The day was dull, like most. Rain poured down like cats and dogs, making everybody’s life miserable with that rain, that dull maroon rain that came down in their city. Most kids were downstairs watching TV, making hot chocolate because of the cool air outside, but some people tended to just watch the rain go by. James, for one, waited aimlessly for it to stop, his eyes lingering as he watched the rain trickle down the window and disappear from his line of sight. He didn’t open the window, but rather watched, aware of the booming thunder and the flashing lightning that would bring nightmare stories of four year olds to life, this time all the more terrifying. He didn’t like the lightning; he didn’t like the thunder, but it didn’t change the fact that he thought the two were wondrous things, things that people enjoyed studying and watching go by with every day.

Other things were edged into his mind, other things that he chose to try and ignore. His previous choice was to join Zen’s group of mercenaries and fight alongside of them. It had sounded actually pretty good when he first joined, but then he found in the field that it was pretty serious in the fact that they wanted him to be strong. He was a level twenty-five Fist Fighter, a level that most players had trouble achieving without a lot of hard work. He had done his hard work and hoped that that alone would pay off. Yet…levels weren’t everything, as people always said. Actually, it was him that usually thought that. He didn’t exactly think he deserved that level, but he had gotten it nonetheless.

The group had gone to the field and basically disappeared from his own sight and surprised him by bringing him down in an ice pit. That part was probably the most annoying, as hands didn’t just…come out of the snow like that and pull him down into a pit. Then, they had left him and put him under some pretty bad circumstances. While Sen and Kai could take him down together, Zen was out of the question, due to the fact that he could completely eliminate him with a swipe of the blade. The boy still remembered how he had pounced on Kai and gotten threatened by Sen. Boy, was that annoying or what? Then, he had hid in a house and waited for them to come. The snow had basically saved him in that situation and he actually got a hold of Kai. He almost got him in, but Sen just had to save the day and ruin his plans of impressing Zen in some way. He just got batted on the head, tied up upside-down and then been given a small lecture from Zen. He had found it entertaining; he hadn’t.

James’ socks hit the bare ground and so he walked across the tan carpet to his computer, where he sat down and lay one hand on the mouse. His other hand lingered about the desk, touching the controller and then grabbing up the guide that he had received on his first day. It didn’t help a lot and he had reread it dozens of times, but for some reason, he felt that if he read it again, he might be able to respect the info that the creators had given to him. James, after reading for a minute, threw it down with a sigh and clicked on the icon that read ‘The World’. In an instant, he had typed in his username and password, on his way to another adventure there. It was about seven o’clock anyways; he’d have to get going unless he liked Kai when he was angry.

A shower of golden rings descended into the midst of a crowd of players, revealing Shenmock, his cloak hung tight around him and his hands stuffing themselves into his pockets. The sunset seemed a bit more faint, meaning that it was almost night, the time when he’d need to get to Kai. If he ran, he’d be able to get there with some spare time, but attract a crowd. If he walked quickly, he might get there with a bit of time. If he walked casually, Kai wouldn’t be pleased at all. He started to walk, his pace slow as he went, his eyes bent on finding the right alleyway in order to reach his destination. He turned a bit to the right, aiming to stick to the shadows instead of acting like a complete stranger to everybody who was up to no good. He disappeared in the alley and picked up the pace a little before turning left and sprinting headlong. He slid to the right and sprinted off again, then taking a left and a right. Then, he was there, in the same spot he had first met Kai and Sen in. The fist fighter stopped for a moment, staring at the sky and at the distant water, then moved off into the alleyway to the left. He tried the door once and it creaked open.

”Evening,” a voice said from the left. The boy turned to see Kai chewing on some wheat and holding up a candle. He stood up and started to walk around the room, lighting each candle until it was perfectly bright in there. The room looked the same as ever; he had seen it just yesterday, but it seemed like months since he had even set eyes on it. ”At least you’re not ten minutes late like Zen. Sen tends to get here early, so…I guess you’re in the middle.” He lit one last candle and then blew out his own. He set it on the ground to the side and stood up, watching him with a close eye. He was about two inches taller than him, and that was really saying something. He had grown a bit in his years of ‘The World’, but he really doubted that he’d grow taller than this guy. He was still higher than him, after all.

”So, we’re going on a mission together today. Unless you want another training session like before, we’ll be heading out in five or ten minutes, just so you can get ready and the like.” He looked at himself. ”Oh yeah, and me. I’m just…lazy.” Both of them gave a bit of a laugh. ”So, you can go get on some of your things and then come out here. The mission’s pretty simple; we might have to deal with a few monsters along the way, but I think you can handle that like the rest of us. Anyways, I’ll inform you on the rest once we’re ready.” Shenmock nodded. ”Your stuffs in the room to my right. Come on, move it.” The fist fighter was hesitant, but walked into the small room and looked at the hangers that held his clothes. He closed the door gently behind him and stretched his arms.

