Mystical Journey

Tap… Tap… Tap…

Inside a study in Berlin, Garen's fingers rapped against the desktop rhythmically.

He lowered his head and looked at Dahm who was kneeling on the ground and Hochman who stood by the side respectfully. The atmosphere was somewhat constrained.

"Both of you were my favorite and strongest disciples," said Garen in a slow and emphasized tone.

Neither Dahm nor Hochman spoke. However, Dahm's body began to shiver slightly as if he was afraid of something.

"I taught both of you so that you would enhance my Waterbird Fist." Garen looked at Dahm, "But do you see what you've done? You destroyed transmission radios and made it impossible for me to relay additional orders. You even almost did unforgivable things."

Garen's expression was calm and gentle as if he was merely chatting about potential afternoon leisure activities.

"If I had not gotten Hochman to rush over in time, Dahm…"

"It was my fault!!" Dahm lowered his head quickly, "No matter how you decide to punish me, I will endure it willingly!!"

His voice was quaking.

The Fist Techniques meant everything to him, and the one who controlled them was Garen. Once the source of this control was taken away… Perhaps it would be impossible for him to find a new source for a certain period of time… When he thought of that inhuman pain, all of the bones in his body itched to the core but he was unable to scratch or soothe it at all.

Hochman glanced at him coldly.

"Master, the conflict with the Blood Breeds was hard to avoid. Dahm killed the inheritor of the Holy Techniques from one of the five main Blood Breed clans. Every single Holy Technique inheritor is specially selected and is also the hope of their clan. We must make prior preparations."

"And what is your opinion…?" Garen looked at his sedate disciple who had clearly never been one to openly express his joy or anger. He knew that this guy had obviously interrogated a few Vampires to acquire this information.

"Master, please move to the Holy Fist Palace. We've built a base with defensive facilities that will make it absolutely safe there. The current Blood Breeds are not certain that you are the president of our combat club. In other words, they may also be unaware that the 'Holy Fist' of the combat club refers to you. In order to face the Blood Breed clans, we must proceed with establishing and setting up complete systems. It will be impossible for loose organizations to counter the hoards of Blood Breeds that will gather," explained Hochman quietly.

"You're trying to say that we should unite our forces such as the combat club, Nighthawks, your Boxing Overlord club, Dahm's Deadly Fist club, and the strengths of Quentin and the others?" said Garen when he understood what Hochman meant.

Hochman had a grim look on his face. In comparison to Dahm, he had always been the one who could actually think subtly and deeply.

"With the Holy Fist Palace as the core, we will gather as a large group. I believe that with Master's strength, neither the Blood Breeds nor anyone else will be able to obstruct us," Hochman displayed his wild ambition calmly.

"We'll integrate the combat strength of the entire world to create a system for martial artists that will be used as our core. Therefore, everyone will respect our Holy Fist Palace as the holiest and most supreme place! Doesn't this fulfill the true meaning behind Master's propagation of the enigma of the Holy Fist?" although he was clearly speaking coldly in a low voice, it still sounded as if he was instigating something.

Garen looked at his disciple carefully.

"My Fist Techniques are ancient Fist Techniques that were used for killing. Are you sure you that you understand the meaning of these words?"

Integrating all schools of martial arts and forming a holy land of all the martial arts in this world was equivalent to pioneering a new era. What kinds of exploits and feats were this?!

But it would surely bring unprecedented reigns of terror that would start a war of supremacy.

"This was the best method we could think of," Hochman nodded. It was obvious that this was not the first day that this thought had crossed his mind.

Garen narrowed his eyes. He understood that Hochman's desire for him to integrate all of his forces was based on his own wild ambitions. This disciple knew that he was uninterested to govern these trivial matters and preferred to shove them to other people. Meanwhile, Dahm was not a suitable candidate to take care of such a large organization because he was too cruel. Those who were truly suitable for this position were frankly far and few in between.

"This is something we could do," said Garen slowly while mentioning the keynotes, "From the perspective of you and Dahm, the results of the international combat competition that you organized was good and very successful."

"True," Hochman nodded, "So far, we've received different martial arts sects from 246 countries around the world. We've taken note of certain strong and special sects and registered them already. That includes the areas that they occupy, social positions, personal influence, and economic strength among other things."

He arranged his glasses.

"From this information, I've discovered that even the strongest combat sects cannot be compared to the power of our Waterbird Fist. Most of the Grandmasters of Combat are unable to counter ambushes that use firearms. Moreover, they lack experience in fighting with weapons during actual combat as most of them are merely adept in showy martial arts that are impractical."

Garen nodded assuredly.

"Isn't the competition actually just an opportunity to eliminate these useless and trashy sects?"

"Getting rid of the weeds to keep the flowers. That's an ancient Asian saying," Hochman smiled, "Once we had finally approved and finalized the standards, we decided that there were only three main sects in the world that could truly be called martial arts sects, excluding ourselves."

"Which three?"

