《The Saiyan Immortal》


 Prologue: An end and a beginning

    The Saiyan race has always been a fighting race. If you had to describe them warlike, prideful, obsessive in training, driven and ruthless. Exceptions existed as nature versus nurture played a role. They possess a remarkable healing factor. They are capable of growth after surviving deadly encounters an ability they call zenkai. A Saiyan improves after each fight and has a capacity to adapt during a fight to possibly overcome great odds. Legends speak of a legendary super Saiyan who appeared 1000 years prior and caused the destruction of their home planet Sadala. Later a group of Saiyans landed on planet Plant. The home of of the Tuffles and coexisted until they decided to take over. Once the war was over, the Saiyans had conquered the planet. An alien race later approached then with a deal, a planet for their technology and so began the Saiyan mercenary lifestyle. Later they were annexed by the emperor of the universe Freeza who found them to be decent mercenaries but upon seeing how quickly some of their race grew in power began to fear them.


    The Saiyans had an odd system when it came to their young. They were given 2-3 years in the incubator after their birth Their power level was then tested. Those that had too low a power level were either sent as infiltration infants or made engineers. The cut off was 150 battle power. Usually the decision was based on the sex of the infant. An infiltration infant was sent to a low level planet in order to grow and eventually conquer it. The Saiyans had no real expectation they would succeed. It was in effect a culling of the weak. Only on successful completion could they return to become a true warrior. The class system on planet Vegeta was largely based on power levels. Which is to say that their was a chance to advance to a higher tier. Their was obvious disparities between the ranks in duties, rewards, punishments and decision making.


    over 10,000 = Elite = King Vegeta and Prince Vegeta.


    5,000 to 10,000 =Mid-Class Warrior = Nappa


    3,000 to 5,000 = First-class Low-Level Warrior = Bardock


    1,500 to 3,000 = Above-average Low-Level Warrior.


    1,200 to 1,500 = Average Low-Level Warrior= Raditz


    Below 1,200 = Below-average Low-Level Warrior = Goku


    Planet Vegeta year 739


    A Saiyan couple gaze upon their son in the nursery, an infant with very spiky black hair (think Goku¡¯s hair fused with adult Gohan¡¯s but a bit more wild looking), heterochromic eyes, a partially blue one and one usual black one, white skin and a longer tail than usual was lying in front of them. The nursery is unusually noisy, there is a familiar crying infant staying in the nursery, which is disturbing all other infants but this is not his story.


    The couple are lower class warriors. The mother Lotus is an engineer as was her appointed path as a child. She never had to leave the planet for missions as was the life of engineer. She still had a drive for combat as any Saiyan but invested most of her efforts into learning, her relationship with Cress and would spend any spare time near her baby''s incubation pod just talking to him and trying to liven his days with stories. The father Cress is an ex infiltration infant who completed his mission. Finding himself disgusted with his slaughter of civilians during his mission he tried to find himself a better way to live. His answer a code of conduct for warriors but unfortunately it wasn''t something he could apply flawlessly as being part of the Saiyan mercenaries wasn''t truly a choice it was the only job on the planet other than engineer and healer which usually was filled by aliens from Freeza''s army. He had to obey orders usually, as he was always surrounded by other Saiyans or aliens, but if he could we would spare the civilians and hide them. Needless to say this isn''t typical of Saiyans, which usually pair up as breeding pairs based on strength not emotion, who would usually disregard their infants and who are usually ruthless to a fault. They have had to hide their differences from others for being seen as weak or weak-hearted in this society would be a sure way to be sent on a certain death mission.


    ¡±look at our son he looks so peaceful and so full of life. I wish we could prevent him being sent as an infiltration infant. ¡°Lotus said with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°I know he wont have an easy time of it. I still remember all the fights, close calls, dead ends and the loneliness I had to face while I was on my infiltration mission.¡± Cress said as he remembered all of it.


    ¡°The pods they place us in tell you to revel in the fight, to live only for the slaughter, to place our pride as a race at the forefront of our minds and that everything we do is for the prosperity of our race. The truth, as you later find out through the nightmares you''ll have at night, is that the only way you can be useful in anyway is to be a killing machine.¡± he said placing his hands on his face feeling disgusted thinking of the past.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Cress don''t you love fighting though? ¡°Lotus said pensively.


    ¡°A fair fight and a slaughter are two very different things. Fighting a warrior even if he''s weaker then you can help you push past your limits as you never know if they have an ace in the hole. A warrior lives by the sword and should expect to die by it. There is honour in it. While slaughtering weak civilians, without true combat, can only feel empty, dishonourable and shallow. Lotus as an engineer you have never had to see the battle field you should count yourself lucky.¡±Cress stated.


    ¡°I wish I could keep him here with us. He could have a little bit of childhood like I did as an engineer. Damn the laws which makes us send our own kids away!.¡± She said with an intense anger and sadness at losing her first born. She was squeezing Cress''s hand strongly, without realizing, until it drew blood.


    ¡°He was sooo close he has 148 BP how is this fair!¡± Lotus said as she started crying.


    ¡°There is nothing we can do about it. Do you want to face the disciplinary corps? You know as well as I they have already scheduled his launch. If he goes missing, they will come after us and it wont be a simple execution that will be waiting for us! We can always try again maybe our luck will be better next time¡± said Cress a deep frown of his face.


    Noise started coming from the corridor. Moments later a familiar Saiyan appears. Seeing that it was only Bardock. His previous squad captain and comrade. Cress relaxed until he noticed the bruises and the look on Bardock''s face. A look of horror and determination marked his face.


    ¡°Bardock what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be on Kannassa fighting the psychics?¡±Cress said with worry.


    ¡°Cress you have to listen to me. Freeza is coming to destroy us all! After we where done with the job on Kannasa, he sent Dodoria to kill my team and I! I barely survived and one of the Kannasans cursed me with precognition, so I could see our end and it is coming! He is supposed to be here within the hour. Join me we must muster a force to try and fight back against that monster before its too late!¡± Bardock said emphatically while clenching his fist tightly.


    ¡°Whoa Bardock it''s not that I don''t believe you but why would he do this to us? We have been his mercenaries for decades. We have won him countless victories. Surely that counts for something!¡°Cress said with disbelief on his mind.


    ¡°Bardock wouldn''t lie about this to us. You know as well as I how much he cared about his team.¡±Lotus said with fear in her eyes.


    ¡°Cress I believe its because his family has always feared the coming of a super Saiyan from that stupid legend. He has seen how quickly we can grow in power. He has decided to nip us in the bud before we can be a threat to him.¡± Bardock said with irony.


    ¡°Bardock if this is true then what are you doing here?¡± Cress asked.


    ¡°I''m planning on sending Kakarott away today and wipe the computer of the location I sent him to. At least he may survive even if our race is doomed. You may want to do the same for your kid. We only have one chance and that is when he launches his attack. Only then will we be able to mask the launch.¡± Stated Bardock.


    ¡°Also is this your son? what did you name him after all?¡± Bardock asked looking at the infant with peculiar eyes and usual Saiyan spiky hair.


    ¡°We called him Cade. We will send him off also. Where are you sending yours? Maybe we should send ours there also.¡±Lotus asked.


    ¡°I am sending him off to some backwater world called Earth. A world with a very low battle power, detected only recently this week by our probes. I removed it from our databases today. You can send him there also. We have to act soon my wife Gine fixed my son''s pod so it wouldn''t relay his location to Freeza and wouldn''t show him the instructional videos that you and I remember. Instead she put a few survival skills videos, some education and a message from us. I can get her to do the same for yours if you want. But we must go rally an army now so say your goodbyes quickly!¡± Bardock said with a glint of hope in his eyes.


    ¡°What of Raditz, your first born, are you going to do the same with him?¡± Lotus asked pensively.


    ¡°I can''t he became a grunt for prince Vegeta. They are on assignment off planet and are probably being monitored.¡± Stated Bardock with disapproval of his son¡¯s choice showing on his face.


    ¡°That''s what we''ll do then. Goodbye Cade mom loves you please live well and be better then we were¡± Lotus broke down crying.


    ¡°Goodbye son I wish I could of seen what kind of warrior you would of been. I wish I could of trained you. I hope you live well.¡± a steely resolve grew in Cross''s eyes.


    ¡°Time to go raise an army!!¡± They yelled.


    Bardock and Cross left in a hurry. Bardock warned many of the Saiyans he knew personally. He encouraged them to launch their kids during the attack also. Leaving Lotus and Gine with their kids and their work on the pods. Both pods would take different routes to avoid being traced to their destination.


    On the eave of the destruction of planet Vegeta, both pods were ready to be launched. Both mothers were crying with their babies in arm. They placed them in the pods. While above the planet, Bardock and Cress fought like mad-men against Freeza''s minions.


    ¡°HAHAHAHAH taste this you arrogant monkeys!! Planetary Death Ball!!!!¡±Freeza says while laughing maniacally.


    ¡°Do it now!!!¡±Cress said into his comm device.


    Hidden in the destruction cloud of the planet, the 2 pods were escaping the planet masked from view and sensors by the energy release in the explosion and the dust. A few other pods could be seen in the horizon heading off to unknown worlds. Soon both pods heading for earth, split off to take their separate paths to a common destination.

 Chapter 1: Arrival and survival

    A few months later, Cade''s pod was currently entering the solar system of the planet Sadala. This planet used to be the home planet of the Saiyans until it was destroyed a millennia ago. Rumours speak of the destruction being caused by the legendary super Saiyan while fighting the evil members of his race. Who knows how true gossip, rumour or legend truly are? A bright light suddenly flashed in this system sending off a wave of blue and red energy hurdling into space from the epicentre. Shortly after the wave had left the system, appeared a vortex sucking in the remnants of that system. Soon the pod found itself stuck in the vortex''s pull.


    Warning! Warning! Warning! Gravity well detected! Trying to divert thrust to escape! Failure! Brace for impact with anomaly! Diverting power to shielding system to protect pod! Successful diverting! Entering anomaly! Mostly stable space tunnel detected! Large drain on shielding system detected! 100%! 80%! 60%! 40%! 20%! 15 %! 10%! 5% power remaining! Successful exit of space anomaly! Detecting nearby habitable planet!


    An extremely large planet, at least 1000 times the width of planet Vegeta, appeared in view of the pod as it escaped the tunnel. It strangely looked like a giant version of Earth.


    Warning! Warning! Gravity of 3 times planet Vegeta detected (30 times earth)! Pod cannot fight excessive gravity with remaining power! Impact inevitable! Pod will try to decelerate to within survivable speed of impact! Deploying impact foam to prevent movement of infant during impact! Using air pressure of decent to reduce speed! Adjusting re-entry vector!


    The night sky had a red comet flash across it. Until it landed in a forest in the mountains of what would be Ontario on earth.


    Meanwhile the comet had caught the attention of a few beings on this continent.


    In the east, near the Atlantic ocean,


    ¡°Did you all see that comet? It has to be heavenly material. Our sect has to find it first! I''ll gift some extra resources to whoever finds it but those resources will be taken from all of your other brothers and sisters in the sect!¡± said a man with pitch black eyes, a sombre expression and a vile aura.


    ¡°Yes sect master we will send all acolytes to scour the continent. We won''t rest until we find it!¡± replied the grunt.


    ¡°Ha as if I''ll lose out on those resources. I''ll manipulate the information to give myself an edge.¡± thought the grunt.


    Elsewhere in the plains further to the south, in what would be Pennsylvania, A massive, red, western dragon is assembling all the beast in his domain.


    ¡°I have seen a great ball of fire across the sky. I believe it to be miraculous material. I need its materials for my ascension to the next realm of power. I order you all to try to find it. Whoever finds it may request something within reason from me. But if you try to take it for yourself no that my wrath is without equal.¡± the dragon overlord said aloud to all its subjects.


    And to the north, in what would be Hudson''s bay,


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    ¡°Hahahahaha this has to be the material our sect needs to create our Blood refining artifact!! Can you imagine how easier it will be to fight those self righteous bastards once its ready!! Just the thought of being able to absorb their life-force to power ours without our current side effects is already more than reason to risk exposure. Send all our junior brothers out to find it RIGHT NOW!¡± A shadowy devilish man screamed his orders out.


    A few days later, Back at the pod, the hatch opened, a child with a tail was trying to crawl out under the immense gravity. The hatch had opened as the pod had no more power and very little food remained in its life support system. The child was none other then Cade who had been in the pod for a year since leaving planet Vegeta. He was now 4 years old. During his trip in the pod he learned some basic fighting techniques, Ki control, first aid, basic survival skills, basic math, basic language and some information about his race. Unfortunately learning and doing something are usually two very different things as our protagonist will find out shortly. Their was also a message from his parents that went as follows.


