Chapter 57: It Has Broken Free
"I know I had a mother, but I can't remember what she looked like..."
Cyrus wept silently, and Zebra sat there thinking.
"I hate him. I hate him more than anything and anyone. I hate him with every bone in my body and every ounce of blood- with every bit of strength I have in me! I hate him! I hate him, and I will tear him apart over and over again until he kills himself!"
Cyrus' voice continued getting louder, and the power inherent in it continued to grow. At first, it was only a minor increase, but then it grew exponentially between shouts. Zebra was brought out of his silence as he gasped, unable to believe that Cyrus could release such power.
Zebra's ears twitched and he smiled, taking a deep breath.
"So that's how it is."
After venting somewhat, Cyrus felt a bit better. Thanks to that, he caught Zebra's words and his head cocked to the side. "How what is?"
"Everyone's strength has a fuel. It is the source of what allows us to fight, even when all hope seems lost. I think I have discovered yours." Zebra straightened and exhaled a thicker, warmer steam than before.
Cyrus wiped his face with his ragged clothes and came a bit closer to Zebra, partly because he wanted some of that steam.
The breeze had returned, and with it a stronger chill. Even so, the clouds above had yet to reform.
"Your hatred. Not only for your father, but for anything and anyone that stands in your way. I would know ...all too well."
"It has become the root of your strength. Perhaps that is why you came here, of all places. To excavate your source. Perhaps that is what will lead to you discovering your own Dao."
Zebra calmly made his suggestion, but Cyrus was shaken to his core.
'Hatred? Is it really hatred? Do I hate my father so much that it has given me all my strength?'
Suddenly, Cyrus grabbed his platinum hair and descended into a ball, then freaked some more. 'So, in other words, I was only able to make it this far in life ...thanks to him!?'
Zebra could hear the chaotic noises coming from Cyrus' mind, and that enabled him to grab bits and pieces of what he was thinking. He shook his head and said nothing, instead waiting for the boy to sort out his own temporary insanity.
In the meantime, he took deep breath after deep breath, continuing to gently exercise his lungs and throat.
It had been difficult for him to speak and breath, since he had been meditating in the snow and was a bit frozen. After using his voice to create his 'Thunder Noise' he had made quite a lot of progress in warming himself up.
Cyrus soon returned to his right mind and came to terms with his issues. He simply had to live with the fact that all of his strength was thanks to his father.
'That's fine, though. I mean, all my hard work went to waste when Master crippled us, so ...pfft!'
'And it's not like he isn't responsible for a lot of other things. Part of the reason I was born in the first place was because of ...him.. and mother!'
'It's fine, it's fine. Now I'm going to excavate my Dao- or something, so I'll be relying on his input even less. It'll just be me and the Dao, oh yeah...'
Cyrus had fully calmed down. At this point, a wave of energy held together around Zebra's body, steadily rejuvenating him while also warming his surroundings.
Cyrus enjoyed the warmth as much as he could before Zebra spoke up. This time, his voice was clear and no longer seemed hoarse and strained. He could speak without having to pause to take a deep breath and, in fact, wasn't even breathing that deeply anymore.
"To excavate the power of your source, it needs to be maximized. Do you understand what that means?"
Cyrus thought about it- real hard- then shook his head.
"You need to start feeling as much hate as possible, and all at once. Then, you need to hold that hatred without letting even a little bit subside."
"Can you do that?"
Cyrus gulped. His thoughts circled back to the many instances in his life where he erupted into a state of pure rage and hatred.
In doing so, he inadvertently realized that his hatred was only directed toward two specific things.
Even though he might have exploded in anger when dealing with various opponents, all that hatred was not truly directed at them. His hatred was for his father ...and Ling Jian'er.
Thanks to those two, but mostly his father, he had strengthened his source; his hatred was multiplied. Thinking about it though, he also realized that he had never released all of his hatred on any singular object.
He had always held back, mainly because he was not dealing with his father as well as Ling Jian'er. He even suspected that a part of him, deep down, would hold back just a bit of anger and hatred even if he was facing off against them both.
Cyrus looked to Zebra and decided to ignore the apprehension. His path led to Zebra, and Zebra had already experienced what it was like to walk the wrong path. He was one of the few people that could help guide Cyrus in the right direction, and so he decided to trust him.
"Whatever it takes, I'll do it!"
Zebra nodded, and folded his arms across his bulky chest. He looked down at Cyrus, who was seated before him, and inhaled through his nostrils.
"I am about to use an alteration of my 'Weak Point Voice' on you."
"Oh," Cyrus shifted, "what's that?"
