Marvelous Martial Arts (A Marvel Story)

Mason spent a few months in Asia, going as low as Indonesia and as high as Russia, exploring as much as he taught. He discovered new languages, new peoples, and new places.

Passing by Eastern Europe, Mason then moved to Africa, which he explored from North to South, though he made sure to steer clear of Wakanda. He wanted nothing to do with the futuristic nation, and he figured they wanted nothing to do with him.

Actually, most people in power treated Mason like the plague, because he was actively giving the little people power and means to fight back. The more oppressive the regime, the more they feared power being given to those they oppressed.

There was little they could do against Mason, though. Because he avoided most cities, and often passed through uninhabited places, tracking him was nearly impossible. He also spent far more time in small, underdeveloped countries, which did not have the means to track him either.

A few did manage to get to him by spreading out through small towns, but that did not work either because a few military or paramilitary units were far from enough to stop Mason now. Although Mason was not quite bulletproof yet, he did possess a high level of resistance. Low-caliber weapons would bounce off his skin, and only stronger firearms could hurt him now.

Mason did not delude himself into thinking he was invincible, of course, but he figured that SHIELD was shielding him from any party that might truly endanger him, if any such faction sought to attack. As such, the only real danger would be Hydra, but it was not like they could act overtly either.

They had only infiltrated SHIELD to start with, they did not control it. Not in its entirety, at least. Moreover, the incident with the Hand and the bounty on Mason must have lit a fire under their asses. An infiltrated member of SHIELD had used SHIELD authority to place a worldwide warrant on Mason, and from what he understood about Director Nick Fury, that was a problem he would immediately seek to resolve.

The only outlier would have been Wakanda, which did not answer to SHIELD and could definitely pose a problem to Mason, but since he did not bother them, they did not come to bother him either.

Once he reached South Africa, one might have expected Mason to move directly to South America, but he instead decided to go further south, taking a swim across the Atlantic Ocean to Antarctica.

The continent should be barren, but considering this was the Marvel universe, Mason figured he might find something interesting there. Unfortunately, if there indeed were such things on the frozen continent, they eluded Mason as he ended up swimming to the Southern coast of Chile.

South America… Mason had to admit he kind of let go. He still taught thousands of people on the continent, healing countless more of diseases and injuries that would have killed them down the line, but he also partied.

He had unfortunately missed the Rio Carnival, but there was still plenty of fun to be had. And a bunch of cartels to raze to the ground too.

In the couple of months Mason spent in South America, he formed a love-hate relationship with the locals. Loved by the normal people and governments, hated by the cartels. Mason had done his fair share of crime-fighting while in Asia, Europe and Africa, but South America represented more than the other three combined.

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Then, finally, with the final step being Mexico, Mason returned to America. From Texas to New York, it only took Mason a day.

Because this world-trip had not only been a humanitarian action. For every person he helped, Mason embodied the Dao of the Sun, and thus became a tiny bit stronger.

It was far less efficient than cleansing those souls back in the Eighth City, but all in all, Mason’s trip took five months, so quantity made up for quality.

By the time Mason reached the United States’ border, his pure physical strength had climbed to 10 tons, with his Three Treasures increasing accordingly. What surprised him most was that even at this stage, his Three Treasures were just shy of being halfway filled. This did not bring any qualitative change, but Mason was still far stronger than when he had just broken through.

After all, Mason’s improvements were always spread evenly across his body, so he was five times stronger in all aspects, compared to when he had just broken through. Speed-wise, at his maximum traveling speed, Mason was encroaching very closely on the speed of sound, and estimated it would not take him long to break the sound barrier.

That was only for traveling speed, though. It took time to reach that kind of speed. For fighting, he remained prodigiously fast, especially with his striking speed, but not so much that he became impossible to follow.

That was why Mason had been able to tour the world in only a matter of months, he moved far faster than any car, train or plane, and with none of the usual constraints that came with transports.

At the moment, it was Mason’s understanding of the Dao that was lagging behind, with only some marginal improvements over the months. Still, those improvements had been enough to teach him how the Dao interacted with the Intents he had coalesced.

They had a base state, which was what he had accumulated when he broke through. He could use them without a cost at any time. Now, Mason used those Intents to commune with the Dao, understanding it through his Intents.

As his understanding advanced, his Intents remained the same, but if he made use of that knowledge, then his Intents would be momentarily bolstered, funneling the power of the Dao through them. Still, the price of using the Dao had been severely lowered, as the base layer that made his Intent never cost anything.

Overall, Mason could be said to have well and truly stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm. In cultivation terms, he would no longer be in the Early Foundation Establishment Realm, but Middle, halfway into the realm.

And that, he had decided, was a good time to return home. It was late April too, and it just so happened to be Audrey’s birthday. The last time they had seen each other, a little over six months ago now, his little sister and he had a disagreement, but he expected time to have smoothed things over.

New York was the same as when he had left it. And yet, Mason had to admit he had a certain fondness for the city. It was not that he had never found any other good places, be it Mount Everest, Kamar-Taj, or a dozen other deserted places he found during his travels, but this was the city he had grown up in.

It counted for something, even if it was only his second childhood. That his family lived in the city also helped.

Originally, Mason would have had a bunch of responsibilities once back in the city. Although the warrant on his head had been removed before he left the city, Mason had not taken any appropriate measures for his apartment, so he expected there would be a mess to deal with there.

But more importantly, of course, was Danny’s death. Danny Rand had not just been a friend, or the Iron Fist, he was also the owner of a billion-dollar company, as well as a friend to several heroes in the city, including but not limited to Daredevil and Spider-Man.

Thankfully, Yao had been gracious enough to take care of that. She had not gone into the details, but she did tell him before he left Kamar-Taj for his journey that they would take care of Danny’s case.

Although he was not proud of it, Mason had to admit he was secretly glad he did not have to deal with that. He liked Danny, and a small part of him felt a tinge of guilt for his death, but this represented a hassle he truly did not want to deal with.

So, back in the city, Mason was free to do whatever he wanted. And first, came his family.

Author’s Note: I thought about detailing this journey through several chapters, to truly show Mason teaching the world, and maybe even make a stop in Savage Land, but I felt like it would not bring much to the story and break the rhythm.