The room wasn’t huge, but it at least had a small mirror for him. It was a good thing it wasn’t pink, just a bit of a rusted silver color. The boy looked at himself for a moment, sighed, and pulled off his cloak and boots to get ready for it. He pulled the tight black jeans on, stretched, and then wrenched off his jacket and shirt. He then pulled on the sleeveless shirt off and looked at himself in the mirror. All black was definitely not his style. He slipped on the gloves that ran up to his shoulders and then slipped on the armor that was meant to be on them. He stretched again and pulled on the armor that went down to his waist and was tied around. He looked at himself, gave a light smile, and walked up to the mirror. There was a comb and spray and a note from Sen. It said ‘Enjoy yourself!’ and then had a cute little heart next to it. He frowned and snatched the comb and spray before starting to work on his hair. He really hated having to go through the trouble of this…

The boy walked out and downed his cloak, prepared for the mission already. He took a seat and looked to Kai, who was opening the door and walking out, stretching and yawning as if it was all some big chore. The man leaned against the wall and looked to him. ”Okay, listen here, Shen, here’s our mission. There’s a single player, a single player who has been quite troublesome to a lot of players. He’s no person that’s just going to die once you hold a blade to his neck, and he’s not one to back down either. We know what field he’s in at the moment and if we can use another power against him, he’s down. Stealth really isn’t a lot to us, but if we can sneak in and attack him, we’ll be able to do some damage before he snakes away and attacks us. I’ll explain more once we get to the field. It’s a field where it rains, so we’ll have a bit of mist to hide in and a bit of thunder to cover our movements in. Listen to my every word. Deny anything and you die, we’ll be going right back to that field like Zen said. Anyways, let’s get going unless we want him to go to another field. That’ll make things a lot harder.”

Shenmock nodded and so the two were moving, their cloaks and hoods on. Kai didn’t exactly have a hairstyle to hide, but it would make things weird if he had his off. Kai sprinted and Shenmock jogged behind him as they raced through the alleys and emerged in the crowds of Mac Anu, this time walking instead of sprinting head on. They waded through the crowds, Kai doing his best to clear a path for Shenmock as they went through. He was almost pushed over, but a gruff hand found his wrist and wrenched him out of the way before he could fall. He nodded in his direction and received a smile in response.

Kai raised his hand and the golden rings enveloped the two once again, bringing them to the Theta Server a second later. He laid a gruff hand on him and whispered the keywords under his breath. With that, the golden rings enveloped them again and so they were off on Shenmock’s first mission. He could only hope that he’d emerge in the theta server once again, victorious, or maybe he’d stumble in with a million bruises.

It all depended.

Rain poured down in the field, making any player’s day a bit damper than they would’ve hoped. It was hard to see, due to how much rain was pouring and how much mist it conjured. It was pretty faint, but it could obviously be used in battle as a surprise attack. Sure, most people wouldn’t be able to surprise a monster portal unless they somehow activated it, hid by a tree, and then ambushed them. There was a reason they weren’t floating besides trees, unless they were in a forest-like area. The two were teleported in the midst of it, but thankfully enough, the mist hid their character. They might’ve been tall and easy to see in a clear area, but it was in a misty area, the areas they specialized in. If it was clear and bright as daylight out, they were useless. They could still win, sure, but it would completely eliminate the lessons that they had worked so hard to learn about. Their cloaks billowed about in the light wind that came about the area. A shiver ran down the boy’s spine at the sight of the dungeon not far off. They weren’t headed there, though; they were here to complete a mission.

Kai coughed. ”Here we are, my boy. He should be around the field somewhere; if not, we’ll have to wait around until we spot him. Once we do so, you’ll listen to every word I say. You here me?” He jabbed a gloved finger at his chest. The boy nodded in response and looked out to the north and then to the dungeon. ”He should be arriving soon. Come on, we can’t just barge in there. We watch and we wait. If he isn’t close, we don’t go after him. If he is…well, you’ll listen when the time comes.” The man turned and hefted his axe over his shoulder, coming in the direction of a tree covered with leaves and the like. It was perfect for cover and a way to surprise their opponent, whoever he was. Kai walked up to the tree and held two hands out. Instinctively, the boy put a foot on one and was lifted up to grab onto a branch. Kai had a bit of trouble with getting up there, but overall, they both got up and found their spots. Kai had the lookout, while Shenmock was at the other side watching.

A minute passed in silence as the two stared off into their own distinctive areas. It was boring for both of them, but they knew talking would just take their minds off the mission. The boy, despite that fact, asked a question he had been curious about. He’d probably get a huge story out of it, but that wasn’t bad, wasn’t it? He’d just have to find out. ”Kai? You said you joined about a month ago, and while we were in that other field yesterday, you mentioned having to go through this training? So, you went through the same training exercise as me?” he asked. He didn’t know what else to do other than stare off into the mist, wondering just where the guy would be. He was viewing the other side of the field; what was the point of that? He was obviously in the dungeon…

”Ah, yeah, same training exercises, except it was only Zen and Sen there. Zen wasn’t quite as strong as he is right now, but other than that, it was relatively the same. Sen did most of the work for Zen, though. I was hardly anything, probably a lot like you, but of a lower level. I had three strikes, same as you, and lost them each time. You seemed to do better than me on the third try and you actually caught me fair and square at the end, but…” A breath. A sigh. A stretch. ”Overall, I think I did pretty well the first time. I had quite a bad lecture from Zen…I always butted in and yelled at him. Sen would bop me on the head every time. It was funny, now that I think about it, but I was pretty annoyed at it.” He laughed and seemed to relax his muscles.

