The power that made Kai feel fear

Kai was just about to take another step when he felt as if the entire world was squeezing against him.

Not only the space, but even the very earth felt like a quagmire, his feet getting pulled deeper and deeper, making him rooted to his place.

None of the Contestants could see the changes. Nor could they feel it.

But to Kai, from the moment Hadoken had opened his eyes, everything had changed. He could see Hadoken's gaze becoming profound and felt himself losing and drowning in his eyes. [GIF 1]

The only thing that Kai could sense was an ethereal pressure generating out of Hadoken, making him feel as if the very air had thickened, resisting his advance.

Kai took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. His Mana churned around him, and even the little Breath around him pulsed along with his breathing.

Kai took a step, and then another.

Hadoken's mocking smile had gone, but there his gaze was still indifferent.

'What the fuck is this?!' Kai cursed, feeling as if he was facing a storm. 'How's he doing it? It's not Telekinesis, I can tell. I don't think it's a Skill, either. An Ability? Tch!'

"Ahh!" Kai let out a shout and then took several steps in succession, closing the distance between him and Hadoken to a mere 10 ft.

It was then Hadoken opened his mouth after a long time. "Humph!" he snorted, eying Kai's trembling figure. "Your attempt is pathetic! Not even a ton of magical flesh can make one strong. Let me show you what true strength is…"

Hadoken's arms were crossed over his chest. At this moment, he lifted his right hand sluggishly and opened his fist, his fingers uncurling, his palm facing Kai.

Kai was just about to react when Hadoken's pupils narrowed with a bang.

All hell went loose, then.

A monstrous shiver ran down Kai's spine, his eyes widened, and a heart-palpating cold bit into his heart. This cold differed from the true cold, its meaning was more profound. Only a few knew this cold, and the Contestants were among them, for they all had experienced it in the past.

This was the cold of death. This was the fear of losing one's life.

Kai couldn't put his lifted foot down, and his eyes couldn't turn away from Hadoken's palm. The more he looked at it, the bigger that palm became, as if in the next moment, it would replace the entire world. [Image 1]

"Begone!"

Hadoken's command echoed in Kai's ears like a judgment, and then the 6th-floor Contestant flicked his palm.

Boom!

Kai's figure became a straw in a storm and got flung away with a boom. He hit the ground even farther than the original 100 ft, rolled like a twig for many dozens of feet, and only then came to a stop.

The crowd burst into a fit of mocking laughter and Moraine's gaze deepened as she looked at Hadoken.

Kai coughed out a mouthful of blood, noticed nearly a fourth of his HP vanishing, and cursed under his breath. Whatever Hadoken had used, it had felt like a train had hit him face-front, and there was no avoiding it. At that moment, Kai had even created a shield of magic, but even that had served no purpose. Not even resisting that blow with Telekinesis had worked, leaving Kai truly at the mercy of his Defense.

Kai gritted his teeth and pushed himself to his feet, trembling all over.

He had expected Hadoken to be strong, but that he wouldn't be able to even resist his powers was something truly out of the imagination.

"Haha! What an idiot!"

"Serve him right!"

"Mr. Hadoken didn't even touch him, right?"

"Go home and take a shit!"

The mockery thrown at Kai entered one ear and passed from another. His face became hard, and his gaze even harder.

'It seems,' Kai thought, contemplating his original purpose, 'I will have to put more effort if I am to force other Protectors to act. This can become ugly…'

Kai licked the blood off the corner of his mouth and smiled inwardly. Outwardly, he showed a pained expression, as if he was thinking of what to do next.

The old man came running to him, then. "Back down, young lad," he advised, sweating all over. "You aren't his match."

There was more to the old man's words, Kai reflected. "Oh!" he exclaimed, eying the old Contestant with short white hair and dark brown eyes. "Have you recognized what he had used to send me flying?"

The old man licked his lips in fear. "My hair didn't become white doing nothing, you know," the old man whispered. "If I am not mistaken, then that brute is a Nen-user. It's best if you don't continue with his farce. Resisting Ren is difficult, young lad."

'A Nen-user!' Kai's pupils trembled at the name, and then he called something which Item-M had told him.

'9 out of the 10 times, only a Nen-user can resist another Nen-user,' she had said. 'The only other way is to suppress them with sheer will and power if you don't have some special Skills or Items.'

