PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

“Nothing serious,” Desmond replied as he put some healing ointment on the wound before simply bandaging his arm.

Knowing that even if Desmond was heavily injured he wouldn’t say anything about it, Mei Fei Long decided to change the subject of conversation while she waited for the break to pass and the first round of dueling to begin.

Without any incident worth mentioning, the expected time soon arrived and the duo once again headed to the arena with the difference that this time only Desmond climbed into the arena itself while Mei Fei Long deviated halfway and went to the nearest bleachers to observe.

As Desmond made his way across the reinforced stone floor of the arena it was hard for him to ignore the competitive and slightly bloodthirsty atmosphere that filled the crowd, oddly enough this didn’t bother Desmond and rather reminded him of his teenage days when he used to compete in martial arts tournaments in his world.

Unbeknownst to him, a wistful smile had spread across Desmond’s face followed by a growing sense of oppression emitted from his body which was now overflowing with battle spirit.

However, Desmond’s appearance in the arena went somewhat unnoticed as all the attention of the crowd, especially the female audience was focused on the gallant and handsome Lao Zo who went up to the arena putting on quite a show.

Lao Zo’s self-centered and carefree attitude would normally annoy anyone but Desmond couldn’t care less, Desmond wasn’t someone who would enjoy the attention and although it was a lie to say that he didn’t have his ego or vanity; at least his ego wasn’t fragile enough to get upset over something so small.

Lao Zo on the other hand as much as he intended to satisfy the crowd with his gallant act, his attention had never left Desmond, trying to find a weakness or an oversight that he could exploit; only to be disappointed in Desmond’s strangely carefree yet intense feeling.

.....

To others, it might seem that Desmond was just standing there without even mounting a fighting stance but to Lao Zo, it was different, in front of him Desmond gave him the feeling of a predator lazily waiting for his prey to get close enough to sink his claws.

Unaware of the thoughts of both individuals, it was Miao Taolong who ended the silence by starting the battle with a bell.

But strangely neither of them attacked, both Desmond and Lao Zo just stared at each other without any emotion or anxiety to be seen in their expressions.

The silence lasted for a couple of seconds until it was Lao Zo who broke the silence by speaking: “It seems that you angered the blood scorpion Zi”

Slightly taken aback by the comment, Desmond was about to give a reply when Lao Zo disappeared from his field of vision.

Relying only on his instincts Desmond raised his left arm in a blocking stance feeling almost instantly how Lao Zo’s fist aimed at his temple was deflected by his defensive move.

With a raised eyebrow and a somewhat intrigued expression, Desmond finished by commenting: “To have such a gallant image, you are a sneaky bastard.”

Which was answered by a series of quick jabs from Lao Zo, slightly irritated Desmond used the defensive technique he learned from Mei Fei Long the interruption of the flow to deflect the incoming attacks with smooth well timed palm strikes at close range but he was caught off guard when with the second burst of speed Lao Zo’s attack pace completely changed so that Desmond ended up taking at least four direct hits to the chest before he had time to get out of the way and gain some space.

“To think that even your combat style is quite deceptive,” Desmond commented sarcastically without any sign of pain or discomfort from the attacks he had just taken.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Lao Zo replied, “Sometimes you have to do what is necessary.”

Lao Zo might not have known it but his expression evoked in Desmond some of the memories he used to avoid at all costs but even without knowing the exact cause, at the very moment Desmond’s attention seemed to relax; Lao Zo attacked again.

Only to be stopped once again by Desmond’s instinctive defensive reaction, not wanting to give up, Lao Zo lashed out once more with a series of short blows but to his surprise this time his attacks weren’t just being blocked or deflected but it was him who was being pushed back even though he was the one on the offensive.

With a blank countenance, Desmond continued to use faster and more precise palm strikes to completely disrupt Lao Zo’s offense and soon a few occasional palm strikes began to find their way into Lao Zo’s chest.

With both his body and his ego hurt, Lao Zo began to burn in dense orange Ki flames as his speed and momentum greatly increased but the change in the intensity of his offense was met by a soft but unshakable defense from Desmond.

Out of nowhere, Desmond’s speed seemed to double for a moment as both hands easily deflected the incoming punches before lashing out with a double palm strike right to Lao Zo’s sternum sending him flying a couple of meters before crashing to the ground.

“If that’s all you got, then you can get off the sand kid.” A chilling voice full of contempt reached Lao Zo’s ears who was barely getting up from the ground only to see Desmond looking at him as if he was nothing more than a stone in his path.

How could the ever-proud Lao Zo accept such an insult? the answer is that he couldn’t and wouldn’t, the orange Ki around his body intensified and began to circulate him in connected spiral patterns that covered almost his entire body.

The floor gave a slight creak as hairline cracks appeared under the feet of the man in front of Desmond but the latter barely reacted then with even more absurd speed than before; Lao Zo lunged at Desmond firing blows as steady as rain.

Who would have thought that Desmond would explode with quite equal force and speed smashing his fists into Lao Zo’s fists in mid-air generating intense blasts with each impact?

But as close as the exchange seemed, both Desmond and Lao Zo were having trouble keeping up, in Desmond’s case it was because he was pushing his limits with his use of overload which hurt his body while in Lao Zo’s case was due to his fists taking too much damage from smashing into Desmond’s metal gauntlets.

Desperate and furious, Lao Zo drew his trump card, he briefly withdrew from the exchange of blows while mounting a stance that seemed to prepare for a more powerful blow but out of nowhere what shot out was not a fist but a kick that no one saw coming... no one except Desmond.

Lao Zo hadn’t even finished yelling the name of his move when he felt Desmond’s left hand grab his ankle stopping his kick in the air leaving him in an awkward position.

Not thinking clearly, Lao Zo tried to free himself from Desmond’s grip but the latter’s hand, which was covered in a strong metal gauntlet, gripped him with alarming firmness.

“You should have gotten off the stage,” Desmond commented in a voice as cold as arctic blizzards as his bloodthirsty smile grew by the moment.

Desmond’s smile gave Lao Zo a strong sense of discomfort but it was already too late, just a fraction of a second later Desmond’s hand holding his opponent’s leg closed with force causing an eerie bone-breaking sound as Lao Zo’s ankle became a bloody mess with splinters of bone sticking out everywhere.

Without even giving his opponent time to finish screaming in pain, condensed wind mana rings had already started to form on Desmond’s right arm, soon the fifth ring finished forming which was immediately followed by Desmond unleashing a brutal blow to his opponent’s chest with the five rings of wind condensing and exploding at the point of impact as Desmond’s whisper was lost in the noise generated: “”

Moments later Lao Zo now with one foot missing was sent flying out of even the arena only stopping when his body crashed into the protective walls outside the surrounding area of ??the arena.

Not even bothering to determine the winner or find out if his opponent was still alive, Desmond left the arena with a grim expression after tossing aside the amputated foot he held in his hand.

Unknown to all, Desmond looked so gloomy had nothing to do with the fight itself. Instead, he was upset that he lost his temper just because Lao Zo accidentally mentioned that phrase so familiar to him.

This was something that Desmond couldn′t afford to himself, not only because it was a weakness that someone could exploit but it was also a scar he wish to have cured to continue with his life and be able to enjoy old memories without always feeling that pain and anger.