”Now, here’s some extra stuff that I’m sure you don’t know of. Well, you might, but I don’t know…anyways, in terms of ranks, you’ll have to clear a lot of missions to be considered any better. I’ve cleared multiple and sometimes I’d clear a bunch in a day. You might get a chance to go off with Sen today, but…I don’t know when she’s ready and when she’s not. Anyways! To even be considered as someone like me, you’ll have to do five or ten, probably more, judging that Zen’s quite a hard person to convince. I did each of mine with Sen and the last few with Zen before I left and did a lot on my own.” He tilted his head and leaned forward, touching his legs and then running a hand up his cheek and up to his forehead.

”Most people would find this cool, to have some kind of nickname or rank, but…most of us have names of our own, whether it be based off of your class, your mask, and maybe even your performance in battle. You’re a long ways from that kind of thing, but I think you’ll get there someday if you stick with this. When the time comes, you’ll be like me…or something like that. I can only say to listen to what we tell you, or else you’ll easily get yourself killed. I have personal experience and so does Sen, so listen. Zen might not, but he’s the one who instructs us and teaches us things that will help us in battle for a long while.” He inched forward on the large branch and looked outside into the rain. Shenmock slid off his own branch and hit Kai’s without another word, taking a peak at where he was looking.

”It seems our guest is finally here. Likely, he wander the field a bit more in search of any more people to take down. When he’s near, be sure to stay out of…crap!” He tackled Shenmock and they both crashed into the tree. It wasn’t a hard kind of tackle, but it was the ‘get out of the way’ kind of one. Shenmock took a deep breath and was ready to start arguing, but stopped at the sight of Kai’s look. ”…sight. Now, come on. You’ll be watching me first and then you can come in. Just be aware of what’s happening and don’t get yourself killed.” The man inched forward and peeked out of the way. He was moving away from their area; completely opposite of the tree. If he kept going far enough, he’d arrive at their spot.

The former long arm sat where he was, taking deep breaths and looked to the other side, curious if he’d be able to see the outline of the man. ”He’s a heavy blade, so beware of his power. I’m sure you’ve fought those kinds of men before. But, if you’re still keen on learning how to take them down with speed and agility, we’ll head to another field and maybe train a bit after this…unless you really do bad.” Kai was on the higher branch, crouching down and looking intently to where he would soon be arriving. ”Now, avoid speaking, as Sen told you. If you make any stupid comments, you’ll be hanging in that same spot after we clear this. Go up to the top and look around just in case he doesn’t surprise us by coming back, will you?” He continued to watch without fidgeting, without moving.

Jeez, they’ve told me that dozens upon dozens of times. No talking, no fidgeting, no this, no that. I could always just avoid clicking those buttons…don’t have to make my player scared, after all. The boy jumped, grabbed onto a branch, and brought himself up to the core of the branch. He climbed from there and did his best to look above the countless leaves around them. His head just peeked out of there and turned around once, and then he disappeared. He had seen the outline of someone and then noticed he was carrying a blade on his back; a big one. He hit the branch and swung, chuckling softly to himself. Kai threw him a glare to stop trying to act so childish in the situation and then continued to stare. ”Ease up, man, we’ll tackle him with no problem.” He hit the ground and inched forward to where he was crouched down and staring at where the man was walking.

Kai started to inch back, pulling him with him so they were leaning against the trunk of the tree. ”Now, I’m going to jump. I’ll give you a signal in which to jump in and do some real damage on him. Now, if you have any status increasing spells, use them now. Try to avoid using spells in mid-battle.” After the boy muttered a quick physical attack and physical defense-increasing spell, Kai inched to the end and slipped on his bird mask. ”I think you’ll know why I got this mask,” he murmured under his breath as Shenmock took his spot right next to him. The boy slipped on his own and watched with a close eye as the man moved forward, near the tree.

The boy tilted his head in response, but didn’t speak. He knew better than that, as his voice tended to go a bit higher than usual when he was excited to see the outcome of something. He answered in a quiet tone. ”It’s not because I have wings. I wish I had some, but…anyways, you’ll see,” he told him, not even bothering to pull his head. He had his axe out, ready to blow the brains out of the guy. He leaned forward and held a hand up to stop him. He had almost gone with him, if not for that. From the looks of things, he was another ordinary player. He had a dark brown trench coat, flat black hair, and bronze eyes. He didn’t even bother to look up to the tree. It wasn’t like he was going to see anything but a branch and leaves, but the boy would’ve thought he’d have looked at where they were. The man leaned forward and launched himself down without a sound, moving forward in the air and bringing his axe down on his head in an instant.

Whoomp! The axe connected with the head and the man crumbled to the ground a second later, letting out a low groan. Surprisingly enough, he recovered from the attack a second later to look in the direction of where Kai stood, his axe already moving and dealing an uppercut that connected with his chin. The man fell back and pulled his blade back, deflecting the attack and pulling his sword around in an instant to try and tackle Kai with his blade going forward. Kai moved to the side and swung at his neck, only to swing into air as the man ducked and pulled his blade back and let it fly up. It grazed off the side of his head and was pulled around in a quick spin to connect with the side of his axe. Kai pushed it off with ease and pulled his axe up to connect with the side of the man’s head. Dang! He’s fast!

It was likely an Ap Do to help boost up his speed, but how fast he reacted to any attacks was absolutely amazing. The boy watched in wonder, leaning forward and almost forgetting that he’d be getting to join the battle soon enough. He wanted to cheer on Kai, to thrash around and scream, but he was silent, watching as the battle continued on with multiple sparks flying about. He hadn’t seen this kind of battle in a while!

Kai brought his axe up, knocking the blade out of his hand before pulling his axe back and swinging at him. The man rolled back an instant later and retrieved his fallen blade. With a quick spin, he brought it up to smash the axe that was spinning around in Kai’s hand. The momentum of it and the force of the strike knocked it clear out of Kai’s hand, leaving him open for an attack. It seemed his recovery to the first attack had brought on the demise of his friend’s axe. The man pulled his axe down before Kai could roll, dealing multiple strikes on him and then letting his blade be engulfed in flames. The man brought it forward, letting the flames gouge into his flesh and then crackle about before dying in the rain. Despite the burns and strikes, Kai was on his way to his axe, but by the time he grabbed it, the man had managed to slide around him. His hand wrapped his neck and tightened as his other hand brought the sharp katana up to his neck. Still, they were far enough away that he couldn’t get there unless he stepped back and jumped. Then, he might be able to tackle him, but not in this situation.

The man whispered a few words to Kai and laughed lightly before stepping forward and kicking his feet from under him. He still didn’t move, nor did he fidget despite the situation that was occurring right before the fist fighter’s eyes. Move! Somehow, he knew that he would escape, grab his axe, and pull it up for the finishing blow, but the other part of his mind screamed for him to help his partner. The boy didn’t know what to do as Kai crouched there, motionless, a living statue to any who would pass him by. The man walked around him, the katana pointed at his neck; he was obviously trying to emphasize the situation so that the man would be humiliated once he died. He heard a few of the words, frowned, and stepped back a few paces. They were faced in his direction and in the corner of his eye, he saw the bird shake his head slowly. Blood trickled from his neck and stained the black turtleneck he wore.

The boy watched him for a second. He was telling him not to do this, but to let him deal with this on his own. He could do it, he knew he could, but he needed to get in there and tackle the guy. He couldn’t just…just threaten him and try to kill him like that! The boy shook his head slowly at the man and then moved forward once the man’s back was turned away from him. He leapt off the branch without another sound and flew forward in the direction of the man, his fist emanated with a sky blue glow. He pulled the gauntlet back and let it connect with the back of the man’s head, making him stagger forward and hit the ground with the same kind of whoomp! he had heard when Kai’s axe had connected with his head. Kai pushed himself from the ground and retrieved his axe from the ground. He could obviously not tell by his expression that he was actually frowning at him for butting like that. He had obviously had some plan for him, but he couldn’t just let him sit there for five minutes and waste his own precious time.

Stealth was out of the question now, unless they headed in the direction of an area with multiple rocks and trees. The boy looked to Kai for his approval on what to do. Kai gave a brief nod and looked in the direction of the man, who was already moving forward, his blade pulled back, the edge glinting as he swung it at the boy. He jumped clear over the blade and pressed his bare feet together before lashing out with one foot. It connected with the man’s cheek and sent him staggering back, just as Shenmock hit the ground and crossed his arms, staring at him. The man grunted and charged forward, his blade being brought down in a simple thrust. When the boy danced to the side, he spun and let it drag on the wet grass until he brought it up. The fist fighter brought up his Ice Dragon Fist up in defense before retaliating with a kick to his rib cage.

The man grunted, smiled, and charged again, his blade glowing that same red that it had before when he had unleashed a skill on Kai. He prepared his fist, but found that Kai moved in front of him, his own axe glowing, but his lips not moving. He pulled the axe up, knocking the blade out of the man’s hand before spinning and letting his axe connect with his neck, all in one clean motion. The outcome wasn’t exactly clean, though, as the man hadn’t bothered to heal when the time for it presented itself. Kai slipped the axe away a second later, made a deep sigh, and turned around to him.

”You did well for what it was worth, but it would’ve been more worth a lesson if you hadn’t just butted in like that. You might’ve thought I didn’t have it handled, but the second he’d lift his blade to do it, I’d have been able to make it a nice lesson for you. Still, you used speed to your advantage at the time. Wasn’t much, but…” He shrugged. ”Anyways, you really didn’t follow orders, but here’s the thing. We go to the field we were at yesterday; if you don’t listen to my training instructions, you’ll find yourself in that same spot…now, I think you get the point. You did well enough for your first mission; I can only hope you’ll survive Sen’s version.” He laughed and slipped off the mask, showing off a hardy smile.

Shenmock took off his own and flashed a half-smile back.

Then, the two were off.

One mission cleared.

More training to go.

It was that same snowfield, the same place he had been in just over twenty-four hours ago. Kai had gone back to Mac Anu in order to deliver a small message saying that they were out on their own training session and that they’d be back within an hour, likely a lot less, but who knew what was going to happen while they were training? The boy had his cloak tightly wound around him, his head tucked in and his hood on as he stared at the field around him. All the fields looked the same around here; the snowfields had been his favorite, mostly because it was his element, the type of place he did best in. Sure, the snow wasn’t good on his feet especially when you tried to run, but…he just liked the environment. The boy didn’t walk, but rather stood stock-still and turned around once in a while to get a good view of his surroundings and looking around to see if anyone would be surprising him at any point in time. There was no one there whenever he looked. The field was deserted but his own lone presence in the middle of the mist. The boy looked up at the gray sky above him and then turned around again to find the outline of Kai approaching him.

The man stopped five yards in front of him and watched him for a second. The boy didn’t fidget, didn’t move, but rather pulled the hood and unclipped the cloak button that was around his neck. He pulled it off, revealing his silver armor and looked at him, one palm pressing against his side while the other hung on the other side. He called it ‘the cool pose’. Lame, right? The boy watched as Kai stretched his arms and took off his own hood and cloak, revealing the body he had seen just minutes before. He flexed and looked at him with stern eyes. ”Okay, we’ll be going through lessons like a class, but rather than sitting and watching your teacher, you’ll be doing and respecting that teacher’s amendments.” The man put both hands on his hips and watched him.

”Now, as you know, what I focus on is power. I can’t really focus on speed due to my class, but I keep my own healthy supply of speed scrolls and armor that’ll help with that. Now, I know you think everyone had their own type of power, but what I focus on is using every muscle in the body to help perform that. It might sound like a mixture of buttons and hand cramps, but still, it makes you use more speed and maybe a bit more power, but not a lot. The speed is what helps, mostly.” He took a breath again and stretched. He took a step forward. ”You can’t use any wasted movements here. I’ll come at you now, and so I’ll teach you how to use power to its fullest extent. Hopefully you’ll use this in the future.”

The man slipped on his bird mask and charged forward just as Shenmock was putting on his own and preparing his fists for an attack. He moved forward with the speed of a heavy axe, but how he moved his legs was different. As he came forward, he did some strange pattern and moved to the side, tilting his axe a little lower so his hand swung harmlessly passed it. The axe connected with his side and sent him spinning out of the way. He landed on the snow and pushed himself up immediately as Kai put his hands on his hips and stared. ”It’s complicated, yes, but it really pays off. As you can see, I didn’t pull it back any farther than I was supposed to, but with the help of my feet changing positions, I was able to hit you from the side. Fancy spins won’t do any good; your feet are the key to some good power in your attacks.”

”Wait, is there some combination I’m supposed to use, or is it really just something that I’ll have to learn myself? You can’t seriously expect me to just…do some fancy footwork, land a hit, and then stand there with my arms crossed like some bad boy? Yeah, sure, it would be an insanely cool move in battle, but…seriously, how am I supposed to even execute it if…whatever. I’ll see if I can’t recognize the pattern when you come at me again.” He sighed and held his hand up in a ready position. ”I’m ready,” he muttered under his breath as Kai hefted his axe and moved forward again. His patterns were regular in the beginning, but from the looks of his movements, he was sliding in the snow and when it looked to be guarded, he moved back or forward a little to fully execute it. It wasn’t quite fancy, but it sure did the job well.

Once again, he was thrown back from the power of the spell. He hit the ground, his breath knocked out of him, his arms sprawled out. ”That…hurt,” he croaked, rubbing at his side which was bleeding heavily from the strike of the axe. He muttered a ‘Repth’ under his breath and watched as the healing spell sewed up the wound that had been left. He winced and looked up to where Kai fell over him. He held out a hand, chuckled softly, and pulled him back up from the ground. Shenmock stretched again, rubbed at his side again, and looked to Kai.

”Now, anything else other than helping me get injured in some way? I know there’s more to power than just using some fancy footwork. Like, trying to use every muscle to attack? You seemed to be able to counterattack against most of the attacks that heavy blade dude performed?”

The man nodded. ”I’m glad you analyzed that, Shen. Yes, usually I leaned into every attack and did my best to put everything into every shot. I know that one of the shots was reckless, but that happens every now and then, doesn’t it? Still, most people tend to lean to skills for power, instead of actually trying to get it into their attacks. Sure, it doesn’t do as much as a powerful skill or magic attack, but I – no, we – want you to be stronger without any of those skills to use.” The man pointed at him and then at himself before resuming his speech. It seemed that every time he even said anything nowadays, it turned into a big long speech that was supposed to be oh-so helpful.

”As I was saying, I’ll show you that next. After I show you everything, I’ll see what I can do to help your performance in doing that. By the time we’re out of here, you should be able to perform your attacks a little better than when you usually fought before. Now.” He hefted his axe and turned in the direction of the dungeon that was far off. ”You’re close range combat, so you should try your best to let it go out to its farthest length.” He stretched his axe so the edge glinted in the faint sunlight that was now beaming through the mist. ”I know it might not be the best thing to do, but if you do it close enough that you only get to punch halfway or swing halfway with whatever weapon you’re using, you tend to do a low amount of damage instead of a high amount of damage like what most weapons would do.” He turned to him and gestured to his arm. ”Okay, now punch me. It won’t do a lot of damage, but who cares? Now, do it and use your strongest punch. I’ll take a small step back for the second one. So, first punch.” He stepped forward so his body was about a feet away from his own. His bird nose stuck out so if he leaned forward farther, it would hit his own mask.

