~ Chapter 2: Dojo Duel ~

The pair of travelers strode into town just as the sun began to illuminate the village with its warming radiance. Joyous choruses rang out from the native birds as they awoke from their slumber and a few of them fluttered about already in search of food. The gentle crash of nearby falling water blended melodiously with the surrounding environment.

The lead traveler was a female about five feet five inches with light purplish hair that shimmered with glamour from its care. With her golden colored eyes she surveyed the early morning crowds with great scrutinizing vision while smiling at the morning passersby with her flawless white teeth.

The man that followed her strode in a far less than confident manner than she did. He scuffled his feet lazily in the dirt path creating a small dust cloud at ground level. Both of his feet were spread outward and he seemed to waddle back and forth like a pregnant duck. His head was dropped low on his shoulders and his facial features were droopy-like and anything but attractive. With a slightly protruding stomach and all the other features of his body combined he resembled a sort of doped up lazy bear. He looked around in short little distances as if in search of something or simply because of nervousness. After all, who would not be nervous when traveling with such a beauty of a woman whom he followed, right?

Though the morning had just arrived many of the locals were already hard at work and the worn down grass path was filling up quickly with people going to and fro about with their chores. One young girl dressed in a pink kimono top, dark blue sash, and a flowing white skirt that went to her ankles was carrying a bucket towards a small lake that was fed by a small waterfall which came right into the middle of town. The male traveler found himself admiring her simple beauty and her dark greenish colored hair that was pulled up into a ponytail on one and held in place with a red ribbon. Her movements seemed to flow together with such beauty and grace and…

Suddenly, the man found himself practically tripping over a person that had run out into his path from out of nowhere.

"Whoa!"

The traveler spun around with unsteady footing but still managed to stay standing and regained his footing long enough to catch a glimpse of the person who had practically made him eat dirt. It was a boy that had blond hair and who was dressed in the typical blue training shirt and white training pants of a student at the kung fu school just up the ledge. The boy was still spinning around uncontrollably and was about to collide with the girl who was walking back with a bucket filled with water.

"Look out!"

The girl looked up and saw the blond haired boy tumbling for her and she froze in place and shut her eyes and braced for impact. Much to her surprise, she was not thrown down into the dirt like she thought. Instead, she felt a great force of wind rush upward and behind her slightly followed by the gentle thud of someone landing in the soft grass behind her. She turned around to see the blond kid huffing for air as he wiped some of the perspiration off of his face.

"Sorry about that," the boy replied as he smiled at her warmly. "It's not often that I lose my footing like that. And trust me, I wasn't trying to fall into you or something."

"Hmph. Well, all right. I'll forgive you this time. But if you would have made me spill my water then I wouldn't have been happy with you, Knight."

"I got it. I'll come help you when I'm done with my business with master Feh. I promise!" Knight replied charmingly. "I'd better get going."

"I have your word then?" the girl inquired politely.

"Of course! A warrior such as myself would never dishonor his word." With a bow of respect, he headed off down the path to the residential area.

"All right! I'll be waiting!" Lita said with a strain in her voice as the weight of the water began to wear down her arm strength.

The two travelers watched the scene with different interests in what had just taken place. The male traveler fixated his eyes upon the beautiful young girl who was holding the water jug. The female traveler carefully watched the blond as he dashed away and out of sight.

He's good. Her gaze was then moved to the person behind her and she sighed in disgust.

"You're pathetic, Ichon. You know that."

"Huh? What?" Ichon finally became aware that his female companion was staring right at him.

"That little blond punk almost tripped me!"

"Only because you were ogling that girl over there. If you were paying attention to where you were going… Ah, forget it." The female threw her hands up is disgust and began to walk away. "Men are so pathetically predicable. I'd never allow myself to be the object of some guy's desire." She turned and stared right at Ichon. "Especially you."

Ichon froze in place at her words and at the truth in them. If he had not been eyeing that girl then he probably would have seen the blond and would have been able to avoid him. However, he did not like the way she described him, or insulted him was more like it.

"I-I am not pathetic, Wynn! I just happened to appreciate beauty, that's all," Ichon said in defense, turning his gaze away from her.

"Don't ever address me like I'm your friend!" Wynn snapped back.

Ichon cowered back and braced himself for some kind of attack from the girl. "I… I'm sorry."

"Hmph. You're hopeless, you know that? It seems to me from what I've seen and heard about you that you are nothing more than a womanizer. You go around from one girl to the next getting only what you want and then you cast her away like a piece of trash. No woman would ever want someone like you; and even if they did, then they must be a bigger fool than you."

