his sash and began loudly shouting meaningless orders to the crowd just to mask his unease and the fact that he was a bit rattled. Such a clean victory is the sign that someone was going to appear amongst the Inner Disciples, sooner or later.

  Maybe he needs to pay more attention to that one, after all...

  "Idiot." A voice muttered, but it was drawn out by the shouting of the others, making Dui miss it.

  Seloryn's eyes lit up the moment Siu’s first counter landed. She had seen the shift in his face, how his body capitalized on the perfect timing, the way his stance moved in... She knew the form, hells, every Inner Disciple knew them. But, she never expected it to be so naturally displayed by someone who had just arrived at the Sect. Then, what was even more impressive for her was how, when the elbow struck again, it managed to hit the same point. Yes, one such attack could be a mistake, but all of them?

  “Coordination levels akin to those who have finished their bones and already begun training their muscles... Incredible,” she murmured, resting her chin on her palm. “Some of the others will not see you coming... Heh.” She chukled, glancing at Dui, knowing that many of the Inner Disciples had already forgotten the fact that they were once an Outer Disciple. They do not like looking back... too bad for those. Smiling, already seeing that Siu would win, she leaned back, her flute rolling lightly, flicking it between her fingers. “This is going to be fun,” she whispered, "I wonder how quickly he will rise..."

  At the same time, not that far from Dui and Seloryn, Neya was almost biting down her own fingers as the first moments of the fight were torture. She had clasped her hands in front of her mouth, shaking, half hiding behind Tian’s shoulder, not able to decide if she wanted to watch the fight or not... And then, when Nue lunged, she had gasped, ready to see Siu crushed. It was just... too powerful. And dangerous! But then the world turned upside down for her, especially seeing the blood splatter and Nue staggering back. The moment it happened, her fear broke like a shattering glass, and the next second, she was shouting herself hoarse, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  “COME ON, SIU! HIT HER AGAIN! BREAK HER FACE!”

  Her voice cracked with the intensity she was trying to reach him, but she didn’t care. Every time Siu moved, she screamed his name until her throat hurt. Others nearby glanced at her in disbelief... What was her problem? Or... how could someone so small be so loud? Of course, Neya didn’t even notice their gaze, and even if she did, she didn't care. Even when Elder Thane declared the result, she was still shouting, her fists balled in front of her chest, her face as red as a tomato. She never felt so free... ever before.

  Maybe that was why Tian didn’t interrupt her. However, he was only different on the surface because he didn't shout at all. He simply watched, his jaw tight, eyes burning with a mix of jealousy, anger, and... drive. He saw the way Siu was handling Nue... and he both hated it and was happy Nue would lose. But most of his anger was not aimed at Siu but at himself. He had fought with him only a month ago... How did he come this far already? How did he fall this far behind Siu? When Nue hit the ground for the last time, Tian felt himself shudder... He couldn't face off against him. It wouldn't be even close to how it was before.

  "I'll need to catch up..." He muttered, his fist balling up, "I am not letting you run laps over me, tsk!"

  As for the last of their little group, Lorean remained seated long after the others around her stood up. Mostly because they were losing their bets, it seemed... It was clear that Nue would win, but they all had placed their money on how long it would take for her to beat down Siu... Yet, all that was out of the window. At least she didn't place any money on anything... She was simply watching and exploring who had deep pockets, but even that didn't matter anymore. She felt an uncomfortable stir in her chest because she failed to realize Siu's actions were simply due to his awareness of his own strength... and she took it as bravado.

  While everyone had their thoughts, there was one person who watched the fight from a distance, not even close to the crowd. In the shade of an upper terrace, Toban leaned against a railing and sighed through a grin, watching Nue getting thrown to the ground.

  “Well, there goes half my profits,” he muttered, flicking a silver coin between his fingers. "I told them not to accept too high bets on Siu...” he grunted, already having the numbers of who placed money on who, as it was his people who were shouting the loudest for others to gamble. Still, even with that in mind, he wasn’t angry. "That little bastard,” he said to himself with a chuckle. “Walks in here from nowhere, and puts his hand into my pockets!”

  He whistled softly, beginning to walk away, uninterested in the following chaos or whatever. He knew the moment he saw Siu train that he would win, so he was doing his best to learn more about the boy, and now, he had some files on hand. Some juicy, expensive rumors... One that will be sold to the highest bidder, as for sure, many of the Outer Disciples will come to him to learn more about Siu.