Kalek and Mei soon arrived at the Lee Da Kung Fu Academy about thirteen minutes later. At first look, it didn't seem like anything that grand or inspiring. It was more like a soldier's training ground for an oncoming war. As they approached the entrance, the thought suddenly occurred to Kalek. "Uh Mei, just exactly how does one get into such an academy like this?"
The look of realization on the golden cat's face troubled him as she forgot that one part. "Oh no! I am very sorry, Kalek! There is only one way to be accepted into the academy and that is through a tryout session in a few days."
"Which is?" he asked with uncertainty.
"To pass through a heavily triggered gauntlet in order to be accepted into the school. The only thing you must do in order to make it into the school is to bring back a little red flag on the other side of the gauntlet of traps. Only then can you be accepted in the academy."
Kalek felt a bit discouraged about going through an obstacle that required him to use extra caution. He never realized how serious kung fu could be. He made a promise though; and if he was to have perfection of oneself, he would have to consider this as an obstacle that he would have to overcome. A part of the mountain of success to conquer if he was to get any further. And it all starts by first stepping through those doors.
Crossing into the academy, Lee Da was the kind of training school that he first imagined it to be. To his right, Sumatran rhinos were in formation training with the staff. The way they all moved together as one unit was amazing. Such discipline and unity in each of their movements made Kalek eager to copy and do the same as they do.
But that would have to wait after he completes the gauntlet. To the left of him, stone steps leading up to where sat what looked four small slightly orange raccoons. Unbeknownst to Kalek, they were actually red pandas and there they sat stoically; watching the students from their seats. As they saw their star pupil approach them, they simultaneously raised their hand to cease the training exercise. In an instant, the rhinos stopped and stood at attention.
Approaching the four masters, Mei and Kalek bowed before them as they returned it with a nod. When they spoke, it was like they spoke one after the other in sentences. "Welcome Mei Ling, we expected you to come back after handling with yesterday's emergency."
"We suppose HE is the reason you stayed the night in the village?" The one that asked this nodded to Kalek.
Mei responded as she kneeled and bowed her head, her fist settling in her palm stretching outwards. "Forgive me for not responding sooner, masters. I had good reason in bringing this man. The villagers were attacked by croc bandits and I was on my way to intercept. The wolverine before you named Kalek was the first to beat me to it."
"This man you say?"
"Yes. And he was able to fend them off on his own."
"Wait, you allowed him to face these bandits ALONE?"
A sheepish look evolved upon her face. Trying to help, Kalek stepped forward respectively. "If I may, masters, I was first there at the village before Miss Ling was arriving to help. It all happened by mere coincidence and I had no idea if the village was under someone's protection or not. I had to step in and do something, I'm not one to just stand idly by." He then went on to explain all that had led to what happened before and after the whole skirmish.
"And how well did you 'step up' to these bandits, Mister Kalek?"
"It wasn't easy, but I was able to fend them off. Even if I did scared them off, I doubt they'll ever stay away from Wang Fu village. All the more reason why I wish to train here."
"It's true, masters," Mei added. "The townsfolk can back up the story about what happened, as do I. It's also why I hoped to have him train here. There IS potential in him as I had witnessed beforehand."
The four masters turned to each other and discussed it amongst themselves. After a while, they reached a decision. "If you are to train here, Kalek of the Americas, you must first pass the test we give to ALL newcomers that wish to train at Lee Da. Do well, and we may consider you to join us."
"I do accept and I understand, masters of Lee Da. And I thank you for the opportunity to prove myself." He kneeled down and bowed his head as he did so.
"Until the day arrives, you ARE welcome to stay here until then."
"Mei Ling shall provide you with a room for you to stay at. You both are dismissed for now."
"Thank you, masters." After exchanging bows, Mei and Kalek went ahead to the guest rooms. The students resumed their training as they passed them. They soon entered a small long and squared building lined with bedroom after bedroom. "So what do you think?" she asked hopefully.
"Hmm? Oh I, uh, I like it. Thank you again for whatever done for me so far, Mei."
"It's my pleasure, Kalek. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"There is actually. I don't suppose you have any more details about this obstacle course that all newcomers have to do?"
"Well, all I can tell you is that you should prepare for any surprises and to be careful not to set anything off. Other than that, you are welcome to observe our academy if you wish. But I must advise you that as long as you remain respectful, you shall have no problems. Otherwise, it would not make such a good impression with the masters."
"Dutifully noted." He figured he could get an overhead view of the course to get an idea of what he might have to work with, to become prepared to not go out so easily like some of the other newcomers might. "Thank you once again, Mei. I can handle the rest from here." He bows to her in thanks.
Mei bowed back as she went to leave him be for now. "I'll be back with a schedule in case you were interested in knowing what to expect routinely should you choose to accept." He nodded in acknowledgement and she left.
He observed the room he was staying at. It was a quaint little room with a cot instead of a bed. He had never slept on a cot before, nor had he ever been to such a place as this. He laid on the cot to test it out, unlike the beds he was use to it seemed flat and a bit uncomfortable. But he just had to do with it for now. His real focus was passing this obstacle course. He decided that when everyone was asleep tonight, he would sneak out of his room and investigate the obstacle course to get an idea visually in his head. Once getting himself familiar with everything, Kalek decided to take a look around the vicinity of the place.