"I am not a woman… whatever!" Ichon yelled angrily. "You're lucky you're a woman or I'd…"

"Or you'd what?" She spun around quickly, grabbed his shirt with a firm grip, and leveled a pair of kunai blades right at his eyes. She spun around so fast that a cloud of dust spiraled around her body. "I would have killed you long ago if not for my master telling me not to! Consider yourself lucky! Now hurry up and take me to the warehouse." She shoved him forcibly to get him moving. "I want to get started right away," Wynn demanded with a sly sneer. I'll get to the bottom of what you're really up to.

Knight had finally eaten breakfast with Jessica and her father and was just passing through the doors of the kung fu school when he became aware of the commotion. A number of students were gathered around the dueling mat and they were shouting and cheering for whatever was going on. With interest piqued, Knight moved in for a closer look at what was happening. He finally managed to push his way to the front and saw two competitors facing off.

"Come on… Beat his face in!" a comment was yelled.

"Knock him out!" another person screamed out.

"Stop playing around and finish him!"

With each exchanged blow by the two combatants the crowd of students seemed to cheer more and more. One of the fighters landed a hard right hand palm punch to his opponent who then spun several times in the air before coming to a crashing thud on the ground. The crowd erupted with cheers as the one who landed the punch began to gloat over the fallen body of his opponent.

The competitor, however, was not finished and unstably stood to his feet. His posture was slumped from the extreme amount of exhaustion that his body was no doubt experiencing and his legs shook from the fatigue. Sweat dripped from his forehead and a small trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth where he had just been hit. He lifted up his hand and held it against his mouth while he turned his head and spit out blood that had pooled in his mouth. As he wiped the blood off he clenched his hands in a fighting pose ready to finish the fight.

"I'm not done yet," the competitor said weakly.

The champion looked back from his gang who were patting him on the back and saw the pathetic sight of his opponent. A second passed before he erupted in laughter followed by laughter from his fan club of jockeys.

"You haven't even landed a good hit and now you can barely stand! Yet you still mean to fight me? Fine! So be it! This time I'll make sure that you can never fight again!" The champion reached around behind him and pulled something out that had been under concealment of his shirt. The quick flash of a sharp, darkly colored kunai blade caught the attention of the spectators and especially of Knight. The champion charged towards the weakened competitor intent on fulfilling his threat.

A weapon? But something like that is forbidden from even being in here, let alone being used in a duel! I must put a stop to this before it's too late! The blond moved with such speed that his body seemed to suddenly vaporize from where he once stood and then reappear on the mat gripping the arm of the champion against the wall. In the same hand of the champion was the small kunai weapon. A sudden rush of air accompanied Knight's arrival on the dueling mat.

"What?" the champion exclaimed as he found himself caught completely off-guard.

Before he muttered anything, Knight karate-chopped the forearm with the kunai knife with enough force compelling the champion to recoil in pain and release his hold on the weapon. The blond threw the boy back and caught the kunai in mid-drop.

"What are you doing? This duel does not concern you!" the angered champion yelled.

"You're right…" Knight began as he spun the kunai around by the loop at the end and then suddenly and forcibly thrust the weapon into the wall. "That is until you decided to break the rules and engage in dishonorable play. This… I cannot allow."

"You can't allow this!" He looked over at his friends and jokingly elbowed a few of them. "Who do you think that you are anyways?"

A huff followed by a gentle half-smile were the blond's responses as he narrowed his eyes and focused his mental energies. As the seconds slowly passed a gentle violet hued glow encompassed his body witnessed by none of the spectators. He bowed his head low and lowered into a fighting stance and with eyes closed he said, "I am…" and then he lifted his eyes to meet the furious stare of the champion and finished by saying, "…your end!" The violet tint of Knight's eyes shocked the champion back a few steps while he took a moment to compute what was spoken.

"Let me handle it…" a voice whispered weakly from behind the blond.

"Hee… You, are in no condition to fight. Your reaction time is too slow. If I hadn't stepped in when I did then he probably would have killed you!"

"But this is my fight…" the competitor argued.

"No! No 'buts' about it. I will not allow you to put yourself into harm's way with your life on the line. Besides, if you're gone who's gonna help me carry water for you-know-who? It seems like she always needs help. And I don't want her getting sick of seeing me all the time."

For the first time since the duel started the competitor laughed. "Right! Well then, he's all yours! Let him have it!" He then backed away allowing the duel to proceed without his interference.

"Hmph. I intend to." Knight focused his attention back on his opponent. "Before we begin I would like to know one thing…"

"Yeah! What?" the champion sounded back with much irritation and strain in his voice.

"What were you two fighting about in the first place?"

"That… doesn't concern you nor does it matter… all that matters is that I beat you so I can kill him!" the champion screamed as he lunged into battle.

Hmmm… so it's his sister, eh? Knight thought as he read the mind of his opponent. With the training that he had received while at this school combined with his already mentally focused energies, Knight had very little difficulty in dodging the punch from his opponent. A quick jab followed the initial attack meant to surprise the victim but Knight once again phased out of harm's way and off slightly behind his opponent.

"Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!" Knight provoked with a sneering grin.

"Arrrrgh! Shut up!" The champion furiously began an assault of punches, jabs, hooks, elbows, knees, and pretty much anything he could at his blond haired opponent. Despite his best efforts none of his attacks seemed to connect with the intended target. Each attack was met with a seeming fading after-image of the blond that trailed the real personage of the blond.

"He's just toying with him," one of the students observed after carefully trying to decipher Knight's movements.

"Isn't that Knight? When did he become so dang… good?" another student awed in amazement. "He's going toe-to-toe with Valleroy!"

"How's this possible?" another student said with widened eyes and gaping mouth. "Usually, he's just in the corner by himself minding his own business. We hardly ever see him train!"

"Well, apparently he's been training; but he still hasn't managed to land a single hit yet. He's merely dodging every attack from a defensive position. He won't have what it takes to win," another student boasted upon seeing Knight's apparent lack of offensive capability.

"You're wrong…" the original competitor spoke from nearby. He seemed to sound and look a bit better than before. "He may not look it but I bet that he could even go up against Master Feh."

"Pfft… Whatever… He may be going toe-to-toe against Valleroy but he'd definitely lose against master Feh."

Some of the other students around mumbled their agreement while still trying to keep an eye on the match.

"Well, remember a while back when those travelers came into town the day Hsu had gone missing and Feizhi stormed out to go search for him. The one named Isaac entered this dojo and demonstrated his powers. He possessed a form of Ki that was strong enough to knock down a log from a few yards away. Remember?"

"Ummm… Wait! Oh, yeah! Tall, skinny blond-haired kid, right?" the student recalled. "So? What's your point, Raif?"

"Knight possesses a far greater Ki than Isaac ever did and his training here has improved his Chi abilities, something that Isaac did not have," Raif explained. "I have seen his technique only once but that is all that I need to be convinced that he can beat Master Feh. Just watch."

Attention was once again drawn back towards the two fighters just as Knight leapt over the champion as he turned in the air to face him. He landed on the mat and skidded a few meters before coming to a halt. His hands were raised once more in a defensive orientation as he took a deep breath and exhaled it out slowly.

"Is that the best you got, Valleroy?" the blond jeered once more.

The black haired boy glared at his opponent through eyes filled with anger as the perspiration poured down his face soaking the top of his already saturated training clothes. He gasped for breathe as his entire body began to ache with the effort that he had exerted. As he looked on at Knight, he saw that the boy was hardly sweating at all!

What? Valleroy thought astonished. Is he not tired at all? What was up with this kid? I've tried everything against him and nothing seems to be working! No… I have to beat him so that I can kill Raif!

"That is far from what I've got," Valleroy mustered to speak as he clenched his hands. "You are merely dodging all of my attacks. You haven't even landed a single hit yet!"

"Hmph. True…" Knight agreed. "Well then, I guess I'd better change that then," Knight said as he changed his stance ever so slightly.

"You're just as pathetic as that other hopeful! You're all talk and no bite! In fact, I'm not even sure what you're doing here! How could you think that you could master the teachings of this place just by sitting in the corner? That is so lame! As the champion of this dojo, I'll show you what I've learned through my training! I'll show you real strength!" Valleroy charged at Knight with his fists ready to connect this time for sure.

Knight readied himself but a flicker of purple in the corner of his vision caught his attention just for a brief moment. The figure of someone wearing purple stood afar off, but a face could not be matched because his attention shifted to his battle and the jab that was coming straight for him.

Knight ducked and fell on his back in a slight roll and used the momentum of Valleroy's jab against him. By pulling his knees up to his chest, Knight was able to roll backward and plant his feet on Valleroy's stomach and toss him into the side wall with a spring of his feet outward. Knight rolled backward into a kneeling position just as the thunderous crash of the champion made contact with the dojo wall. Pieces of debris scattered everywhere forcing those closest to the front of the spectator line to shield their eyes. When everyone could see again, they saw the crumbled body of their champion impressed into the dojo wall.

Valleroy fell gracefully from the crater in the wall onto his hands and knees huffing for the breath that had been forcibly knocked from his body. His head ached with an extreme pounding sensation that nearly made him sick. A sudden sickening liquid intruded his mouth and he tasted something that instantly made him cough it out. The color of what had come out was that of a crimson apple. It was the color of blood, his own blood!

The witnesses gasped in unbelief at what had just happened: the strongest fighter among them, the champion – the role model of perfection – lay strewn across the dojo kneeling, coughing up his own blood, and gasping for breath because he had been defeated. Worse thing was that the person who had defeated him was someone whom the students considered what not to be.

