In the morning, James Ross wakes up from a nightmare about his family, and he wakes Acadia up next to him when she hears his screams.
She stood, rose from the bed, and said, "Uh, my head. Why are you screaming this early?"
When James heard her voice beside him, he got spooked and thought, 'Shit... I did that yesterday.'
He stands up from the bed, puts on his clothes, and says, "Okay, then, you are leaving my house right now, Acadia."
She looked at his face and said, "Why are you so pushy? Let me at least get up and dress up."
Then she stood up from the bed, put her clothes back on, and said, "I hope we see each other soon." After putting her clothes on, she leaves Ross's house straight away.
Ross shook his head in disappointment, 'I'm sorry, honey. I betrayed our marriage." He makes coffee for himself and sits on his couch, looking through pictures of his deceased wife and son.
He didn't last a minute looking at his wedding pictures and being with his family. He was crying so hard from looking at the images of his happy times that got taken away by the White Clan.
"Why did you two die instead of me?! Why was I not in the house when the fire started? Why did I arrive late? If I didn't, you two would still be alive right now! Why couldn't I at least rescue my son? Why am I suffering from not seeing you?! I am alone without you! Please come back to me!"
He raises his hand, trying to grab the air, thinking his wife and son will hold his hand, but nothing happens.
***
Also, his tears dropped onto the picture book's cover, making it wet. He cried for 30 minutes straight. Ross picks up a tissue beside him, wipes his tears, and stands up to put the photo book away, thinking, 'There is no use in crying, James. I will take drastic measures to destroy William and the White Clan!'
After putting the book away, he went straight to his car, driving to his old sensei to train for the tournament. He reached where his teacher was, parked his car, and went inside the forest next to the city he came from.
It didn't take long to find his teacher; she was meditating, separate from the rest of the forest, underneath a waterfall until Ross called her name.
"Long time no see, Piyusha sensei."
She didn't bother to open her eyes to see who was saying her name, so she said, "Who's this?" Ross replied, "It's me, James... James Ross."
She whispered, "James... James, why does that name sound familiar?" She thought more and remembered, "Wait, wasn't your dad Adam Ross?"
Ross answered, "Yes! He brought me here every Friday and Sunday as a teenager."
When she heard that, she opened her eyes, looked at his beautiful afro, and rushed to her former student. Her body and hair were dry because an invisible dome around her did not let her get wet from the waterfall.
While running, her pretty, long black hair moved with the sun shining, making it brighter than usual.
Her stunning black skin touched her former student's body. She hugged him tightly and said, "James, you have grown so much since last I saw you. You were a teenager, now an adult. But the away, Is your dad okay?"
James Ross was a little uncomfortable with her hugging him. He replied, "My dad died five years from natural causes, sensei."
She took a step back when she heard what he said. Without saying a word, tears dropped from her, but she didn't fully cry because she wanted to look strong in front of her former student. Ross noticed this and went to sit on a plank of wood, staying quiet to let her have time.
"James, don't worry, I'm okay," She wiped her tears before saying that, then asked, "Why are you here?"
Ross replied, "Piyusha sensei, I am here to get stronger for the Ranker's Tournament."
Piyusha noticed Ross's left hand when she hugged him but did not say a thing when she heard James's dad, Adam, was dead, so now she asks.
"Oh, you are entering the Ranker's Tournament. I will help my students win it. But Anyway, I wanted to ask what happened to your arm. Did your arm get amputated or something?"
Ross replied, "It's a story for another time." James stopped and continued, "Anyway, sensei, this may be rude of me to ask, but did you age? I am asking you this because you looked the same as I last saw you."
Piyusha chuckled when she heard Ross say, and James replied from hearing his teacher giggle, "I guess it was rude of me to ask! Sorry, to a?!"
Before he completely says 'ask,' she cuts him by saying, "No... no, no. I don't think it wasn't nice. It was quite cute to ask me that. You, James, have the right to know what I am as a brilliant former student. Don't say it to anyone after hearing it."
She stopped and continued, "You see, I'm immoral. That means I don't die from old age and keep my beautiful body and face from my 20th."
Ross was shocked at what he learned about his teacher. It took a minute for him to understand what she meant, but when he did, he replied, "That means you have infinite Flow? How can humans have that much Flow when they're not gods?"
She replied, "You will not believe me, but my friend and I found and swallowed 'Immortal Flowers.' That's how I got immortal, but I don't have infinite Flow."
'Wow, It took me back to how much I missed the 21st century when I talked about it. I missed my best friend.' She thought.
Ross said, "Isn't Immortal Flowers a myth?" Ross thought about it and said, "Whatever, I don't care if you lied. I am here to train to get strong."
Piyusha replied, "Oh, Okay. Follow me, James." Ross followed her into the mountain where the waterfall was at.
***
She goes inside the waterfall, a full invincible shield made around her, making her not wet and not feel the pressure of the water. Ross stopped where no water was falling. Then she puts her hand on the rock behind the water and says, "Open!" The mountain and the water split open, revealing a big, hidden area.
"Welcome to the secret training place. I only showed one person besides you, James."
They were in a place with only three objects: two transparent tubes with motion sensors and VR headsets. In the middle of the site. In the distance, two monitors were on a table, an office chair, and a notebook with papers and a pen.
Ross saw this room and said, "What is this place?"
Piyusha replied, "I know you would say that, so Bob, come here!" She yelled. A male robot with white clothes came from two doors that led farther to the cave.
When he arrived, she said, "Here is Bob, my assistant. He will check our health and ensure nothing happens to our bodies while we are in the game."
Ross replied in confusion, "Heh? What do you mean by checking my health and making sure nothing happens? And what the hell is that tube?"
Bob replied with a robotic tone, "That tube is the vehicle going into the realistic virtual reality experience, or you humans call it, a VR game."
Ross replied, "Wait, your assistant is a robot, sensei? Then I don't trust it to watch my body. I wouldn't go inside the game."
She replied, "Yes, he's a Biologically Operated Bot, and don't worry, he's a kind robot. He will not be doing anything that causes harm to you and me, so trust me on this, James, and let's go into the game to train you because it is too dangerous in real life if I use my Flow."
Ross thought, 'If that's how I get stronger to protect people I care about, then fine. I am not letting that happen again!'
After his thought, he said, "Okay, I will do it." When Piyusha heard him, she smiled and went inside the tube, waiting for Bob.
The robot walked close to both tubes after James went inside, connecting objects where Ross and Piyusha were inside to his computer on his desk. Then he went inside and joined some monitors on them that told their heartbeat.
Then he goes to his disk and speaks, "Now, put your VR headsets on!" They did what Biological Operated Bot said, and then Bob started turning on the machines under his desk.
"Ready, set, and generate life!"
Suddenly, the real world was gone; for a second, James saw darkness until nature generated, so he stood on ventral dirt in the game. His teacher is 5 inches away, holding a baseball.
To be continued: