The Cloud Brawler 1 - (Pre-Honkai Star Rail, MartialArtist!SI)

Warning! This story is set centuries before the main continuity of HSR, also this story contains elements tied to Baki the Grappler and DBZ.

Being reborn is an interesting thing, especially since I definitely was not born in 'China' as I had originally thought when I heard the names that were being used around.

My new name, in fact, was Li Chen and... I was the son of a Cloud Knight and a healer. We were all living in the Xianzhou Lufou of the Xianzhou Alliance. I was indeed not reborn in China- I was reborn in 'Space China'.

This sounded extremely jarring, even more as it became clear that, not only everything was far more advanced than technology was in my previous life, but there was also a presence of magic and divine entities here and there.

I was a bit tempted to call this my own 'Space Xiaxia Experience', but I couldn't help but feel oddly familiar with this sort of setting... even though I couldn't recall where I heard of it. I just knew that it wasn't a book, or something that was stuck in a piece of read-only fiction.

Still, the issue lingered: Space China, magic was a thing, gods-like entities were also a thing, and I was a mere human in this large flagship made by Humans, Foxians, and Vidyadharas. We were also in constant war with those 'Abomination of the Abundance', individuals that were supposedly responsible for the 'Mara' curse that tended to infect those that were attacked with specific smoke and darts, but also those that reached the 'end of their immortality'.

Yes, those in the Xianzhou Alliance were technically immortal, but they were also 'limited' by this curse that tended to twist, corrupt and destroy those that reached a few centuries of existence. Perplexing, and quite worrisome in that already dreadful setting.

It all ultimately pushed me to learn how to fight and, hopefully so, find a way to destroy the cause of this dangerous sickness.

At the age of 5, asking for sword training was deemed a silly request, which really put on perspective how limiting my age was going to be early on. So, rather than train in secret with some blade, knowing that the repercussions would be far too grave for me to ignore, I used the overall 'lack of weapons' around for me to train with to focus on my body.

After all, I had no full understanding of this world's limits in regard to potential magic bullshit. So, testing out basic stuff like Ki/Chi or whatever constituted the spiritual essence of one self was a first step. Meditation was thus tackled and... it worked- sluggishly so. In a week of trying, I was able to feel my 'inner essence' with ease, but it took me a month to learn how to harness it to a limited extent.

My body was just quite young and thus it lacked enough energy to really do crazy shit - yet. I spent three or so years just trying to gain an average control of my inner energy; no destructive blasts at the moment, but I could produce some harmless spheres of blue light from my palms. It was a taxing chore, but it helped me train some more as I continued to test out the limitations of my body in the ensuing years.

The fact that my parents were busy with their works and hardly were at home that allowed me to coach myself into this lifestyle without being caught in the act. It was a bit awkward since this was possible due to my 'maturity' as my mother decided that I was 'old enough' to be on my own for a few hours as she handled the day shift at the Alchemy Commission.

It allowed me time to also buy some 'early stage' combat books with my pocket money, allowing me to start exercising in a proper fighting style for the next few years. I trained my body, my mind and my spirit.

Nothing major unfolded through training, but I guess I could now use my spiritual energy to bolster my own physical attacks to some extent. It wasn't enough to lift something of ten times my weight, but I definitely could break a wall with enough power behind a punch.

At the age of 12, I had already mostly finished 'Basic School' and I was starting to contemplate the idea of joining the Cloud Knights. It was about two months before I was of the right age to enroll, with my father vouching that with the skills I showed him I was worthy of the selection, that something 'bad' happened.

It was the sight my father going back home at lunch time that surprised me. It definitely shocked mom as she appeared perplexed to see her husband back home so early... and without wearing his armor on. I heard the news as I waited behind the door, listening as the man confessed to have been 'removed' due to something about 'cowardness' and 'lacking in all requirements' to be part of the Cloud Knights.

It was a bull reason, but it was 'the official reason'. The truth was that my father had been nagged for an early retirement by his superior. He cited that he had 'done a fine enough job' and to 'focus on the family'.

The harsh reality was that dad's superior wanted him out so he could place his son to replace him. And since niceties hadn't worked, the man had tended a crappy reasoning to kick my father from the force. While meritocracy was indeed part of the Cloud Knights, it was also true that nepotism was strong within some of the higher positions in the Alliance, so it 'made sense' someone with connections could get away with this sort of shit.

In a normal situation, this would be a 'tragic trouble of these times', but there was something that made this a not-so normal situation: I was influenced by this sort of shitty decision. If my dad was not working, then he would be unemployed and unable to find work since he was 'shamed' by this discharge; and if my dad was no longer considered a proper Cloud Knight, then he couldn't recommend me to join the group.

I think it was one of the rare times my reaction matched my physical age - I decided that dialogue was not an option and I sought a more violent resolution. Even more as I heard my father lament to mom how he felt a failure as he could 'no longer show me that he was my hero'.

That struck me the hardest, and it was the primary reason that sparked my blunt solution to this whole mess: I walked up to the Cloud Knights' headquarters (I had visited the place about a week before my father was kicked because he was hyping me up for my planned future), and I was allowed inside as the guards outside were friends of dad and were sympathetic to him for what happened.

