**Volume 2: Upper World**

  **Chapter 90: Just Getting Started**

  February 10th, 5:29 p.m. – Vein Clan House (Courtyard Ruins)

  Jason moved.

  No warning. No buildup. Just gone.

  Afterimages trailed him — 50 fps choppy ghosts flickering in yellow light — and he was already airborne. Kira barely tracked the blur before his boot slammed into her chest mid-stride. The impact rang out — ribs creaking — she flew upward, body twisting, wind screaming past her ears.

  Jason jumped higher — casual, almost lazy — met her in the air and drove another kick straight down. Kira crashed roof-first through the clan house’s upper walkway — tiles exploding outward, wood splintering — and rolled to a stop on the slanted shingles, coughing blood.

  She pushed up — fast — katana already in hand — and lunged mid-air. Blade flashed — aimed for Jason’s throat.

  It cut clean through… nothing.

  Afterimage.

  Jason reappeared behind her — grin wide — and started punching.

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  Fists blurred — left-right-left — each hit landing like a sledgehammer. Kira’s head snapped back, blood spraying from her nose. Ribs cracked louder. She tried to block — arms up — but Jason was faster. He grabbed her legs — twisted — and threw.

  She flew — spinning — slammed into the side of a nearby mountain ridge. Rock shattered on impact — boulders tumbling down the slope. She hit the ground hard — rolled — stood up coughing, one hand pressed to her side.

  Narration voice (cold, detached):

  **Jason’s technique — Projection Sovereign: Frame Rush** — enforces 50 fps on his own movement while projecting afterimages at lower rates. The faster he goes, the more afterimages stack. Opponents see dozens of him — can’t tell which is real. Every punch lands with full force, every kick carries momentum from the previous frame. At peak, he moves in bursts of 600+ fps — untouchable, unreadable.

  Jason blurred again — faster now — closed the gap in a heartbeat. Punched her chest — she flew back, crashed through another glass frame on the clan house balcony — shards raining around her. He jumped — met her mid-air — kicked her stomach. She rocketed sideways — 50 feet — slammed into another mountain face. Stone cracked outward in a spiderweb. One rib snapped clean — she felt it give — pain lancing up her side.

  Kira hit the ground — rolled — pushed up on one knee.

  “Shit,” she hissed, blood dripping from her mouth. “This isn’t going how I thought.”

  She grabbed her katana — tighter — red threads pulsing brighter along the blade. Aura flared — yellow turning hotter — 120% output.

  She moved — slashed — blade cutting air.

  Jason dodged — casual — but the cut grazed his hand. Blood welled up — thin line across knuckles.

  He looked at it — grinned — flexed — hand healed in seconds, skin knitting smooth.

  Jason blurred forward again — one hand fixing his hair mid-run like he was bored — then stepped on Kira’s foot — pinning her shoe to the dirt — and punched her stomach full force.

  She flew upward — gasping — body ragdolling.

  Jason jumped — met her again — kicked her sideways. She crashed through a glass bridge connecting two wings of the clan house — panes exploding outward in glittering rain. She hit the ground on the other side — rolled through shards — blood mixing with glass dust on her arms, legs, face.

  She pushed up — slow — katana shaking in her grip.

  Blood ran from cuts on her cheeks, her neck, her hands.

  She looked at Jason — eyes burning.

  “I won’t lose.”

  Jason landed light — sandals crunching glass — grin never fading.

  “Oh yeah?”

  His aura flared — orange-black — power growing thicker, heavier.

  “I’m just getting started.”

  The chapter ended with Kira standing up — blood dripping, katana steady — yellow aura flickering brighter.

  She looked straight at him.

  “We’ll see.”

  To be continued…