DOOM!
The impact of their staves sent a small shockwave through the forest, raising dust clouds which obscured the grasshopper man's vision.
"Hmph! I hope that that's not enough to kill the human," he "squinted."
"Though I'm sure Lord tensen will be pleased with a corpse, a live specimen would definitely be more appreciated—"
"You keep talking to yourself about this lord tengen. Are you gonna introduce them or what?"
Noctis's voice sounded, the tone casual with a touch of intrigue.
"Oh?"
As the dust screen cleared, Noctis came into view.
"So you survived," The dōshi ignored his previous words. "And unharmed at that."
Standing with one leg pressing down on one of the staves while the other was gripped between his fingers, preventing them from being pulled back.
"Is that so surprising?" Noctis asks.
"…That was an attack from two Monshins. Even trained warriors crumble under that force."
The split trees around them, the crater beneath his feet—was enough proof to make Noctis believe the doshi's words.
"And yet…" the doshi's voice dropped a few degrees. "You stand there completely unharmed."
"I mean… they swung kinda hard, I guess." Noctis shrugged.
"I sensed no Tao from you," the Doshi said, more firmly now. "Not before the strike. Not during. Not after."
His tone shifted—less arrogance, more calculation.
"That attack should have shattered your bones. Your organs should have ruptured. Even without Tao reinforcement, the Monshins' raw strength is enough to pulp a human body."
He tilted his head slightly.
"So how?"
Ignoring his question, Noctis cracked his neck, then sighed.
"From the very start, you've barely told me anything useful and from the looks of it, you won't be doing such. I'll have to take liberty in my own hands then."
The doshi frowned. "Fine then, have it your way. We'll be getting the answers from your corpse then."
While he spoke, the doshi's posture relaxed as he began making hand gestures.
I'll have to finish this quickly, his source of strength is unknown and could be dangerous.
Noctis cleared his mind of any irrelevancy, focusing on only what's in front of him—
An enemy. An unknown enemy.
And since there's two nearest to him, he decided to get rid of them first.
To the horror of the doshi, a sword shaped light formed in noctis's empty hand and with a flick, the both monshins were sliced cleanly in half.
"…"
Noctis turned back to the stunned grasshopper.
"Now, it's just us two fellows left."
The doshi recovered quickly, then his "expression" hardened.
"You…!"
Without another word, he thrust his palm forward.
A sphere of swirling "Tao" condensed instantly over his fist as he thrust it forward, firing it.
It moved at an extremely fast speed and would've been effective against anyone else—except for Noctis.
Standing firmly in place, he tilted his head to the side.
The Tao sphere blew past his cheek, grazing a few strands of hair before exploding against the forest behind him.
The doshi's eyes widened.
He can see it!?
Noctis ignored him as he focused on the sensation he felt from the swirling ball of energy.
It held slight similarities to his chi—albeit of inferior quality.
Chi itself is internal energy.
Even though martial practitioners may absorb chi from the surroundings, their dantians always filter it and make it its own afterwards through controlled refinement.
This Tao, however, felt… entirely external. Borrowed. Almost like it was being pulled from the world itself and never assimilated.
If he had to describe it, the words he might use would be:
"Similar foundation," Noctis muttered to himself. "Different execution."
I wonder…
In his moment of thought, the doshi saw an opportunity to strike.
He formed another sign with his hands, faster this time.
Multiple spheres were launched in rapid succession.
With minimal movements, each sphere tore through the trees behind Noctis.
The Doshi's shock deepened.
"Y-you can track it…"
"Let's try something."
Noctis then pointed his finger at the doshi.
Beautiful chi, as sparkly as glitter, began gathering at his fingertips.
"W-what is this!?" The doshi froze.
Unlike his vibrant swirls, Noctis' energy condensed into a sharp, dreadful glow.
A beam snapped outward.
Before he could react, it pierced straight through the doshi's left shoulder, ripping its left arm off.
For a second, there was silence.
The Doshi staggered back, probably from pain as a burning sensation spread through him.
"Ohhhh!?" Noctis exclaimed, wide eyed at the power of the beam. "This is pretty neat! Who knew it could be used like that!"
