After the commotion that was stirred before, Asahi muttered to himself as he tried desperately not to fidget and mess with stuff.
"I still can't believe last night was the first challenge. I almost died, not to mention almost had my limbs cut off. I… I can't possibly imagine what the second one would be."
Conveniently enough, just after Asahi had said that, Toivo said as he dragged him out the room.
"Well if you want to gather any attraction from a woman, especially of that of your type, then you have to do the hard work first. Nothing easy comes from working for something. So, I'm not setting you up for slack now, you here?"
Asahi nodded his head.
"Okay."
"Good, then get your pansy butt down here and let's go outside! I have a plan for you."
Before Asahi could react, Toivo grew impatient and dragged the young man down the stairs, toward the front doors, leading him straight to the backyard of the mansion.
It was downpouring like crazy outside.
Rain droplets soaked his hair as he felt the mud and moist grass bristles tickle his bare feet. He never guessed that it would rain today, especially when he had seen the tame weather he saw moments ago. It could make the challenge even more difficult for him as he thought about slipping on the mud, tripping on a branch, or dirtying himself. He took a sigh and grabbed the strong silver blade given from Toivo.
"So… all I have to do is fight these training dummies in the rain? Sounds easy enough."
Toivo chuckled.
"Ha, no one said it would be easy."
A silence dawned up in the conversation. Asahi caught sight of five human-shaped, cotton-made dummies that stood in a relatively strange pattern. One was suspended above a wooden box, another was among a dirty ditch, and the last one stood among a clean stone plate.
But despite that, Asahi felt a relatively calm feeling when he heard the harmony of the showers. As he clutched onto the hilt of the blade, he heard a loud holler echo from behind.
"You have five minutes! If you don't destroy them all, you will have to start over!"
Asahi's gray eyes shrunk in horror.
"What?!"
"You heard me! Now, go! Or else, we will be standing here in the rain, all day long!"
When he took his first step, suddenly he was tossed into the dirty pit, sliced and destroyed from the thorns attached to the dirt walls, then tried to climb up the damp pit. Asahi took his moment to recollect as he began tackling the dummies.
"Five minutes. I only have… f-five minutes." He took out his sword and pierced it straight through the cotton neck of the dummy, forcing it to topple down and shred.
"Yes."
(GROWL)
The more Asahi was active, the more he began to realize. There was one thing the barely defensive young man never thought of when he accepted this challenge.
That if he were to mess up, his energy would be wasted and he would have to start over.
He even forgot that he never ate a meal today, so in contradiction to these drastic conditions, Asahi would have to hear his loud irritated growls from his stomach AND the loud downpour.
In all honesty for Asahi, this challenge could be even worse than the first one.
. . .
His hair was drenched, his arms were bruised, and he panted heavily as he ran desperately and continued this cycle of jumping into the pit, destroying the dummy, and then trying to climb back up. But each time he did it, he always failed the climbing part.
A desperate sweat blended in with the rain droplets that slid down his face as he vaulted over the dirt pit and dragged the silver sword across the damp ground. It had been two full minutes and all that he managed to get was only one of the three dummies.
Before he knew it, time was up.
Toivo hollered as Asahi practically dragged his entire body in exhaustion.
"Get up! It's been five minutes. You have been doing this exact same thing for seven times, and you STILL failed."
"P… Please, just let me take a break."
As the rain droplets continued prodding on their heads, Toivo slapped the young man across the face, crossed his arms, and yelled seriously.
"No! I don't care if your body is tired or not. My past students who have endured this challenge know that this one is the one that TRULY sparks an emergence for their bravery. If you can't pass this and instead, give up… then you will be kicked out, and won't be fed."
A mere exhibition of fussy diffuseness came from the panting boy as he pathetically tried to get back on his feet.
"Oh come on! Weren't you friendly just a minute ago?"
At that moment, a new and overmastering impulse came from Toivo as he backed away and turned from disappointment. He answered as Asahi kicked his legs upward.
"Real men never give up, but endure. They endure their problems until they fix it at the expense of pain. If you want a beautiful woman to accompany you when you're in slumber, then you have to consider what I am saying. If you want to defend yourself and make your enemies know your place, then you have to endure the pain. Isn't that the sole REASON on why you are here?!"