"That was sure impressive…"

The melodious voice of a female filled the air alerting the male population in the dojo to the presence of the young violet haired lady standing off near the entrance of the kung fu fighting school.

"Feizhi!" Raif exclaimed.

A smile and a feminine wave were her responses as she seemed to drift across the floor with a certain degree of grace and dignity of that of a princess. As she made her way toward the dueling floor the crowds split apart allowing her access. She soon then stopped right in front of the blond fighter and smiled sweetly at him.

"Congratulations, Knight!"

"Huh? Ohh… Thanks." His tone was anything but excited and he averted his eyes away from her in seeming disinterest. "It was easy."

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited to see me?" Feizhi asked in the tone of small innocent child.

"It's not that…" Knight then had the chance to look at his peers. Each one seemed to be eagerly awaiting their own time to spend with the girl, whether that spent time was of pure intentions was still in question. But the looks they emitted were enough to make him sick.

"Hey! Kid! Get away from her!"

The angered tone of Valleroy made everyone aware that Valleroy had not quite been defeated yet. Everyone parted giving Knight and Feizhi perfect view of the hunched form of the defeated champion.

"You don't deserve to be talking to her!"

"And I suppose that you do?" Knight raised his eyebrow at him in amusement. "I think that I have just as much right to talk to her as anyone."

"Only the champion… has the right… to talk to her… And I haven't been beaten quite yet…" Valleroy said in a weak tone as he struggled to stand himself straight up. "…this fight is not over yet!"

Knight could not help but chuckle to himself. "This fight was over the moment I became your opponent. To avoid further embarrassment to yourself and pain inflicted upon your body I suggest that you stand down."

"Shut up! I will not lose to you! I am the champion!" Valleroy shouted and charged straight for Knight. The black haired boy smirked and then produced another kunai blade leveling it at Knight with every intention to finish this fight for good and silence this punk.

Everyone was alarmed save for Knight who was not phased by this predictable action. Just what I thought you'd do. "Neither can I lose to you," whispered the blond.

Knight quickly analyzed the situation and realized that if he tried to counterattack that Feizhi would be in the way and would probably be hurt. With only moments left Knight wrapped his left arm around the girl and spun around so quickly that no one saw his right hand flick downward by his side and the sudden appearance of shurikens in his hand. Somewhere in his rotation his body suddenly began to glow a slight violet hue and he let the shurikens loose at Valleroy. The three tossed shurikens struck Valleroy in the chest with such strength that he was not only stopped but also driven backward off the ground and through the air! Suddenly, a burst of wind trailed the paths the shurikens had made with such ferocity that loose clothing and hair flared in the wake.

"It's… not… possible…" Valleroy wheezed in astonishment as he felt some kind of strange energy penetrate his body farther than the shurikens had done leaving three holes in the back of his shirt with no damage to the skin. His body came crashing to the floor and rolled a few meters before coming to rest in a heaping mess of blood and clothing. As his vision darkened his hold onto consciousness was lost and the grip his right hand had on the kunai blade loosened.

Amazed gasps echoed throughout the entire dojo as the other students glanced back and forth between Valleroy, their champion, and Knight, the underdog. However, it seemed like Knight was never the underdog to begin with but rather the champion instead, even though he did not officially have the title.

Raif was the first to step out from the crowd and break the seconds of silence that followed the defeat of Valleroy.

"And that is that…" the boy said satisfactorily with his gaze fixated on the man who had attempted to kill him. Raif turned slightly and glanced back to the victor and gave his thumb's up approval. "Good job, buddy. I knew you could do it." Turning to face the crowd, he raised his voice and said, "Let's hear it for our new champion, Knight!"

The clapping began with only Raif; but it was soon joined by another student, then another, then one more, until pretty soon the dojo was filled with boisterous applause and cheering from all those who had witnessed the sound defeat of Valleroy.

"Are you all right?"

Suddenly brought back from the cheering that was not even directed for her, Feizhi turned her attention to the soothing voice of the man whose arms she was still in the security of. The grip around her shoulder loosened and she backed away slightly and was able to look upon the full features of her blue eyed savior.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Thanks," Feizhi meekly replied, her face reddening from either embarrassment or excitement, she could not tell. The sound of her voice was nearly drowned out by the cheering of the others.

"Good. I was hoping that you were all right."

As all the other students descended upon their new champion cheering his name and patting him on the back and practically singing his praises, the doors of the dojo gently closed behind a violet haired female who had just witnessed all the preceding.

"Hmmm. Most interesting. So he can use Psynergy too. The master will be pleased to know of this information." A devious smile cropped on her face as she slowly walked away from the dojo. "This trip is turning into a productive one indeed."