Chapter 7: Collapse (I)

—16 November 2023—

–5:02 am–

The rubber flooring underneath undulated up and down like a tidal wave on a stormy night as Arthur's form blurred and whirred like a gentle breeze across the training room. 

A man lunged towards Arthur. 

Planting his back foot firmly into the floor beneath that sunk in from the sheer force, his front foot zipped through the air like a bullet into a steep kick toward Arthur's chest. 

Bringing his arms up in an X shape, he blocked it, absorbing the impact. 

The kick sent a tremor through his bones, however, his feet remained planted, not moving a single inch. 

Using the small moment Arthur was taking to get back into stance, the man covered up the distance with a single leap and swung his left arm into a swift jab to Arthur's guard. 

Unfazed by the sudden follow-up after the initial failure, Arthur slapped his fist, making it go off-course from its original trajectory. 

The man stumbled forward towards him. However, using the additional momentum, he followed with a bone-crushing cross coated in a translucent sheen of Arcanum that made Arthur take a step back. 

Capitalising on it, he unleashed a rapid-fire assault of elbows and knees. As the man jumped to drive his knee into Arthur's ribs, he suddenly blurred inwards instead of dodging it. 

This divergent course of action made the man widen his eyes as Arthur closed the distance and clinched him, wrapping his arms around his torso. 

At the same time, using his height as an advantage, Arthur kicked the knee of his supporting leg, making the man stumble downwards. 

Arthur spun around, transitioning into a headlock. His arm raised and was about to plunge his elbow into the man's head as his senses flared outwards like an alarm clock. Breaking the lock, he jumped forward, punching the man's face before he did so. 

"Phew, he almost had you, Paul." Another man approached the one coughing on the floor. 

Both men seemed to be in their primes. Both of them had almond shaped eyes, black hair and black eyes. They were both martial artists of the highest category in their own individual fighting styles who also knew how to use Arcanum. 

They were from a long line of fighters who were regulated by one of the Seven Syndicates.

"Young Arthur has improved quite a bit, I'd say. Don't you think the same, Jack?" Paul asked, taking Jack's extended hand as he pulled him to his feet. 

"I'd say he has lost his touch." Jack replied, shaking his head as he saw Arthur standing at quite some distance from them. 

Arthur's feet were hovering about the flooring, numerous tiny, translucent things bouncing back and forth at a speed that was impossible to track with the naked eye. 

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I have been studying for the past two years. You can pretend to go easy on those harsh compliments."

"Studying does not justify this much drop in skill." Jack retorted, holding Arthur's gaze as his feet touched the ground. "What are you even studying? Have you even trained?"

"Chemistry. And no, I have not." Arthur replied as a matter of factly and then spoke again. "Oops?"

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well. Anyways. Let's start again."

Arthur nodded in response. Jack and Paul were Arthur's martial arts trainers from a young age. Even though he could not remember much about them for some odd reason, his body seemed to remember their teachings. Due to him being able to use Arcanum, there was no need to worry about him getting hurt. Since then, he was made to attend other classes as well, however, in the end, Arthur showed the most interest in these two martial arts. 

Muay Thai and Taekwondo. 

There was no specific reason behind this. Perhaps it was because in his dull routines, Arthur became fond of the oddly charismatic attitude of the two or it was entirely on an impulse. No one knows. Even Sif could not tell why he chose these two. 

Arcanum flared to life around both Jack and Paul as they lowered their stances. 

Jack lowered even down and suddenly; his feet caught on fire. Smouldering flames arose, distorting the view of the world around them. The next moment, he dashed forward. Leaving a thick trail of crisp char on the flooring underneath, he arrived in front of Arthur in the blink of an eye. 

Spinning his body, he swung his leg in a circular motion atop Arthur's head. Moving his head to the side, Arthur dodged the falling embers that were about to ignite into his hair, moving away from the range of his roundhouse kick. 

However, a smirk formed on Jack's lips. As soon as Arthur moved, Jack pivoted on his supporting foot and twisted his body violently in the opposite direction. Simultaneously, chambering his other leg and extending it outwards, his heel whistled through the air towards Arthur's chin. 

Arthur's grey eyes matched Jack's before tracing along the heel that was about to make contact with him. In the blur of a second, using the tip of his shoes, he pushed himself back for a mere fraction of an inch as Jack's kick missed Arthur. The force of the kick sent a wave of hot air towards the roof. 

At the same moment, Arthur grabbed Jack by the collar and pulled him towards himself. Since his foot was still in the air, his balance was totally disturbed. As Jack's body fell towards Arthur, he drove his knee into Jack's solar plexus. 

At the same time, Jack placed both of his hands on Arthur's knee, and pushed his own body back, absorbing the impact. 

Paul's overhand right landed square on Arthur's jaw, making his grip on Jack's collar loosen. Wriggling out of his hold, Jack formed a little distance between them. Without wasting a second, Paul performed a bull rush, wrapping his arms around Arthur's waist. 

Capitalising on the moment, Jack jumped right in again. Coiling his own arms around Paul's midsection, Arthur jerked it with all his might. Paul felt his organs tangibly move and bile rise up to his mouth from the sheer force of the wave that had swept over him like a tsunami from just a single tug. 

'This isn't just brute strength. He's using some kind of technique…'

Grabbing Jack's foot, he spun his body and redirected his entire momentum towards the side, making Jack crash like a meteorite into the padded walls. Using his elbow, Arthur struck Paul at the back of his head. He reeled back, his senses disoriented. 

As Arthur dashed forward, Paul looked up immediately. Blinking away the dizziness and the nauseating sensation, he immediately side-stepped, augmenting his entire body into Arcanum. He hooked with his dominant hand towards Arthur's ribs. 

His fist made contact, however, the reeling sensation from a powerful strike to the head and weird Arcane Arts being used at his middle section had sapped his strength away. The punch felt no more than a small tap. 

Twisting his body backwards, Arthur dodged a swift fire augmented kick from Jack. Spinning around him, Arthur reached out for Paul and kicked his head with the upper side of his foot, making him fall to the floor with a loud thud.

Arthur's back arched as Jack finally managed to land a kick at him. He winced, biting the searing sensation of flames eating- nibbling away at his skin. The flames exploded underneath Jack's feet, making the plastic flooring underneath also catch on fire. 

Jack jumped once again with his knee going towards Arthur. However, midair, his leg snapped open and extended his foot suddenly, increasing his reach. Arthur used his palm to slightly tap it and use the force from the tap to move to the side. However, as Jack's foot was in the air, he brought it down like an axe chopping a piece of wood towards Arthur's collarbone.

As it landed, Arthur felt the bones inside his collarbone make a noise that they definitely should not. Immediately grabbing his foot by his shin, Arthur sealed his foot placement over his cracked collarbone. For the first time, Arcanum flared to life around his hand that was balled into a fist and used the back of his fist to strike his face. 

The impact was like a really big firecracker going off, making a shockwave run across the entire training room. The windows on the other side rattled violently from the shockwaves for a few good seconds before calming down as Jack fell on the floor as well, his eyes rolling back into his head. 

At the same time, the alarm went off, making the "fire sprinklers" activate. Looking back, Arthur saw that almost half of the training room was burnt down. Letting out a long sigh, he looked outside the window, his long ash brown hair—styled in the curtain style that Astrid had decided for him—covering his eyes. He tried to move his arm, however, it creaked and a stabbing sensation went across it. 

Looking away from the window and down at his childhood instructors, he sighed again. "Yep, can't remember anything." He spoke to himself, under her breath. "To think this stupid Jack actually broke my bone."