15 Strike (2/2)

We stood at the top of a great mountain range. We were dizzyingly high up, and great white cliffs, many hundreds of meters tall, stretched out on either side.

Below was a vast ocean that seemed to bend the horizon. Far in the distance, dark clouds towered into the sky. Even from here I could feel the rumble of thunder and the flash of lightning.

”This is Eurassa's great Eastern Front. Scary isn't it?”

Father sat me down on the small stretch of grass at the edge of the patio.

”Don't wander off!” he warned, pointing his finger at me.

I wasn't planning to. I was meters away from certain death.

Father stood there for a minute, staring into the horizon, gathering his focus.

”This,” he started, ”is the Spirit Burning Technique.”

The surrounding inferno of qi disappeared into his body. Embers glowed underneath his skin, giving it the look of molten gold.

”This,” he continued, his voice rising, ”is the Flesh Conduit Technique.”

His body rippled and convulsed, as layers of muscle stacked beneath the dappled surface of his skin. He grew even larger than before, his body trembling as if it could explode at any second.

”This,” he shouted, ”is the Spiritual Weapon Technique!”

With a stomp of his leg, he cracked a flagstone and took a side on-stance. He raised his palm, and a great sphere of qi formed within it.

He crushed it in his grip, and a jagged blade twice his height pierced the sky. Skin tore and bones creaked, as his arm doubled, then tripled in size.

He raised the giant weapon above his head, then paused, majestic in the morning sun.

”OCEAN. PARTING. STRIKE!”

His arm disappeared with a flash of light, then reappeared by his side. The blade was gone.

I looked down. A deep gash split the ocean in two as far as the eye could see.

For a second there was nothing. I could hear the trees rustling in the breeze.

Then, a low rumble filled the air. It built to an electrifying roar, as the two great walls of water flooded to fill the gap.

They met with an almighty crash that shook the earth beneath me. A plume of water raced into the horizon, following the path of father's strike.

Something cold hit my face. I wiped it off and it was wet to the touch. Surely it couldn't be… It was salty to the taste. A drop of seawater had made it from the ocean's surface all the way up here.

I looked back to father. His body was normal again, and he was casually putting on his robes.

”Let's get back inside before your mother finds out I brought you here.”

I could only see a trickle of qi from him, and when he picked me up, his arms quivered. I sunk into his weak grip, a sense of awe paralysing my body.

So, this was father's power.