Shenmock was a bit hesitant about the whole exercise, but he knew that he’d be humiliated if he didn’t listen to this guy. He knew he was correct in the fact that if he didn’t swung full through, but most of this was review, stuff that he was supposed to already know. Once he had this done, he’d have all of his review and new moves to try and use in battle, right? He pulled his fist back, took a breath just for the heck of it, and pulled it forward, punching the man’s armor and managing to make him stagger back, but only a foot, if not mere inches. ”That didn’t do too much. Let’s try the other.” The boy pulled out again, took a breath for emphasize, and let his fist explode forward into his armor, this time with a bit more momentum and power. He staggered back a few feet this time instead, but didn’t hit the ground.

”Unless you really think I was trying to fake that well, that’s what happens, obviously enough. It’s common sense. Same goes for the kick, though if you’re that close to me, you’re not going to be able to do anything unless you pull it back very far, very fast, and kick me while you’re wide open.” He turned and looked to a house that was crumbled and looked faintly familiar. ”Now, try to do your best and attack me. I’ll likely use the same maneuvers, but don’t think about it too much, as you’ll completely miss if you think too hard about the aim and not enough about where your opponent is located at. He turned around and let his axe drop down to his side.

”You already know the first lesson, but the second lesson isn’t exactly something I demonstrated, did I? It’s as simple as putting all the effort into your swing, all the power, something that people forget when they’re in the midst of battle unless a hardship has occurred and they’re going into a rage to kill. Then, that’s when they start using the greatest common sense and the best power. Still, learn to try and execute that kind of skill in battle. You might just blow on up to the top of the ranks.”

”Get ready, Kai,” he called before coming forward, his feet gliding across the sheet of snow and his fist being pulled back just as he started to literally dance forward on his feet. He moved forward and aimed for a quick and hard punch to the side. He pulled his axe to the side in order to block, already curving it in the direction he thought he would come in. It was just a simple punch to the side, but it seemed so hard and precise to perform. His foot slid a bit with his body and so his fist connected with the man’s rib cage. Sure, it wasn’t as hard as it could be, but it had at least landed a hit.

He stepped back and crossed his arms, trying to give him the ‘oh, I got under your guard, what now?’ kind of look. Kai chuckled. ”You did well. Sure, you could’ve used a bit more power in that strike, but then it would’ve knocked off my axe. I think we’ll try that later, but for now, take a seat and rest your mind. Next up is our own little battle. If you’d like any proposal to make for the winner, I’ll take it to mind and think about whether or not to accept it. Try not to make it absurd, though. If you don’t have any, we’ll just act as if the winner was the winner and the loser was the loser.” He stood up, waited for a second, and then started to walk away as Shenmock took a seat on a rock and started to think. It was more like a bet; if he won, he had to do something, but if the other person won, he’d be forced into something he didn’t like and that Kai would enjoy.

Kai was just disappearing from sight when he called out his name. ”Okay, Kai. Here’s the deal! If I lose, I go pack where we were yesterday and you get to tie me up like before. Do whatever you want with me, use me as a piñata, but no cutting the rope.” Kai laughed at that point. ”But if I win, you get to take the spot there. Got it?” The boy was smiling so bad at the moment it wasn’t even funny for the likes of him. It wasn’t a proposal that Kai would like, but if he won, he got to humiliate him like yesterday and bring in Zen to watch…or maybe Sen, if Zen was out of commission. But, from his point of view, he’d be able to convince Zen to come.

Kai turned and looked to him and crossed his arms for a second before nodding and disappearing into the mist.

The bet was on.

So, he was making a bet with Kai: who would win in a fight? Sure he knew that he didn’t have a big chance of winning the fight, but he had to at least try and win against one of the three. He knew that Sen would just have the sword point at his neck and then slit his throat without warning…because she just seemed like that. Zen, on the other hand, he hadn’t learned as much, since he had held back most of the time in their previous dungeon adventure together. The boy sat on the rock, his chin in his hands. He looked to the left and then to the right. Kai was obviously taking advantage of the mist to get a good eye on him. The heavy axe knew very well that he was stronger than their last encounter together. Plus, the boy was more aware of his surroundings and more aware not to fall for such a simple trap. By the end of this fight, he wouldn’t be the mouse following the cheese anymore. He’d be the…cat who would eat the mouse…or humiliate him in some weird way by hanging him by the tail.

The boy looked to the right and noticed the black shape forming in the mist and then coming through, forming the shape of Kai coming forward with his axe. He slid to a stop about ten yards away and looked at him. ”Now, like I said, try to use my own lessons against me. It’s the only way you have a chance of winning, as if you try to use some fancy kung fu moves, you’ll use a lot of wasted movements. You’ll likely only have to use this against me and in some certain instances against your opponent, but likely not in a real duel. Maybe with a monster, but that’s what requires the fancy kung fu moves, unless you really like to finish battles literally a second faster than before.” The mist was already starting to thicken around them, but he could still see him from it. ”Now, all I can say to you is good luck. You have a chance, a small chance, but really, it’s leaning towards me. Ready?” He started to walk to the side, from the sound of his footsteps. The boy had his eyes closed, deep in thought. He opened them to find him on his left. He whirled in that direction, planting his feet firmly in the ground and preparing himself.