    ¡°I don''t have much time so I''ll try to make this quick. Hi Cade this is mom my name was Lotus. I was a Saiyan engineer. Your father was named Cress he was an infiltration infant like you were supposed to be. He saw the horrors of slaughter while accomplishing his mission. It disgusted him as there was no honour in senseless slaughter. Combat is supposed to be a sacred thing between warriors according to him. Our way of life perverted that. We sent you away as the planet Vegeta was about to be destroyed by a space tyrant named Freeza. Know that I love you, I hope you grow strong and live well. I know you will be drawn to battle later on as is normal for Saiyans. Please live and fight more honourably then we did. Be better then we were. Also be sure to hide you pod properly. God I wish I had more time to talk to you but your father is fighting for us right now and I must go join him.¡± the message ended leaving a sniffling Cade to ponder its meaning.


    And so with tears in his eyes young Cade slowly trained to be able to overcome the gravity. In a week, he could move normally thanks to his Saiyan biology. Finding a cavern he rolled the pod into it with great effort. Before leaving he tried to get a good idea of where he left the pod. His stomach growled loudly.


    ¡°wow I didn''t think I''d be this hungry. I guess I gotta try hunting.¡±(Cade) thought while equipping his modified scouter from the pod and thinking of the lessons about survival from the pod.


    ¡°oh shit lots of high power levels are coming this way. I have to hide!¡± Cade climbed to the top of a surrounding tree and started using the trees as cover while trying to leave the area.


    So he spent the next 2 days fleeing for his life not knowing why they had been coming for him. Meanwhile his hunger worsened to the point where he barely had any energy.


    Seeing a small power level of 50 on his scouter he started to try stalking it. Once in view he saw that it was a young boar as such he quickly killed it by jumping down from a tree and smashing it with his fist. He then started to prepare the meat so he could eat it quickly. He quickly grilled it over a flame.


    ¡°It''s soooo good!¡± he said while patting his stomach and munching on a thigh.


    Just as he was eating, he heard the sounds of a pack of boars coming his way. Realizing he hadn''t paid attention to his scouter he checked their power levels.


    ¡°3000! average power level and their are 12 of them. This must of been a newborn. I have to leave this part of the forest ASAP.¡± worry filled his eyes as he started running through the trees.


    SNORT! WHEEEEE!!!


    He heard the group heading in his direction releasing angry noises clearly smelling the grilled boar smell in the air. He vaguely saw one while running it must of been over 3 meters tall, brown with dark stripes possessing massive dark tusks pointed in a manner similar to swords looking so very sharp. The sight scared him on an instinctual level as he was but a puny 148 power level kid. Deep inside him a will to live and eventually surpass these boars ignited inside him.


    ¡°I will become strong! Strong enough not to fear you boars! Then I''ll come back to eat you!. You delicious bastards!!!¡± Cade yelled out.


    You delicious bastards!! you delicious bastards!!.....Strangely the phrase seemed to echo throughout the forest over and over again further enraging the boars.


    RHEEEEEEEEEEE!! A very loud group roar sounded from them.


    ¡°They can''t possibly have understood that right? Oh god I just had to add to their rage didn''t I. Oh well that boar was delicious though¡± thought our runt while trying to escape.


    While fleeing he saw a stream coming down the mountain. Deciding to drink he set down from the tree line.


    ¡°Oh yeah the simulation said I could wash in water and use mud to confuse some animal''s sense of smell.¡± Cade smeared mud on himself after drinking and washing himself and proceeded to flee for a few more kilometres. As nightfall approached he decided to sleep in a tree. The boars had seem to give up after he had changed his smell but they would likely remember his insult.

 Chapter 2: Learning from mistakes

    As he slept he heard movement down in the bush. A 2 meter tall wolf clearly scarred across its face had been trying to sneak up on him. It jumped at him. Seeing it almost snap its jaws on him he dodged but getting a large cut on his arm from the claw he couldn''t dodge.


    AROO!!!


    He quickly started running. He checked the scouter seeing an 850 power level on this wolf.


    ¡°Why the hell didn''t the scouter tell me it was there or alarm me to it!¡± Cade though as he was running in the trees and trying to bandage the cut.


    AROOO! The wolf was still chasing him but he had a slight advantage of terrain as a wold wasn''t truly made for treetops.


    ¡°Give up already you damn wolf¡± thought our runt


    Then after an hour of continuous fleeing, he found on his scouter a few low level beast and decided to head towards them in the hopes the wolf might change target. It didn''t seem interested until our MC missed a branch and it got too close for comfort. Left with no other choice our Runt unleashed a punch reinforced with Ki straight at its throat in close quarters. He then landed on the ground and spun himself with the momentum to deliver kick to its stomach reinforced with most of his remaining Ki Which left him mostly drained thought he tried to act as if full of energy, tried to convey his unwillingness to lie down and die and tried to make him self seem more imposing. This succeeded in making him seem a target that could fight back in the wolf''s eyes. It decided to switch targets, after a few moments, in which it looked at him and the other prey over and over again.


    ¡°I truly have to find a better way to hide at night so I am not in perpetual danger¡± thought our exhausted Saiyan


    After finally getting away he remembered why his scouter didn''t alarm him. His mother had told him in a simulation of the many times a scouter was unreliable for his father, such as beings that could hide their power levels or could transform and gain more power. She told him of having seen a surveillance device in the scouter while modifying it. She told him that depending on it would become a crutch and prevent him from gaining true survival instincts. She told him there were beings that could sense power levels without the scouters by using their Ki and intuition.


    ¡°I guess the only way to grow is to depend on myself¡± Cade thought He decided to try and rely more on himself as it was the only way to truly grow.


    After finding a tree trunk to sleep in and waking up the next morning, he felt stronger and was wondering why.


    ¡°I guess trying to survive yesterday tapped into my


    Saiyan blood.¡± Cade thought back to his lessons and remembered that Saiyans always seemed to get stronger after surviving a potentially deadly situation. He checked his battle power(BP) in his scouter he now had 200 BP.


    ¡°I guess I should train in this forest for a while who knows what kind of crazy strong people are out there!¡± Cade made the decision to train his senses and his battle skills in this forest filled with death for the next month.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    He spent the month trying to rely less on the scouter only using it to determine if a fight was winnable if he sensed his opponents where a bit too strong.


    A week after the wolf debacle, he had hunted 2 200BP beasts, a bird and a young deer, for meals through surprise for the bird and straight combat for the deer. He found his BP seemed to grow from consuming some of the animals. Their was a sphere developing inside those beast and it tasted good so he had tried it. The result his BP had grown to 225. Today, he was hungry and so decided to find his next meal. Finding fresh dropping on the ground he started tracking a beast. After an hour of tracking he found a large meter and a half wildcat which was dozing off in the trees and so snuck up on it and tried to attack it only for the wildcat to wake up


    ROWW! It jumped at him preparing to bite him.


    He tried to dodge its jump only to be held down by the wild cat. He kept punching its face trying to get free.


    ¡°Shit this isn''t working!¡± He muttered as he tried for its eyes which made the wild cat jump away. He decided to see if it may be more then he can handle by check its BP only to find it was 300.


    ¡°I can still win this. Just have to think it through a bit better. What did Ki class say again using Ki doesn''t always have to be an internal thing where you increase your strength you can always try to turn it into an attack but it usually takes practice to do so.¡± he thought to himself


    Cade decided to try to create a Ki blast only to find his attempt failing and the wildcat closing in. He hastily tried it multiple times, only to fail, wasting energy every time. He only had enough for 1 more blast.


    ¡°Damn I need this to work!¡± he yelled


    Trying again from the basics he tried to feel his Ki trying to bring it gently from his body to his right hand. He felt it gathering he then compressed it into a small sphere. He then tried to throw it only to find the wildcat right in front of him. He had no choice but to thrust the Ki blast directly into the wildcats face as it tried to bite down on his neck.


    KHAAA BOOOM Causing a loud explosion and hurtling himself in the opposite direction. He crashed into a tree feeling pain from his shoulder from the impact.


    Deciding to go see what happened to the wildcat. Finding only it rear left intact he started to cook it away from this area as he surely attracted attention.


    ¡°I cant believe I won. That was way too close!¡± said our runt of a Saiyan to himself with a bit of fear in his voice but with a sense of accomplishment at surviving.


    ¡°I really need to practice using Ki. I can''t rely on luck during fights anymore this was way too close¡± thought our Saiyan reflecting on the battle and analyzing how he might of done better.


    After this fight, his BP reached 275. unfortunately for him the core was gone with the front half of the wildcat. From then on every morning he would practice Ki control. Eventually succeeding in increasing his defence, attack power and being able to reliably form Ki blasts. The number of blast he could currently generate in a fight were only 3 as he was wasting some of his energy while forming them. It took him an hour to regenerate the loss of energy which would of left him vulnerable to the dangers of this forest as such he tried to keep from using the last one. He also found out he recuperate energy if he consumed the meat of the beasts. It seemed it was bathed in energy.


    A few days later while drinking water at dusk, he was chanced upon by a 3 meter tall black Komodo dragon. It attacked him without a second thought as it recognized his scent. While fighting him and trying to flee, our runt realized it was much too strong and fast to escape and decided to check it power level which turn out to be 1500 BP.


    He fought a losing battle for the better part of an hour with the dragon successfully biting his arm causing massive pain.


    ¡°I may not of found the comet before the other but he strangely smells like the comet. I guess bringing him to the boss alive might be a good idea¡± thought the komodo dragon.


    All seemed lost until our runt saw something in the sky.

 Chapter 3: First transformation

    ¡°


    ¡°now that I think about it he kinda smells like that weird looking comet. Maybe he has something which can make me transcend my current form. Even better a chance to take the win from the overgrown lizard in the south. All the more reason to kill it quick before its cronies find out about it¡± thought the snake.


    ¡°


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    ¡°


    ¡° my scouter I knew I was forgetting something. It must still be in that forest. What ever cause my wounds most likely lives there and already has my scent. I can''t go back for it now! I guess I''ll have to try sensing Ki in others and learn to gauge their level myself.¡± thought our protagonist


    ¡°This isn''t working because I know where they are to begin with. I need to try sensing them with my eyes closed without relying on my senses.¡± Thought our Runt.


    ¡°


    45%

 Chapter 4: Chance encounter

    So we join our runt as he has decided to find civilization. Question is where should he go. All he can see is a mountain range to the west a forest which he believes to be the one he escaped to the east a giant lake to his south and a long plain to his north.


    "If I remember correctly my survival lessons said most civilizations tended to build near a water source. " Cade decided to head south towards the Great lake Ontario while following the river he had fished in previously.


    During many days of walking, he kept practising his new Ki sense to fish and hunt. He hadn''t met any being of great power since leaving the forest further reinforcing his naive idea that it was special. He suddenly felt a large Ki heading in his general direction. Our runt quickly hid in a crevice and lowered his power level as much as possible.


    A few minutes later, a man with a dark expression and a skull and bone tattoo on his face appeared.


    "Hmm I was sure I sensed an odd energy in this direction. I have to find something to appease the sect master. After my failure to retrieve the meteor against that damn lizard''s minions. I could of swore this energy was similar to the meteor. DAMMIT why didn''t I give the proper information to my junior brothers? Why did I have to be so greedy. Now our master will send us all to be disciplined and that''s if they don''t figure out I gave them false information. They could blackmail or me worse!" The man muttered aloud as he shuddered thinking of what may befall him. That man could be seen to be the very same grunt from much earlier.


    Our protagonist tried to gauge his power level as the grunt flew by only to find it was roughly 10 times his own(350BP). He had picked up the habit of using his own power to quantify beast Ki in the last month. Soon the grunt had disappeared over the range of his Ki sense which had become 3 kilometres.


    ¡°Hmm he said my energy was odd. I wonder it''s because I''m not from here or that the energy itself is unusual for these people. OH DAMN did he say they found a meteor that felt like my energy! MY POD!!¡± Cade started panicking. This pod represented his only possibility of leaving this world. Now he had lost an avenue of retreat. Long term survival on this planet his only choice if they destroyed it or damaged it.


