The Way of the Dragon

Boom!

A thunderous streak of violet lightning flashed across the night sky like a violent dragon, ripping it apart. At that moment, everything within 10 miles was lit up as if it was daytime. The lightning fizzled into an electrical arc with stunning speed. It sparked across the sky and into a hill behind the Khan household, finding its way into a dilapidated shack and finally ended at the young man on a broken bed.

Even though his pale face began to light up, the young man who lay there kept coughing. His face conjured immense pain, and his body was accompanied with painful muscle spasms as he struggled with blood trickling out the sides of his mouth. Finally, his eyelids shot open and he regained consciousness. Suddenly, two beams of light shot out of his eyes, not unlike lightning. His terrible visage carried violence, bloodlust, and aggression… similar to an apocalyptic devil without a rival.

A loud bang ensued.

At this moment, the shack’s door violently opened, three unknown assailants rushed in. The leader of the group stared daggers at the young man, asking curiously, “The bastards awake?”

“Hmph, I’m glad I didn’t have to waste any energy on healing him!”

“Zephyr, you should be grateful for Master Lincoln being a forgiving man, he didn’t care about your earlier scuffle, he even had us send over some spirit pills!”

“So, the bastard thought that he could go against Master Lincoln!” another sarcastically chimed in.

“That’s enough, let’s report back!” the leader waved his hand and left without looking back.

Zephyr waited for the three of them to leave before allowing his eyes to gleam with excitement.

“I actually returned to when I was 16 years old! God be praised!” Zephyr exclaimed excitedly with clenched fists. In his previous life, Zephyr broke into an ancient ruin to train, but was smited by ancient magic instead. Unexpectedly, he managed to protect his soul and reincarnated back into when he was young.

“Ow, that hurts!” spat Zephyr through gritted teeth, trying to get up. A sudden pain emerged as if he was about to be torn into half. Half a day passed by before Zephyr tried to get up again. He worked through the pain and unbuttoned his shirt, only to find a crimson handprint on his chest where his heart is, taunting him.

“Lincoln you b*stard, I will remember this!”

Zephyr struggled to walk, but went and poured himself a cup of tea, the warm drink comforted his body. He lay on his broken bed again, trying to remember his past life.

The Khan clan was one of the biggest clans around, with the numbers to prove it. As he was the son of the Khan patriarch, he was treated differently due to his social status. However, when he was 8, his father mysteriously disappeared. Since then, everything quickly changed for him. With the disappearance of his father and an absence of a mother, no one protected him. As the Khan clan required a leader to guide it’s numbers, Zephyr’s grandfather, Typhoon, was voted to be the patriarch. However, as Typhoon was nearing his death, the patriarchy fell to his uncle, Mist, to mantle. After Mist assumed the role of the patriarchy, he viewed Zephyr as a rival and started excluding him out. Zephyr’s status within the clan sunk lower and lower, until he became the joke of the Khan.

In this world, there were many practitioners of martial arts, where the strongest were well respected. Zephyr tried to practice, though his progress was slow. He did not have much, apart from the Khan blood within him. As Mist saw him as a threat, he withheld the resources for Zephyr to train, further inhibiting his potential. As time went on, he lagged further behind his kin, and was nicknamed the “bastard” of the Khan clan.

In martial arts, there exists different schools of which from lowest to highest, it can be categorized into Strength, Agility, Spirit, Alchemy, Insight, Will, Magic, and Creation. In each category, it can be further categorized into nine levels of its mastery. Zephyr’s only mastery was Strength in the fifth level. However, most, if not all other practitioners were stronger than him. Therefore, what worth did this bastard heir have?

The world of martial arts required a lot of medicine and healing poultices, this led to the medicine masters being highly respected. Master Lincoln, the man who wounded him, was the Khan clan’s personal medicine master, and was hired for his skill and reverence. He was the most respected medicine man in all of Starlight City. However, he was rotten to the core. Just a few days ago, he almost forced a kiss on a 12-year-old servant girl. Zephyr, in his anger, tried to stop him, but was ultimately wiped out.