Guardian Of Earth

“Whhhoooaaa!” It was one of the most grandest experiences of his life thus far. He understood that drinking some of the sacred water would increase his strength, but the results turned out to be far more than he had expected. His muscled tensed on their own and began to expand as his ki surged, engulfing his skinny frame in a purple aura of energy. Heavy winds swept through the tower in response from all directions, creating a wind tunneling surge that blew everything not fixated to the ground around in a swirling rut. Even the young warriors short cropped black hair managed to sway in the wake of the powerful winds.

“Oh my, this was a lot more than what I was expecting!” Korin cried out as he jabbed his staff into the ground, helping him to stabilize his balance. His short fuzzy white fur blowing back from the intense gale forces.

“Is this, all mine?” He uttered in genuine curiosity to himself, mainly from a place of astonishment as he looked down at his raised palms. He began combing himself over with his eyes while clinching and relaxing his fists, trying to become acquainted with his new found power. He could tell that his brawn had increased quite noticeably, but he was still nowhere near out of the realm of slender. After a few more moments, the winds had completely died down and the tower was calm once again. All save for the clanking of Korin's staff as he approached, using it as an aid to walk as oppose to holding it like he normally does.

“Well Arlan, you've certainly outdone yourself. You accomplished what you came here to do. Congratulations! Unfortunately, I personally have no other tasks for you, but I think I know someone who does.” Korin stated as he stopped just a couple feet in front of the dark haired warrior, peering his fury face up towards him.

“Thank you, it was all worth it! That sacred water stuff is amazing!” He replied with a tone of excitement, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks in the air and off to the side. “And you say you know someone who can help me further?” He inquired with an eager grin and upbeat body language.

“Yes. Directly up above this tower, is an additional lookout, home to the chosen guardian of the earth. Kami. I can't guarantee you anything, but you have my permission to head up there and try your luck” Korin replied as he raised his staff, pointing upward in the direction of the look out, as high as his stubby little arm could reach.

“The chosen guardian of earth ehh. I don't have to climb up there do I?” He inquired in all seriousness, not really up for another grueling long climb up and quite possible into the clouds.

“No no no, you can fly. Good luck.” Korin replied as he nodded to the young warrior before turning off to the side and proceeding about his own business. His work with the young warrior was complete, at leas for now anyway.

-------------------------
WC: 517

After giving the nod to Korin who had answered him before turning and going on about his business, the new revitalized young warrior was ready to give his new speed a whirl. He wasn't exactly sure how far up he would have to fly to get to this second lookout to meet this supreme chosen guardian, but he hoped the distance was far enough so that he could get a feel for his new found power. Bending his knees, he clinched his fists and a vibrant light purple aura of ki encased him. A second later, he pushed off from the side of Korin's Tower and propelled himself upward in a power flight seemingly on course with the clouds themselves.

“This new power is amazing! I'm almost five times as fast as I used to be!” He thought with a tone of excitement, cheesing widely as he continued to comb his body over with his eyes, trying to shake the surreal experience of this boost in power. After a few moments his attention then slowly adjusted to the task at hand, he had almost forgot the reason he was gaining altitude at such high speeds. He needed to keep his eyes peeled for a lookout. Thus far he had been flying straight up from the tower and was certain he had not passed it up just yet.

Seconds later, a large bowl shaped structure of green, cream, and red stripes that wrapped around its circumference came into view. The structure itself appeared to be more of a platform as opposed to a tower since it apparently stood on nothing in geostationary orbit in the sky. Much like Korin's tower, the lookout was outfitted with trees and vegetation, mostly lining the outer edges with the exception to forming the perimeters of a walkway that lead up toward a yellow and white, single level, large three dome building.