    Cade waited in the crevice for a few hours before continuing his journey while keeping his Ki sense up at all time. He had leaned his lesson after almost dying from simple inattention in the forest of death at the claws of a wolf and komodo dragon. Using Ki sense wasn''t a particularly costly skill for his Ki reserves as it cost less then he recovered at any given moment. He still had improvements to make in his manipulation of Ki but currently had no idea how to progress. The lessons on Ki in the pod were the basics that were pre-programmed for lower class warrior infiltration infants. These lessons were kept vague and limited in case they fell into alien hands. No lower class warrior was worth helping to strengthen possible enemies.


    Cade pondered what he knew about Ki as he kept walking onward. What he currently understood of Ki was that it was the energy produced in every cell of his body. A kind of life force or vital energy that flowed throughout his body''s every inch. It seemed to grow in quantity and quality as his strength increased. It could be used in physical combat by reinforcing the tissues, muscles and bones involved. It could be used in external attacks by forming Ki blasts or other more complicated attacks. It also could be used as sensing tool. He knew he still had so much to learn about it. He renewed his commitment to practising his Ki training exercises daily.


    A week after leaving the cave, he sensed four 2 meter tall, black wolves near 275 BP chasing what appeared to be kids his age. He decided to wait in a tree to see how they fought. He had naively assumed that all kids knew of combat. Assumed his instinct to seek battle was common. He quickly realized his error upon seeing a young boy holding a stick desperately trying to protect a slightly younger girl. He thought back to his father''s saying of living with honour and decided to try and help. Plus this seemed like a chance to practise combat against a group. The call to combat made Cade grin. So he jumped down the tree to right in front of the other boy. Which seem unnerved by the sudden appearance of a random boy.


    ¡°wh wh who are you? What are you doing here? Did ¡°they¡± send you? I wont let you harm my sister!¡± muttered the boy as he lunged at Cade.


    ¡°Whoa there ¡°he said as he caught the boy''s stick strike.


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    ¡°I am here to help. You seemed like you could really use some right now¡± said Cade as he kept his eyes on the wolves the whole time. They had refrained from approaching so far as his appearance had startled them but now were eyeing him as their new meal.


    ¡°wh wh why would you bother helping us? Now we will all die here to these stupid wolves.¡± said the boy.


    ¡°Who said I had a reason. I saw you guys down here about to die. I could do something about it. So why not. Plus this will help in my training. Do your best to protect yourselves! I''m going in.¡± said Cade as he leapt to the nearest wolf catching it off guard as he had increased the launch force with Ki.


    Throwing a round-house kick at its head he knocked it to the ground 5 meters away. With the wolf visibly disoriented Cade thought to go for the kill but another wolf ran towards him on the right while on the left another was watching waiting for an opening. As the wolf on the right got into range to bite him, he dodged by sliding to it''s side while positioning himself for a killing jab to its chest containing Ki.


    While he was going to launch the blow, the wolf that had been waiting for an opening pounced towards his back. He connected his jab successfully killing the wolf but found himself pined to the ground and so released a focused Ki blast at its head killing it.


    The wolf that had been watching the situation unfurl, was more cunning then the others and had noticed there was something off about this kid and had been trying to sneak up on the others. It wanted to avoid the potential calamity and snatch a snack at the same time. Unfortunately for it Cade knew where it was via his Ki sense and so he shot himself towards it at frightening speed. Cade then delivered a rising kick to its body causing it to rise up in the air. He then jumped and delivered a powered nukite(spear hand) at its chest causing a gaping bleeding wound to show up. It then lied down slowly bleeding to death.


    The wolf that had been disoriented had fled during his battle with the third wolf. ARRROOOOOOO! It howled in anger as it got away.


    ¡°Damn still needed to rely on a Ki blast in the end. I still can''t keep up with multiple opponents in combat even though I can sense locations with Ki. It lags behind as I end up focusing on what I can see instead. So much for using this for training. I saved those two kids though. I wonder why they are out here if they can''t fight. I guess I should introduce myself. Wait how the hell are they speaking my language?¡± Cade thought with a bit of delayed shock. He noticed the boy was staring at him with the stick still in hand intent on protecting his sister from him for some reason.


    ¡°Hi I''m Cade you can put that down. I am not here to hurt you. Do you mind answering some questions?¡± asked Cade brimming with curiosity at potentially getting some answers about this world.


    The boy visibly still anxious and not fully trusting him stopped pointing the stick at him. The boy felt no ill will coming from Cade just curiosity.


    ¡°My name is Aden and my sister is Elena. Thanks for saving us from those wolfs back there. How did you fight those wolves? Kids our age shouldn''t be able to use Chi.¡± asked Aden.


    ¡°No problem don''t mention it. I have been in a forest fighting and hunting beasts on and off for I believe 2-3 months. I kinda lost track of time.¡± said Cade.


    ¡°He thought I used Chi not Ki. What is Chi? Is it just a different name for Ki? He said kids couldn''t use it at our age. I shouldn''t tell them about Ki or how I created the blast. It could cause problems or attract too much attention. I''ll feign memory loss until I understand the world more. The memory loss will allow me to ask questions about things that most people should already know. I don''t really want to start deceiving the first people I meet but it''s seems like my best option for now.¡± thought Cade.


    ¡°You have been in a forest at our age alone? To hunt willingly?¡± Aden''s eyes showed he was bewildered by this.


    ¡°Well yeah I kinda woke up in the forest with no real memories of my past or my parents. But for some reason I had fighting instincts and I knew how to hunt. So I spent my days fighting and eating gradually stronger beasts until I was chased out one night by some giant lizard. I lost count of the times I was injured. I seem to heal pretty fast. Once I was out of the forest I followed a small river and that''s when I happened upon your situation and decided to help. If you could answer some of my questions it might help me understand my situation better. I have been asking myself sooo many questions without answers lately ¡± said Cade while trying to keep as close to the truth as he could.


    ¡°Wow that''s awesome! Can you teach my brother to fight like you? Please! Please! Pretty please.......¡± Elena''s eyes were shining with hero worship.


    ¡°Elena you''re embarrassing us! Cade sounds like you have had a tough time if I can I''ll answer some questions as soon as we get out of the forest.¡± said Aden.

 Chapter 5: Alexander

    Previously in another part of the forest near a town, an old man could be seen fighting against 2 other men. The men had the very same expression and facial tattoo as a certain sect grunt our hero might recognize. They had obviously been fighting furiously as they were all drenched in sweat, fresh cuts, bruises and each one had multiple fractured bones. There was also another similar man lying dead nearby.


    ¡°Yo grandps just let us through you know we¡¯ll get what we want anyways in the end. At least you could live. hahahha¡± said the man while deviously cackling. He wanted the grandfather to betray them so he could started build torment in his soul. Then later he could find him again and refine him into a hungry ghost under his command.


    ¡°You wont get your hands on my grand-children! You ghoulish bastards! I¡¯ll die before I let you take them with you to your mad sect. I should of join that expedition to annihilate your sect 2 decades ago it¡¯s one of my biggest regrets. How many of my fellow villagers did you lot cause the death of over the years.¡± said the old man yelled as he unleashed a wave of wind blades at them.


    One the men successfully avoided it by ducking into a trench. The other man cut through the blades coming towards him with great effort with his spear. The old man was panting in exhaustion. It could be seen this old man was on a higher tier of power then these men but the difference was being overcome slowly by numbers.


    One of the men summoned his refined ghost to try to attack the old man¡¯s soul. The ghost got close but the old man dodged its attack many times. It just couldn¡¯t seem to get close enough until the other man summoned a pack of higher ghouls. These ghouls possess animal like intelligence and their claws and teeth are filled with corpse poison. It''s a mix of toxins, virulent bacteria, parasites and viruses. It would cause decay if it entered the blood stream of any being on the same level or slightly above it. He then had to juggle one ghost,10 ghouls and still and to watch to not leave an opening for the 2 sect fiends. The sect fiends had to focus as these summons were prone to disobeying if given half a chance.


    So he fight went on as he fought trying to avoid exposing any openings to those fiends. He successfully impaled 2 ghoul¡¯s skulls with a sword from his storage ring. He shattered the legs of 5 of them ,with a leg sweep empowered by Chi, drastically reducing their mobility as they had tried to mob him. He then tried finish the Ghouls only to find the ghost had hidden in one of them and it was possessing it. This ghoul started glowing abyss black as the energy form it¡¯s summoners was taken through the bond. Slowly the ghoul started to evolve into a higher undead a type of unnamed vampyric creature. It was agile, cunning and possessed the characteristics of both the undead it was composed of. Both summoners were starting to run out of Chi. Soon the creature might break free of their control. So they made it attack him desperately. He still managed to dodge and parry most of its attacks but his own regular attack were no longer doing much damage. He had unfortunately had been scratched twice which caused damage to his soul and he now had to fight the poison in his body. Then something odd happened the corpse energy from all the other remaining ghouls visibly started transferring to the vampire. Slowly it changed again leaving both its owners with a pittance of Chi left. It now was assuming a more imposing form. It had almost finished when he decided to use his one time use life saving measure the vermilion bird scroll. The scroll suck up all of his remaining Chi.


    ¡°I have to do this to be able to go protect my grand kids. Who knows what they could of met in that forest while escaping. I know Aden has a good head on his shoulders but he¡¯s only 6 years old. They can¡¯t even train in Chi yet! I should of thought them Ki as a last resort consequences be damned.¡± thought the old man.


    He then use the scroll by injecting his remaining Chi and reciting the activation sequence.


    SCREEEEEEEEEEE! A loud screeching noise was released from the scroll as a horizontal pillar of fire with what seemed like a giant bird shot out of the scroll and towards the ghoul and one of the men. The man poured what was left of his death Chi into his spear which started resembling a scythe. He and the vampire summon then tried to counter the massive pillar of flames as they could not escape it. They withstood the pillar for less than 10 seconds as the pillar directly directly incinerated half the man¡¯s body and all of the vampires body.


    ¡°My ghost NOOO! After all I had to do to get the sect master to help me refine it. What kinda bullshit is this! All the hours torturing the victim prior to it¡¯s death. All the lying about his family already being massacred by us. All that work to insure the soul turned into a vengeful ghost after death. ALL OF THAT WASTED!¡± shouted the man.


    ¡°Junior brother! Dammit I need those kids. I can¡¯t leave I need something to pacify the sect master¡¯s anger from not getting the damn meteorite. Damn those lizards from the south. If I don¡¯t get some pure souls for the sect master he may want to refine mine instead.¡± thought the man a cold shiver passing through his spine..


    ¡°You already lost your minion leave already before I decide to truly use everything I still have on me, consequences be damned, to end your miserable life. You fucking piece of shit Death¡¯s way cultist.¡± said the old man trying to act composed and overbearing.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Looking at the old man, the cultist had finally recognized him. He was Alexander the ex governor of Kingston. There were so many rumours about why he had quit no-one truly knew the reason. Everyone knew he had had the strength and means to repel a sect invasion with his colleagues. Without a second thought the cultist used a smoke chi bomb to mask his escape as he ran as if he had met a reaper in the flesh.


    The truth was that Alexander was just about all out of Chi but had used a masking technique during the fight so the cultists couldn¡¯t know his true reserves. He barely had enough for accelerated movement. But he truly had no other choice during this battle, he would be useless to his grand kids if he died. He had been poisoned in the last year and even though he had been cured he now had a trickle of his usual regeneration of Chi. While thinking of his grand kids he let his spiritual sense out only to find them running away from 4 wolves.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± he yelled as he started running towards them at a fraction of what he should of been able to do before.


    ¡°I¡¯ll never make it at this rate.¡± He thought as he observed his grandson trying to fight them off with a stick. He realized he was going to lose them too. He had tears in his eyes. He remembered that the devils had killed their parents 2 years ago in front of them. The devils had escaped from town before he could rally the guard. He remembered how grief stricken they all were afterwards. He had almost sunk into a depression at the loss of his daughter. He had seen how much they needed him to be there for them. so he had quit his governing job ASAP to raise them and to make sure they never wanted for anything. He had tried his best and they had just started to be able to smile again. He felt his heart slowly breaking when he observed an odd looking kid appear in a tree near them. At first, he appeared to be observing something until he seemed to realize something and decided to jump in. Then the oddest thing happened he fought all 4 wolves single-handedly. He even swore the kid once used energy to attack. He kept rushing toward them. Feeling relief from the bottom of his heart. He then started wondering about the kid¡¯s intentions. Hearing their conversation once he got close enough.


    ¡°Well yeah I kinda woke up in the forest with no real memories of my past or my parents. But for some reason I had fighting instincts and I knew how to hunt. So I spent my days fighting and eating gradually stronger beasts until I was chased out one night by some giant lizard. I lost count of the times I was injured. I seem to heal pretty fast. Once I was out of the forest I followed a small river and that''s when I happened upon your situation and decided to help. If you could answer some of my questions it might help me understand my situation better. I have been asking myself sooo many questions without answers lately¡±


    He couldn¡¯t believe the story he heard. He knew the boy was hiding something but also saw that the boy was conflicted when he spoke around the parts he was hiding. Truly a kid not used to lying. He couldn¡¯t sense any ill intentions either just curiosity, some pride when the boy looked at the remains of the battle and some genuine interest in learning about his grand kids. He then noticed the tail the boy had rolled around himself as a belt. It was unusual in these parts as the closest beast-kin clan lived in Newfoundland and he definitely was not wolf-kin as they were. The more Alexander observe him the more questions he had. He decided to observe them for a while.


    Cade gathered the wolf corpses and carried them with him. They left the forest and found themselves in an open space. He decided to make camp here as it was getting dark.


    ¡°you guys know how to clean wolf meat to cook it?¡± Cade asked much to the surprise of both kids.


    ¡°Yo you you¡¯re going to eat them?¡± mumbled Elena.


    ¡°They tried to eat you why not return the favour? Plus i bet they are tastier then the fish I''ve been eating the last week.¡± Cade said.


    ¡°NO MORE FISH!¡± He said louder then he intended. Not realizing that he was dripping saliva from the corner of his mouth. He still hadn¡¯t eaten anything as good as that first boar. He still dreamed of eating more. He was slowly becoming a foody.


    ¡°So do you know how?¡± Cade asked again.


    ¡°No grandpa makes our meals usually.¡± replied Aden who was now starting to worry that his grandpa still hadn¡¯t come back.


    ¡°Oh well I''ll have to improvise.¡± Cade said as he grabbed a rock and chipped at it to create a makeshift knife. He then started cutting the meat and preparing it to eat. He would have to bleed them out first then he could cook them. He also found 3 partial cores in those wolves which he would eat when alone. He put them in a pocket.¡± An hour later the meat was rotating over a fire. He made sure to cook it less bloody then usual for his guests.


    ¡°Here try some guys¡± he said ¡°its nowhere near as tasty as that boar¡± he muttered.


    They all wolfed down their meal. Even elena who was apprenhensive could not resiste the allure of hot food after running for so long. They ate in relative silence too focused on the food to offer up conversation.


    So they sat down to eat and to treat any wounds they had. He then asked his first question.

 Chapter 6: Teacher get!

    After the kids were done eating, our runt finally couldn¡¯t keep his curiosity reigned in anymore. His need for answers had been consuming him for the last 2 months he spent on this planet.


    ¡°Do you mind if I ask my questions now?¡± asked Cade curiosity showing on his face.


    ¡°Sure go ahead! We owe you our lives so feel free to ask us anything!¡± said Aden enthusiastically.


    Aden was struck with awe at remembering Cade¡¯s Fight with the wolves. He hadn¡¯t been able to hold off the wolves. He knew they were going to die. He had known he was going to fail to protect his sister but had stood his ground through the fear that could of paralyzed him. He had wanted to protect her with his life on the line. But then Cade appeared virtually slaughtering those wolves like it was a normal thing for a kid his age to do. He unfortunately didn¡¯t have the strength to protect her then but swore to himself that he would never be helpless like that again. A look resolve grew in his eyes at that moment. He envied Cade¡¯s strength and wanted to rival him in the future. This envy was not jealousy as he knew from Cade¡¯s story that kind of strength had to be earned.


    What Aden didn¡¯t know is that when Cade was in the tree observing them initially. He had believed Aden knew how to fight. When he was proven wrong his opinion of Aden didn¡¯t lessen. It had risen massively! Any kid that can show that kind of courage in a desperate situation like that would surely grow to be a fine warrior. Cade admired that kind of courage it made him want to know Aden. It made him look forward to fighting him in the future even if it was just sparing.


    ¡°Why were you running in the forest alone at night? ¡° Aden asked as it was his most current question.


    Hmm hmmm hmmm said an old man trying to call attention to himself exiting the forest. This caused our Runt to immediately put up his guard until he heard the sibling yell out.


    ¡°GRANDPA!¡± the siblings yelled out with tears in their eyes. They were about to jump on him to hug him when they noticed all his wounds.


    ¡°Are you alright grandpa? How did you get away? Are we safe? Are they coming?¡± the siblings fired question after question at their grandpa with worry filling their eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be alright after I recover some Chi and use some herbs to heal myself properly but for now i am stable.¡± Alexander said while examining the worry on their faces. He had hidden his damaged soul and the corpse poison that was being contained by the remainder of his Chi. He didn¡¯t want to worry them anymore after their ordeal.


    ¡°I had to fight those three Death¡¯s way cultists in deadly combat. I killed 2 of them with great effort but one got away. So we shouldn¡¯t stay in the area too long. We should leave in the morning.¡± Alexander stated. He then looked at Cade taking in the odd sight of a kid with a tail, heterochromic eyes and wild looking natural spiky hair. He then whispered to them and asked them questions wanting to test their reactions ¡°Who is he? How do you know you can trust him? How would you know if he meant you harm?¡±


    ¡°He saved us from a group of 4 wolves that were hunting us! He didn¡¯t ask for anything before hand and only wanted us to answer some questions he had as his only reward. He didn¡¯t display any signs of ill intent in his gaze or actions. If anything his curiosity is almost palpable. We feel he didn¡¯t tell us the whole truth but he didn¡¯t look to be accustomed to lying.¡± whispered the siblings to their grandpa.


    ¡°Good you remembered your lessons on body language. I still remember when we lived in Kingston how many people tried to put on false fronts in the hopes of obtaining something or harming me. All those POLITICKS(politicians) and fake people had some nerve. You seem to have found someone that doesn¡¯t seek you out purely for benefits. A kid your own age who fought to save others in a situation where most would of run. These are the types of people you can trust. You should feel lucky if you had a friend like him.¡± whispered the old man happy his grand kids could recognize the lack of ill intent. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°How do you know all this grandpa?¡± they asked with surprised expressions.


    ¡°I have been observing you all as I was rushing here and stayed hidden afterwards to try to figure out this kid.¡± stated the old man.


    ¡°Nice to meet you my name is Alexander their grandfather. It would appear I owe you a debt for saving them.¡± he said while bowing slightly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really want anything for it. I saw kids my age being attacked. I could do something about it and so did. You don¡¯t really owe me anything. I chose to do it.¡± Cade said with no deceit in his words.


    ¡°I must insist! You must be repaid they are my everything!¡± stated Alexander with emotion in his voice. He wanted to test him one more time.


    ¡° I really don¡¯t want anything but I do have some questions you could possibly answer. You see I don¡¯t really remember much past the last 2-3 months. I basically remember nothing about this world and was just about to start asking questions to Aden to try to fill the gaps. Maybe you could help me out by answering. If you feel like it still isn¡¯t enough give me some tasty food and we¡¯ll call it even.¡± said our runt. As soon as he thought of food, his mind drifted to that boar and he started drooling. Yep the Foody label was getting dangerously close to being attached to him permanently.


    ¡°He still didn¡¯t seek an advantage even after I said they were my everything. Good this is the type of person I want my grand kids associating with. Someone who looks out for others, seeks strength and isn¡¯t consumed by greed. He still seems to be hiding something but I can tell it isn¡¯t out of ill will. Bah who doesn¡¯t have a secret or 2! He just met us. Trust has to be earned and works both ways. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll tell us when he can. That¡¯s it I¡¯ll have him stay with us for the time being in Kingston. He¡¯ll likely make a great rival and friend for them.¡± thought Alexander with relief and expectation in his eyes. He had long wanted his grand kids to have true friends but his station as governor only seemed to attract the kids of flies and parasites to them. He had decided to start teaching them martial arts as he was rushing over. He had admonished himself so many times on the way thinking that he should of started their basic education in martial art and given them some understanding of Ki to use as a trump card. Consequences be damned, in a life or death situation, who cared if it impacted your future achievements.


    ¡°I can surely answer some questions but let me ask you one myself first. Would you like to come live with us for the time being? I imagine you don¡¯t know if you have a home or where it is. I¡¯ll admit I am asking this with some self interest. As I would like you to train with my grand kids. To be their friend and rival. I was always hoping they would find true friends but my station as governor had always attracted the worst people to them. I tested you just now and you passed with flying colours. So do you want to come and live with us to train and learn about this world? ¡± Questioned Alexander.


    ¡° WHAT! That came out of nowhere. I know nothing of this world, from its terrain, powelevels, Chi, people, or factions. The one question that¡¯s even more pressing is: how do they feel about people from other worlds? If they fear them then I¡¯ll never be able to tell the truth. This offer is obviously my best choice going forward. Plus learning martial arts with a rival would be so much easier. Aden did show courage in the face of death earlier so he should grow strong. Why am i even thinking about this? ACCEPT !ACCEPT the offer QUICKLY!¡± Cade thought the offer through.


    ¡°I would be honoured to live with you guys from now on.¡±Cade said with enthusiasm.The siblings had wandered close by as he said this.


    ¡±Cade is coming to live with us? Sweet we finally get to have fun! No more playing with those fake guys that are always asking for something.¡± replied Elena visibly happy at the situation. She started hopping about.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t only coming to live with us. I am going to train you all in martial arts. This situation was a wake up call. I was too worried about making you happy that I forgot to make you safe.¡± stated Alexander.


    ¡°Yes! Ever since, I saw you fight I have wanted to become stronger. Now Cade you¡¯ll be my rival! Let¡¯s work hard!¡± replied Aden with optimism and a glint of resolve in his eyes.


    ¡°A rival huh? You better try to keep up!¡± Cade said enthusiastically a grin appearing of his face.


    They then kept eating and rested for the night knowing a long trek to Kingston would begin the following morning.

 Questions for the readers

    hi there I have a few questions for you guys


    how do you like it so far?


    What do you think of more permanent transformations? Like once he reaches a set lvl of power and gains the transformation. It becomes his new baseform like an evolution. He could still power down to normal when trying to hide his power though.


    Do you guys want him to have a pet / companion? If it happens it will be a monkey/ape though.


    Do you want me to put young masters in the story so he can curbstomp them later as he grows or is that trope too annoying? rest assured they would only be a few(2-3) truly annoying ones in the novel.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Do you feel the paceing is ok? There will be some time skips later but im trying to give him a childhood/formative years in the early chapters. I kind of have to build his personality from scratch and its better to show it through action than simply say it.


    Do you have any arcs or tropes you want me to try or avoid?


    Do you want me to make him a standard dual cultivator of ki(body)/ chi(energy)? Or would you rather a slightly different system instead? I already have an idea for said system where it''s a mix of both but with a lot of disavantages.


    do you want me to keep to unarmed combat with the Mc? if not what kind of weapon should I go with?

 Chapter 7: Long trek and Ki

    The morning sun rose as Alexander finished his internal healing. He had finally suppressed the effects of the poison using Chi. He had then worked on bringing all the toxins together in a sealed space he had created. He would have to find a way to completely expel it in the future but it would no longer threaten his life. The same could not be said of the damage he had received to his soul. Only time and some treasures could heal this type of damage. Fortunately it did not mean death for the ex-governor. It would instead make his Chi usage more unstable and much less reliable. Which all the wounds, poisons and now soul wounds he would have to meditate for years to recover. For now, he decided it was time to wake the kids up and to take on the role he had loved the most while in the guard.


    ¡°WAKE UP! And stand at attention!¡± he shouted causing the kids to wake up startled. Cade woke up and immediately went on guard. His body remembering to be alert form its time in the forest.


    ¡°Grandpa why did you wake us like that?¡± complained the siblings.


    ¡°From now on you will be training in martial arts. You will address me as Teacher or Sir and not as grandpa. I will be hard on you all equally. There will be no special treatment. You will be expected to complete all the exercises I give you. Punishment will be delivered if you slack off. The training will push you to your limits but you will be stronger for it! Do you understand me maggots?¡± stated Alexander a cold steely air developing around him.


    ¡°Yes grandpa um... I mean Teacher?¡± said Elena with a bit of confusion. She wondered where the gentle and kind grandpa she knew disappeared.


    ¡°Yes Teacher!¡± replied both boys excited to learn. Aden still wondered about the complete change of persona in his grandfather but was glad that this wouldn¡¯t be easy. He wanted to catch up to Cade quickly. Cade was reminded of some of the instructors in the videos from the pod and found this behaviour normal. Alexander pulled Cade aside.