I doubted that they knew that my calm demeanor hid away the purest form of rage. I had the name and the face of my target, and I wasted no time in zig-zagging to his position.

"Are you Ye Tai?" I asked to the guy, the lanky prick snickering with some buddies of his as he turned to look at me with a scowl.

"What about it, runt?"

"I wanted to see the face of a cowardly rat before I challenged you to a duel."

That statement drew some amused 'oh's while Tai snorted. "You? Duel me? What about, runt? You want to start trouble?"

"Yes. Especially with a thief that stole a place that you haven't won. So, are you ready to brawl, or are you going to let your pretty friends hype you up some more?"

I was good at getting under dumb people's skins. Tai's face broke into an ugly look. I started walking to the nearest sparring mat, and he followed suit as he put on his helmet and retrieved a sword. He didn't question the fact that he was fighting a weaponless 'kid', possibly twisted enough to ignore such a moral requirement.

It didn't matter, however, as the guy was too sloppy with his sword. To use a weapon, it means to trust it. To know how to use it in a battle and expect it to work as intended. Now, the swords of the Cloud Knights were far from perfect, but they were ideals for the backbone of the military. The issue lied within the user- Tai was not that trained in swordsmanship as I carefully dodged his basic attacks, then sidestepped him as he tried to get closer to get a clean shot on me.

The first minute was just me dodging, getting to know my opponent's regular pace and know where to hit. Then, it was time of the counterattack. Tai hardly had much to defend himself beyond his sword, and he was pushed back with ease for the next ten minutes.

I admit that I had to hold back on striking too hard out of not wanting to damage his body too much. He may have had his armor, but he was so sloppy that it felt easy for me to strike at his exposed spots. He was struggling, and then he was panicking.

I thought that would have been it. I avenged my father's honor, and this duel was binding to see him restored to his position but... I couldn't win it. Not with what happened shortly after.

"ENOUGH!"

A loud voice exclaimed, and I realized that several guards had formed a crowd over the little arena, and that two individuals had now joined the large group of spectators. One was the father of the bastard I was beating up, and the other was... I had no clue on the moment.

I could tell that the old fart was a bit too muscular to be a frail elderly thing. And the scars on his face and his arms told stories of some close-ups with death itself. He definitely was the scariest one in the room.

"What is going on here?! Who do you think you are... wait, you are that coward Li Kun's son, aren't you?"

"Coward? I am here, beating your wimpy son right now because you decided to drop my father because of a dumb reason. What is 'cowardly' in this logic?"

The old man grinned viciously. "He ain't lying. What about his dad? What did he do to deserve the boot?"

"H-He... I guess he was too..."

"He was called unqualified and cowardly out of the blue, then forced to resign by order of the wimp's father."

Tai got up, growling and looking ready to get at me for more knuckle sandwiches but-

"Enough, wimp. Off the mat now."

I was confused, narrowing my eyes at the old fucker. "I wasn't done with him."

"You are, boyo," The oldie snapped back, stepping onto the mat as soon as Tai was out of sight. "Because now you have to deal with me."

"W-Why?" I asked with a hint of a stutter. Sure, I could talk shit a bit, but this old man was not someone I wanted to really fight. I just could tell it from a gut feeling I was not getting any mercy out of that brawl.

"Because, while you may have come here with the best of intentions, you're still a little boy that is doing thug stuff. Using duels like this is irresponsible so... let me show you how a true duel works."

What ensued was hardly a duel. Any of the usual pace I would work with failed within the first two minutes. The old man struck with speed and strength that almost broke my arms at the first hit, succeeding by the second direct hit against my guard. I felt the power splash onto my skeleton, rattling me as I felt my body react on its own out of fear. Dodge, dodge at all costs!

I tried, and I ultimately got to the point of clawing away at my newest foe. It was a ugly fight, but I managed to land some stray punches and kicks at the man. Most yielded no result, but two on his face left two tiny bruises on the man's left cheek.

In ten minutes, I was barely conscious. I felt like my body was melting, but I could tell it was just the concussions talking. I was on the ground, painfully done for this spar as I thought I had 'fucked up big time'. But as the old man crouched over my battered frame, he smiled and chuckled.

"That was an interesting spar from a no-experience rookie. I guess there's some truth to your words but... you need guidance. And I guess it is about time I take my own apprentice!"

...What?

That was the last thought that hit me before I lost my grip on reality. I thought I had died, but I woke up the next day at home, heavily bandaged and with my mother crying and screeching at me for what I did. Dad joined the chorus, but he also appeared proud of what I did and...

It was only after the lecturing that I was given the news: the old man I faced was the Arbiter-General of the Luofu, Teng Xiao himself and... I was now his apprentice as per his own order.


AN

MC is sure courting death and... the timeline is around the High-Cloud Quintet formation. Expects some interesting chapters and time-altering developments. The expected development of the Martial Arts is (Baki at first, then slowly sinking into DBZ logic).