Chapter 17: Horizons

What lies in the horizon of a martial artist?

It's a question anyone who embarks in this journey ends up asking, one way or another. And while it can take a while for someone to figure out the answer, it's always the same answer… until it isn't anymore, and the answer changes.

Raine stood in front of someone who did not practice martial arts like everyone else. Someone who had a vision that was so detached from the vision others have of martial arts, that most people have trouble even calling him a martial artist. And yet, he was undeniably a martial artist.

Eda stood in front of one of the few people in existence that could be called "martial arts incarnate". Someone whose understanding of martial arts was so unbelievably advanced; most people would have trouble even comprehending the idea that other martial artists were walking down the same road he walked. And yet, there was no doubt that he was a martial artist.

Jyaku and Gouki were so far ahead in their path of martial arts that, for people like Eda and Raine, people who merely just started their own journey, the horizon of possibility was wherever they were.

The first answer was this: The horizon lies where the great masters lie. Those who have reached the peak, they are the ones that set the ideal all that come after chase. At the peak of kuukendo lies Jyaku, at the peak of Aiki lies Shibukawa. Similarly, other great masters set the horizon of other arts.

At the peak of Kung-fu lies Kaku, at the peak of Karate lies Katsumi, at the peak of sumo lies Sukune. Even for modern martial arts, which have barely come into existence, this is true.

At the peak of boxing lies Alai, at the peak of Goudou lis Jack Hanma, and at the peak of the new art that was born merely days ago, one so new it does not even have a name yet, lies Amity.

To ask mere students to face horizons like those is almost cruel, but necessary. To walk down such a long path, you must be able to understand where you are headed, and how far you have to go in order to get there.

…

…

…

Raine was hesitant to step forward. They had the unique privilege of being able to utilize a technique few people have ever even understood, but that doesn't mean much when so vastly inexperienced. Sure, they could perform the perfect relaxation and movement that can invalidate the impact of any blow, and perform the perfect explosive tension that can devastate any opponent, but without the experience required to measure the timing of your opponent's attacks and movements with extreme precision, it is little more than a gimmick that you cannot use in real combat. To top it off, they were down an arm and Jayku remained untouched.

So, what options were there? Surrendering was out, clearly. But a face-on collision was bound to end in disaster. The only reasonable approached seemed to be playing defensively and counter attacking. However, with Jyaku being so determined in practicing a purely self-defense centered martial art, that didn't seem feasible either.

But perhaps there was a solution. They saw it once in an incredible fight that they saw in a recording.

Raine started walking slowly towards Jyaku with their guard completely down. Like a simple, casual walk. Jyaku was shocked, he had no idea what this could be, and out of caution, he put his guard up. Raine just got closer, and then raised their fist very slowly, moving forward as if it was an attack. Jyaku then made the decision to counter before anything else could happen. So he went to grab Raine's arm.

But as soon as he tried that, he felt an impact in his chest. Raine had baited him into attacking first and took their chance to deliver a fierce kick. Staggered, Jyaku did not have a chance to stop the next kick that nailed him in the jaw, sending him to the ground, almost making him fall over before he managed to catch himself. And as soon as he caught himself, Raine performed a very familiar attack. Driving into a sideways Zhuang Zhuang stance, their fist struck Jyaku at incredible speed, and sent him flying. He still managed to catch himself though.

In a nutshell, it made sense. When given the opportunity, one must take all possible advantage. If you bait and opponent, and they take it, you must capitalize on that as much as you can, it is just logical. But there was something else here, something more to Raine's attacks, something oddly familiar.

This speed

This resolve

This ruthlessness

This determination

It was so much like Retsu

"… Perhaps this is the reason after all."

Jyaku seemed somber when saying these words.

"I'm sorry?"

"Forgive me, I was thinking out loud."

Raine felt a bit demotivated at that.

"…You can 'think out loud' while fighting me? Damn, am I really that far behind? Did my attacks really do that little?"

"Do not misunderstand. Your attacks were wonderful. Your technique was flawless, you were precise and perfect in every aspect of execution. Had you known how to integrate Xiao-lee into it, I would most likely be dead. However, you are clearly still a novice, as impressive as you are… Raine whispers, I am not the horizon you look forward to. In fact, that horizon had left this world years ago. But I will show you it, even if just a little. I thought you were one of us, one that would pave the way for the ones that come after, I understand now that you are the one that comes after."

Jyaku then crouched into a tiger-style stance. His face seemed to morph into an unknown visage. He suddenly looked fierce and resolute. All kindness seemed to have disappeared. Like he was someone else entirely.

Raine felt something new this day. It was a new type of fear they had never felt before. They immediately took a tiger stance of their own out of pure instinct. This type of raw, primal fear was overwhelming, suffocating. Not even facing the emperor brought this kind of fear.

Was this 'their horizon'? Was this the ideal they were chasing after?

From here on out, Raine would have all of their limits tested.

And if that was the case…

Maybe it was time to try something

…

…

…

Eda was on the floor, again.

To be honest, it was getting tiresome.

She kept trying over and over to land an attack, ANY attack on her teacher. But the results were predictable. The master of Aiki was not going to let anything through if he could stop it.

"OK. I tried coming in from the front, the back, the side, and the other side. And so far I got Jack-diddly."

"To be fair, you knew that already, you just wanted to confirm."

"I guess that's true. Welp, since all of that doesn't work, let's try the last option."

Gouki was intrigued, the 'last option' was obviously coming on from above, but how was she going to do that? He knew witches had means of flying here, but they involved staffs or palismen.

It was then that he witnessed something unbelievable.

Eda's body began to quickly morph and distort. Her hair growing even larger. Her legs twisting into those of a raptor. Fur and feathers covering her whole body. Her eyes framed by pitch-black sclera and bright yellow irises. And two absolutely massive wings sprouting from her back, big enough to allow her to fly.

Gouki had witnessed his student's transformation for the very first time, and he could not hold back the massive smile of intrigue and excitement that lined his face.

"Fukurou-dono, this is incredible! You look even more like an owl than you did before!"

"Ah, what can I say. A little help from a certain tube helps a long way to deal with your inner demons."

"It seems so. Tell me, this new form, which allows you to soar the skies, is this what you will bring to Aiki?"

"Well, if there's anything for me to bring to the table, it has to be this."

Eda's voice had much more confidence than before. After a long time mastering and getting used to this form, it almost felt more natural than her normal self. There was a strange comfort to being the Harpie Lady.

But what settled this idea in her head for good was what Gouki told her once he understood what he was seeing.

"Edalyn, do you remember a while back when I told you about the horizons of martial arts?"

"… Yeah, I do. You told that the masters where those horizons."

"Indeed, and I also remember you asking something else. I remember you asked: if a horizon is something unattainable, that will never be reached no matter how much you progress, that will always remain in the future, where does the horizon of the horizon lie? Where do the great masters look towards to keep walking? I recall I had no answer for you back then. But I think I do now."

Gouki took a stance and readied for the upcoming fight.

"That which lies beyond the masters

Is the evolution of martial arts themselves."