"Adam, come here and meet Peter! He is our local hunter," Andrew shouts.
I lift my head from a book I'm reading and see the old man with a stick-thin middle-aged man. I observe him as I walk towards them. He is wearing light green trousers, a dark green tunic, and a brownish cloak. The bottom half of his face is covered with a dark brown beard that matches his eyes and long shaggy hair. If I didn't know better, I would think he was homeless.
"Nice to meet you, Peter. My name is Adam and I'll be under your instruction," I say as I bow to him.
"This one has manners, it seems. Must have raised him right! I just hope you haven't raised him soft," Peters says with a smirk.
"You will see," Andrew says, also smirking, "catch, Adam."
I catch a pair of wooden daggers with loops at the end.
"The real ones will be done in a week, but I won't let you have them till Peter approves that you won't cut off your own fingers," Adam strictly tells me.
"Thanks, old man," I say while inspecting the daggers. They are about 12-inches long and curve towards the tip. They're also strangely heavy for wood.
"HAHA. Kid, you won't be using them yet, anyway. I need to get you in shape first," Peters says while chuckling.
I cast a doubtful eye over Peter's frame.
Peter smirks and takes me out to the garden while Andrew wonders off. In front of me is an obstacle course that seems to have appeared from nowhere. How did I not hear this being made in the garden?
"This is going to be fun! Haven't tortured - oops, I mean trained - a young one in a long time," he says, winking at me.
"The start line is over there to your left. From there, you will sprint to the first log, then balance atop it while keeping a quick pace. Next, there'll be 5 logs at increasing heights - climb the first log and jump from log-to-log till you get to the rope. Afterward, slide down the rope and crawl under the netting nearby the swinging logs. Run through the logs without getting hit by them. Finally, you'll arrive at the wall. Climb it, but keep in mind that the grips are in constant motion. The rules are simple: if you stop, you start again; if you fall, you start again; if you get hit by a log, you start again," Peter explains, far too enthusiastically.
This shouldn't be too hard, should it?
"I'm ready," I tell Peter.
I run to the first long, only using half my real speed to avoid suspicion. When my foot touches the log, it starts to turn due to not being fixed to the ground. I go flying, my foot sliding one way and my body sliding the other. I land face-first in the wet mud. I groan as I sit up and look over to Peter, laughing so much he's in tears.
"Evil douche bag," I mutter under my breath as I stand up and brush myself off. I go back to the start, focus, and start running again. When I approach the log, I quickly step on its left side, and while it spins I place my right foot on the right side, lightly pushing the log to the left then right, trying to keep a quick pace. Doing this, the log remains balanced, and I easily make it to the end without stopping. I quickly climb the first log only to notice that all the other logs are much higher up than they seemed on the ground. Without stopping, I jump towards the lowest log with just over ¾ of my full strength. I shoot up and I still can't reach the log. As I fall, I panic thinking I'm going to hurt myself, but when I do hit the ground, I notice there are huge leaf piles at the base of each log to break my fall. At least he isn't a complete ass, I think to myself.
"Wow, decent jump, kid, but there is an easier way," he says with a hint of mystery.
I get up, brush myself down, and start again. The first log is easy now. Without pause, I jump to a log on my left. Then, planting my feet against the bark, I push upwards towards a smaller log. I go up flying and catch the end of the next log. I repeat the same for the remaining logs, but I start to feel out of breath and struggle to go on. Consequently, I quickly lose my balance on the rope and fall to the ground.
"Kid, take few minutes to rest," Peter shouts.
I walk towards Peter and sit down next to him, catching my breath.
"Why are you not using KI? It's impressive that you got this far without it, but I didn't plan on making you do it KI-free till you could at least complete it every time with KI," Peter says confused.
Wait, that's right - I can use KI like that! Stupid system helps me out but doesn't teach me how to properly use it.
"How did you know I wasn't using KI when Andrew is the only KI user?" I ask.
"That's a long story. All you need to know is that I used to have a core and now I don't," Peter says with a sad look in his eyes.
"Anyway, brat, use the KI in your body, and you'll feel like you have more energy than ever," Peter instructs me.
I flood my body with KI and feel like I've just had a full night's sleep. Wow, this is amazing!
Peter smirks and tells me, "why don't you try again now?"