"It was designed to aid me in finding a frequency of sound that could easily agitate enemies, then drive them away. If I focus on finding your frequency, I may be able to produce a sound that stimulates your hatred strong enough."
Cyrus mouth fell open and he nodded like a chick pecking rice, marveling at Zebra's ability. Zebra closed his eyes and Cyrus deduced that he should do the same, so he steeled himself and closed his eyes, waiting.
"Once it is released, your hatred will provide you with an immense amount of power. That is its purpose, however you need to excavate that power which is, in essence, stealing from your own hatred."
"Do not be fooled. Our emotions are existences at the very borderline of becoming independent spirits. If the right conditions are met, your hatred may turn against you. Don't get cocky. You cannot allow that to happen, understand?"
Cyrus nodded, remembered that Zebra could not see him, then said, "Got it!"
"Mm! Then let us begin. No matter what you feel, you must stay where you are."
After that, Zebra said nothing else. His ears constantly twitched and his breathing became matchlessly stable. He was the picture of concentration, deeply focused on listening to the sounds coming from Cyrus. After all these years, his keen sense of hearing was even more exaggerated, which was how he could hear the noise from Cyrus' thoughts.
Zebra listened intently, until he found the frequency he was looking for. It was the one that would allow him to directly affect Cyrus' mind. After finding that, he simply inhaled and opened his mouth, letting out a roar.
Waves of sound poured out of his mouth, then travelled all the way to Cyrus without any leakage. All the power of this sound attack as focused on Cyrus and him alone, ready to infiltrate his mind in order to dredge up all of his slumbering hatred.
The precise moment that the sound reached Cyrus' mind, he inhaled sharply and grabbed up handfuls of snow from the ground, squeezing them into mush that leaked out of his hands. His face wrinkled as he began to feel nothing but raw, unfiltered and destructive emotion fill him up inside.
It was empowering, emboldening ...and suffocating.
Cyrus immediately lost himself in his hatred, and any thought of cooperating with Zebra as flushed from his mind. When his eyes snapped open, the blue of them was corrupted with bright white soul light. From the depths of his soul, his source of strength was surging outward, gripping his mind.
This was not merely a release of inherent soul power. It was a duality- a clash of souls!
Zebra noticed, but it was already too late. Even though he quickly cut off his Weak Point Voice, Cyrus' did not return to normal. In his pupils, the blue was all but gone. In a matter of moments, all that would remain was pure white.
Zebra made a quick decision in that split second to pour out enough power to knock Cyrus out. If he could do that, then maybe he would return to normal once he woke.
Without any time to suck in a deep enough breath, Zebra could only bring out 40% of his full power. Even so, that would be more than enough to knock Cyrus unconscious.
"SOUND BAZOOKA!!!"
Under the raw power of Zebra's voice, the mountaintop and the surrounding land quaked ferociously. The snow on the entire mountain was swept away, revealing the rock and earth that lay beneath. Leafless trees gave way, with some losing branches while others were uprooted in their entirety.
For tens of miles around the mountain, Zebra's voice caused havoc and destruction; all that even though he had focused it on Cyrus.
"Eh?"
Zebra looked to Cyrus and saw that, though he was motionless, he was very much awake. His pure white eyes regarded Zebra with contempt, and he scoffed at the attack that was just mounted against him.
"You think something as pitiful as that will stop me?"
Zebra reeled in shock and quickly exhaled. 40% of his power was not enough; he needed to take a deep breath and gather all of his power, and fast!
At the very moment that he started to inhale, Cyrus got up and grabbed him by his massive throat. Though his hand was small, there was an energy on it that allowed him to render Zebra's throat useless.
'Shit! Well, if I can't release it...'
Zebra's plan changed in an instant, and he focused in order to produce an internal sound. It rushed to his left arm, exploding at various points and causing his muscles to bulge. He had already formed a fist and, just by looking at his arm, it was possible to see the power building in it.
He struck from his sitting position with all his might, landing a vicious blow on Cyrus' stomach. Even so, those white eyes did not blink nor narrow. Even though the sound waves were echoing within Cyrus' body, he was unaffected.
This was, no doubt, due to the fact that Cyrus was no longer in control, so Zebra was not dealing with Cyrus. He was dealing with Cyrus' Hatred.
In that moment, Zebra ears twitched. He had heard a loud and clear shattering sound to his right and, when he turned his head to see what caused it, he gasped and stiffened.
Standing there on the mountaintop, arms folded behind him, with his black hair blowing in the icy wind and his silver eyes regarding Cyrus with shining intrigue, was Logean Wuji.
"Oh, good. It has broken free. How lovely."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CocoonedDaoist
CocoonedDaoist Can you guess what Cyrus' Dao will be?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone