Bankei never attacked.
Merun had watched every exchange from the gap in the stonework, and that was the thing that kept pulling his attention away from the fight itself. Bankei's ki simply settled around him like a second skin — a white, faint veil that absorbed everything the masked man threw and returned nothing.
Defensive ki reinforcement, Merun thought. Pure ki-based defense!
He channeled his ki, layering it over his body in imitation... and succeeded.
Awesome.
And yet, that alone made him immovable. Physically, a Martial Squire was already considered superhuman, with speed and strength so far past a normal human that comparisons felt silly. But with his ki covering every inch of his body, Bankei hit something close to the ceiling of what a Squire's body could express. Every small adjustment, every micro-shift in weight, had the density of inevitability behind it.
At his peak… how strong had he been? Merun thought.
The question lingered.
Then the masked man took off his mask, and the question stopped mattering.
Merun watched the rest in silence.
He'd seen it before—not this man specifically, but the men who'd fought Bankei before. The same pained and ashamed look on his opponent's faces. Looks that knew what they had to do.
Bankei had healed people for free. Many of them, over the years. The main family had been sending them to die under his hands, shaving his will down one life at a time.
It happened again.
He'd heard it from Bankei himself. Many 'fights' they have set up for him were fights with people he had saved and cared for in the past. People who he personally knew, and whose families he had shared simple meals with.
They were good people who were willing to die to repay his grace.
Merun exhaled slowly through his nose.
The silence didn't last.
Cheering broke from the stands starting from the martial artists, then the rest. The announcer's voice rose over it, formal and ringing.
"The Shadow Dragon," he declared, "had judged the sinner and found mercy in the sinner's own hands. Let it be known that unconditional faith invites blessing. The Dragon's will was accomplished today as the despicable sinner has died a pathetic and dishonorable death!"
Bankei glared at the announcer. His aura shifted and the temperature of the air changed... the air felt extremely heavy.
On the balcony, Master Mangūsu leaned forward in expectation.
The killing intent rolled over the arena like a stone dropped into still water.
Merun felt it from the room and went completely still. The crowd felt it too—the cheering dropped in pitch, confused, some people stepping back without knowing why.
He's gonna kill him? Merun thought.
Well, the announcer was asking for it.
"DO IT!" Master Mangūsu yelled.
However, in an instant, Bankei's face relaxed once more.
The killing intent vanished cleanly, like a candle covered by a palm. And the old man turned and walked toward the far gate with the same unhurried pace he'd entered with—as though none of it had happened, as though he were simply finishing a walk he'd started somewhere else.
The doors clanged shut behind him.
The crowd roared again, louder this time, fueled by something they didn't understand.
Above them, Mangūsu settled back in his seat. His expression returned to nothing.
He sighed.
The moment he entered the room, Bankei collapsed. Merun tried to help but guards immediately went inside and carried Bankei back to his cell.
Merun slipped through the upper passages, getting ahead of the guards. By the time they deposited Bankei on the stone floor and left, Merun was on the ceiling just watching.
The old man didn't move for a while.
When he finally pushed himself upright, he didn't acknowledge Merun. He turned to face the wall, sat, and silently meditated.
His ki began moving—slow, inward cycling, like breath but deeper. Merun couldn't name what it was doing exactly. It didn't look like training.
Whatever it was, it seemed to help.
Merun sat with his back against the stone and tried to do the same.
He thought about the man's face when he'd removed the mask. He thought about Bankei's brief anger in the arena. He thought about how many times this had happened before tonight, and how many more times the main family could reach back into Bankei's past and pull out another name.
How can one's will be so strong that they could even suppress their anger?
I know there was no way I could hold myself back if I were in his shoes.
His tail curled against the floor.
Soon.
He'd made up his mind before the sun finished setting. He would get Bankei out as soon as he could.
Not through a lock or a tunnel or anything that required Bankei's cooperation.
He looked down at his hands. Flexed them once.
He rested the scouter on his ear.
[MERUN: 9150 - Peak Martial Squire / Quasi - Martial Senior]
He was at the very peak of his life. Learning how to feel and control his ki boosted his power levels to a high enough point that the newest scouter model the Beggar Sage had given him almost couldn't track his strength once more.
He was beyond the strongest Martial Squire—for now.
He wasn't sure where Rui was right now, or how powerful he was.
As for his great ape transformation... it had limitations, but one thing it did give was pure power. Based on what he remembered, it was around a solid 10x multiplier to his current power!
He would have the power level of 91,500! It should be enough to beat any Martial Senior!
But will it be enough to defeat a Martial Master? He was not sure.
Will he be able to control it? He was not sure.
Will it be enough to save Bankei?
He was not sure, but one thing he was sure of—is that if this continues, his newfound master's heart could not take any more of this.
It had been a long time since his last life-and-death fight, and that was versus Noritsugu and he was just a Martial Squire. Now he was against a Martial Master, a leap of two entire realms.
He doesn't even know how high a normal Martial Master's power levels are!
Should he really do this?
Merun stared at the old man's back as he started hearing silent sniffles.
It seemed Bankei finally couldn't take it. Tears ran down his face as he silently tried to hold them back.
Merun wanted to console the man, but frankly, he didn't really know what to say.
His decision was made though.
His newfound master would taste freedom soon.
Fuck... when's the next full moon?
Just reminding the power scaling!
Format: Realm >> Power Level >> Info/reference
Exploratory >> 1 – 20 >> Goku youth
Martial Apprentice >> 50 – 300 >> Goku & Piccolo when Raditz arrived
Martial Squire >> 1k – 5k >> Raditz & Nappa
Martial Senior >> 10k – 80k >> Vegeta in saiyan saga was at 18k. Around early Martial Senior.
Martial Master >> 200k – 5M >> Goku (Frieza Saga, Post Zenkai after fighting Ginyu. Power Level: 3M)
Martial Sage >> 20M – 300M >> Goku Super Saiyan Killing Frieza, ending Namek Saga 150M PL.
Martial Transcendent >> 1B+