Veritas (manhwa)

Veritas
First volume of Veritas, released in Korea.
베리타스
Genre	Action, Martial arts
Author	YOON Joon-sik
Illustrator	Kim Dong-hoon
Publisher	Haksan Culture Company
Volumes	9

Veritas (베리타스) is a Korean manhwa written by YOON Joon-sik and illustrated by KIM Dong-hoon has been in production since 2005. A middle schooler named Gangryong Ma is saved one day by a man whose strength is beyond belief. This man is called Lightning Tiger. He teaches Gangryong the Enlightenment Of Thunder and Lightning, thereby introducing him to a world of power that will change his life forever.

Plot

Gangryong Ma was the boss of his middle school, getting in fistfights almost every day. He thought that winning those fistfights was what it meant to be strong. That all ended when he met Lightning Tiger, a man whose power dwarfed that of any man Gangryong had ever met before. After arguing, begging, and jumping through hoops for a year to prove his loyalty, Gangryong convinced Lightning Tiger to be his master.

For two months, Lightning Tiger taught Gangryong the secret of ki manipulation by way of the Enlightenment Of Thunder and Lightning (EOTL), a traditional Korean martial art passed on through the centuries to one student at a time. By properly refining and focusing his ki, Gangryong learned not only to increase his strength, speed, and stamina, but to create powerful lightning attacks that could level trees. When the two months were up, Lightning Tiger left Gangryong, warning him of an inevitable battle against a strong enemy and hoping that they might one day see each other.

Months later, Gangryong was approached by an ominous group of men. He was presented with a box, and was told that it contained the arm of Lightning Tiger, whom they had supposedly killed. These men were from Reunion, a multinational organization whose main goals were the collection, evolution and eventual perfection of traditional martial arts and the creation of artificial ki, or natural energy, which could be used to make people more powerful. They forced Gangryong to enter a special school designed to train suitable fighters in the fighting styles that had been collected and created by Reunion.

Now, within Reunion, Gangryong finds himself a flash-point for controversy. As student of a sworn enemy of Reunion, there are many who want him dead. As the sole practitioner of EOTL, there are many who desire to see his success, so that they may use his techniques. All the while, Gangryong must work to uncover the secrets in the training he was given, so that he may achieve the power he seeks, and finally avenge the presumed deceased Lightning Tiger.

Characters

Gangryong Ma: The main protagonist in the series. Gangryong of 18 years-old is the sole remaining practitioner of the Enlightenment Of Thunder and Lightning (EOTL). Though fairly dense, he shows an aptitude for battle and street smarts that seem well-suited to his underdog status at the Reunion school, he once even fought with both arms broken and one broken leg. Mouthy and disrespectful, he has a penchant for making enemies which to date has served him only to win less than a handful of actual fights with him usually ending up unconscious. He usually has flashbacks of Lightning Tiger's teachings and his fighting style is Dog Fighting and since he started his training later than most, his Ki channels are very clogged, so he has very limited amount of Ki but it's highly refined, so much so that after being hit with "Life wish" his body began releasing it like an electric eel, nearly killing him. He is extremely knowledgeable about fighting and at Rud's request is aiming for one of the council seats. He is only capable of close ranged EOTL techniques as of current. In volume 8 he fights against Hayato and loses, and later in volume 9 he is the only of the students fighting Fire Dragon, that can land a clear hit on him.

Techniques:

• Lightning Fist - The user creates positive and negative charges in his fist and collides them, creating lightning, it has a stun effect, the effectiveness depends on the user's skill which can produce either a current that stuns the opponent for a long duration of time or a current that lasts only for very short time. This also depends on who the opponent is because if they are powerful enough, dispersing the effect with their own Ki would be quite easy.
• Thunder Break - Officially known as the Fist of Reverse Lightning, it was renamed by Lightning Tiger. It works by only creating a negative charge while using the enemies positive charge used to guard against Lightning Fist to create a lightning effect, it disrupts the flow of Ki in the body of the enemy, the effectiveness of the technique depends on many separate factors, the user's skill level in the art and current condition when using Thunder Break, and the opponent's toughness and body density, with these factors the effect of the disruption can be very damaging or very weak.
• Electric Yo-Yo - Officially known as (Magnetic Force of Lightning Space), it's basic theory is "Static Electricity" and it works by changing the voltage of the users body and uses the flow of Ki as a current to shock the enemy. You generate negative charge on the left hand while inhaling and create a positive charge on the right hand while exhaling. Until he lets go the person will be continuously shocked so it's considered a kill technique.
• Half-Step - A dodge skill that was created by Gu Honse from Dohyup's family's traditional art, although Honse created a highly similar technique four years ago to counter Reunionists. It has an effectiveness of 70% average but against Reunion styles it's average rate increases to 95% overall.
• Lightning Flash - Gathers electricity on three points around the hand and discharges it. In chapter 37, it was used to disperse the extra Ki build up in Gangryong's body due to rushing the purifying process of EOTL.

