As the stalemate in the air was broken, Majimaji was pushed back further up in the air while Mwana crashed to the ground.

At the same time the fight was going on, six people had covertly entered the field and mixed into the spectators.

“Kifaru what are you doing here in the morning?”

“Oh me, I was just passing by on my way to the barber.”

“Pshh. Who would believe that? Aren’t you just here to scout?”

“Haaaa, so you know. You are here to do the same thing, Umeme, so why even ask?”

Among these people were 4 men and 2 women. Of the two who were conversing, one of them was a tall dark skin woman with purple lightning-shaped tattoos and the other was a giant burly man dressed in ashy grey robes. The woman was named Jua Umeme and was a representative of the Thunder Bull Martial School. As for the huge man, he was a scout from the White Rhino martial school.

The remaining four were naturally scouts and representatives from various martial arts schools in the village.

These experts had come to watch the fight to assess the new blood in the village.

The Jua village had many martial arts schools but only 6 of them were officially recognized as the top martial schools. Once children graduated from White Rock Academy, they would have to join these schools if they wanted to continue their martial arts careers. Whether it was accessing secret techniques, joining hunting parties, or finding a martial arts mentor, they all required one to join a martial arts school.

The main martial schools in Jua village were:

1. Thunder Bull School: it mainly focused on the Thunder Style.
2. Blazing Tiger School: this school focused on the Fire Style. Majority of its people were of foreign descent from the Eastern continent. The school was mainly known for their [Flame Swallowing Mantra] which could allow people to swallow flames.
3. White Rhino School: Metal Style.
4. Green Cheetah School: Wind Style.
5. Jungle Lion: Wood Style. This was a school that admitted a multitude of races in the village including intelligent Spirit Beasts and Beast Men. The twin lion guardsmen who acted as the security at the gate of White Rock Academy, Radi Muruthi and Mwaki Muruthi, were both members of this martial school.
6. Eastern Elephant School: This was another school that admitted a lot of foreigners from the East. Most of the school’s martial arts forms emphasized strengthening the body and using the elbows, knees, and even the head as weapons. This was all classified under Earth Style. The school’s main meditative martial art was the [Sunless Martial Form]. This was a martial art developed for foreigners who arrived at the village when it was already too late for them to practice the [Sun and Moon arts].

Apart from these 6 major schools, there were also other minor schools like the Maroon Whale School which focused on the Water Style, the Spear Master School which focused on Spearmanship, and the Shark Blade School which focused on Swordsmanship.

From the scouts’ exchange, the spectators noticed them and proceeded to greet them. They attracted people them like ants to sugar.

In the middle of the battle, Mwana and Maji 1 clashed with their fist techniques again. Maji 1 used the [Ripping Fist] where he shaped his energy like a razor to tear through his opponents. This was a fist technique that involved the Concept of Ripping.

Mwana responded to this attack with the [Concave Fist]. However, this time there was something new to his fist technique. After taking Waya’s advice, Mwana had finally been able to raise his concave fist to the next level. Waya had explained that energy was not dead and that one could communicate with it. They could even go further and add a special effect to their energy in the same manner as one did with magic when they utilized magic spells.

Mwana took this advice and applied the concepts of the Sword Dragon Wave to his fist technique. This was the Concept of Reverberation which caused his energy to move in waves and bounce around as if in an echo chamber.

The clash between the two boys was a clash of concepts.

The result of this clash was as expected with Mwana ending up at a disadvantage. His left hand was even bleeding. Seeing this, many did not have much hope of him winning.

On the other hand, Majimaji was feeling even more confident. He was experiencing the benefits of Bone Forging realm even more. He could distinctly feel that he had more access to his natural strength now that his bones had toughened up. With each strike, he managed to circulate his strength from his legs flowing up to his waist before being channeled to his arms. The flow of his strength moved in a much more fluid manner. This type of unique state that only experts who had stepped into Bone Forging could access was called Dynamic Strength Flow.

One of the scouts from the village martial school explained this state to the curious spectators, “When it comes to martial arts it is important for one to utilize the maximum available body strength in their strikes. Ordinary people are said to have access to about 65% of their maximum strength. As warriors, we increase our maximum strength through the 10 hurdles of Muscle Quenching. However, you have to remember that available strength and maximum strength are different. Just because you increase your maximum strength does not mean you have increased your available strength.”

“Why not?” Someone curiously asked.