"With us as the center, there is the Eastern Fist Technique in the west that includes Wushu-like fighting sequences as their fundamental principles. These have been passed down for many years and are very valuable. They are mainly found in countries like China, India, Mongolia, and Russia among others. The Saudi Fist Technique in the south includes many types of sword moves and leg techniques and focuses on speed. It is mainly spread across Argentina, Chile, Brazil and other countries. The eastern side is more complicated as many main sects have fused and blended with each other. One of the strongest actual combat sects is the Mocksaw Sword Sect, a sword sect established by the master swordsman Mocksaw that focuses on actual combat. However, it has currently evolved into the gun and sword technique, a sword technique that is paired with firearms. It is mainly used in various countries in Europe. The ideas behind this sword technique have influenced the combat of many countries heavily. Therefore, the masters of this technique are always be invited as instructors when the special forces of various countries are undergoing training sessions," Hochman listed all the main points of these notable sects in a familiar manner.

"Eastern Fist, Saudi Fist, and Mocksaw Sword Sect. Meanwhile, our own country has the Waterbird Fist. These are the four main notable and powerful sects in the world," Garen repeated once more, "Have you met the representatives of these sects?"

"Of course, we have already established interactive relations as well," Hochman nodded, "There are actually many other powerful sects, but we've placed them in the second batch because the representatives of their sect were not powerful enough. That's all I have to report right now. In order to establish a Holy Path for our Fist Technique, we need an overwhelming victory that will truly involve the whole world! In this respect, we need large amounts of manpower and financial resources. We will also need stronger safety measures."

At this moment, Dahm who was kneeling beside Hochman finally flared up. The soul primer inside his body, the core of his aura had been stirred up by Garen. The painful itchiness that reached his bone marrow tortured him until his body shivered continuously. Sweat soaked through his entire shirt in a few moments while he remained kneeling on the ground.

The muscles on his body felt as if they were being air-dried. They had started to shrivel up slowly because his skin was getting dehydrated from losing large amounts of water at once. These terrifying effects could be seen by the naked eye because he was losing water too quickly.

Garen glanced at him.

"This is your punishment. After two days, I will relieve you from these disciplinary actions."

Dahm's entire body spasmed before he lowered his head barely.

"Thank you… Master…" he squeezed these few words out with much difficulty before he stopped speaking altogether.

"You will solve the problems that you created on your own. The issues with the inheritor of the Holy Technique will be solved by yourself as well. Since you created the Dead Waterbird Fist because you desired to form your own group, you need to be equipped with the ability to take responsibility as well," said Garen while waving his hand, "You can leave now."

Only then did Dahm raise his head. He stood up with much difficulty and moved like a zombie before walking out of the room. He would need to endure this punishment for another two days. This sensation was easily more painful than frying his whole body in boiling oil. However, he had no strength to fight back as these were the retributions of taking the shortcut. While gaining powerful strength, he would be imprisoned in unbreakable shackles at the same time.

Garen continued to ask Hochman about the other martial arts sects in the world.

This world mainly revolved on an orbit that consisted of Blood Breeds and Witches. They were the conductors who were currently orchestrating the melodies of this world and the ones who would decide the main path that the earth would follow.

Meanwhile, the normal martial artists formed a completely different circle. They had no extraordinary powers at all and were merely walking on the path of becoming stronger purely based on their own hard work and the integration of modern technology. Many disciples who were guilty of manslaughter that had been forced into the circle of mercenaries had naturally received training that involved blood and fire.

Although this circle was not powerful, unifying it would be no simple task.

*****************

At the temporary Nighthawks base on the outskirts of Berlin.

The base was located at the bottom of a valley in the wilderness, where the furthest road was a ten-minute car ride away.

The entire base was once used as a training base for the German army garrison before the Nighthawks had bid for it at an auction. It became a training base for a smaller group of stationed troops after it was modified.

Those who were inside the base performed their garrison duties strictly in an environment that was filled with guards.

Every few steps, there would be at least one or two elite mercenaries carrying firearms while on guard. They were dressed in the exact same black soldier's uniform. Meanwhile, monitor probes and infrared defense lines were placed in every corner of the base.

Small-scale unmanned drones would fly across the sky at certain periods of time to patrol the area. Although no one knew how the various parameter inductors detected the threats, they were still used as additional layers of protection.

The base consisted of unified black buildings that were metallic and glossy. Black houses were built inside a square-shaped area that cars drove past continuously. Occasionally, people who either left from missions or returned after completing them would exit and enter the base.

Within a building that was used for medical services.

Inside the clean white ward, three sickbeds were scattered and distributed there.

"Pritto…" called a weak female voice from one of the sickbeds. "Are you still alright?"

White light cascaded into the room from the outside through the window and shone on the blankets of the white sickbeds. There was a pale young woman with blonde hair under the blanket. Her eyelids were slightly swollen and she seemed lifeless. Currently, her head was turned sideways while she looked at the man on another sickbed.

"Damn them! Don't they know that male and female wards should be separated into two rooms? How dare they just throw us into a room without a single care!"

Some of this woman's vigor and energy seemed to have returned when she opened her mouth and began cursing suddenly.

"Don't be angry… This place is that monster's territory… Only bad things will happen to us if we end up provoking him," the man on the sickbed beside her answered in an exhausted voice.

These two people were Kaya and Pritto who had been personally saved by Hochman from the slaughter. Since both of them were lower-level Blood Breeds, they would not die even if their blood dried out. They would only weaken; as long as their cores were unbroken and their brains remained intact, other things would not be a problem. However, it had been sheer luck that Dahm decided to go after Isaros and the others while he went crazy. This distracted him from finishing them off with a killing blow. Otherwise, neither of them would have lived to see another day.