Lightning Tiger (Yoochun): Gangryong's martial arts master, who taught him EOTL. As a master of EOTL, one of the Heavenly Five Paths and a traditional martial artist, Yoochun opposed Reunion goals, and became their greatest enemy, leaving a lasting impression that still affects Gangryong's life at the school. A fan of anime, he liked to imitate some of his favorite attacks. Yoochun did not believe that a practitioner of EOTL would benefit from artificial ki, as EOTL relied more on refinement of ki than on quantity. Latter it is revealed that Yoochun also uses Northern Broad Strike to give him a better chance against Yuri, though he admits that he had only had learned the art in a year, however he still easily overpowered Hayato(who had studied and refined his "forged" Northern Broad Strike from Reunion for well over 7 years prior to their fight). He is assumed to be killed by Yuri.

Techniques:

• Lightning Fist - Uses metal element to create lightning, has a stun effect, the effectiveness depends on the user's skill which can produce either a current that stuns the opponent for a long duration of time or a current that lasts only for very short time. This also depends on who the opponent is because if they are powerful enough, dispersing the effect with their own Ki would be quite easy.
• Thunder Break - Uses enemies Ki to create lightning, it disrupts an enemies Ki flow, the effectiveness of the technique depends on many separate factors, the user's skill level in the art and current condition when using Thunder Break, and the opponent's toughness and body density, with these factors the effect of the disruption can be very damaging or very weak.
• Heaven's Void Lightning Brand - Long distance attack that uses lightning in a similar form to Arts of Heaven's Riches Spacial Void Fist to scar Vera
• Northern BroadStrike - A "formless" fighting style, and an external martial art, said to rival Heaven's Riches internal martial arts; Lightining Tiger uses to be able to fight Yuri on a more equal ground.

Reunion Student Council

The student council at the Reunion school holds strong influence over student life. Its members are determined almost exclusively by their power.

Vera Linus: The student council president. An outwardly cold girl, she is the most powerful student at the school. Her sister, Yuri, is the head of Reunion. Her initial impression of Gangryong is that he is useless. In the past, she fought Lightning Tiger, and the incident left a scar and a strong impression going as far as saying him was "the man who taught me the word fear". Though he was her enemy, she regards him almost as a former lover. She fights using the Arts of Heaven's Riches. What she seeks can't be obtained by Reunion or the council and she actually hold no interest in them. She fights Guesong after he interfered in her goal and kills him, afterward Rud challenges her to a formal match next year. It's also revealed that Yuri placed a seal on her to limit her power and Lightning Tiger broke it, which may have lead her to having feelings for him. Her goal as it has been hinted throughout the series is to become the next successor to Art of Heaven's Riches in place of her sister, Yuri.

Techniques:

• Spacial Void Fist - Is a traditional martial art skill that is only used by the main bloodline of Art of Heaven's Riches.Used by gathering the user's Ki into their palms and are directed towards their opponent's heart to cause extreme internal damage.
• Void Strike Class - A technique that can constrict an opponent's heart from a medium (approximately 5-10m) distance away. Fire Dragon claims the counter technique was pioneered by Lightning Tiger himself.
• Vacuum Strike - A blast that expands the emptiness in a distance.

Shinra Yun: Vera's second-in-command. She is fond of making very offensive comments whilst making a very nice face. She appears to have some history with Jeeha, and also is in a relationship with Guhoo. Her powers have yet to be revealed in full. She also has good knowledge of Heaven's Riches class, being able to identify how Gangryong's Ki was killing him. She has been sentenced to over 2 months of isolation training with Guhoo. Shinra may also be supporting Director Fire Dragon from behind Vera's back without the latter's knowing knowledge or having any clue and being completely oblivious of this situation at all.

Guhoo Li: Another student allied with Vera in the school. Guhoo uses the Iron Spirit technique that was created by Reunion. It allows him to harden his skin to incredible levels, and eventually makes him impervious to pain. He uses very few actual fighting moves. He is in a relationship with Shinra, and has a history of conflict with Rud which led to the recent fight and him getting his arm cut off. He has been sentenced to 4 months of isolation training for fighting Rud after his arm was reattached.

Techniques:

• Iron Spirit - A skill created by Reunion, it's used to strength the skin of the user by hardening their Ki, but it takes great deal of Ki in order to maintain the skill. Since Guhoo's level is 11th star ranking, His skin is very durable to an incredible extent as Rud's Feline Claws style were hardly able to put a scratch on him until Rud used his Shattering Cross, which was able to disperse the density of the skin on his face, which created his weak point.
• Grudged Spirit Palm - A rudimentary ki palm technique that is taught at Reunion, they are however rarely used at the present.
• Lion's Roar - Creates a strong shock wave from the diaphragm using Ki to create a powerful vibration, the user's skill determines the radius of the sound. It causes damage towards the inner ear drums, which in turn causes the opponent to lose their sense of balance and their surroundings.

Rud Han: A member of the council who is opposed to Vera and the Second Dragon of the Nine Dragons Faction. Rud was a very frail child with little potential for fighting. His life was once saved by a girl named Anachelli, who taught him basic martial arts techniques and arranges for his arrival at the school. She also provides him with information on the Feline Claws fighting style, which he pursues despite its inherent weakness. He develops a strong grudge against Guhoo after he kills Anachelli in battle, and uses this motivation to rise to the top of the school. He and Jeeha have taken Gangryong under their wing, as they are also traditional successors. They seem to have a plan for revenge against Vera and her friends. After Guesong's death he challenges Vera to a match next year. To aid him, Fire Dragon has secretly given Rud all of Reunion's information on the techniques of EOTL, Lightning Tiger's hidden notes in an effort to perfect Gangryong's abilities, and a lot of information on the other students of the council styles and techniques. In volume 9 he, alongside Shin, attacks Fire Dragon, when the latter is harming Hayato and Madoka.

Techniques:

• Feline Claws - His Basic fighting style, its an inferior branch of Anachelli's family's martial art.
• Shattering Cross - Used to strip Guhoo of his Iron Spirit, it gathers all his claws into a single point creating a cross-shaped mark. Rud jokingly said to Guhoo that he uses this skill to open up his soda can some of the time.
• Sharpened Sword Force - Used to cut Guhoo's arm off, it's supposedly impossible to channel through the hand alone, which in Rud's case proves that wrong as he was able to do it. However, its still not perfected, but the art itself compresses Ki and extends it into a form where it becomes as sharp as any blade.
• Half-Step - A dodge skill that was created by Gu Honse. It has an effectiveness of 70% average but against Reunion styles it's average rate increases to 95% overall.

Shin Jeeha: Rud's friend, who is also a traditional successor and the Third Dragon of the Nine Dragons Faction. He likes to antagonize Shinra by expressing his undying affection for her, and referencing a relationship they used to have. His martial arts style has not yet been shown. It's been stated that if Rud didn't help him in the past, Shinra would have stolen his art. Understanding Bodily principals is his specialty. He is shown in volume 9 to have an enormous speed that allows him to run on the walls, and several powerful spinning kicks attacks.

Makihara Madoka / Han Enumee: A 19 year-old member of council who also worked as Reunion's tracker for Lightning Tiger. She seems to be the middle ground amongst the two sides of the council, as she works for Vera and has friendly relationship with Rud's group. She is the one who scouted Gangryong during her hunt for Lightning Tiger. Her motives are unclear at this moment but she claims to be part of the council for their special privileges and is ranked amongst the Top 5 of the council. Her desire is for things to go back to the way they were before the division of the factions, for the students to stay united, which requires Vera. Madoka appears to have history that is connected with Guesong, who she had apparently badly injured and attempted to kill after his assault on Vera but instead had sent him to a 1 year isolation training. She admitted she likes Gangryong, shocking even him. She fought Guesong once again to prevent the Traditional faction from gaining 6 of the 11 seats and had the upper hand until Guesong used 'Mirage' only to lose and was nearly killed until Vera interfered. In a drunken depression she went to Gangryong's room to drink with him, but when he announced he was aiming for a seat she attempted to throw him and he in-turn shocked her. She later leaves his room resolving to end the battle.

Originally a traditionalist, her current martial arts style is a form of Judo created by Reunion called Flowing Spirit, which incorporates the element of wind. She also has the skills of Life-Stealer of Snatching-Hands and has once successfully countered Half-Step.

Techniques:

• Chuk Ji (Earth Fold)- Instant dash skill similar to Head of Lighting

Chun Guesong: Member for 15 years and head disciple of the Southern Yardplay Faction, and the Fifth Dragon and eldest of the Nine Dragons. He has an almost fanatical obsession with Vera, at one point leading him to betray his allegiance to the traditional successors at the Reunion school. It was his idea to threaten and attack Honse, leading to the closing of his ki passages. His violent reaction to Vera's rejection led to a longstanding feud with Madoka and deciding to keep whatever Vera holds dear away from her, since only then would she look at him. His reason for falling for her was to make her smile since ever since she was child she never did. He defeats Madoka in chapter 45 but is killed when Vera interfered in her place - using Vaccum Strike, and finally getting his desired kiss. His fighting style is largely based on acrobatics and circus-style performance, and his face is never shown without a traditional Korean mask of "The Fool" from the Hahoe style of theater. His specialties are Poongmul, Bunha, Lifewish, Illusion, Overgrab and Trap.

Techniques:

• Mirage - A lost skill from Yardplay faction he restored, uses Ki to move the entire body requiring no Footwork
• Head of Lighting - Part of his traditional art, it's an extremely fast dash and the first part of Life Wish
• Tuna Turnover - An over-the-shoulder throw, he used it to start the Life Wish
• Toppler's Life Wish - An combination of Bunshin and Life Wish at a higher speed
• Bunha (Spinning Dish) - A projectile Ki attack using a dark core with a ring of air surrounding it
• Orchestration - A Yardplay skill that rides Ki along a punch, when the opponent block it creates a shockwave
• Bunshin - Creates clones to attack the enemy
• Tightrope Walker - A string of materialized Ki that allows him to move faster than Head of Lighting
• Heated Yang Palm Method - Used to superheat the hand, he burned his wound closed

Paul: One of the top five students in the student council. His outline was shown in a flashback. He appears to be a fairly tall man, with long brown hair. He is close friends with Makihara Madoka and very close with director Fire Dragon, after the Director's "generous" large bribe. Vera says that he cares more about money then anything else, considering she had to force a deal with Paul to get him to cooperate with her. He is attempting to kill Mu Young and Yuhwa whilst Mu Young is still weak condition from intensive training in subterranean conditions beneath underground which limits the latter's movements, latter Mu Young attacks him and leaves him in a critical condition.

Kusanagi Hayato: A male student with short blond hair. He helped Guesong defeat Honse and later confirmed that Honse's ki channels were irreparably damaged. Hayato was apparently the person who stopped Guesong, which indicates that he is a powerful and strong martial artist in order to defeat someone of Guesong's caliber. Though we later find out that Hayato never really stopped Guesong so his level is still unknown but should be in the general ball park of Guesong and Madoka. The Art he uses is Reunion's Restored form of Northern Broad Strike, which is said to be one of the two strongest Arts in Reunion and said to rival Heaven's Riches. His past as it was revealed that Northern Broad Strike that he had learned from Reunion had been imcomplete as the art was said to have died out long ago. The scientist that had worked on reviving the art had even given up on him. Hayato, however still proceeded in trying to revive Northern Broad Strike. He is later seen after Yoochun had defeated him along with the entire student council including Vera, He had unfortunatally to his discovery that Yoochun had learned the "true" Northern Broad Strike and had lashed out at him in rage, only to be defeated once again. In volume 8 he is seen fighting Gangryong and wins the fight after a great display of power. In volume 9 he, along side Madoka, Rud, Shin, Yuhwa and Gangryong fights against Fire Dragon.

