Chương 19: Butting Heads

Mason had always expected to become a hero, and that it would irreversibly change his life, but he never thought it would happen this early. But when met with reality, plans often became obsolete. When he left Baxter Building, a crowd was there waiting for him, despite a day having passed. Apparently, the name Solis had truly caught on as they clamored for it instead of his name. Thankfully, the Fantastic Four had gotten him a limousine to drive him home.

Stepping inside the house he had lived in for the past 18 years, Mason braced himself for the reactions he would get, only to find a foot flying for his face. His body tensed for a moment, already prepared to unleash a deadly response, but when he turned to look at his attacker, he relaxed, casually grabbing the ankle and rotating with it.

The kicker, who happened to be none other than his little sister Audrey, found herself brought back to the ground helplessly, both feet on the ground, and her brother's hands on her shoulders. She did not even understand what had happened. Firmly keeping her in place, Mason asked, "Audrey, what was that?" She struggled to free herself, and after a moment, Mason released her, curious to see what she would do.

She immediately took a step forward to create distance, before turning around, her body posed in a semblance of a martial guard. It was all wrong; she was full of openings, which was not surprising considering she was replicating what she had seen in movies. The only reason she had managed to perform that kick was not that she had martial arts training, but because she was a trained gymnast. She had performed it through sheer agility, and even then, it lacked any real power.

Swinging her body left and right, like a fighter in a Street Fighter lobby, Audrey growled, "You don't get to ask me that after nearly getting yourself killed! En garde, and taste the power of martial arts!" Mason rolled his eyes, sending a single chop at her head. She tried to dodge, but found the palm to be following her head like a magnet, and inevitably hit her in the forehead.

It was not that painful, yet at the same time, it felt stinging, like she had been shocked by electricity, prompting her to drop her guard as she held her head. Before she could continue with this, their father arrived, half-heartedly scolding her, "Audrey, enough. Your brother needs rest, not some little demon harassing him." Audrey pouted, but she did stop. As for Mason, he looked at his father, neither of them saying anything at first, as nothing needed to be said.

Mason could see all he needed from his father's eyes. There was as much worry as there was pride, all of it mingled with curiosity. Mason nodded to his father, saying, "We should probably talk." Eric nodded back, "Your mother is making dinner. Elena is waiting there too." His tone made Mason chuckle. He walked past him, remarking, "You're making this sound so solemn. I'm fine." Neither Eric nor Audrey chose to say anything to that. In the kitchen, his mother saw him first, but did not react much.

They had already seen each other only a few hours before. Elena, on the other hand, rushed at him the moment she saw him. She rapidly examined his body, asking, "Are you okay? You shouldn't have walked here!" Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Mason shook his head with a smile.

"I'm fine; I already recovered. And I didn't walk here; they got me a limo." Although she muttered it to herself, Mason's enhanced senses still picked up on it as Audrey muttered, "I can't believe he got in a limo before me." Mason decided to pretend he did not hear her and focused on Elena, adding, "Really, I could fight the Hulk again right now if I needed to." Elena immediately replied, "You better never get into a fight with that damned monster again!"

Mason quickly corrected her, "The Hulk was being controlled, so if you want to be angry at someone, it should be Doctor Doom." His mother Camille looked over her shoulder, giving him one of her looks as she said, "Before we go into your self-aggrandizing spirit of sacrifice, you should explain how you did it, Solis." Mason rolled his eyes at the stressed moniker and did not intend to comment on it, but Audrey perked up.

"Yeah, Solis, how did you just shrug off a punch from the Hulk? That thing flattens tanks!" Eric tilted his head, "It does?"

"I did not choose the name. Also, I could have gotten something much worse. And yes, the Hulk can flatten tanks, but I'm not tougher than a tank. He was weakened when he hit me. But I suppose you still want to know how I did what I did?" Seeing that no one said anything this time, Mason briefly explained, "I already went over it with Mom this morning, but you may have noticed I went through some changes in the past couple of months." They nodded matter-of-factly.

"That was when I started training in martial arts and internal alchemy. It is mostly lost knowledge nowadays, but the human body is capable of much more than we normally use. We just rarely see it because it takes a lifetime to reach this level, and even then, most simply do not have the talent for it. Also, because of the nature of this practice, most of its users have remained selfish through history, keeping their knowledge to themselves."

"But it's been two months since you started training; not a lifetime." Mason nodded, "It usually takes a lifetime, but like anything else, it also depends on talent. And it just so happens that I am to martial arts what Isaac Newton was to science." It certainly sounded like an arrogant statement, but if he had to be honest, Mason would say that Reed Richards was likely a closer approximation, but they did not know of his genius.

It was hard to distinguish exactly where Mason's powerful soul and his talent met, and how much of either was behind his rapid advancement in cultivation. Or maybe they simply were one and the same, and his powerful soul could be considered his talent. His family did not comment on the comparison either. Still, his father asked, "Does it stop there?" Mason shrugged, replying completely honestly this time, "As I said, not much is known about internal alchemy, even among the martial arts community.

Most don't even know it exists. And for those who do and practice it, they generally don't reach very far. From what I know for sure, I still have some progress to do, but it should only take me about a couple of weeks to reach the peak of what humanity has achieved through history. A month at most. After that, it's uncharted territory." Elena narrowed her eyes and asked, "So three months to become the best human in history in your thing? And it might not stop there?"

"Technically, I am supposedly currently setting the foundation for future progress, so there should be more. No one in history ever got past laying their foundation. But while no human ever went past this point, some mythical beasts like dragons supposedly reached further."

"Dragons?" Audrey asked loudly.

"Yes. Asian dragons. Never seen one myself, but they supposedly existed. May even still exist today. I heard internal alchemy, or what I call cultivation, was transmitted down to us by them. So if they advanced past the foundation, then humans might be able to as well." All of this he had heard from his master. Mason believed most of it as well, as he had meta-knowledge. He knew of the Iron Fist, who used 'Chi'.

Mason now knew it was Essence rather than Chi, but what made the Iron Fist so powerful was that they did not use their own cultivated Essence, but instead absorbed the Essence of a much more powerful dragon, and then used it. Although, technically, from what Mason knew, dragons did not truly possess a more advanced cultivation. They simply were endowed with a stronger foundation than humans. After all, dragons were naturally far stronger than humans.

Their immense Three Treasures granted them incredible powers, but these powers remained basic. After all, even with an incredible quantity and quality of Essence, the Iron Fist could only use it to coat their fist. The Three Treasures all offered their own power when awakened, but the realms that followed the Awakening Realm supposedly had one transform and master their Three Treasures, and with it, advanced applications of their energies would be unlocked.

What the Iron Fist did was only the most basic use of Essence, making up for quality with quantity. Although there remained much to be explained, they seemed to understand the general gist of it as Eric asked, "And what do you intend to do with this then? To become Solis?"

"Had I not been there yesterday, the Fantastic Four would have been defeated, and possibly killed. The people inside the building, including my friend, would have died. The Hulk would not have broken out of its control, and rampaged through New York, killing thousands more. Same if I had not risen back after that punch." The kitchen had fallen into silence, but Mason still decided to add, "I cherish my life with all my heart. But even if I had died yesterday, I would have considered it a worthy death."

Audrey suddenly rushed him, slamming her clenched fists at him, "Don't you ever say that, you selfish prick!" Because of the height difference, she could only slam her fists against his chest, each blow hardly causing any ripples in the muscles below. The lack of reaction seemed to infuriate her even more as she screamed before storming out of the kitchen.