My Auto Cloning System-Chapter 91: The Steam and the Scholar

(BONG!!!)

The giant ceremonial drum sounded like a clap of thunder rolling across the parched sand of the arena floor. The vibration was so intense that the spectators in the front rows felt it in their teeth. The air in Arena 04 was thick, hot, and smelled of dry earth, copper, and ozone. Bao Zi stood in the center, his knees were trembling so hard they knocked together, but his eyes. They were usually darting around in fear. They were now locked onto Tie San's skinny, and arrogant face.

Tie San didn't even wait for a polite greeting or a formal bow. He snapped both of his iron fans open with a sharp, synchronized sound. (CLACK-CLACK!) The sunlight glinted off the metal ribs of the fans, which weren't smooth; they were serrated like the teeth of a deep-sea shark. Tie San moved with a sudden, jerky speed, his body leaning forward as he quickly dashed across the ten-foot gap.

"Die, you little meat bun! I'm going to turn you into mincemeat!" Tie San screamed out loud, his voice reaching a high, and whistling pitch. He swung his right fan in a wide, horizontal arc aimed 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

at Bao Zi's soft, and exposed neck. (SWOOSH!)

Bao Zi's heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest and run away on its own. "I'm too slow! I'm too weak! He's going to cut my head off and it's going to roll into the front row like a dropped cabbage!" he monologued to himself, his brain screaming in pure, and unadulterated panic. (Gasp!) But as the iron fan got closer, his body acted on a primal level, remembering the hours of grueling practice with the [Cloud-Misting Breath].

Without thinking, he exhaled a thick, and pressurized cloud of white steam from his mouth. (Puff-Sizzle!) His feet suddenly felt light, as if gravity had forgotten he existed. He twisted his body to the left in a desperate, and clumsy blur. The iron fan missed his throat by less than an inch, the wind from the blade so sharp it actually severed a few stray strands of his hair. Bao Zi didn't stop. He threw himself onto the stone floor, his expensive-looking robes getting covered in gritty white dust as he rolled away. (Thud-roll-thud.)

"Stop moving! Stand still and take your medicine!" Tie San growled, his face twisting into a mask of frustration. He closed his left fan with a snap and used it like a stabbing dagger, thrusting it down at Bao Zi's chest while the boy was still struggling to find his footing. (STAB!)

Bao Zi scrambled backward on his hands and feet like a frightened crab escaping a boiling pot. "I've always been the coward. Back in my village, I ran from the stray dogs. I'm tired of running! If I'm a bun, I'm going to be the hottest, most painful bun in the steamer! He slapped his palms against the ground, the sound echoing off the arena walls. Instead of running further away, he used his spirit essence to push himself forward with an explosive burst of speed.

"Cloud-Misting Technique: White Screen!" Bao Zi shouted, his voice cracking with effort. He clapped his hands together with everything he had. (SMACK!) Then A massive explosion of hot, thick, and blinding steam burst out from his palms, filling the center of the arena in a matter of seconds. It was so dense that the crowd in the stands let out a collective moan of disappointment because they couldn't see anything but a roiling white blur.

Tie San lunged blindly into the mist, while swinging his fans in wild, and desperate circles. (Whirrr! Whirrr!) "You think a little fog can save you? I'll slice through your mist and your skin at the same time!" Tie San used his fans to create a small wind gust, while trying to blow the steam away. But the steam wasn't just air; it was heavy, and wet, and infused with spirit energy. It stuck to Tie San's green robes, making them heavy and damp. It got into his eyes and nose, and making them sting and water. (Cough! Wheeze!)

Bao Zi was moving inside the mist like a ghost. Because it was his own energy, he could sense Tie San's blurry, and struggling shadow. "He's stronger than me, but he's arrogant," Bao Zi thought, his confidence is now growing with every steady breath. "He thinks I'm just a snack. But a snack can be a trap if you swallow it wrongly!" Bao Zi circled around Tie San's back, his boots making no sound on the sand. He gathered all his remaining spirit essence into his right fist. The air around his hand began to shimmer and vibrate with intense heat. He stepped out of the fog right behind Tie San.

"Hey, Lemon-face! Over here!" Bao Zi yelled.

Tie San spun around, his fans raised instinctively to block his face. "There you are! Die!"

But Bao Zi didn't punch high. He dropped to his knees in the sand and punched Tie San right in the soft center of his stomach. the one place the iron fans weren't protecting. (WHAM!) The hit landed with a wet, and heavy thud that sounded like a mallet hitting a side of beef. Tie San's eyes almost popped out of his head, and his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. (GASP-UGH!) The force of the punch sent Tie San flying backward. His fans fell out of his numb hands, clattering onto the stone floor with a hollow ring. (Clink-clank!) He hit the arena wall twenty feet away so hard the stone actually cracked behind his head. (BOOM!) He slumped down into the sand, with his mouth hanging open and a small trail of drool escaping his lips. He was completely unconscious.

The mist slowly began to dissipate, and swirling away into the evening air. Bao Zi stood in the middle of the arena, his chest heaving, his face bright red from the heat of his own steam. He looked down at his shaking hands. They were still shaking, but this time, it wasn't because he was scared. It was because he had actually done it. He had actually won in a real fight.