Chapter 25
Completely unprepared, Ray could only stare as the beaker shattered, causing the hot, transparent red liquid to splash in all directions. Unconsciously, Ray's body instinctively pulled out three hairs and activated his talent. As a result, red and white smoke emanated from his body at the moment of the explosion.
Silence followed the chaotic event. Finally, the familiar voice filled with concern reached Ray's ears. It was only then that Ray snapped out of his daze. He examined his body and realized he had no serious injuries, except for a few holes in his clothes. Since he hadn't moved during the explosion, the impact was minimal and didn't harm him.
Looking around at the mess, Ray sighed helplessly. "Looks like I need to be more careful next time..."
The previously cluttered space became even more chaotic, with red liquid splattered everywhere and some of the crafts damaged, dampening Ray's mood. He remained silent, still in shock from the incident.
Finally, the attic door opened, revealing a beautiful middle-aged woman in a hurry. Seeing her ordinary-looking son unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief. "What were you doing at this time of night?" Yuvra couldn't help but ask, surveying the area.
"I was trying alchemy, Mom," Ray replied quietly, displaying a hint of helplessness in his voice, aware of his carelessness.
Yuvra was taken aback by her son's confession. "Since when did this kid become so diligent?" Yuvra asked, curious about what was on her mind. As a mother, she understood her son's nature. Although Ray wasn't her biological child, she had been with him for several years and was well aware of his good and obedient behavior. He never did anything outrageous.
Ray always expressed his desire to become a talented practitioner. Initially, Yuvra didn't pay much attention to it and supported his decisions. When the day of maturity arrived, it turned out that Ray possessed an F-rank talent, which was nothing remarkable. At first, Yuvra was worried, but with time, it seemed her concerns were unfounded. However, she now realized that her son had been feeling anxious.
Whether it was creating peculiar books, going camping, hunting, or now practicing alchemy, he often risked his life for unnecessary endeavors. As a mother, Yuvra wanted to have a conversation with her son, but she knew how to handle a child of Ray's age, being a pediatrician herself. She couldn't be too restrictive, as that would have negative consequences. Yet, despite knowing that lecturing a child of Ray's age wasn't ideal, Yuvra couldn't help but feel the urge to address her concerns.
Just as she was about to speak, a girl's scream interrupted their conversation. "Wow, Mom? Are you okay, big brother?" The two young ones climbed up to the attic, diverting their attention.
Yuvra, who felt that climbing the ladder was very dangerous, immediately rushed toward the two little ones to help them. "What are you two doing? Didn't your mother say it's dangerous and you can't go up?" Yuvra put on a stern face while scolding the children. Haruza blushed with embarrassment upon hearing her mother's scolding. Trying to be clever, she started saying cute things to persuade her mother. "It's not like that, Mom. We saw that you never came down with my brother, so we were worried and wanted to check on both of you." Esubi chimed in without a stance. "And what will you guys do after checking?" Yuvra asked, still angry with them. Seeing that their mother was still upset, the two children became embarrassed and obediently remained silent.
With that, the little family ended up cleaning up the mess together. Yuvra took advantage of the situation to give a strict lecture to her three children while tidying up. Besides warning Ray not to do anything foolish, she also hoped that the two little ones would become more sensible in the future. Ray and the two children listened attentively, not wanting their mother to continue scolding them.
After everything was done, Ray, who came down from the attic, immediately fell asleep after briefly lying on the bed. It was clear that the young man was exhausted.
The next morning, despite the chaotic condition of the room, Ray continued his practice. He never thought about slacking off, regardless of the circumstances, because he knew that giving in to laziness would be detrimental. When he compromised and let himself have cheat days, he would fall into a vicious cycle. Therefore, he kept himself on track and stuck to his schedule.
School went smoothly as usual, and this time it was the organization's practice session. Ray arrived as usual, greeting everyone warmly. People found it amusing to see Ray, a member of their group, always leaving early without even lifting a finger to practice during the practice sessions. They wondered why he joined the organization if he wasn't going to share knowledge and train with them. Was he that unreliable?
Despite Ray's eccentricity, his presence didn't bother anyone. Apart from the fact that their organization had too few members, Ray appeared kind and didn't offend others. "Hey kiddo, planning to leave early again?" Hou Yunfei asked playfully. Ray responded, "Ah, no, how can you say that to me? Am I not welcome here?" in a playful manner.