“There are several factors but the main ones are neural blockers, internal chemicals and hormones as well as the sturdiness of our bodies. Neural blockers ensure that we do not hurt ourselves. As for chemicals and hormones, they give an additional boost multiplying the strength we can use but as humans we obviously have no control over them. We can only gain some semblance of control over our internal structure through extensive conditioning. Lastly and also the most important factor, our bodies just cannot handle our maximum strength. The first 7 stages in Mortal Body Forging are all about honing the body for this very purpose: the flesh, muscles, skin, bones, tendons, organs, and blood all need to be reinforced.”

Jua Umeme’s explanation was very eye opening to most of the spectators here who were mostly children.

“Although you have a rough look to you, you’re a good teacher.” Mister Mea added from the side while clapping. Hearing this, Kifaru and the other martial school scouts started snickering.

Umeme could not help but snap back at Mister Mea, “What are you saying Baldy? Are you trying to make me angry in the morning?” What followed was a series of bickering matches from the adults while the children continued focusing on the match on the fighting stage.

As Umeme had explained to the spectators, Muscle Strengthening and Quenching had 10 hurdles each granting the strength of at least 1 Long-horned Crimson Abyssinian Bull. However, before achieving bone forging, warriors only had access to at most 4 or 5 bulls of strength. At bone forging they would be able to access 6 to 8 bulls of strength. However, the maximum strength would increase even further to about 20 bulls. It was only after tendon strengthening that a warrior would get max access to their full strength.

In their battle, Majimaji who had recently advanced to bone forging had been using 6 bulls worth of strength. In order to match him, Mwana had to risk injury by going past his limit to use 6 bulls of strength as well. As he could not maintain this for any longer, Mwana had no choice but to go all out and use his trump cards.

“Great Overwhelming Divine Forest!”

With a shout, a wave of wood attribute energy originating from Mwana’s body showered the stage like rain. When this energy touched Majimaji, he could feel some of his exhaustion disappear. For a moment he was wondering if Mwana had decided to help out the enemy amidst battle.

The [Great Overwhelming Divine Forest] shortened as GOD. F was a wood element basic skill that enhanced defense, offense, and healing by boosting one’s aura. This was a basic technique that anyone could practice. The main benefit of such basic techniques was that it would usually get stronger as long as the user got stronger.

GOD.F was a technique of humble origins as it had been created by an ordinary farmer after they observed nature. These types of techniques originated from the Creed of Observing Nature. They were martial arts available even to the common man despite their relatively higher level.

As Mwana’s affinity for the Wood Element had been enhanced through his experiences with the Green Dragon, his GOD.F was much stronger now than it was before. This shocked him even more than it shocked Majimaji and the spectators. After all, the last time he used the technique it did not create such a large a commotion.

This was a technique Mwana had gotten from the village Martial Road almost 2 years ago. The Jua village had a martial road with plaques where these public basic martial arts were scripted. The further one walked down the martial road, the more the pressure one would experience. Therefore, how far one could walk depended on their strength. Predictably, the martial arts got more complex and more powerful the further one walked on the road. As far as Mwana had heard, not even the strongest people in the village had ever gotten to the end point of this road. The road itself moved deep into the back mountains and no one knew exactly where its destination was.

“How many wood arts do you use?” Seeing Mwana wrapped in a cloak-like film of green energy, Maji 1 could not help ask in an incredulous tone. ‘Wasn’t this guy just supposed to have fire and lightning affinity? How come his wood arts are so strong?’

Mwana only smirked in response and did not reply to Majimaji’s queries or the spectators’ curiosities. In total Mwana had trained in several Basic techniques with most of them originating from the observation of nature. These techniques were:

1. Withered Wood Dance - Maneuverability Method - Reaction Speed
2. Millennium Wood Tree: Defensive method - Endurance
3. GOD.F : Aura Method – Imitates the overwhelming feeling of nature.
4. 1000 Leaves in One’s Palm: Boxing Training Method
5. 100 Steps in an Instant: Footwork method - Movement Speed

These types of Basic techniques were usually developed by martial schools or martial arts experts after the pure observation of nature. They were simple, easy, and inexpensive to learn. All one needed was to engage in meditation, physical practice, sparring, and using the right type of strengthening potions. Therefore, for someone like Mwana who did not come from a well off family, he had learned these basic techniques and polished them to best of his abilities.