    ¡°Last night I saw you use a Ki blast through my spiritual sense as I was rushing here. From now on I don¡¯t want you using Ki externally or forcefully increasing your strength with it. Their is a lot I have to teach you all. Know that Ki usage can damage your ability to use Chi in the future! I¡¯ll explain more later but keep this in mind.¡± stated Alexander with a serious look in his eyes which caused Cade to gulp. Cade now wondered how much damage he might of caused. He had formed Ki blasts to practice while in the forest and had boosted his strength many times. Worry started to appear on his face.


    ¡°Good! Now drop and give me as many push ups as you can! Keep going until your arms are numb! The loser will have to cut all the wood for tonight super.¡± yelled Alexander with great enthusiasm at finally playing the role he liked best ¡°hellish drill sergeant¡±.


    So they went all out for the next 5 minutes, Cade reached 150, Aden could barely reach 60 and Elena reach 30. They all collapsed out of breath and soaked with sweat. Alexander had slowly been adding weight to their body¡¯s by releasing his aura. By the end of the exercise Cade had a pressure of roughly 3 times his weight over his body, Aden had 1.25 and Elena had 1.


    ¡°Elena your on wood duty tonight. You all did well! None of you tried to slack off. What you may not know is I steadily added weight to your bodies as time went on. So don¡¯t be discouraged if your results seem low to you. In the future when we reach Kingston I¡¯ll give you weighted clothing. For now, ill keep using aura to increase the pressure on you. Now do some sit ups and squats for the next 10 minutes.¡± said Alexander. The rest of the day was spent on working all the muscle groups and trying to run as they slowly kept travelling along the way to Kingston while their teacher truly had a shit eating grin on his face. Evening was slowly approaching.


    ¡°OK lets camp here tonight. Cade go hunt something nearby but remember what I said. Elena go cut some wood. Aden prep the fire pit and set up these tents.¡± he said while pulling tents of of thin air causing Cade to stare with a look of wonder.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Cade that¡¯s just a storage ring. They are slightly rare but allow you to store a certain volume of items inside. The rarity depends on the volume it can store. They are usually pricey but sooo convenient.¡± stated Aden while trying to show off some knowledge.


    ¡°GET to work!¡± stated the annoyed teacher.


    Cade left to hunt only using his senses. An hour later he found 2 rabbits and one deer. Strangely they didn¡¯t seem to have that spark of intelligence in their eyes. They were easy enough to hunt which left our runt dissatisfied at the lacklustre fight they put up. He returned shortly after to the camp carrying his quarry. While returning he inspected his body¡¯s Ki only to find he was nearing 400BP.


    ¡°Good it seems we won¡¯t go hungry tonight! You remembered our talk right?¡± stated the old man with amusement at seeing the expression of disappointment that still plastered Cade¡¯s face.


    ¡°Yes teacher I didn¡¯t use Ki. It would of been much easier if I used my Ki sense though. Also why do these animals not seem to be as intelligent as the wolves or the ones in that forest?¡± asked Cade.


    ¡°Intelligence in beasts usually shows up as they get closer to forming their beast core¡¯s. These cores are formed automatically in their bodies as they age and their bodies absorb Ki from the world through consuming other beasts or plants or by strengthening themselves. As such herbivore¡¯s take much longer to form a core unless they find spiritual herbs. The only exceptions are beast¡¯s with greater or legendary bloodlines. They have basic intelligence even as new-borns and take a very short time to form a core. All beasts be they magical, demonic, common or legendary are inherently Ki cultivators.¡± stated the old man to Cade while Aden was listening.


    ¡°As for your Ki sense, it is better to refrain from using it. Keep your Ki for life and death situation¡¯s for now.¡± he quickly stated almost forgetting to mention it.


    ¡°Teacher what is Ki? Can I use it? Why can Cade use it?...¡± Aden fired question after question at his Teacher.


    ¡°First you all go prepare the meal. We will speak of this afterwards. From tomorrow on, I want you to go with Cade to slowly learn how to hunt.¡± said Alexander. Aden and the others could now be seen to be working quickly at bleeding, gutting and grilling the animals. They all began eating.


    ¡°You wanted to know about Ki earlier. In this world or realm, people cultivate of of 3 energies to try to reach immortality. One of these is Ki. Ki can be considered the energy that your body every cell generates. Some people call it life-force, internal energy or vital energy. It rests in every inch of you body. It is usually wild and unrestrained and takes great effort to tame. Its quantity and quality increases as your body gets stronger. You can use it internally or externally but mostly for combat. Ki users generally have great healing rates which at high levels rise to insane proportions. Ki is not generally compatible with Chi. Using Ki externally or for amplifying your strength makes most of the energy pass via your circulatory system which isn¡¯t a problem. It also forces it to pass through your meridians which usually cannot contain the energy causing damage and blockages to appear. In extreme cases, the spiritual root of a person may be damaged or even destroyed. In a sense using it can ruin one¡¯s potential in Chi cultivation. Ki cultivation can also be cultivated in a path that is called Body cultivation. But this path is much more difficult for humanity to progress in. If potentially 1/1000 cultivators manage to reach foundation establishment in Chi cultivation. It may be 1/100000 that reach the equivalent in Ki cultivation. Ki cultivation requires one to break the limits of their bodies for each advancement. Beasts who succeed usually have the bloodlines of great beasts or even legendary ones and even they aren¡¯t guarantied success. The beastcores they form also help in reigning in Ki wild and unrestrained flow. For a man to reach those heights, he would need to be have a rare mutation called heavenly strength from birth. The whole system is more or less abandoned by humanity as it truly is too rare for one to reach ascension using this system. Those that succeeded were seen as monsters for the amount of raw power they could call upon. To answer the question I will teach you Ki Aden if only as a trump card but remember the consequences to it¡¯s usage.¡± explained Alexander. Aden nodded.


    ¡°What is Chi then?¡± Asked Cade and Aden.


    ¡°No more questions for tonight. Now get ready for bed we have at least 4-5 more days of travelling at this pace.¡± seeing the quenched curiosity in their eyes A Alexander thought ¡°Ha wasn¡¯t too hard to find the carrot to my stick. Good it means they will likely put their all into this. Elena might require something else she doesn¡¯t seem to seek strength as they do. I¡¯ll find her a motivation soon enough. God it¡¯s good to be in a teaching role¡± a steely looking demon seemingly appearing behind him as he said the word ¡°teaching¡±.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal you all get to ask one or two questions per day. This is provided you all put your all in the days training.¡± stated Alexander.

 Chapter 8: Overconfidence and Chi

    The following night, after a day of similar training, Aden asked a question with a very determined look on his face.


    ¡°Teacher can you show me how to use Ki? I remember your warning about reinforcement and external use. I just want to make my body tougher. I won¡¯t use it forcefully inward or outward. Please, I need to catch up!¡± asked Aden with fire in his voice.


    ¡°I guess I can show you how but I¡¯ll hold you to that promise!¡± stated Alexander.


    ¡°Ki cultivation starts by feeling the energy inside your body. You have to sit down and fall into meditation to feel it the first couple of times. Your mind should be free of any distractions while you sink your consciousness into your body. You¡¯ll eventually begin to feel a wild and unrestrained energy flowing from all your cells. Then you have to slowly learn how to tame this energy. Only then can you start cultivating your body. It¡¯s a less complicated system then Chi so it¡¯s easy to start. Sensing Ki can sometimes be accomplished in an hour or 2 depending on ones state of mind. But as a human you¡¯ll find it hard to advance far.¡± said Alexander


    Aden then spent most of the night trying to feel his Ki with no success. He spent any down time he had the following day trying to feel it. Once night time fell, he asked Cade for help.


    ¡°Cade can you help me feel my Ki? I¡¯ve been trying whenever i had time but still haven¡¯t felt it.¡± asked Aden


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you thought you might be stressing out too much at not feeling it? What did your grandpa say? you need to be free of distractions and that includes worries! Think only of wanting to be strong. It¡¯s what I did when I started using it. Then let your mind wander inside your body to feel it.¡± Cade stated.


    Aden then spent the following hour in meditation.


    ¡°AHA finally felt it! Grandpa wasn¡¯t kidding when he said it felt unrestrained! I guess i have to learn how to tame it.¡± Aden said feeling proud of himself for his accomplishment.


    At about 6 in the morning,


    <h1 class="western" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.5cm; line-height: 150%">¡°Wake up maggots! it¡¯s time to start learning some basic martial arts! Enough stamina and muscle training for now! Are you happy? You shouldn¡¯t be that was the easy part! Muhahaha¡± Alexander shouted out loud with a grin of pure evil on his face.</h1>


    ¡°Grandpa stop doing that!¡± Yelled a sleepy Elena as she rubbed her eyes.


    ¡°Yes teacher.¡± said Cade after he had gotten up with his guard up visibly sleepy still.


    ¡°Y.. y.. yes teacher.¡± said Aden visibly sleepy. He had spent most of the night trying to tame his Ki.


    ¡°Elena get down and do some push ups. I told you their will be no grandpa from now on only Teacher or Sir is acceptable.¡± said the old tyrant. Alexander observed that they all showed signs of muscle pain from his relentless exercises from the day before.


    ¡°Their muscles will eventually adapt to training. Working through the pain will be good for their willpower. Cade doesn¡¯t seem nearly as exhausted even though my aura was pushing down on him the hardest. I guess he¡¯s already used to life and death survival in a forest so it makes sense. I¡¯ll increase the pressure from yesterday for him then Hahaha. Now today, I think we¡¯ll work on some basic martial arts!. God I missed training people! I¡¯ll teach them how to punch like boxers. I¡¯ll show them other variations based on other martial arts later but lets start with that!¡± thought the old fiend while an even worse grin appeared on his face.


    Meanwhile Elena did her push-ups while they prepare the remainder of the food from yesterday over the fire. They then ate extremely quickly.


    ¡°We will practice basic martial art techniques as we travel. I¡¯m talking about punches, spear hand(nukite), palm strikes, elbow strikes, grabs, kicks, joint-locks, dodges and blocks. Know that any attack can later be infused with energy. Which means they can all be deadly. So for now we will only work on your forms. Later on, you will be able to expand on your basics to develop your fighting styles. This style will be up to you to polish and evolve as you see fit. I¡¯m not here to directly give you a fighting style just to give you some basics. Today¡¯s basic technique is punching! I¡¯ll show you how to punch like Boxers for now. I¡¯ll show you other variations from other arts later. HAVE YOU UNDERSTOOD MAGGOTS!¡± explained the old tyrant.


    ¡°Yes Sir!¡± they all shouted.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s begin with the simple punch. Show me what you think a proper punch should look like.¡± asked Alexander. They then one by one release what they thought to be good punches.


    ¡°Seems like I¡¯ll have my work cut out for me. Cade¡¯s punch was a little better but they all have so much to work on. GOOD! I love a challenge. This reminds me of the time I spent training Kingston''s guards!¡± thought Alexander who¡¯s grin hadn¡¯t let up.


    ¡°You¡¯re all doing it wrong! A punch is not just moving your arm forward really fast. No its about using the rotation of you body to generate momentum. It should start at the feet and pass throughout the body. Moving your whole body one inch will generate much more force then moving your arm a foot or so said an ancient legendary martial artist only known asLee. So let¡¯s start by positioning your feet correctly. They should be spread on the ground a little wider than shoulder width with one leg forward and one back. The back foot should always start with a heel lifted to pivot easier. While punching your feet pivot in the direction of the punch. While you throw a right punch the right heel should be lifted while the left is flat. Your feet should never leave the ground when you throw a power punch. Try it again we will move on to the next part of the body¡¯s rotation after. ¡°explained Alexander.


    They then proceeded to try punching over and over again. Slowly feeling the force given by the rotation and position of their feet.


    ¡°Good! Now your knees should always be slightly bent and bent slightly more during a punch to lower your center of gravity and thus put more weight in them. Then your hips should turn into the punch. Practice this now!¡± shouted Alexander.


    They spent the next hour slowly moving while punching. Slowly getting more proficient at using their lower body.


    ¡°Now you¡¯re starting to get the importance of rotation. Let¡¯s move on to the upper body. Your torso should rotate as much as possible and spin the punch out from your shoulders. Remember the principle of rotation. Keep you body straight and never lean or try to reach forward further then your range. A punch is always stronger if you don¡¯t over reach and stay inside your range. Your shoulders should stay loose and raised during a punch. Your arms should start relaxed then spring towards the opponent. You should keep your hands relaxed before punching so you can actively switch to blocking if needed. A straight punch should be delivered horizontally while a cross/ left hook should stay vertical. You should keep your fists at face level at all time in a guard. Now get to practising!¡± said Alexander with a glint in his eyes.