“I guess this must be it.” He gathered in thought after peering down from up above, taking in the scenery from his birds eye view. Arching his flight path, he shot downward towards the lookouts white tile platformed surface, stopping softly yet abruptly and landing on his feet. His aura of light purple ki dissipating simultaneously as he ended his power flight. No sooner than he had touched down did a robust black hued man, appearing to be some sort of genie with his white head wrap, lavish red vest and matching slippers appeared before him. Though if his appearance was not enough to insinuate his status, then certainly the flying carpet he was standing upon would have instantly gave it away.

“You there, what business do you have here on Kami's Lookout?” The dark genie inquired as he hopped down from his flying carpet, landing a few feet in front of the young warrior.

“I was directed up here by Korin. He told me I could find Kami at this lookout. I am kind of hoping he could help me further my training.”

“Oh, Korin sent you. Well any friend of Korin is a friend of ours. My name is Mr. Popo, I am Kami's assistant. I would be glad to take you to him, but under one condition. I'd like to test your skills, and if you can land a single punch on me, I will allow you to speak with Kami.”

Wasting no time, the young warrior sprung into action, disappearing with a speed burst and reappearing directly in front of the genie with his fist baring down towards his face. Initially his punch seemed to hit as he watched his knuckles collide with Mr. Popo's face, however, he did not feel the flesh of his cheek and the bone of his jaw against his fist. This anomaly was quickly addressed as it appeared he had managed to hit nothing but an after image of the dark genie.

“That was very opportunistic of you to spring into action so quickly, but I am afraid you will have to do better than that.” Mr. Popo announced, appearing in the air and a few yards adjacent and above the young warrior. Furrowing his brow, he turned his head and set his gaze back on the dark hued assistant. Abruptly encasing his body in an aura of ki, he quickly took off, charging at the swift genie in a light purple hued power flight.

He led with his left fist, and after Mr. Popo side stepped it, he quickly recovered and began a pummel attempt, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks, looking to land just about anything he could get away with. Effortlessly the white turbaned genie dipped in and out of all his strikes as they squabbled in mid air, his expression ever consistent, as if to suggest the young warriors efforts were easy to elude. In the face of his new found power, this turn of events was certainly embarrassing. His power had increased many times over from what it was previously, and yet he couldn't land a punch on an assistant genie?

He needed to think of something fast, because at this rate, he would tire himself out and fail the challenge. There was a brief lull in combat after his failed pummel attempt, and the two distanced themselves a couple yards away. He took the moment to gather his breathing before dropping back into his battle stance. In the midst of his breather he had come up with a plan, and given its surprise nature, it would only have one chance to be effective.

“Haaaa!” Abruptly the young warrior dashed forward, charging straight for the agile genie once more, upon arrival, he struck at him with a rather half hearted attempt at a round house kick. As he predicted, Mr. Popo casually dodged it, thrusting backwards and out of harms way. “Flaming Aura!” He exclaimed as he propelled himself forward at a greatly enhanced speed after bringing around his missed kick with a quick spin of his body. His frame instantly became engulfed in a flaming aura of purple ki, and in that same moment, he had caught up with the retreating genie and surprised him on his heels.

“Machine Gun Fist!” He then exclaimed, thrusting forward a series of eight rapid fast strikes that spanned in target from Mr. Popo's face down to his midsection. Incredibly, even with the surprise boost of speed and power, the swift genie was able to somehow manage to stay on his toes, evading all but one of the punches by a hair before being skimmed across the cheek with the eight strike which turned out to be a looping left hook he hardly saw coming.

The glancing blow, despite its indirect hit, still managed to force back the dark genie and even compromise his balance. The young warrior looked on as he breathed noticeably, holding the pose of his final strike while the fiery purple aura around him faded. Mr. Popo grabbed his cheek with his left hand and looked over at the adolescent warrior as he slowly descended back down to the ground. Uncertain of the cause, the dark haired boy followed suit and descended as well, landing just a few feet in front of Mr. Popo.

“Well, that was quite impressive, I did not know you had such reserves. Although it wasn't a direct hit, you still managed to land, even if only partial. A deal is a deal, I will now take you to meet Kami.”


-------------------------
WC: 1,247
Total WC: 1,764