Now Kai knew why the Mana and his Telekinesis didn't work against Hadoken. Unlike the typical wizards and ninjas, Nen-users used Aura as fuel; the Life Energy stored in an individual. Nen was inherently linked to Stamina, making HP its source.

To become a Nen-user, the most basic condition was to have at least 20 points in both Stamina and Perception.

The more Kai recalled Item-M's words, the more he frowned.

It wasn't the time for him to go through all the instructions and warnings. Nor did he have the luxury to do so.

"You have two more chances!" Hadoken's shout arrived at Kai as a rebuke. "However, I don't see the point in them…"

This sentence brought out even more laughter from the Contestants.

"Come on, lad," the old man begged. "Once he's done with you, they all will find trouble with me. What did you even do to piss off a Protector, anyway? Just say sorry and…"

Kai pushed the old man away and walked toward the 6th-floor Contestant.

In between, Kai's walk became a run, and then a gale. His Agility was already the highest among his Attributes. So, when Kai spun his gears, bringing out his true speed, a shocking blur materialized within the Mirror Dimension.

Kai was so fast that even the fire roaring to their right died down, darkening the world.

All had gone silent for Kai, and all had become silent in the real world as well.

Hadoken narrowed his eyes. "Osu!" he let out a powerful shout, and then took a pose with his left fist pointed to the ground, his hand outstretched, and his right hand resting on his waist. [GIF 2]

Like a stroke of brush made of wind, Kai rushed at Hadoken and entered the mire of Aura.

Hadoken's eyes narrowed even more, and he used Ren to make his Aura explode even mightier. Then he fused his hostile intentions into his Aura and threw it toward the incoming weakling.

20 ft…

15 ft…

10 ft…

5 ft…

Kai's eyes had gone bloodshot, his right hand almost touching Hadoken's face. The monstrous feeling of impending doom squeezed his chest, making him tremble, and blood kept pouring out from the corners of his mouth.

Hadoken spat. "Nothing more than a pathetic attempt! Fuck off!"

Bang!

Like a rag doll, Kai got thrown hundreds of meters away. But no laugh resounded within the Mirror Dimension this time.

Just when it seemed Kai wouldn't get up, they saw him flicking the ground with his hand, somersaulting to his feet, and sliding on the ground before coming to a momentary rest. His face was covered in dirt, his hat had got thrown away, and his hair had got untied, making them sway up and down in the wind like silken threads.

Even if they didn't want to, the hearts of many girls trembled at this sight.

"Hehe!" Kai's laugh was so low and buried that only the old man heard it, making him shudder for an unknown reason.

Even a fraction of a breath hadn't passed for Kai to come to rest when he darted again.

A final mad rush!

Hadoken snorted. "If you don't know your limits, then let me sort it out for you. Osu!!!"

Hadoken's shout shook the entire world within the mirror dimension. By now, some had figured out the nature of his powers. But few knew he didn't possess any Nen-ability of his own. Still, his mastery over Nen wasn't something a 4th or even a 5th-floor Contestant could vie against.

Otherwise, with his talent, he wouldn't have just ranked 282 in ToW.

What he did possess was an acute mastery over Gyo.

Ren focused on outputting a larger amount of aura, projecting it outwards explosively. On the other hand, Gyo was an advanced application of Ren by which a Nen-user concentrated a larger than normal portion of their aura into one specific body part. It increased the strength of that one body part but left the rest of the body more vulnerable.

With this ground-shaking shout, a large amount of Hadoken's HP burned, becoming Aura in the next moment.

As his face paled slightly, Hadoken took a Karate pose. His right fist rested on his waist, and his left hand was outstretched toward the incoming blur, his palm and fingers open like a wall.

This was a standard form… before firing a punch.

Unseen to others, and unfelt to most of them, an explosion of Aura burst out from Hadoken's Aura Nodes. This Aura wasn't directed forward like before, but it gathered on his right fist, making the surrounding space fluctuate.

Kai's speed seemed even a touch faster than before. Even then, his Instincts were sharp and absurd enough to notice the difference.

To others, it seemed like Kai was rushing at Hadoken because his pride had gotten wounded.

Yet, the moment Kai entered the distance of 10 ft from Hadoken…

… a hissing breath escaped his mouth. [GIF 3]

**********

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