Chapter 14: Lady Shiva

To read up to 20 chapters ahead: https://www.patréon.com/SlyOW

---------------

Edward looked at the woman standing across him with wariness. Just as Bruce had guessed, he had used the traps from the different buildings to get rid of all the assassins, allowing him to conserve his energy and stop their leader from learning of his moves.

And now that it was only the two of them left, he naturally understood he would have to fight this time.

Across him, Sandra looked at him up and down and said "Serenity, I assume?" Edward grinned under his mask and said "You check the news, that's great. You should be Lady Shiva, Dragon talked about you."

Sandra raised an eyebrow and asked "Dragon is here? And he didn't come to fight me? He must be awfully confidant in your capabilities."

Edward shrugged and replied "Can't say I know what goes on in his mind, but what I can tell you is that your ass is about to be beaten."

Sandra took a fighting stance and said "I would like to see how you would do that, boy." She rushed at Edward, and began attacking. However, she was shocked to see Edward dodge her attacks.

He wasn't faster than her, he was actually slower than her, and yet he was able to dodge her attacks. Moreover, the way he did so was strange, he didn't use superior skill either, he simply moves before her.

After a few seconds of constant attacks, she fell back and said "Chi Sense? Or are you a mutant?" Edward went for the attack and replied "Why should I tell you?"

Edward was confident his strikes were powerful enough to shatter stones, and fast enough to hit his master, but Sandra dodged his fist and grabbed his arm before twisting it.

Crying out in pain, Edward tried to kick her away but she once again dodged, although it did push her away.

Edward fixed his shoulder right, and looked at Sandra with serious eyes. At that moment, he understood his opponent was someone above his league, someone as strong as his master.

Sandra didn't leave him any time to think though as she continued her attacks, and Edward tried to dodge, but he was shocked when he suddenly felt a palm hit him in the chest. He felt his breath disappear as Sandra was about to pummel him to death, and although Edward felt where the strikes would land thanks to his Chi Sense, he ignored the warning and moved in a completely different way than his Chi Sense told him to.

And he did dodge the attacks, and managed to move away. Sandra looked at him with surprise and said "You understood after only one attack? Impressive."

Edward didn't care about her praise in the slightest though as he thought about what happened earlier. His Chi Sense told him she was attacking his head, but she actually hit him in the chest.

Seeing how confused Edward was, Lady Shiva smirked and said "You are a fool if you think your Chi Sense is invincible."

Edward's Chi Sense told him his legs were about to be hit, but he ignored the warning and instead looked at Lady Shiva with his full concentration. And once again, his Chi Sense was misled. He managed to dodge, but his mind became chaotic as he didn't understand how she was doing this.

Edward went on the defensive while Lady Shiva was on the offensive, and the more time passed, the more hits Edward took. Lady Shiva was stronger, faster and she was as skilled as he was in martial arts, if not even better.

As he got hit again and again though, Edward didn't just take the hits and do nothing. He felt his Chi get agitated, and his Chi Sense started getting sharper as he tried to unravel Lady Shiva's attacks.

Thankfully for him, Edward was wearing the Armor of the Ancients, which lessened the impacts of each hit. If he hadn't been wearing it, he would have long died.

But even the magical armor was limited, and the damage Edward took started stacking, bruising his skills and hurting his flesh and bones.

Edward withstood the pain though, until he felt a change occur in him. His Chi, which had been active since the beginning of the fight, started changing qualitatively. Normally, it would only activate when he meditated, but now it sprung out all over his body by itself.

His body was rapidly getting strengthened by it, until it hit a barrier. It wasn't really one, but this was the best word Edward could use to despite the feeling. His body had hit a barrier, a limit. He felt there was something beyond this barrier, but he couldn't cross it.

At that moment, he understood the desperation of martial artists, and why some of them turned to dark magic. It was despairing to know there was something beyond the barrier, something incredible, but to be unable to cross it.

His frustration did not last long though as he also understood he had finally become a Chi Master, with the 'finally' being a little disrespectful to every other martial artist as he only took 6 months to reach a power most martial artists didn't achieve in their whole lives.

This wasn't the only change to happened to him either, as he felt his Chi Sense change too. He couldn't really put this change into words either, it was more of a feeling, but if he really had to find a way to describe it then it felt as if his Chi Sense was now sensing something deeper.

He once again listened to his Chi Sense, and this time it was right. Then, he understood. Lady Shiva was able to manipulate her Chi to some extent too, through either a special ability or an artefact. This allowed her to throw feints, to make her Chi act as if she was attacking somewhere, and actually attack somewhere else.