He spent 7 years trying to recreate the Northern Broad Strike Traditional Martial Art only to be defeated by Lighting Tiger who spent one year studying the real art.

Yuhwa: A female student who also helped Guesong defeat Honse. She has long, black hair, and wear unusual knee socks with black and white stripes. Her Yardplay art is the "Puppeteer" allowing her to block Pain until the one she's controlling dies. She is currently assisting Mu Young with his intensive training in subterranean conditions beneath underground with medical assistance, bandaging and care. However both are currently unknowingly being targeted by Paul whom has been largely bribed by Director Fire Dragon, to prevent them from returning back to the school for the last test for the seat in the Student Council and assisting and supporting Vera with reaching her goal. She is extremely angry with Mu Young, when he injures Paul critically, and threaten Mu Young with removing the power she helped him acquire, if he doesn't behave. Latter she is seem apparently helping Kombengi against a black dummy, and fighting Fire Dragon alongside other students.

Mu Young: A Male student who is currently undergoing intensive training in subterranean conditions beneath underground in the forest with medical assistance and bandaging from Yuhwa. He and Yunhwa are currently unknowingly being targeted by Paul whom has been largely bribed by Director Fire Dragon, to prevent them from returning back to the school for the last test for the seat in the Student Council and assisting and supporting Vera with reaching her goal. He attacks Paul and leaves him near death, and has referred to himself as the first "living dummy" of Yunhwa's family.

Other Reunion School students

Gu Honse: Leader of the Nine Dragons Faction. Gangryong was put in the care of Gu Honse by friends Rud and Jeeha. On the surface, he is a cowardly man who doesn't like getting mixed up with Gangryong's messes. However, beneath his foolish persona, he is very dangerous. He was, at one point, the third-strongest student at the school. In addition, he was a shrewd tactician who developed many techniques, some of which were specifically designed to counter the fighting style of Reunion such as "Half-step", he also helped Rud learn "Sharpened Sword force". Honse destroyed his own ki channels so that Guesong and the other members of the student council would spare his life and allow him to stay at Reunion until graduation, saying he had no where else to go, since he was an orphan. When Guesong was killed he sobbed and grieved.

Madang Bigaki: A member of the Nine Dragons with black hair, he is a level 8 in Reunion and he's a traditional martial artist of the Southern Yardplay Faction. He fought Gangryong as part of the Nine dragons initiation test and defeated him as his last opponent. He uses palm wind attacks as a secondary skill but his primary skills are kicks and dashes and his specialty is "Life Wish".

Techniques:

• Head of Lighting - Part of his traditional art, it's an extremely fast dash and the first part of Life Wish
• Fish Turnover - An over-the-shoulder throw, he used it to start the Life Wish
• Life Wish - A very fast kicking skill that is so quick it creates after-images, using it he embedded Gangryong into the ceiling

Madang's 2nd friend: A level 7 whom has a middle-divide hair-cut and black hair who came with madang to fight Gangryong. He fought Gangryong as part of the Nine Dragons initiation test before Madang and was defeated. Initially during the fight, he use very similar kicking techniques to Madang's.

Techniques:

• Fist & Footwork of Earthen House - An art that attacks the opponent from the ground up by rolling or crawling around on the floor, similar to break-dancing.

Madang's 1st friend: A tall person with a crew-cut of level 6 who was the first to fight Gangryong as part of the Nine Dragons initiation test. His style is similar to boxing.

Eunhwa Lee: The ex-girlfriend of Do-Hyup Bae. She used him for his family's secrets in order to gain more power. She helps Do-Hyup defeat Gangryong, and then defeats Du-Hyup in a formal battle. She uses palm combat styles developed by Reunion. Though she has a high power level, she is a poor fighter who lacks toughness, and is defeated by Gangryong.

Do-Hyup Bae: The former boyfriend of Eunhwa. A lazy man who gets tricked into revealing his family secrets to Eunhwa, who then uses them to gain more power. He first fights Gangryong, who he can't defeat on his own, and then he challenges Eunhwa in order to take revenge for her betrayal. He is the successor to his family's traditional martial art, but he is too lazy to master it properly, and he institutes some of Reunion's skills, making it less effective. After his defeat, he gives Gangryong all of his family secrets and leaves the school.

Anachelli Yu: A friend of Rud, who found him dying on a beach and introduced him to traditional martial arts in order to save his life. She was a legitimate successor who entered reunion after the suspicious death of her grandfather. She was powerful enough to be considered a potential rival of Vera, but was killed in a match with Guhoo. Her death was the catalyst for the conflict between Rud and Guhoo.

Her Traditional art was "Southern Taek-Gyun" one of the two strongest physical martial arts allowing her to fight Vera to a tie long before her death.

Kombengi: Southern Yardplay's second-in-command, the successor for Chun Guesong's Southern Yard faction Leader, the Topper. She has short blonde hair with an ear-ring on both ears. First shown appearing in chapter 40 wearing a small scarf under an unzipped motorbike suit so Guesong could pass on Southern Yardplay's seventh technique Shadower's Magic Techniques. She fights a special kind of dummy in volume 9 and is almost killed by it, but gains the upper hand in the end, apparently by the intervention of Yuhwa.

Techniques:

• Bunha (Spinning Dish) - A projectile Ki attack using a dark core with a ring of air surrounding it
• Mirage - A lost skill from Yardplay faction Chun Guesong restored, uses Ki to move the entire body requiring no Footwork. In volume 9 Kombengi apparently uses this technique against an special dummy.

Reunion members

Fire Dragon (Jinyup): The director of the school, and another Heavenly Five Paths master whose element is fire. He was an old friend of Lightning Tiger's, as he was the one who reassembled the pieces of his arm. They split when Fire Dragon chose to side with Yuri in her quest to become a god. He could be the one who killed Lightning Tiger, as the bones of the arm were charred. He recently tried to attack Vera and Earth Beast. It is revealed in volume 8 that the person that killed Lighting Tiger, was Yuri Linus.

In volume 9 Fire Dragon attacks Madoka and Hayato, after they protest of the training (lethal) given to Kombengi; Rud and Shin interfere and attack Fire Dragon, they are helped latter by Yuhwa, but still are no match, Gangryong appears and also attacks Fire Dragon (The only one of the fighters to land a hit on him), after Gangryong dispels a fire vortex and Vera appears, Fire Dragon calmly leaves the place. Later is shown that while he was moving and walking normally after the fight, he was injured to the point of vomiting blood. It is to be noted the immense power of Fire Dragon, to be able to sustain a combined attack from some of the most powerful students in the school (Against five members of the Student Council and Gangryong) easily neutralizing Shin, Madoka, Hayato and Rud at the same time.

Yuri Linus: The older sister of Vera and a former friend of deceased Lightning Tiger. Using the resources of Reunion, she seeks to fuse her essence with nature, so as to control all natural phenomena and become a god. Like Vera, she fights using the Arts of Heaven's Rich Strength. It is implied that although she is incredibly powerful (possibly the strongest master of Heaven Riches), she was defeated by Lightning Tiger. She is in a reunion building, in a coma-like state, after the battle with Lighting Tiger. The last attack of Lightning Tiger is constantly feeding electrical energy and immobilizing her body (a similar principle to electrocution) and has such power that even Fire Dragon cannot stand the energy for too long, when Gangryong touches her the power feedback puts him on his knees and later he loses consciousness.

Techniques:

• Spatial Strike
• Void Strike

Earth Beast (Zerar): A large and stern man and a member of the Reunion; he is the one who presented Gangryong with the arm of Lightning Tiger. Though much more powerful than Gangryong, flashbacks show that he did not stand a chance against Lightning Tiger. Fire Dragon refers to him as "Incomplete Earth Beast", suggesting that he did not properly master his traditional art (or that he is a replacement for the original Heavenly Five Paths successor, who likely died helping Lightning Tiger fight Yuri), and thus he is not as powerful as any of the other Five Paths masters. Later, it was revealed that he has a resurrected traditional art, further implying the death or disappearance of the original Earth Beast.

Others

Ancient Wood: A member of the Elder Councel and best friends with Lightning Tiger. Has shown an interest in Gangryong Ma, originally want him under his wing. Has been shown working with Fire Dragon to ensure that Vera Linus does not succeed in becoming the next master of Heaven's Riches and that Yuri would be the only one recognized as the master of Heaven's Riches, as part of a deal with Fire Dragon to guarantee freedom of determination (decision) for Gangryong.