The whole place seemed like a small fortified town, only instead of earth it was nothing but wooden floor. With a few large buildings, the whole place felt a little dull. Seeing that a few of the students were on their free time, he thought he'd use the time to find this gauntlet of passage.
He looked around a little bit until searching left and saw a wooded wall about fifteen feet wide and seven feet tall. In the center of it, two large wooden doors stood. Seeing no one bothered by him, he goes over to have a look at it. Through the opened doors, he could see a collection of rotating, steel-studded wooden posts and at the far end of the gauntlet was a red flag which seemed to be the objective. But what the objective was he had yet to confirm.
"Hey! You there!" a voice called to him startling him. Kalek looked for the direction the voice was coming from and found that it came from a large water buffalo walking up to him. He looked rough and gruff in appearance and as he walked up to the wolverine, he was taller than him by a foot. "The challenge for new students doesn't start in a few days."
"I do apologize sir." Kalek bowed in forgiveness. "I was only getting a look at what I was up against. I had no intention of being impatient and trying to pass it without permission."
Before anything else could happen, Mei Ling soon walked up to the both of us. "Everything okay over here?"
"I was just questioning this man about why he was inspecting the gauntlet," the ox explained to her.
The golden cat looked over at Kalek. "Is this true?"
Sheepishly, Kalek nodded. "Y-yes, but not for the reason you think it might be. I only wanted to see what the course looked like so I could mentally prepare myself for what to expect."
Chuckling, Mei shook her head. "As much as I love the mindset of preparation, I'm afraid it's more 'prepare for the inevitable', Kalek. It's alright, instructor Shuǐniú. He's just very eager to learn."
"Well alright," said the gruff buffalo with a snort. "I've got my eye on you, Kalek." He then made a gesture at him as he said so before heading over to a group of rhino students were just standing around and began chewing them out.
Kalek, looking sheepish, grinned a small grin at Mei. "Eh sorry about that. And thanks for backing me up."
Mei let out another little chuckle as she folded her arms. "Are you really that eager to get in?"
"No…I mean I just want to do great." He scratches the back of his neck with nervous certainty. "I guess I'm a little bit of an overachiever."
Mei rubbed a paw along his arm. "From what I've seen so far, I think you'll have no problem doing well at this challenge. I know you can." Seeing him still feeling a little less confident, she then made him a proposal. "I'll tell you what. If you do fail at the gauntlet, I promise to still teach you." She offered him a handshake. "Deal?"
Looking at her then back at her, Kalek then smiled and shook her hand. "Deal."
Over the next few days, Kalek took from what he's learned and trained for the gauntlet. From shadow boxing to basic exercises, he made ready for whatever would come to be. He also spent time during the days observing Mei and the other students as they trained and honed their skills.
Soon, the day finally arrived. The wolverine stood amongst twelve other prospects of various species as the summer sun shines down on them like the Earth's greatest spotlight. The challenge was simple: capture the flag at the other end without being knocked out. As Kalek waited in anticipation, he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked to see that it was Mei Ling. "Hey stranger, you all ready for this?"
"I've been waiting for this since getting here." He then began to have a little shot of doubt as he fidgeted a little.
Mei smiled and placed a hand on him. "Don't worry, don't forget what we talked before. You'll be fine."
"I know, but still…" Seeing him still feeling nervous about this, Mei then thought of something that would calm his nerves. She then kissed his cheek and made him blush a little. Before he could say anything, instructor Shuǐniú rang the bell and the challenge began. The test went as expected, that the candidates walked right in there and ended up flat on their back with or without their teeth. Twelve were down and out, and then there was one. With one nervous gulp, Kalek shook off his nerves and cleared his head. He was mentally prepared for this and he was not going to be the next loser.
The foreigner stepped forward and entered the gauntlet. He then tried to remember the devices that were activated by the previous candidates and kept a sharp awareness for them. Kalek took only a few steps forward until he heard the first device activated: a large log swinging from the right! He quickly spun out of the way, dodging the ramming piece of wood. At that moment, one of the pillars moved spun a spiked arm at him. The wolverine met it with a cross block with his left arm and as soon as he did that, he acted on reflex and cross blocked it with the other.
All of a sudden, he felt the floor give way as a trap door opened up from under him making everyone there gasp. Before he fell through, Kalek managed to grab the floor by the edge of his claws. Hefting himself with every possible straining muscle he could, he huffed and hoisted himself back onto the floor as he swayed his feet to catch the edge of the opening. He then wriggled upon the more solid part of the floor and stopped to regain some of his strength. A sigh of relief came from the crowd especially Mei. She hoped that he would do well, and so far, he's lasted longer than the other prospects.
Once he felt ready to continue, Kalek slowly stood up and became more alert for anything else that might spring up on him. He pushed forward and blocked, dodged, punched and countered whatever came at him. There were a few times in which some of them landed a hit on him, sometimes a little harder than he anticipated and making him stagger a little. But he pushed on with sheer determination and undying will fueling him on. Nearing the end, he turned it up a notch and punched some of the pillars loose dismantling them, then sprung for the flag before making a roll past two last swinging logs.
And there before him was the flag, his one key to becoming a better protector for those in need. He grabbed the flag and hoisted it above his head in victory with a smile as bright as the sun. The crowd cheered for him as they whooped and hollered for his success as Mei came up to him and hefted his other arm in helping him celebrate. As of this moment, the wolverine was going to begin the next of many steps in his quest to become a better defender for those in need of it the most. The difficult part of it was over, now the rest was up to him.