Hou Yunfei, who had gotten used to Ray's ways, no longer saw him as a nuisance as before. Moreover, Ray often gave them strange things for unknown purposes. After some preparation and warm-up, Ray took the initiative to challenge senior member Hou Yunfei.
Recently, he had been practicing every martial art he could remember from his previous life. Furthermore, he didn't want to forget them, so Ray drew every move he remembered into a book for the soul library to record.
Upon hearing Ray's challenge, Hou Yunfei became excited. For some reason, the thought of fighting the peculiar young man made him happy.
The group of people around them also became delighted, knowing that whenever Ray challenged Hou Yunfei, he would always end up being beaten unconscious. As they entered the arena, both sides exuded confidence.
Looking at each other, the two finally made their moves after their respective supporters started. Ray immediately adjusted his posture, widening his stance, aligning his body, and changing the position of his fingers to form claws, ready to defend against an attack.
Ray's movements were peculiar and caught everyone's attention. Hou Yunfei, who observed this, appeared interested, clearly never having seen this stance before. The two circled the arena, their poses distinct from each other.
People couldn't help but be amazed by Hou Yunfei's solid and unwavering gaze. However, when they saw Ray's unusual look, they couldn't help but flinch. Strangely enough, Ray's unconventional movements didn't look bad at all. They had a faint resemblance to the graceful movements of a crouching tiger.
As Ray continued to move passively in his peculiar stance, Hou Yunfei couldn't resist taking the initiative to attack. Hou Yunfei's hand reached out to strike Ray's face. Ray, still maintaining his previous pose, calmly observed. Just as the other's fist was about to touch his jaw, Ray swiftly caught the opponent's elbow joint with his right hand and twisted the opponent's neck with his left hand. The position was entangled, resembling a tiger pouncing on its prey. Hou Yunfei, surprised by this, exclaimed, "Huh!" Being entangled by Ray, he had no choice but to fall to the ground and roll backward. The momentum of the throw was not insignificant, and Ray was eventually thrown back, but he remained in a tiger-like pose.
After turning around and regaining his balance, Ray executed an elbow strike accompanied by a clapping sound. This movement seemed even stranger and didn't match the previous tiger-mimicking display.
As if not satisfied yet, Ray followed up with a kick, producing another clapping sound. Hou Yunfei solemnly defended, slightly overwhelmed by Ray's movements. How could Hou Yunfei not be overwhelmed? Ray kept changing his style while attacking.
Sometimes, he would be sturdy and ferocious like a tiger, with wide but low stances targeting every joint. Then, he would become as gentle as flowing water, countering attacks, adapting to the terrain, and appearing like a graceful dance that could drown opponents.
Additionally, he could move like a stone or a kicked door, bringing the sound of a single-hand clap when launching frontal attacks, showing no fear of defeat. All of Ray's movements were based on silat arts, representing the characteristics of different regions in his country in his past life.
The tiger-like movements originated from the Minangkabau tribe in Sumatra, the graceful water-like movements came from the Sundanese people in Java, and the jerky stone-like movements were from the Betawi tribe in the capital city.
Ray had the upper hand and smirked as he saw his opponent slump. Meanwhile, the passive Hou Yunfei could only dodge and parry, struggling to keep up with Ray's rhythm. Seeing the smug smile on Ray's face, Hou Yunfei couldn't help but feel a burning sensation in his heart. "Since when did this guy think he could look down on me so easily?"
No longer playing along, Hou Yunfei suddenly launched a swift punch that landed on Ray's head with a loud crash.
"Kaboom!"
With this blow, Ray's previously graceful movements came to an abrupt halt. The onlookers turned their attention to Ray, who fell heavily to the ground and couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
"Will he be alright?" asked a gentle-looking girl.
"I don't know, but it would be bad if she keeps hitting his head," a concerned young man replied.
"Hmm, who knows? Maybe he can awaken some kind of immunity and gain strength in his head at night. They say what can't hurt you will bless you," the overweight man chimed in, not too worried.
"Yeah, that's true, but won't he suffer a concussion before gaining any immunity?" the previous youth questioned. Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, Hou Yunfei, who witnessed the young man lying on the ground, couldn't help but shake his head. He had acted too impulsively.