Talios-Chapter 55: You

After racing some distance he made a stop at a place of interest. It was a place hard to not notice. Like a trail of crumbs leading to a the main chum, Roah followed this trail, only that it was a land slide, because something looked like it had crashed here, creating a foreign path, clearing the things in sight down to the minimum. Hard to miss, some broken trees before it got closer to the ground, grading it like a construction was about to take place before finally settling at the main ’chum’.

He found Linh smashed into a massive boulder that seemed to have cracked way into the middle, many parts of it scattered throughout the surrounding, some a little to far for the eyes. His eyes were barely open, one eyes closed and the other almost there, his lips red, not from natural causes but from his own blood, sliding down the corners of his lips, his legs, one stretched out flatly on the floor and the other angled to support his one of his arm, the other to weak to be lifted, left to the side, his head inclined downward. The sight of one beaten to pulp.

Roah leaned in closer. "Are you still breathing?"

Slowly Linh slightly lifted his face, inclined one sided using the opened eye to pry. Recognizing the fellow he smiled, before it turned to a wince. "Do I look dead?"

"Very dead" Roah said nodding.

"Haha..." Linh laughed out briefly the side of his arm holding his side to surpress the assault, as his face winced. "...impossible, I think I look great"

Roah nodded."No doubt. You very much do. What happened to you?"

He laughed again, despite the backlash. "What do you think? Haha... That kid gave me a shocker. How strong is he?"

"You fought him, shouldn’t you know?"

He bursted into laughter again. "I did?"

"You’re in no condition to be amused, do you want to lose your lungs?"

Linh laughed again this time harder. Roah just shook his head, in a sigh.

"That kid really is something, I got buried in seconds. Did you see the way I got sent floors under?" He said his eyes glimmering, his tone sharp and elated.

Raoh looked at him deadpan. "That elates you?"

"Haha... Why not?" Linh laughed this time almost choking on his blood, as they spewed out. "I finally loosened up and got my bum handed to me, isn’t that exhilarating?" His eyes glimmered "I need a rematch"

"What you need is a physician"

"Why would I? I’m sturdy I barely broke anything, besides we don’t need physicians"

"It’s for the screw loose you’re suffering from, how hard did you hit your head?"

Linh laughed again, this time even more manacing.

"That hard huh?" Roah sighed. "How did you end up here?" He asked.

"At the last moment, the kid drove a punch to my face, I managed to block it and still ended up here. That kid seemed to have had an arm under there the whole time."

Roah stroke his forehead as he sighed. "You really need that check.."

Linh looked at him confused. "What?"

"Everyone knows Znoh uses his right side a little specially"

Linh squinted his eyes, "Who’s the everyone?"

"So you don’t know?"

"Know what?"

"About his arm?"

"That he’s armless on the right?"

"That’s all you know about it?"

"What else is there to know?"

"Do you live under a rock?"

"And why would I?"

A burge formed on Toah’s temple. "You’re saying you went for that last strike actually thinking that his right side was his weakness?"

Linh stared at him."Without a right arm, no matter how he works around it, if it’s known by an opponent, then it becomes a weakness to be exploited. In that position, he had a limited number of choices; retreat a step back, try to dodge, or inconvenience himself trying to block with his available hand which I had already kept busy. But who would have thought he actually had a hand there"

Roah blinked, then blinked again, he looked to be sure what he heard came from who he thought it came from, and it did. He smacked his forehead. "When I saw General Yoab turn to leave from the heat of things, I had thought she was taking you a little too lightly, that you definitely had an end game. But it seems I was the one putting too much hope on you. Do you even know how the great General Znoh became known as the strongest in the known world even when he had the lowest awakener stage compared to those in the ranking at the time?"

Linh cleaned off the streak of blood that hung on his lips."We all know those Scythe users have an unusual bloodline, taking on opponents with higher layers than they. But..." He said trying to puff his chest, but failed as he definitely broke something."who says someone like me falls any short?"

Toah was not impressed, his face showing it. "You know. You make me look bad. And you do so by just opening your mouth"

Linh coughed, "How does what I do affect you?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"The fact that they call your name just before mine. I wonder who crafted this ranking, and by what measures. Who even says you’re way stronger than I in a single combat?"

Linh laughed again his working eyes having a glint about them. "I think it’s about my courage. My courage in the face of everything. And who says I can’t take you on in a single combat?"

Toah’s eyes twitched, a brow lifting and the other skidded down. "Did you say courage?"

Linh nodded, "Everyone loves a courageous man."

This time Toah’s mouth twitched along side. His eyes darkened as he inclined his head downwards. "Courageous man indeed. You skid into the craziest of things and now you’re calling in courage?"

"I did not make the rules"

"Oh. You made this one." Setting his gaze back on Linh. "You can take me on single combat?"

Linh stared back, unfizzled. "Why not, you keep avoiding it, but yeah sure, we could always go a round or two."

"Desiring to be productive with my time, and do things that actually benefits me, doesn’t mean I’m ’avoiding’ a round with you. Besides what’s the use of engaging with you? I already know how it’s going to end, so why bother with it?"

Linh nodded. "Oh. So you already know how you’re going to lose. Well they don’t call you the Wise man of the East for nothing."

"You’re probably The Mantis of the North East because you have no need for your brain cells—assuming you have any left. Your Explosive aura type and my Mountain type, better compliment each other than they oppose each other—"

With the waving of his hands Linh cut him short. "That’s on the battlefield, you shield I destroy. On the contrary in a one on one combat, we oppose each other, like salt and worm"

Toah raised his brows. "And who’d be the worm. You?"

Linh shock his head slowly. "You of course. I’m the better type, so in this scenario, I’ll be salt."

Toah sighed."No wonder you got a fatten eyes now and who knows what broken. I have no desires in being unproductive, and having this argument with you, bears no fruit, so I’d rather be into something else."

"We could always try it out. You and me a heated round, let us see the might of your Unbreakable Aura against My Explosive Flames. Your Hammers against my Bow"

From his lifted position, Toah stared down at him, as he began approaching him, then leaned in closer and down. Their gazes locked, then slowly Toah slided his finger and poked at the side of Linh. Linh had not expected it and could not move his body, only squeezing his face in a winch as the poken caused his enter body to admit the pains they were already in.

"Concentrate on your own problems. And no, I’m not getting into a brunt with you. It’s not like it’s going to cause a change to the ranking, we already have respective borders under each name." He then lifted himself and turned taking a step, he halted, turning his back. "The reason Lucai the Znoh became the strongest, was not due to his bloodline, but because of his armless right hand. He had always been Right-handed till he lost the arm—it was torn apart from his body. That sort of loss was enough to cripple someone, but what followed became the real reason he became Znoh. It’s well known that the highest attained Stage has always been The Send. The Embodiment has never been breached— not even by that ’Man’ only capping at the last layer of the Send. At the Embodiment one’s Aura evolves into a state where it can become a clone of the user, an extension of self. Do you have any idea what Lucai was able to achieve with his arm gone?"

Linh stared at him, no response.

"He was able to clone his arm, using just his aura"

Linh’s eyes shot wide open.