He was pretty excited but he quickly calmed down and began calculating.
"Although," he muttered. "It is kinda inefficient and has many cons."
The amount of chi it took to charge and condense is pretty substantial—way more than what his light rods consume.
Plus the charge time…
It seems quite counterproductive to expand more chi and time for a simple attack when the more effective and cheaper element attacks are available.
"…Though, it might work with a bit more practice."
Back to the doshi, it had managed to stop the damage by removing the burned area.
Now the new wound began writhing almost immediately.
It was quite clear what was about to happen.
Regeneration.
Like a plant on steroids, roots began growing and within moments, a brand new arm was in its place.
Noctis raised a brow.
"Oi, oi, oi. That might be annoying."
The Doshi's breathing had changed though.
It was heavier. More strained.
The glow around him had dimmed slightly.
Regeneration clearly cost him.
"Are you really sure you don't wanna answer any of my questions?"
"I must eliminate you!" the doshi roared.
"Yeah, go figure."
Another sphere came at his head.
He dipped under it.
"But seriously though. Where are we? What's this island about? Who's Lord Tensen?"
"I WILL END YOU!"
"…You're really committed to not being helpful."
The barrage slowed.
The Doshi's Tao was thinning.
Breathing heavier now.
Noctis stretched.
"Alright then."
He waved his hand.
"Guess I might as well off you."
The air shifted.
Behind the Doshi—Above him—Around him—
Dozens of rods of solid light materialized.
The Doshi sensed it too late.
"Wai—"
The rods shot forward simultaneously.
They pierced through limbs, torso, shoulders—pinning him mid-motion.
The Tao around him flared violently, trying to trigger the regeneration but there was too much—too little energy.
Cracked.
One of the rods touched something, a faint sound of glass being broken.
Noctis stepped closer, watching carefully.
The Doshi trembled, struggling.
"So you freaks have dantian as well, good to know."
"…Lord… Tensen…"
"Yeah, yeah," Noctis muttered.
The rods liquified.
Light spread across the Doshi's body.
And in a quiet burst—
He disintegrated into drifting particles.
"…Man," he muttered, glancing around at the ruined landscape. "I just got here."
He exhaled slowly.
"Tao, Lord Tensen, Kotaku Island. I've nearly learned and seen more bizarre things in 2 hours than I did in 15 years.."
He turned to leave.
Crack.
A twig snapped somewhere behind him.
He stopped and turned his head slowly.
At the edge of the clearing stood two figures.
One was small and hooded, barely peeking out from behind a tree.
The other—
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
It was a walking tree.
Like, an actual tree. Bark skin. Wooden limbs. Moss and branches and everything.
Noctis stared.
"How long were you two watching?"
The smaller figure stiffened.
The tree-man shifted protectively in front of the hooded one as Noctis sighed.
How did I not sense them?
That part annoyed him.
He slowly raised his hand.
Thin rods of light began forming behind him.
"Alright," he said flatly. "If you're about to attack, now's your chance."
The hooded figure flinched.
The tree-man immediately threw both hands up.
"W–Wait!" it said quickly. "Please! We mean no harm!"
Noctis blinked. "…You can talk."
"Yes!" the tree-man said, nodding fast. "We are not your enemies!"
There was a pause.
Then the rods dissolved into light.
Noctis squinted at them.
"Okay. I'll hear you out."
He pointed at the hooded one.
"And you?"
Slowly, the smaller figure stepped out from behind the tree-man and pulled back their hood.
A girl.
Looks human enough.
He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"Finally. Someone who doesn't look like they crawled out of a nightmare."
He paused.
"…No offense," he added, glancing at the tree-man.
Looks like he didn't.
"Alright. New deal. I won't attack you if you don't attack me."
He gestured at the destroyed battlefield behind him.
"And maybe you can explain where the hell I am before another grasshopper monk shows up talking about experimenting on my body."
He looked between them.
"So. You two gonna talk, or are we doing the awkward staring thing?"
Chapter 4 end.
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Had to watch a ton of YouTube videos on how to better write fight scenes. Writing was already not my forte so fight scenes are gonna be trash until I get the new skill update