Liquid Shark: Has not been directly shown and abilities are unknown. All that is known of her is that she takes a stand against Reunion along with Lightning Tiger.

Earth Beast: The original Earth Beast was working with Lightning Tiger and Liquid Shark opposing Yuri Linus and most likely got killed with Lightning Tiger, thus the current Earth Beast is Zerar. In a flashback by Ancient Wood, his outline is shown to be an unknown bald man wearing a white suit.

Tae-Eum: A member of the disbanded Heaven's Riches faction, up until recently he has been in hiding but through Kusanagi Hayato's efforts Vera was able to track him down. He was last seen conversing with Vera about matters involving the Heaven's Riches but due to his connection with her he has now become a target for Fire Dragon.

The Blue Dragon of Heaven (Guk Taeyang): The current master of the thought to be extinct Northern Broadstrike art. Lightning Tiger told Hayato were to find him so he could attempt to learn true Northern Broadstrike instead of the lesser Reunion Restored form of Northern BroadStrike, in return for not divulging Lightining Tiger's knowledge of Northern BroadStrike.

EOTL

Enlightenment Of Thunder and Lightning, a traditional Korean martial art passed on through the centuries to one student at a time. It amplifies the presence of Metal element in the atmosphere and collides it with a medium, creating lightning. EOTL had long gotten rid of the traditional movements and forms and has instead been taught so that each successor could incorporate EOTL into their own fighting styles as a way to advance the art. Essentially, EOTL uses the "quality, not quantity" approach, as the art relies on having a very refined and pure Ki even if not much in amount, instead of enormous quantity of unrefined Ki, the breathing method is the key to purifying the Ki to be used, similar to how only pure uranium can be used to create an atomic explosion. Fire Dragon states that the art takes Yin Ki and Yang Ki and turns them into negative and positive charges which are then collided. The focal point of breathing is Yin of inhaling (negative charge) and Yang of exhaling (positive charge). Due to the Metal elements presence in the body the user's body is very tough . Lightning Tiger's master was said to have advanced the art to such a degree that even the master of Heavens Riches could not stand up to it.

Flow Chart Techniques List:

Basics: Used to stun or disrupt the enemy

• Lightning Fist - The user creates positive and negative charges in his fist and collides them, creating lightning, it has a stun effect, the effectiveness depends on the user's skill which can produce either a current that stuns the opponent for a long duration of time or a current that lasts only for very short time. This also depends on who the opponent is because if they are powerful enough, dispersing the effect with their own Ki would be quite easy.

• Thunder Break - (Officially known as the Fist of Reverse Lightning, it was renamed by Lightning Tiger). It works by only creating a negative charge while using the enemies positive charge used to guard against Lightning Fist to create a lightning effect, it disrupts the flow of Ki in the body of the enemy, the effectiveness of the technique depends on many separate factors, the user's skill level in the art and current condition when using Thunder Break, and the opponent's toughness and body density, with these factors the effect of the disruption can be very damaging or very weak.

Advanced Skills - Close Contact: Also know as the killer techniques they may cause the user damage if improperly used

• Electric Yo-Yo - (Officially known as Magnetic Force of Lightning Space). It's basic theory is "Static Electricity" and it works by changing the voltage of the users body and uses the flow of Ki as a current to shock the enemy. You generate negative charge on the left hand while inhaling and create a positive charge on the right hand while exhaling. Until the user lets go the person attacked will be continuously shocked so it's considered a kill technique.
• Heaven Explode
• Lightning Flash - Gathers electricity on three points around the hand and discharges it.

Advanced Skills - Long Distance: These are energy demanding but cover long distances

• Mad Lightning
• Void of Lightning
• Stampede of Thunder

Final Skill:

• Roar of Thundering Destruction

Setting

The story takes place at a school created by Reunion to study traditional martial arts, as well as the science of creating artificial ki. Students at the school engage in combat against "dummies"; robot-like fighters whose origins are not revealed, though they are said to be unpleasant, and it is strongly hinted that they are made of the remains of human fighters.

Media

Manhwa

Written by Yoon Joon-shik drawn by, KIM Dong-hoon. The first chapter was released in the year of 2005.