Waterstrider

Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Yudan was lounging in his bed, a beauty resting in the crook of each of his arms. Becoming a gangster was quite possibly the smartest decision he ever made. He had a talent for martial arts, and though their territory was small, limited to just three levels of a single stack, they received more than enough income from their protection money for him to live the sort of comfortable, happy life surrounded by women that he had always wanted.

Of course, this wasn’t enough for him to be truly content. He had always known that he was destined for greatness. Having always been taller and stronger than most of his peers, he had long been confident in his superiority over most of those around him. As a natural talent, he had been able to reach the core formation realm even with just the poor quality martial arts the Hadal Clan allowed the martial academies to teach. Once he managed to steal better techniques, he would easily ascend to become a spirit refiner, one of the strongest individuals on the station. He was certain that one day, the Hadal Clan would bow before his might.

Yudan was jolted out of his blissful stupor by the sound of a distant shout. He sat up in bed, letting the startled women flop onto the pillows around him. He had specifically told them not to disturb his ‘rest’. Grumbling, he slid out of bed and put his clothes back on while the shouting continued, and there was even a scream. Just what was happening out there?

A chill ran down his spine. Were they being attacked? By who? The Dark Heavens Gang? They had some minor territory disputes, but to attack his headquarters was a declaration of war.

With his robes finally on, Yudan went to his bedside table and grabbed his sword. He forcefully tapped at the hatch, and it slid open to reveal a scene he had not been expecting.

A large group of individuals were moving between the different rooms, each carrying terminals, money purses, monitors, and what seemed like anything else they could find that might be worth something. Others wearing similar garb were fighting with his subordinates. The odd scene looked just like depictions of unorthodox sects in films, breaking into a merchant’s home and cleaning out every item of wealth.

Rather than the uncoordinated assortment of random martial robes used by the Dark Heavens and the other local gangs, the group was mostly wearing black robes with red accents. Yudan’s blood ran cold, because he recognized the uniform. These robes belonged to disciples of the newly founded Redwater Sect, whose territory was just a few stacks away from his.

“What is this?!” Yudan bellowed, enraged and infuriated, his grip tightening on his jian.

One of his subordinates turned to him, delighted by his presence.

“Boss! They’re trying to rob us!”

The man’s enemy took advantage of his momentary distraction, taking him in the chest with a sword. Yudan growled in rage, charging towards the nearest dark-robed figure.

Before his sword could reach her, he found himself blocked by the appearance of a white robed woman who appeared a number of years older than him. She was very well-built for a woman, with a bulbous, distinctive scar on her neck. Ran Ishun, a former member of the Redwater Gang. Yudan had slept with her once, and they had attempted to kill one another many more times than that.

“What do you think you’re doing, Ran?” he asked, still filled with a deep sense of rage and humiliation. If he did not kill a great number of them, he felt his reputation might greatly dive. It would be a hindrance he would not allow.

Ran laughed at him, her lips settling into a sneer as she parried his swing, attempting to kick at his legs. He stepped back, gaining more distance. He had longer arms than her, and it was best to play to his strengths when fighting someone of a similar level.

“Blame your own weakness, Yudan. We found ourselves in need of funds.”

He slashed at her again, but she intercepted his blade with her own.

“You’ll need to bring more forces than this if you wish to kill me off,” he said. “You never succeeded any of the previous times, and you will not succeed today, no matter what master you now serve.”

Ran smiled at him as she arced her blade down to his side.

“So you say. But you see, Yudan, I serve those who are stronger than myself. I am always a part of an organization beyond my own power. I swim proudly in the ocean while you trap yourself in a puddle. You should have known that eventually, a stronger force would want your little empire.”

Yudan took advantage of his powerful physique, accepting the hit in order to make a powerful attack towards her shoulder.

“Better the head of a snake than the tail of a fiend.”

Her blade dug into his side, getting stuck in the thick bone of his ribcage, reinforced by a simple defensive technique. His flesh was as tough as leather, his bones like stone. His own blow hit Ran’s clavicle, digging in a similarly small amount. Blood trailed from the ends of their blades as they wrenched them out of one another.

Yudan had known Ran for over a decade, now. She had been the daughter of his martial academy’s grandmaster. They had joined the underworld together, part of a local gang that had later grown in power to become Yudan’s own Bonedust Gang. She had left almost half a decade ago to join Hidoro the moment he scouted her, the traitor. Their martial arts were the same, and while Yudan was the more talented of the two, her did not lag far behind, and she managed to catch up in time, as he was caught at the bottleneck of the next stage.

They traded several more blows, both knowing that given their defensive styles, this fight between them would last for a long time, as it had so many times before.

As blood dripped from her neck, Ran laughed at the proverb he had recited.

“Say what you will, but today the fiend has decided it wishes to consume this snake.”

With another growl, Yudan threw himself at her, only to stumble as he felt a pain in his chest. His legs weakened and he stumbled to the ground with nothing but a grunt of surprise. He slid quietly off of the blade which had pierced his chest from behind. A white robed man who largely matched with Ran’s clothing, aside from a different accent color, looked at her blank expression.

“Did you wish to do it yourself?” he asked.

She sighed, staring down at the surprised expression on Yudan’s dying face.

“No, it’s fine. He means nothing to me.”

Kein nodded, not caring to press the matter. He had seen the slow progression of the fight, and knew it would last too long. The disciples had nearly finished clearing out the headquarters, and wished to move on to the next target before word of the disturbance spread.

It was early evening, when the domelight was beginning to dim. They had several more targets to hit before morning. Kein expected that when the inhabitants of Canvas Town woke up tomorrow, they would do so to find many of the neighborhoods cleansed of lowlifes.

He chuckled at the thought. These streets would finally be clear, all because the Redwater Sect needed money.

Around him, the new disciples and former gang members continued to clear out the last of the Bonedust Gang’s furnishings. He did not envy Ran’s upcoming task of finding places to sell all of this.

He sighed as he glanced back at the corpse of Yudan. He had actually wanted to try and recruit the man, but had chosen to leave the choice up to Ran. When the fight dragged on, taking advantage of the moment of weakness had simply seemed the obvious thing to do. Perhaps he had been too hasty.

He quickly put such thoughts out of his mind. It was better for the future of the sect for most of its high-realm members to have been trained within, their loyalty secured. If all went well, former gangsters like himself would rightfully become a dying breed within the organization, if he had anything to say about it.

Martial Academy Arts of Tseludia Station: [Under the influence of the Hadal Clan, there are many constraints imposed among all other martial organizations. Martial arts comparable in might to those controlled by the clan are heavily restricted, and cannot be found except within the Clan's library and from martial artists arriving from out of system. There are less than six techniques taught within these martial academies, and of them, four use genesis miasma, the same that most of the Hadal Clan's arts use. It is believed that the clan purposefully leaked some weaker arts, so that prodigious talents from outside the family can be recruited and subordinated, or married into the clan, as their arts and miasma are compatible with those of the Clan. The final two such arts are flickering in nature, and rumor has it that they were actually created by curious scholars among the Celans.]