Tovio shifted his angry glare at Asahi and approached him. Although he knew what the boy was capable of with the silver sword, instead of letting him keep it…
"Give me that!" He took the blade away from Asahi's grasp and replaced it with a worn, dull, and rusted-up sword. An unrelenting stare came from the boy's gray eyes. He bared his teeth and tightened his fists in irritation and rage, falling into disbelief. Toivo shouted as Asahi watched him toss the silver sword into the air and fly away into the distance.
"That never belonged to you. A pansy boy doesn't deserve power unless they earned it. Now, go and destroy those three dummies now! I'll give you some leeway. I will increase the time limit by three minutes. Therefore, you will have eight minutes to do it. If you can't destroy all of those three before that time, you and your other "friend" will be kicked out of the house and banished from this place, never to see me again."
Asahi's realization clutched at the very heart of his usurping mediocrity now that he realized that the time had been extended.
When his hopeless eyes watched as the silver blade he grew accustomed with, flew and disappeared into the thick vegetation, it made every single thing inside his body stimulate with rage.
He growled at Toivo with a tone of hatred and pride.
"I'll show you, old man. I'll show you what this pathetic boy can DO!"
At that moment, conjured up by the conditions that fluctuated within this cold and relentless atmosphere, Asahi began to display his true potential. Without having to think, he jumped into the pit and quickly destroyed the cotton dummy, shredding it into fluffy white balls to where it belonged.
Then, although it was a challenge for him… Asahi…
"I'LL PROVE YOU!"
He immediately sprung up and grabbed onto the ledge, forcefully pulling his weight up and scrambling toward the next dummy. A complex smile of pride emerged from Toivo's face as he knew that his rudeness was what motivated the boy to persist and endure his problems.
"That's it… endure." But just before he had forgotten, Toivo stepped forward and hollered at the boy. "Do not let rage consume you! Be happy and prideful that you have gone this far. Only one minute has passed since that action."
"ONE MINUTE?!" Asahi stammered with shock as he bolted and carried the tattered sword up a rock. "T… Then if that's the case…" Shrouded deep within his drenched but radiant face, came a determined and wistful smile that was unlike he had ever felt before. A joy and urge that was so strong, that not even his doubts could have eclipsed him now. As he jolted across and spun the dull blade around, Asahi exclaimed with an hyperactive tone.
"Then I'll finish it!" All that the boy felt as he struck and spun his blade at each and every dummy was a weightless and flying feeling, as if he was atop the world.
One after another, although his blade was as dull and weak, he used the mixture of both his knuckles and feet to strike and destroy the remaining dummies.
(SHING)
(SHUNG)
Suddenly, before Toivo could see the boy, he saw both of the dummies collapse into piles of cotton and rubble; coupled by the streak of smoke that came with the unimaginable speed of Asahi's attacks.
He applauded and congratulated the boy as he dropped his dull sword and fell into his knees, embracing the moment.
"Very… very impressive. See, you don't need a sharp blade to strike. Even the finest sword plunged into the cleanest water, will eventually rust. No matter what sword you use, it will always share the same fate."
The wise old man quickly took the dull blade away from Asahi's hands and threw it into the ground.
"Huh?!"
All of it shattered into fragments and disintegrated into dust.
(BREAK)
The rain washed it from the crevices of the cobblestone floor. Toivo took a deep sigh and looked over to the girl behind Asahi, then informed as he stomped on the dust.
"No matter how good or strong your weapon is, if you don't have a brain, you will not win anything other than that temporary moment of victory."
Asahi's eyes widened. He understood completely what Tovio said. As the rain continued to rain down, the same powder-blue-haired maid tapped Asahi's back and informed him with Toivo.
"Um, sir… we prepared a meal for you inside."
She glanced forward at Tovio with a look of confirmation. The man nodded with a confident smile as he escorted the two back inside the mansion.
"Thank you, that is very appreciative and considerate of you, Kendra. After what the young man did, I KNOW for a fact that he will be successful and strong in the future."
After Asahi was forced to devour a pleasant meal of the mixture of sweet seasoned chicken, string beans, and several citrus fruits, Toivo would resume his training inside the mansion. Would this truly spark an awakening in Asahi, who knows?
* * * * * * *