This weakened her blows to some extent, but it made his Chi Sense useless. This was before though. Now, he could feel through her deception. He didn't know why, maybe he was sensing the 'root' of her Chi and felt her intention before she even changed the course of her Chi, or maybe he was simply reading her mind.

He wasn't sure, but what he did know, was that it was his turn to shine.

Moving with a speed no lesser than Lady Shiva's, Edward dodged another of her strikes and jumped at her, using the Dragon Stance. Seeing this, Lady Shiva's face changed as she took the Leopard Stance, laying low against the ground.

Edward smashed down with his foot, while Shiva pounced toward him, but she had no way of dodging his strike as she tried to punch him.

The foot and the fist met, and Edward's foot easily crushed her fist's strength and fell on her shoulder. Lady Shiva cried out in pain as she felt her shoulder being dislocated. She tried to move back, but this time it was Edward who took the Leopard Stance and jumped at her with incredible speed and sent a palm strike onto her chest.

Lady Shiva lost her breath, and before she could do anything else to protect herself, Edward took the Crane Stance, and jabbed at her carotid. Not with enough power to kill her, but enough to knock her out.

As Lady Shiva fell to the ground, unconscious, Edward released a breath and sat down as he began meditating.

Even his meditation changed as his Chi became much stronger. It circulated around his body, healing his wounds and helping him recover from the fatigue of the fight.

Meanwhile, he heard a voice say "That was a nice combo there, although it is quite astonishing to see a Chi Master who also mastered three of the five stances of Kung-Fu after merely six months of training."

Edward opened his eyes and saw Bruce on a window, dressed in his Batman suit. Edward said "She was a great fighter, I managed to defeat her now, but I may lose our next fight."

"That was a good fight. Congratulations for becoming a Chi Master, Edward."

Dragon appeared from another window and told Edward.

Edward smiled and said "Thank you, Master. Have they all been taken care of?" Bruce nodded and said "Talia and Ra's al Ghul managed to escape, but they were all defeated."

Edward nodded and said "I'm glad we managed to win. What should we do about her?"

As if she knew they were talking about her, Lady Shiva regained her consciousness. Edward and Bruce immediately went on their guard, and were ready to strike, but Dragon didn't budge as he looked at her.

Lady Shiva touched her bruised neck while looking at Edward, and after a moment she said "Our fight was enjoyable, Dragon can be proud of himself for teaching such a student."

Edward slightly touched the nose of his bridge and shamelessly said "Well, I became this good because of my talent more than anything."

Dragon snorted at that, while Bruce smiled. As for Lady Shiva, she got up and turned to look at Dragon before asking "Is your offer still up?"

Dragon showed visible surprise, and asked "Aren't you under Ra's al Ghul?" Sandra shook her head and said "I owed him a favour, which I honoured with this attack. I was defeated, and spared so I am free of any bindings."

Dragon nodded and said "Then yes. If you join us, we would have Dragon, Tiger and Serpent. We would only miss Crane and Leopard."

Sandra waved her head toward Edward and asked "Couldn't he take either position? He is more than good enough."

Dragon shook his head this time, and said while looking at Edward "This wouldn't suit him, and he still has much more to learn, just not from me."

Edward smiled and said "While short, I shall always remember your teachings. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to contact me."

Dragon nodded, and Lady Shiva said "I will meet you at the dojo, in New York, next Wednesday, on the 18th." and with those words, she left.

Bruce waved toward the outside and said "Alfred is already waiting for us, shall we go?" Dragon and Edward nodded as they got out of the building, Dragon triggering a trap while doing so, and they got to the car.

Alfred looked at the three through the mirror, and saw Bruce who had dust on him, Dragon with a slash across his chest, and Edward who had changed his Armor of the Ancient back into his usual clothes but had a bruised cheek.

Alfred asked "Rough night?" Edward smile, and Bruce said "Thank you for the concern, Alfred. To the mansion."

Alfred smiled and drove away.

It was already the evening when they started fighting, and night had long fallen by the time they got back to the mansion.

Edward directly went to his room and spent the night meditating. As he did, he analysed the changes that had been made to his body, to determine how much stronger he had become, and tried to find a possible way to get past the limit.

At the same time, he also experienced with his Chi Sense, although his body had encountered a barrier, his Chi Sense did not, meaning he could still train it to become stronger, be it to feel farther, more people at the same time or even 'deeper'.

The next morning, with his mind and body well rested, Edward awoke from his meditation as he heard his phone ring. Even now that meditation didn't actually strengthen his body, Edward would continue meditating instead of sleeping because he felt it was better, just like Dragon.

Edward grabbed his phone and smiled when he saw it was a representative of WHO calling. Answering the phone, Edward got to talk with them, and he learned that his anti serum had been verified and approved, and they had already started administering it.