    They then spent the next hour punching. Every so often he would shout out comments.


    ¡°Remember to exhale during your punches! Always look at your target! Keep your guard up! Stay inside your range! Try different angles for your punches! Speed is not power! Put some weight in those punches! Step into your punches! Don¡¯t lean forward! Don¡¯t reach! Keep your feet down!¡± yelled out Alexander as if the harass them.


    This kept up for most of the day stopping only for a quick lunch, a few rest pauses and finally for supper. During lunch Aden exclaimed that he had finally tamed his Ki. They weren¡¯t going full speed as the point was to simply learn to mobilize all their bodies into attacks . They were still feeling the burn in their muscles unfortunately but felt better then on the previous days of physical training. Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Now Aden and Cade go hunt our meal! Elena prepare the tents and the fire pit. This will be you first hunt Aden so follow Cade¡¯s instructions and be careful. Now go!¡± said Alexander with a slight worry in his eyes.


    ¡°Yes teacher!¡± both boys replied. They then entered the forest. Cade quickly advised Aden to be as quiet as possible and try to use signs to communicate. Later on they happened upon droppings that Cade pointed out. It still seemed fresh when poked with a stick. So he started to look for footprints, damage to branches or any other clues he could find always going out of his way to show Aden. After finding and following some tracks, they found a young mountain lion which had captured their prey a deer. This mountain lion was a meter tall but showed signs of still being a juvenile. Cade seeing that the mountain lion hadn¡¯t made any moves towards them and seemed to want to simply leave with the meal tried to explain it to Aden. Aden wouldn¡¯t hear reason he wanted to be successful on his first hunt. So he jumped out to challenge the meter tall feline.


    To which Cade thought¡± You have got to be kidding me! He spends one day learning how to punch and just barely learns how to tame his Ki and he thinks he can take a Wildcat on!¡±


    ¡°Come back Aden you¡¯re not a match for a wild cat yet!¡± yelled Cade.


    ¡°If you can fight 4 wolves, I can fight one lousy Cat!¡± exclaimed Aden as he quickly approached the mountain lion with his guard up.


    The mountain lion seeing the foolish 5 year old challenging it let out a roar.ROOOWWWW! Then jumped at him. Which to his credit didn¡¯t make Aden flinch but he had no time to dodge or anything. Which quickly led to him being pinned to the ground.


    Cade quickly approached the mountain lion and punched it in the ribs which made it fly 2 meters away. This quickly enraged the juvenile wildcat. It then pounced at him. He dodged this attack while quickly unleashing a knee kick to its rib cage followed by a punch to it face.


    ROWWWW! It roared visibly injured and limping. It looked upon Cade with hate in it¡¯s eyes somehow refusing to back down in front of this young fighter. It then slowly started circling around him trying to find a weakness. After circling around him 3 times and not seeing any it jumped at Aden.


    ¡°Dodge!¡± shouted Cade while he lept after the lion.


    ¡°Dammit!I¡¯m not going to make it at this speed. I have to use reinforcement!¡± shouted Cade.


    Whoosh! A wind blade fell on the mountain lion¡¯s head before Cade could start using Ki. Shortly after, Alexander could be seen jumping down the tree with Elena on his back. He then proceeded to shout at Aden.


    ¡°What were you thinking going after that mountain lion? You just learned how to punch and use Ki recently your body has barely had time to get stronger. How did you expect to use something you just learnt in battle? There is a reason people spar before they attempt real fight! If it wasn¡¯t for Cade you¡¯d be dead right now! You almost forced him to use Ki forcefully! Did you not listen to my warnings about listening to him? you¡¯re overconfidence almost killed you and crippled his cultivation. YOU HAVE TO THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!¡± shouted Alexander in a raging rant.


    ¡°Bu... But it seemed so easy for him to fight those wolves the other day. I just....¡± said Aden as he was cut off by Alexander


    ¡°Don¡¯t make excuses!! Now come over and receive your punishment.¡± said Alexander angrily as he then proceeded to strongly slap the shit out of Aden. Which made Aden cry.


    ¡°Grandpa never slapped us before! Why is he doing this?! I get that I messed up! Please stop already¡± thought Aden while crying as he received 4 slaps.(Aden turning into a young master averted.)


    They then went back to camp with the prey. Aden having to be carried from the pain of the blows.


    ¡°Grand... teacher was it really necessary to beat him up this much?¡± asked Elena while worrying about her older brother.


    ¡°This much is getting off easy! He could of died for no reason just out of overconfidence. He could of damaged Cade¡¯s future by forcing him to use Ki. They were lucky I happened to use my spiritual sense to keep an eye on them. They won¡¯t have that luxury forever so he has to learn now! Now Aden I think you owe an apology to Cade!¡± stated Alexander with vehemence.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I was so reckless. I just so wanted to be on your level that I didn¡¯t stop to think before I challenged that lion. Can you forgive me?¡± asked Aden.


    ¡°I understand your drive to want to be strong. I truly do but this could of been your death or mine. You need to be aware of your capabilties before fighting in those kind of situation. I forgive you but remember to listen next time.¡± stated Cade with a bit of leftover anger in his eyes.


    They then settled in to eat, no one really disusing anything until Cade asked a question.


    ¡°Teacher almost having to use Ki left me wondering. What is it exactly I would of damaged. You said Chi was humanity¡¯s cultivation method but I know nothing about it. Would you mind explaining it to me?¡± asked Cade


    ¡°No problem Cade, I was wondering when you would ask me about it. The short answer is your meridians and possibly your spirit root as stated before. To truly understand you need to learn some of the basics of Chi cultivation. Chi is the energy of this world. It is calm, fluid and may be manipulated easily if one knows the method. Chi cultivation is the preferred method amongst mankind. Our bodies are more attuned to this energy. Not everyone may reach great heights in Chi cultivation but anyone that can start will have some degree of success even if its only the lower stages. Even the lower stages are enough to lengthen your lifespan from 100 to 300 years. Those lower levels consist of refining one¡¯s own body layer by layer with Chi to maximize its potential. To start this type of cultivation one must draw in Chi from the world we then circulate throughout our bodies in the vessels we call meridians. This is only possible if you have a spirit root. A spirit root is born with you. It has affinities to certain elements. These elements will be the one¡¯s you have an easier time controlling. Many cultivators have dual elemental roots. Rare are those with more elements. The roots have a grade going from poor, common, rare, legendary and godlike. The grade of root usually determines your growth speed. Most youth are tested when they reach 7 years old since that is when the root is fully grown. From then on, they might be recruited by sects or organizations if they have a higher grade root these become the inner disciples. For other¡¯s they have to pass tests and even then they end up outer disciples. Chi''s usage is extremely varied. It can heal, produce attacks, defend, divine the future, assist in alchemy, create formations... It all leads up to ascension when one forms the beginning of their Dao or Truth. While a Ki God might have extreme strength in battle and may use some exterior techniques like Ki blasts, a Chi Immortal has an edge in the variety of fighting techniques they can use, magic and many finer control techniques.¡± Explained Alexander while observing theat they all were starting to nod off to sleep from a day of hard work and a potentially deadly situation.

 Chapter 9: Beastkin

    We rejoin our protagonist the following morning, as he wakes up early.


    ¡°All that talk about Chi left me with so many questions! I wasn¡¯t born here so do I have a spirit root? What kind of damage have I done to my meridians/ spirit root? Where is here exactly? What kind of world is this?....¡± thought Cade with a seemingly endless loop of questions appearing in his mind. He then noticed Alexander observing him.


    ¡°Teacher do you know a way to see how badly I may of damaged my meridians while I was training in that forest before meeting you guys?¡± asked Cade.


    ¡°For kids under the age of 7, as their spirit root isn¡¯t fully formed, we can¡¯t check them. The process would require us to send Chi into their bodies. This act could also damage them as the root usually helps to regulate Chi entering our bodies.¡± explained Alexander.


    ¡°Are you still mad at Aden?¡± asked Alexander


    ¡°I am still kinda pissed off he didn¡¯t listen and almost got killed but I kinda understand wanting to prove your self. I know I made plenty of errors while trying to survive in that forest. All those close calls made me have to grow up quicker. I had to learn not to pick a fight I couldn¡¯t win. Which admittedly is a lot easier when you can use Ki sense but even then you can get surprises. I had to learn to stay alert at all times. I had to learn how to control myself and my techniques. I know mentally he didn¡¯t have prior training and that he was just overconfident. But emotionally, I was angry to the point I wanted to hit him so bad after you rescued us. It¡¯s just confusing. I also know it¡¯s going to take me sometime before I trust him again to hunt or do anything important.¡± Cade explained.


    ¡°I can understand how you feel. I fear I overindulged them when they were younger. You see their parents died 2 years ago when devils infiltrated Kingston. They were killed in front of them. The devils escaped before the city guard could rally and before I was informed. I then raised them on my own and tried my best to allow them to smile again. They just started to be able to this year. I guess in my quest to make them happy I forgot to give them common sense. This was also the first time they were out of the safety of town. We were going to the next town over to see an auction when we were ambushed by the death¡¯s way cultists. You know the rest. So can you find it in you to forgive him? You¡¯re the only person they have actively tried to make friends with. In Kingston they were basically seen as a way to build connections to me by all the parents. They never could find actual friends, so can you please try to get along with them.¡± explained Alexander.


    ¡°I will try to forgive him it just might take me some time. Even I don¡¯t remember having friends. It sounds rough for them in Kingston is that why Elena is so quiet?¡± asked Cade


    ¡°Elena still has nightmares of that time and retreated inward after it. She has been getting better but socializing has never been easy for her.¡± said the old man.


    ¡°I will try to make friends with them. Hell I know loneliness from all my time in that forest.¡± said our runt.


    ¡°Good! So how are you finding the training?¡± asked the teacher.


    ¡°I feel like I haven¡¯t been progressing as fast as I was in the forest. When it was just live or die situations it felt like I constant had to raise my strength. Sure my fighting techniques were more instinct then technique but it seemed to come naturally.¡± said Cade.


    ¡°HAHA it¡¯s true one can get stronger in life or death situations. Hell it¡¯s the way most fighters check or progress their understanding at all levels.¡± exclaimed Alexander.


    ¡°So it¡¯s normal to feel this way?¡± Cade asked.


    ¡°Yes it is in a sense. Think of it this way in do or die their is no trying. So you fight with everything on the line so of course you progress faster. Another reason you might feel you aren¡¯t progressing fast enough is that you no longer use Ki reinforcement or blasts. A beast you might of taken on before easily now constitutes more of a challenge.¡± explained Alexander.


    ¡°Want to here the story of my first life or death situation?¡± asked Alexander.


    ¡°Sure¡± said Cade with curiosity in his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you the short of it. I was 7 years old had just been tested for Chi..I was the son of a guard so I had some idea of how to fight. I had to test into a sect as an outer disciple since my root wasn¡¯t a higher root. Then this damn young master, who was about our age, is picked to be our test. We had to fight him one on one. The fucker actually went for killing blows against us saying¡± Ha this is what you rabble deserve for trying to join the same sect as this young master!¡±. He actually killed 10 of the applicants and didn¡¯t get punished. When it was my turn I had been beaten into a corner. Until in the critical moment, I felt myself attack him purely out of instinct. The successive blows I launched crumbled his guard and eventually left him begging for his life. Then a sect elder came to his rescue. I would of been expelled if another elder hadn¡¯t been interested in my potential.¡±


    ¡°This elder trained me much like I am training you all. He believed in building some fundamentals first and then letting us build on them and experiment to create a fighting style that suited us. It¡¯s mostly because of his hands off way of training that I could reach this stage of power. He died suddenly 5 years into my training. The other elders simply said he died of old wounds when we asked but most of his disciples could tell something was off. The atmosphere in the sect slowly became toxic for us as all the nobles and inner court disciples slowly started to try to squeeze our resources dry for their own use. We left the sect shortly after as we had lost our teacher and he was the only elder actually willing to teach us commoners and outer court disciples. We then started a small mercenary company using our skills.¡± Alexander explained with a look of respect in his eyes as he spoke of his teacher and a look of pain at the mention of his passing.


    ¡°There are actually people like that ¡°Young master¡± out there? Man I seriously hope I don¡¯t meet them!¡± said Cade.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°NOOOO! YOU FOOL! You just jinxed yourself! You are going to keep meeting those idiots!¡± exclaimed Alexander sighing extremely loudly and appearing serious in his belief.(Young master Flag raised DUH DUH DUMMM)


    ¡°You can¡¯t seriously believe in jinxes?¡± asked Cade.


