--

Ren waited patiently until all of them were done generating their chakra.

It’s odd, that’s for sure.

The situation certainly looked strange with one guy standing still with his arms crossed facing five enemies wearing the same clan robes and weapons waving their sticks around to generate chakra, while he remained motionless.

Nobody dared to point it out, though. After all, this was what Ren asked for himself.

Eventually, they concluded their initial generation. Their bodies were now glowing slightly with a thin veil of white chakra. Their weapons glowed softly with the same radiance too.

Nobody spoke. The referee didn’t signal the start of the match this time. Instead, it was Ren who stretched out his finger and beckoned them to come.

The first one to move was Marcel, and the others followed behind him.

Ren noticed their movement and immediately realized that these five knew some teamwork.

They moved too smoothly and too organized for this to be their first time; he couldn’t even see a shadow of hesitation on their faces.

’Hmm, better,’ he judged inwardly.

Marcel closed the distance during this time. His staff stretched out, poking Ren from a distance. Hayden and John appeared from behind him, stepping out like winding snakes and poking Ren from two more angles.

Charles and Jason leapt high and struck Ren from above, their sticks almost bending with the force they used to smash it down.

In response to this, Ren just twisted his body sideways, and the attacks slid next to him without causing any harm.

He found that small gap in their attacks and unhesitatingly used it to evade. Only his clothes were ruffled by the intense gust their attacks caused. Otherwise, he’s completely and perfectly fine.

Seeing how easily and smoothly he evaded their attacks made the five prodigies disgruntled, but they didn’t dare to linger on that feeling for too long.

This time, Hayden recovered. He raised his staff and began sending a series of pokes to Ren while fearlessly advancing. As he did that, the other four moved to adjust and coordinate their next move.

The other four began running in circles around Ren. They’re employing their movement techniques, which are one of the very few ways they become distinct from each other.

Marcel was using raw speed; John looked as if he were skipping; Charles left a trail of white light as he ran, making the rest of his body look blurry; and Jason left brief afterimages as he went.

Ren calmly observed all of this while dancing around Hayden’s pokes. None hit him, and he was effortlessly evading them all. But sometimes, others would appear to try and make it difficult for him.

Marcel tried to trip him with a low sweep of his staff; John was in sync with this attempt and went with a high sweep to force Ren into an awkward position. With Hayden still poking him, it looked like Ren had nowhere to go, but that wasn’t the case.

Ren took a couple of quick steps towards Hayden, causing both Marcel and John to miss and causing Hayden to panic briefly.

It’s as if he had seen them move ahead of time, like he knew what they’re about to do before they do it themselves.

Then, Charles and Jason came smashing down with their sticks again. This time, Ren didn’t even give them any decency to dodge. He just stood still, and their attacks, once again, just magically missed.

Ren’s performance was a spectacle. He danced around the five like he knew their fighting styles intimately. Some people even wondered if he had eyes on the back of his head because he was dodging blows even without looking.

It was unnerving for the prodigies. They didn’t feel like they were fighting a slippery eel. Fighting Ren felt like facing somebody who knew them better than they knew themselves.

The experience was truly unnerving, but these thoughts had no place in a fight, so they continued anyway.

Honestly, the five prodigies did display some surprising skill. Their coordination was certainly good, and anybody in their level would’ve found it hard to take them on solo.

But Ren wasn’t some ordinary person.

No matter how hard they tried to push and corner him, nothing happened. Whenever they think they have him, Ren just stands still and they miss. The only thing they managed so far, after 15 minutes of nonstop attacks, was to ruffle his clothes.

As for hurting, injuring, bruising, or even teaching him a lesson? None of those happened. Ren remains untouchable, unperturbed, and completely unimpressed by their skills.

That’s the worst part.

"...just a bunch of monkeys copying each other."

"How boring."

"Aside from your different movement techniques, you all don’t have any personality at all."

"All I need to memorize is one of you, and the rest become completely predictable."

"A damn shame, really."

Ren’s voice was calm and flat, but his words cut deep and felt completely personal.

"Shut up! You don’t know anything about us!" Marcel couldn’t help it. He couldn’t remain silent after Ren’s constant trash talk.

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet on that?" Ren smirked.

"..."

"Let’s see..."

"I bet that 30 seconds from now, all five of you will feel a jolt of pain on your right shoulder joint. Now, we wait."

Ren’s words gave them the creeps. And the atmosphere got strange really fast to the point that the battle was postponed.

Then, after 30 seconds...

"!!!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The five prodigies were alarmed. They blanched and looked at Ren, who’s still smirking as if he expected all of this to happen, in horror.

"That’s the White Haven art for you," Ren explained. "It raises the quality and quantity of your chakra, yes. It has a purifying attribute, yes. But it’s extremely demanding as well."

"Chakra is a scarce resource for us young martial artist. I’m sure your elders told you to not use this technique extensively before reaching Bone Forging Stage, yet here you all are, spending hard earned chakra in spade just to prove a pitiful point."

"Your limbs are cleansed of impurities and could store a little amount of chakra, yes, but did you honestly think that your bodies could endure that pressure for an extended period of time? If so, then you seriously think too highly of yourself."

"I get it, you’re called prodigies because you can use your clan’s inheritance. But didn’t your elders remind you that you must be careful when using mortal-grade martial arts and above?"

"Don’t be surprised. All five of you are right-handed; you funnel your chakra on your right arm the most. And with how much you’ve been waving your sticks around, of course it’s going to hurt."

"Oh, and right on cue! You’d feel exhausted in three, two..."

"!!!"

"...one." Ren wore a wide smirk as he observed their horrified faces. "Now, you’re feeling it. The results of your recklessness. The effect of you not listening to the advice of your elders."

His eyes then shifted to Marcel again before he asked: "Well, how’s that for familiarity? Still think I haven’t figured you guys out?"

Marcel was equal parts enraged and horrified. His entire body felt like it was burdened by an invisible weight, just like his fellow prodigies felt. His heart thudded in his chest as Ren’s words echoed in his brain, haunting him.

"Like I said...just a bunch of monkeys copying each other. It’s boring." Ren sighed.

Then, he adjusted his posture. And for the first time in this entire match, even the ones before this one. Ren went into a stance.

"I’m going to attack now," he declared.

And that sounded like a thunderclap to the ears of the five prodigies. That’s when they noticed that Ren’s body was now veiled with chakra too, and his glow was brighter than theirs.

"I’ll move so fast that I’ll suddenly appear dead center of the arena."

"I’ll throw a punch that’s as strong as a cannon’s shot and would sound like one too, and that will echo nine times, producing nine aftershocks around me covering the entire arena after the initial one."

"If at least one of you remains standing in this arena after that, consider this match your win. I’m tired of it already."

Then, to their horror and anticipation, Ren began a loud countdown starting from 10.

The prodigies did their best to scramble and prepare for what’s about to come. They were determined to win, even though it’s only going to be a consolation.

"...one!"

Swoosh!

Just as he promised, Ren promptly reappeared dead center of the arena, moving so quick that the prodigies couldn’t even catch trace of his shadow.

By the time they saw him again, he had already thrown his punch.

BOOM!!

And it did sound like a canon shot that landed in the arena, causing it to quake. But that’s just the initial impact. Ren said that it will echo nine times after that. He didn’t tell them that the echo will carry the same strength as the initial one, though.

Alas, the prodigies only ever heard the first one because as soon as the initial impact sounded out, they were gone from the arena, blown away by the impact and had gone unconscious.