”I’m ready,” he said in a determined tone. Relax your muscles, Shen. Relax them and do not use any wasted movements like he said. Save your fancy moves for later, use your training now. Even if you miss every time, don’t give up hope. He’s not going to show mercy, so you’ll have to be keen on dodging his attacks well. He rose a hand and watched as he came forward, his axe pulled behind his back and his burly arms coming full into his view. The man came forward like an eagle and crouched down, his axe coming into view at his side as he pulled it up to tackle his side. Even if he blocked, he would only be able to absorb some of the attack and it would leave him open for another attack. No time to waste, got to get out of the way! He jumped and rolled back on the ground before getting up and taking in a deep breath.

”I see that you saw through my attack. Dodging isn’t what I specialize in, but for a person like you, it’s the only choice you have.” He could see through the mask and find him grinning at him; it was so annoying. But right now, all they could do was stare at each other’s smiling faces. The man waited a second more before gesturing for him to come. The boy was hesitant at first at trying to perform a good move against him, but then he was off, charging headlong at his opponent and actually one of his three mentors.

Right now, the only thing he could really do was try and punch the man. Using his foot would only make things a lot tougher, as trying to curve it in mid-air would only be considered some kind of kung fu move by Kai. Even if he did connect with his leg or armor or something, he’d still be left with one less leg to use and one more axe in his face. The boy pulled his hand back, squeezed it into a fist, and launched it forward in the direction of his shoulder. It was a strange position to be at, but he was sure that the axe wouldn’t have- The boy did his best to try and change his foot position, but before he could even do that, Kai shoved the axe into his fist and then brought it around in a quick sweep to knock him back. He slid back a bit and looked up to see the axe already coming forward. He gave an instinctive yelp and rolled to the right, the axe managing to graze off his armor and sink into the snow. He pushed himself off the ground and staggered back before resuming his position.

”Again, avoid doing that, if at all possible. I’m sure you do that all the time to seem helpless, but…it’s not helping in this situation.” Kai walked forward, his axe on his shoulder as he stopped and watched the boy fidget a bit. ”Please, now, I don’t want to be winning this bet in a few minutes, do I?” He continued to walk until his nose touched his own mask. His eyes were visible from there, dark and stern to him. He tried to give him a gentle look back, but instead, it turned into more of an annoyed look. The man turned around and took a few steps back. The boy didn’t move forward, though; it was obvious to see that he was luring him in like a mouse, just like yesterday. He turned and waved a hand. ”Guess that’s not working.”

Once he was a far enough distance away, he turned around and pulled his axe around again. He charged forward and let his axe came forward, curving a bit into an upwards cross slash as it did so. It was something that was too close to dodge and too hard to block. He hit the ground without a second thought and then got up, his hand coming up in an uppercut, his other hand meanwhile making its way below the axe and connected with his armor just as he took a step back to dodge the attack aimed at his chin. The man staggered back and shook his head at him before stepping forward and bringing his axe down. The boy, this time, aimed to dodge like the last time, but this was the one instant where he was supposed to actually try and block it with his fists. The man slid his bare foot across the snow and stepped on Shenmock’s foot. That allowed him to shatter his shoulder and also trip him in the meantime. The boy hit the snow without a peep (actually taking head to his lesson) and rolled to the side, this time the axe sinking into the side of his armor.

Still, he refused to give Kai the satisfaction of hearing him let out a cry of pain. The man pulled it out and let him get up and stagger back. His gloved hand ran over the digital blood that was now trickling down his side. That one attack had managed to take a small chunk of hit points out of him, leaving him without much to spare. Just getting hit with the axe twice was enough to do some major damage to him, even when he had the medium type armor equipped. For now, all he could do was try to slip under Kai’s attacks and hope to get an attack in. He’d have to be patient, whether he liked it or not, unless he really enjoyed getting smacked aside with an axe. The boy slid forward through the snow, lifted a foot, and then came at the man. He couldn’t gain momentum due to the space in between them, but he got enough to be satisfied with. His right foot slid to the left, moving around so his character was forced to spin. He brought both fists up in different directions; it would take a lot more concentration to block two than one!

The boy slid to the side, hoping to let his fist come under his guard, but only found that it connected with the handle while the other flew harmlessly in mid-air. The man pulled his axe behind him and swung at his side. The boy ducked down and let one foot lash out at his knees. The man attempted to jump over it, but by pressing his hands into the snow, he was able to let it ascend a bit higher in order to connect with his feet. He was on the ground immediately, his back open for an attack that he would surely take advantage of. Shenmock raised his right foot and brought it down in the middle of it. Before he could lift another fist to punch down, he had rolled out of the way, grabbed his axe, and brought himself up to the ground, his axe pulled behind his back. He was a bit hunched over from the attack, but other than that, it wasn’t very noticeable.