    ¡°I said something similar before going to test at the sect. My life became an endless torrent of young masters when I was there. I pray you don¡¯t live through that hell. Saying even the smallest wrong thing, according to their atrophied brains, ends up earning you an enemy for life. Then you have to worry about their clans if you hurt them, take an item they believe should belong to them or just court any woman they think should be theirs. The list of supposed reasons they would go after you is endless and IT MAKES NO GODDAMN SENSE! Most experts I met after leaving the sect also despised those idiots but in the lower level sects they are everywhere and it¡¯s like they are encouraged to act like idiots. IT¡¯S JUST HELL! YOU CAN¡¯T REALLY AVOID THEM, INJURE THEM OR KILL THEM! THEY SOUGHT ME OUT EVERY GODDAMN DAY!¡± said Alexander clearly shivering from remembering those hellish days.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine I won¡¯t meet them.¡±Cade thought while deluding himself. He truly underestimated the power of this evil flag he had raised.


    ¡°Teacher did Aden or Elena tell you about my time in the forest yet?¡±


    ¡°They told me some of the story. I don¡¯t mean to pry but I know you left out some details.¡±This sentence seemed to put Cade on guard.


    ¡°Don¡¯t start worrying for no reason. You just aren¡¯t a great liar that¡¯s all. It¡¯s easy to see you aren¡¯t really comfortable lying. Hell it¡¯s part of the reason I like you and wanted you around them. Everyone has secrets in this world. It take time for people to build trust. Just don¡¯t hide anything that could hurt them okay.¡± said Alexander which caused Cade to calm down. The old man started laughing out loud all of a sudden.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe my grand kids haven¡¯t realized that belt you have around your wast is really your tail. How could they miss that? Ahahaha. Oh don¡¯t worry I have no problem with Beastkin. They just aren¡¯t that common around here is all. I am not going to mention it. Please don¡¯t tell them. I want to see how long it will take them to figure it out. Hahhahah can you imagine what their reactions will be it¡¯s going to be priceless.¡± said Alexander said while laughing.


    ¡°What¡¯s a beastkin?¡± asked Cade sincerely. This sincere question left Alexander puzzled momentarily as he couldn¡¯t detect any signs of deception.


    ¡°Beastkin are usually descendants from the union of beasts that had taken on human form and humans. Beasts can take human form once they reach the core formation stage which is the fourth stage of cultivation. This union ultimately resulted in the various Beastkin tribes. Their ancestors might vary from a common bear to a legendary dragon. They retain some characteristics of their beast ancestor. Like your tail which I assume is a monkey¡¯s tail. Monkey Beastkin are rare on this continent but not unheard of so you don¡¯t really have to disguise your tail as a belt.¡± explained Alexander.


    ¡°It¡¯s not really why I keep it around me. I keep it there since if something grabs it I seem to lose strength and experience massive pain.¡± explained Cade.


    ¡°Oh! I see I had a lizardkin friend who told me about that. You just need to train your tail physically and practice enduring the pain. As it gets stronger it will eventually become more resilient to pain. Eventually it can become a strength instead of a weakness. You can use it in combat as an extra limb if you want.¡± explained Alexander.


    ¡°How did they not include that in the pod? It¡¯s not even hard to do and the information wasn¡¯t even given to lower class warriors. It¡¯s a glaring weakness if you don¡¯t train it.¡± thought Cade with a bit of anger on his face.


    ¡°Now that I think of it Beastkin also use a different energy. It isn¡¯t a true energy per say. It¡¯s an amalgamation of Ki and Chi that they call Qi. Unfortunately I know very little about how they cultivate. You will have to ask a Beastkin If you want to practice their method.¡± This statement by Alexander left Cade wondering how he would end up cultivating.


    ¡°OK we¡¯ve spoken enough. Time to wake the others and start training.¡± said Alexander with a devious grin. He was going to run Aden through hell for last nights debacle. Cade woke them up quickly as he knew the old Tyrant was just waiting to yell out to wake them.¡±


    ¡°OK now that you¡¯re all up! Start doing your basic exercises. Today we focus on other type of punches and hits!¡± exclaimed Alexander resuming the grinning. It was to the point that if you had to describe him in few words you could say Evil Grinning Drill Sergeant. He simply delighted in the role.


    The spent the next two days travelling and repeating every move he taught them. He had taught them spear hand, elbow strikes, palm strikes, hammer fist and variations on punches from different martial arts. All the while their instructor hurled abuse and commentary on them.


    ¡°Remember to use your whole body! Your not using your hips properly! Damn did you even listen when we spoke of rotation! Visualize how your opponent might react to your attack! Start thinking of how you will chain your strikes ahead of time! No your form is all off! Repeat this attack 200 hundred times before noon!.....


    This hell continued all day every day. Our instructor from hell kept on using his aura to increase the pressure on them. They were getting visibly stronger as he kept upping his aura over time.


    ¡°Tomorrow you guys will start basic sparing! You have learned mostly hand to hand combat. You will shortly learn basic dodges and parrying as we spend most of our time sparing. So get some sleep, tomorrow you get your first taste of sparing!

 Chapter 10: The first spars

    The sun rose the following morning,


    ¡°WAKE UP MAGGOTS! IT¡¯S THE START OF SPARING WEEK! Muhuhahahahha!¡± yelled Alexander with a weird glee in his eyes and the damn persistent grin still ever present on his face.


    ¡°God I love training people. I still remember all those times training those guards. The look of worship on their face as I instructed them, ran them through drills, worked the basics into them, corrected their mistakes...¡± reminisced Alexander. The truth was obviously different the guards all feared him. Their look of worship truly a look of fear and resignation. They had lost confidence in themselves. In private, they would call him name like Demon Instructor, Old Fiend, Demonic Realm Drill Sergeant...... The list was endlessly ongoing. Most guards even started thinking of him as their personal Boogeyman. They would always give it their all as this fiend seemed to know if any of them slacked in training. Whenever one would start slacking or thinking of it they would feel a cold presence creeping up their spine and would often say aloud¡± He¡¯s right behind me isn¡¯t he?¡± as they turned some would scream out like little girls ¡± KYAaaaaa!¡±. Obviously our Teacher had to tone it down with these kids for the moment. Thinking of being able to eventually run them through ¡°proper training¡° a Machiavellian laugh broke out.¡±MUHAHAHAHA¡±


    ¡°Today we start basic sparing. The goal is not to use your full strength but to connect your hits to your opponents. You will also notice I haven''t taught you how to block yet. There is a reason to this and I want to see if you figure it out. The spars can be won by ring out, KO or when a vital area is attacked 3 times. Remember to manage your strength.¡°explained Alexander. He then proceeded to delimit a square ring of 10¡Á10 meters in the soil.


    ¡°Let the sparing begin! Cade versus Aden!¡± exclaimed the old fiend. Cade and Aden then entered the ring.


    ¡°Bow to your opponent. 3! 2! 1! READY! FIGHT!¡± he exclaimed.


    Cade then started circling Aden. He quickly found an opening in his guard. He then rapidly lunged towards him. He then attacked with a quick Jab / Hook combo. The jab was intercepted by Aden but he couldn¡¯t block it. He then received the hook directly to the solar plexus. Which caused him to lose his balance. Cade shifted his body to deliver an elbow strike to his head. The fight ended in less than 30 seconds. Then Alexander arrived and put a stop to the fight.


    ¡°Cade wins! So Aden this was Cade without my aura dampening his current abilities. Now do you understand why we were mad at you after your stunt with the mountain lion now?¡± said their Teacher.


    ¡°Yes... teacher. I just thought I could match up to him. I was overconfident. I won¡¯t repeat that mistake! I am sorry Cade.¡± said Aden


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too down on yourself you can get stronger it just takes time and hard work. GOOD! Now that this is settled. I will now restrain your strength with aura to each other''s levels. This will let you fight a more even opponent. This will help accumulate fighting experience. So Aden why did your block fail?¡± asked Alexander.


    ¡°I couldn''t truly stop his blow their was to much strength in it. It caused me to lose balance.¡± said Aden.


    ¡°Good! Hard Blocking can work against similar opponents but it isn¡¯t so great against stronger opponents. You can easily get injuries, lose balance, open your guard and tire yourself out. This isn¡¯t to say hard blocking can¡¯t be useful in some situations though. Instead try dodging or diverting their blows instead of a hard block. Try to intercept their blows early when they haven¡¯t gained their full strength. Couple this with forward evasion and you can set up follow up attacks pretty easily if you stay in melee range. A block is a lock is a blow is a throw. This is to say that your block can evolve into many variation of counter-moves. Later on when you start cultivating special attacks of all kinds will come into play. The same principles usually apply. Meeting force with force is possible but not always advisable. Now I''ll teach you some basic blocking techniques from a martial art called karate. It has it¡¯s faults but it will do for now.¡± said Alexander.


    ¡°Before we get down to the blocks you need to learn some basic stances from Karate. We previously learnt some boxing when we were focusing on punches and hits. Boxing¡¯s stance is more mobile it puts emphasis on movement and dodging. Karate¡¯s stances usually try to keep you grounded and solid. Even when advancing the feet simply slide on the ground. While your torso remains stable. Both martial arts have different goals and methods of attack. So I''ll just teach you 2 of the main stances for now.¡± said Alexander


    He then taught them zenkutsu-dachi or forward stance. The front foot facing forward towards enemy, knee bent, opposite leg off to the side, roughly shoulder width, extended, and the foot at roughly 45 degrees or less compared to front foot. Roughly 70 percent of weight on front leg. The torso ends up being at 45 degree angle facing the opponent. The stance is more combat focused but can still be used to defend.


    He taught them a back stance or kokutsu- dachi. Both legs would be aligned on an imaginary axis. The back knee would be bent and the foot would be perpendicular to this axis. The front leg would follow the axis, the knee would be slightly bent and the foot would be facing the opponent along this axis. The weight distribution would be the opposite of forward stance with 70 % on the back leg. This stance is mostly defensive but also allows for decent kicking.


    He also taught them Kiba-daichi or horse-riding stance. The stance was symmetrical both feet pointing straight forward ,bending both knees equally and keeping a straight back. The stance was mostly taught to strengthen leg muscles and teach stability. It also helped teach rooting: the ability to efficiently, instantaneously channel incoming force (whether a strike or a shove or whatever) through your body, directly (vertically) into the ground. Which also helped build the ability to create a base for maximal efficiency in striking power. Alexander would make the stance into an endurance exercise with his aura he would up its pressure every minute and see how far they progressed. During said exercise he would have them practice punches Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    He spent a few hours running them through the stances and making them switch between them to practice some footwork or sliding steps. He reminded them that their existed myriads of different styles of martial arts and that later they could choose what worked for them.


    He then spent the next 2 days teaching them basic blocks as they continued their journey. He made them practice the foot work by making them use it instead of regular walking. At the end of each days they would be exhausted from using muscles they never used before.


    He helped them progress from self practice, to repetitive blocks of the same move, to slow randomized attacks with varying blocks to slow sparing and finally actual sparing. They still had many kinks left to iron out but they at least had some basics to work with. The blocks they learned were the following.


    heights


    Jodan: upper level or head and neck


    Chudan: mid level or torso/back


    Gedan: lower level below the belt, legs, hips


    basic blocks (Karate Blocks (Blackbeltwiki, 2017))


    closed fist blocks


    Age-Uke</a> - Rising Block( used for hits to the face fist is closed during block)


    Chudan-Uke ¨C Middle Level Block(for hits towards torso level sends blow outwards/ away from the body. Coupled with sidestep toward opposite side which bring you inwards toward opponent.)


    Gedan-Barai</a> - Downward Block ( for punches and kicks lower then torso. Block use a slight curve and should rotate the body 45 % while delivering the block.


    Sune-Uke ¨C Shin Block</a> use a kick using the shin to neutralise a kick then possibly advance inwards to kick them using the same leg)


    Uchi-Uke</a> - Inside or Inward Block (deflection starts inward going out wards sending it off course coupled with a side step towards the same side used to block)


    Soto-Uke</a> - Outside Block start outwards comes inwards


    Juji-Uke</a> - X Block (usually for high downward hits or low kicks)


    open hand blocks


    Shuto-Uke</a> - Knife Hand Block ( an open handed alternative to the previous blocks(like Uchi-uke) follows similar motions as them but allows for grabbing or knife hand strikes to the neck, collar bone,wrist...)


    Sukui-Uke</a> - Scoop Block (to catch a kick by backstepping or sidestepping slightly out of his maximum range while grabbing the leg in a scooping motion. Allows for leg immobilisation/ locks/sweeps)


    Teisho-Uke</a> - Palm Heel Block (similar to outside block but open handed for the karate version. Kungfu version one is standing straight and use an inward motion coupled with hip rotation to strike forearm.


    five days later, It was now time for their thirtieth actual spar. Cade had been overwhelming Aden but at least Aden was showing signs of improvement. Aden successfully managed to lengthen the fights and also get some hits in.. Cade and Aden entered the ring and bowed as they entered melee range. This time Alexander''s aura brought down Cade''s strength to a level near Aden''s own. They entered forward stance and waited for the start signal.


    As soon as the spar started Aden launched a right jab to Cade''s face. Cade deflected it with a rising block he then launched a right cross to Aden''s torso which was replied with an inside block as he shifted his body of to the side. Causing the blow to miss but before Aden could do something about it Cade quickly brought back his fist to form a guard.


    They both seemed to retreat out of melee range. They were looking for an opening. They circled each other. Then Aden thought he saw an opening. He quickly maneuvered himself into range in forward stance. he then launched multiple jabs and crosses while alternating between Jodan and Chudan. Cade delt with them with rising and inward blocks respectively. He then back stepped and used a scooping block. He caught Aden''s arm and spun into a backhand to his face.


    "point Cade! 1 to 0." Alexander announced aloud.


    "I''m not done yet! I''m going to catch up to you! Believe it!" exclaimed Aden, with a look of determination in his eyes, after having collapsed momentarily from the hit. He seemed drowsy after that hit but refused to give up.


    "Ha good speech but you''re going down!". Responded Cade with a wicked smile on his face. Clearly he was enjoying the battle. He had been becoming a little overconfident himself after his consecutive wins.


    "GOOD! They seem to be building up quite the rivalry. In just a few spars they have already started to put more variations to their moves. They seem to be feeding on each other''s fighting spirit. Neither wants to admit a loss so they keep pushing themselves. it''s a good thing my aura can bring them to a suitable level where they can challenge each other in technique and not pure speed/power." thought Alexander.


    They then prepared to resume sparing. "Ready. Fight!". As soon as the signal was given they rapidly entered melee range Aden decided to try using Boxing skills. He started weaving and hopping about launching combos but trying to avoid blows instead of blocking them. Cade continued using Karate skills opting to redirect or block blows while trying to set up counters. The melee kept going for a minute before Aden found an opening and launched an uppercut which sent Cade to the ground.


    "Point Aden! 1 to 1" called out Alexander.


    "Good job Aden! You can do it!" exclaimed Elena.


    "well shit you got me this time. Did do you think I''d go down that easy!" said Cade with a grin appearing on his face.


    "Yes finally sent em flying to the ground! I can consider myself his rival now. Sweet all those hours of training with gramps are paying off" thought Aden.


    "Begin!" called out Alexander.


    This time Cade decided to go full offence. He quickly close the gap to Aden launched a jab as a feint. When it got blocked he rotated into an elbow strike to the head which Aden blocked with an inward block. Aden then immediately launched a cross to Cade''s stomach which Cade dodged by sidestepping. They then kept the melee going for 2 minutes before Cade found his way into Aden''s guard and delivered a rising palm strike to his chin. Which caused Aden to be pushed off the ground and collapse a few meters further. Seemingly unable to get up.


    "Point Cade! 2 to 1. Count down 10!9!8!7!6!5!4!3!" at the 3 count Aden finally succeeded at getting back up. "Aden are you able to continue?" Aden nodded. "Fighters get Ready! Begin!" exclaimed Alexander.


    This time Aden went full defense in a backward stance. He kept his distance and would dodge or deflect most blows while waiting for a chance to strike. Cade understood this. So kept attacking while trying to avoid giving him any chances. Neither fighter could seem to make any headway. Until eventually, he inadvertently left himself open while advancing which Aden capitalized on by launching a hammer fist strike towards his head. The hit sent Cade to the ground and left him slightly dizzy as he got up.


    "Point Aden! 2 to 2! next point wins the spar! GIVE IT YOOOUUR ALLLLL MAGGOTSSSS! Ready! Begin!" screamed the old Tyrant. Meanwhile he was thinking that this was the closest his grandson had ever gotten to winning so far. He obviously knew that he was holding Cade battle potential back with aura but he was still proud of his grandson never the less.


    "This is getting intense let''s do this!" exclaimed Cade.


    "I''m going to win this time!" proclaimed Aden.


    "Ha we will see about that. Enough grand standing lets get back to the fight!" he said a sharp look appearing on his face.


    They then started exchanging blows, blocks, dodges and redirects. 5 minutes later, at this point both were starting to get tired. Cade launched a backhand to Aden''s head. In complete upset, Aden stopped it with a palm heel block, grabbed the arm and then launched a strike to Cade''s forehead.


    "The winner is Aden! His first win out of 30 battles. Treasure this Aden! The taste of hard earned victory!" exclaimed Alexander.


    "good job big brother!" exclaimed Elena with joy in her eyes.


    "I had underestimated my opponent something I had avoided doing all his time in the forest. I guess he''s not the only one that can get overconfident and lose his head. Meh who cares he did well! I''ll beat him next time!" thought Cade a smile still on his face.


    "Good job Aden. You can now be considered my true rival!" said Cade while going to shake his hand.


    "Haha finally after all these fight I won one! You can bet your ass I''m your rival! Better keep training or I''ll keep beating you." said Aden with a fire in his eyes.


    They then settled down for the night and ate a deer they had found along the way.

 Chapter 11: Kicks and dilemma

    The following morning they all woke up early hoping to bypass the ¡°Wake up maggots!¡± wake up call they seemed to be getting every morning. This caused our resident sergeant from hell to frown as they seemed to be getting used to routine.


    ¡°No! My wake up calls! They can¡¯t already be getting used to it. That¡¯s not fair! I ¡°educated¡± the last guard patrol for 3months before they actually caught on!¡± he muttered aloud with tears in his eyes. These tears and his sudden outburst made the kids look at him with an expression of ¡°WTF? On their faces.


    ¡°Hum hum!¡± trying to recover from his outburst and redirect their focus away from it.


    ¡°Morning maggots, today we start tackling kicks. Also we will work on your balance. Any time your stance or techniques aren¡¯t stable enough I''ll push you down. So who here can demonstrate a proper kick?! Huh no one is volunteering, I guess you guys know you don¡¯t know shit! GOOD!¡±


    So for the next day Alexander taught them basic Karate Kicks. He ran them through drills, monitored their movements and made them hit trees until they started being sore and bleeding He ran them absolutely ragged. They learned the following kicks.


    (video¡¯s and some descriptions of how to perform the kicks can be found on www. blackbeltwiki.com)


    Side or roundhouse kicks


    Mawashi Geri</a> or Roundhouse Kick: bringing the back leg forward on an angle with the knee bent. Then pivot your front foot while whipping out your leg and hitting with the flat of the foot. The key is speed which ends up generating the power.


    Ura Mawashi Geri</a> - Reverse Roundhouse Kick or Hook Kick : bring your back leg towards you and settle in a stance with the back foot in a straight line facing 180 degrees away from opponent. Lift front knee up straight, rotate hip out, bring the leg backwards while extending. Can be used with the heel or the bottom of the foot with a snapping motion.


    Ashi Barai</a> - Foot Sweep : advance forward with back leg while sweeping inward with the bottom of the ankle to destabilize opponents leg. Easily followable with a roundhouse kick.


    Yoko Geri kekomi ¨C thrusting Side Kick</a>: while pivoting your front leg towards 180 degrees, you bring your back leg forward with your knee at waist level and foot facing opponent, you then thrust your foot towards your opponent utilizing either the sole or blade of your foot.


    Yoko geri keage or snapping side kick: a variation of side kick where you use the front leg. It is quicker but weaker then it¡¯s counter part. You lift your forward leg angling the knee to point to the target. You then lift and thrust.


    front kicks


    Mae Geri</a> - Front Kick: bring back leg forward lift the knee to roughly 90 degrees then extend the foot striking with the ball of the foot. Their are variations to this kick utilizing the front leg in a snapping motion Keage or simply utilizing different striking areas.


    Hiza Geri</a> - Knee Strike: starts off similar to a front kick but the rising motion of the knee continues into the kick. Often paired with a grab. Kick can be at an angle instead of fully straight.


    Kakato Otoshi Geri</a> - Axe Kick : lift back leg above opponent and bring it down like an axe. This is used mostly for the head and shoulders. Leaves you open to groin level counters.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    They then spent the following 2 days endlessly advancing while kicking. They were getting tired of these endless days of repeating a move over and over instead of normal walking.


    ¡°Teacher why do we keep doing these exercises while moving every time we learn something. It¡¯s repetitive as hell. There is a reason right?¡± asked Aden with an annoyed expression on his face.


    ¡°Yea why do we keep doing this?¡± stated Cade


    ¡°Are you questioning my methods maggots? GOOD! I¡¯ll tell you why but you will get punished for questioning your teacher! I have taken it easy of you Maggots for too long ! Elena will keep doing regular training but you I will teach you like I did with the guards back in Kingston. Muhahahahhahaha!¡± Said Alexander with an almost demonic grin on his face and an absolutely giddy air.


    Gulp!! That last sentence made both Elena and Aden sweat as they had overlooked one of those lessons.


    ¡°OK there are 3 reasons I¡¯m teaching you like this. One is simply for the repetition. During these repetitions I can also correct any flaws I observe. A wise martial artist said: ¡°I don¡¯t fear the martial artist that knows 1000 techniques. I fear the one who has practised one technique 1000 times.¡±. Another reason is so it becomes automatic for you. You shouldn¡¯t have to think about how to do a technique during combat. You should only have to think of how you will apply it in combat. My third reason is simply to help build your strength as you all have been under my aura whenever you are practising this way.¡±


    ¡°Currently you haven¡¯t actually begone Ki cultivation. You are at the preparatory stage where you are accumulating more Ki. To start your path requires that you control the energy and start refining your body. The body tempering stage refines the body in the odd way compared to chi cultivators . This stage refines in order the blood vessels, bone marrow, bones, musculature(muscles/tendons/ligaments), organs, then your skin. A chi cultivator progresses from skin, muscles, organs and finally bones.¡±


    ¡°Now begins the fun! You have to fight with me 2 on 1. If you can¡¯t even touch me before supper you aren¡¯t getting any. I¡¯ll limit myself to one level of cultivation above you. Hell I wont even go on the offensive and I¡¯ll release the aura dampening your abilities. Get ready! begin!¡± said Alexander.


    Cade lunged at Alexander faster then he though possible. Cade overshot his mark. He then used a front snapping kick/ roundhouse kick combo aimed at the head followed by an elbow strike to the chest. This combo was easily dodged.


    ¡°Cade your moves lack control. it¡¯s understandable since you were acclimated to being suppressed by my aura for a couple weeks.


    Aden wasn¡¯t faring any better anything thrown at his grandfather never seemed to connect. He executed a front kick to Alexander¡¯s torso followed by a hook kick to his head. Both attacks were easily dodged.


    ¡°Aden your moves telegraph your actions too much. You have to learn to make them flow more naturally. Keep your eyes on the opponents eyes or shoulders don¡¯t focus where you want to hit. It gives you away.


    Both students then tried to time their attacks together to improve their chances. Aden launched into an axe kick while simultaneously Cade tried to go for a uppercut. The result was them getting in each other¡¯s way resulting in a worst overall outcome.


    ¡°You both are too focused on the opponent. You both don¡¯t take the background into account. it¡¯s why you get in each other¡¯s way. You both have tunnel vision. If you were facing multiple opponents you would easily lose track of them.¡± Alexander stated.


    Their teacher seemed to be able to dodge their attacks with the least amount of movement necessary. The sparing lasted another hour but the kids made no progress in hitting him. They were both exhausted and on the brink of collapse.


    ¡°Oh well time to end this spar. You both don¡¯t get supper tonight. Also think on the flaws I pointed out.¡± Alexander said with a smug look on his face.


    An hour later, Cade finished reflecting on his loss. He then noticed the moon was almost full. He had to make a decision.


    ¡°What do I do about the full moon/ transformation? I know if I can¡¯t see it it¡¯s not an issue but where can I go. it¡¯s not like their is a cave nearby. Do I let them know about the transformation? Do I simply run off? What will they think of me after they know? Will I still be able to pass off as a beastkin if I transform?.....¡± Cade seemed lost in thought.


    ¡°Penny for you thoughts?¡± asked Elena.