”That was pure luck you got there, kid,” he muttered before coming forward and swinging his axe down on him. The former long arm brought his gauntlet up and let metal clash with metal. He heard Kai give a brief laugh as they slid across each other. Then, a second later, the axe slid to his right and came under to slice into his armor. He stared in disbelief as a bigger chunk of hit points dissipated. He hit the ground with a thump! and so Kai stood over him, his axe hefted and one arm on his hip. ”I would’ve thought you’d have seen that coming. Now, go easy or-“

The boy, with the last ounce of strength he had, pressed his palms off the snow and brought his foot up, letting it connect with his chin, an aura emanating around him. With a grunt, the man hit the ground, fidgeting a bit. He tried to get up, but found that Shenmock had a hard foot on his chest. ”We can do it the easy way…or the hard way, Kai.” He crossed both arms and looked to Kai. ”Sorry, but you left your guard down. Bet’s over.” How right he was…



There they were, that same spot. Shenmock had his arms crossed, leaning back while Kai continued to stare him. He was sure he was glaring, but he didn’t bother. He rather relaxed and smiled in the direction of where he hoped Zen would be soon arriving. ”Hey? Do me a favor, will you? You get the satisfaction of humiliating me, but please don’t tell Sen? She’d…yeah, you know, well…” He frowned and tilted his head, looking in the direction of the area where they had come through. The boy scratched his head and shook his head slowly.

”While that would be the most enjoyable part, I’m guessing that’s the one thing you get. So sure, I’ll keep a secret.” Kai seemed to relax a bit at that point, but still tensed up whenever he fidgeted. He knew very well that Shenmock wasn’t afraid to cut that rope and for all he knew, it would break just under his weight. It all depended on whether or not he was meant to be the one falling into the pit or not. The boy took a deep breath of satisfaction as someone slipped in from the roof, obviously Zen. He was in that same uniform he was yesterday, a cloak wound tightly around him. He tilted his head a bit and then let out a long laugh, yet it was apparent he wasn’t exactly in the mood for laughing.

”So, it seems the mouse has hung the eagle. I presume you two had a bit of fun in your training, no?” Kai fidgeted and shook his head slowly while Shenmock nodded, smiling as he did so. ”Well, glad you had fun then. I’m just surprised that Kai went that easy on you…I’m sure he taught you a lot, but it’s not like Kai to just lose a bet like that. He must’ve thought you deserved a good laugh for your training…huh.” He sat down on one of the mounds of tiles that were scattered about. ”Your training for this is done. As you go on, I’m sure you’ll be able to use this skill a bit better, but I doubt you’ll remember it when you’re doing casual questing. Anyways, it’s about time for me to leave. Sorry I couldn’t enjoy this longer, but I have business to attend to.” With that, golden rings descended and let his character data disappear as he did so.

”Shen, mind letting me go so I can tell you a bit about your mission tomorrow. It’d be a bit hard to tell you from where I am now…” Kai looked to him with dull eyes. Shenmock shrugged, grabbed the rope, and swung it to the left before giving it a sharp tug. Kai hit the ground with a grunt and then rubbed his arms and legs, frowning as he did so. ”Okay, tomorrow you’re going out with Sen. I’ll let you know that she’s not a pretty sight when you don’t listen to her. You can’t afford any strikes or anything; this was more of a warm up compared to her. Do what she says, listen well, or else you might find yourself dangling in front of a few level forty monsters. We don’t want that. Now, come on. I’ll explain a bit more in Mac Anu.”



The door creaked open and so the two walked in. No one was there, but the candles were left on, surprisingly enough. Zen pulled off his gloves and armor as they walked in and opened the door just as Shenmock was starting to get changed out of his own uniform. The two were out a minute later, stretching and getting accustomed to their original costumes. Shenmock clipped on his cloak and sat down on the coach, looking to Kai who was chewing on a piece of wheat. He rolled his eyes and got a grin in response to that. The heavy axe leaned forward, twiddling his thumbs.

”Okay, so here’s the deal. I can’t give you much, but she’s more the person who focuses on stealth, speedy getaways, and also making quick work of her opponent. I can make quick work of my opponent, but she knows enough of people to be able to finish a mission faster than me. I’m guessing you’ll just be focusing on stealth tomorrow, due that she won’t have a lot of time to explain a lot of things.” He leaned back in his chair and relaxed a bit.

Shenmock headed for the door, pulled the knob, and turned to face Kai, who was still lazily chewing on the same piece of wheat. ”Was Zen serious when he said you went that easy? Well, I know I would’ve been…well, seriously. Is there a reason or is it just what you do to those you train?” Kai grinned at him and stood up. He let an arm stretch and then let his arm come in the direction of his neck. Both sides of his arms pressed together and then he pointed at it (I don’t know how to explain it…).

”This, here, is my wing.” He let his arm fall a bit and then pointed below it. ”You’re under it.” He laughed lightly and walked forward, laying a gruff hand on his shoulder. ”You’re the first person I’ve gotten to train, man. I’ve got to have a little fun with my student, okay? We’ll be training in a few days, so be ready for some more of this.” He laughed and disappeared through the door. Golden rings enveloped his character and so Kai logged off.

Shenmock waited for a second. ”Wow, he totally took that line…whatever.” The boy would have a lot to think about for the rest of the night. He crossed his arms and so the golden rings, too, enveloped him. He couldn’t help but smile at the gray ceiling as he dematerialized. He could only hope that tomorrow would be a good day, not a torture day.

He could only hope…

Kiddo: +1 Level, + Spike Band, +Yawara