"Yes. Who does not know of the wanderer"
"Umm, lots of people I guess?"
"Now that I think about it, you're right. Who remembers old people like us. Haha, he must have really lost those charms he's so proud of"
"..."
I really didn't know what to say. I guess all old men are just crazy. Must be because of their age.
"So, why am I here?"
"You have proven yourself to be worthy"
"Of what exactly?".
The old dude stands up and asks me to follow him. He took me to another room and told me to head inside. It was quite a spacious room. Maybe this is the training area. The old dude entered after me and closed the fusuma door behind him.
The girl remained in the other room. I saw there where a lot of portraits at the other end of the room. A whole collection of old dudes.
"I see the old masters have called you forth. They have already deemed you worthy".
What did he mean by that? I just came to look at some pictures. What's so special? I don't think this old dude can lay a finger on me but I'm scared for my mental health.
"Haha. Now, now. Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy. Yet. These are no ordinary paintings. These paintings have a part of the souls of the old masters. They only reveal themselves to the worthy".
I always knew I was special but who knew that even ghosts love me? Well, it is to be expected if you think about it.
"Now, for the real reason I called upon you here. You are chosen to inherit the ancient martial arts of this dojo".
I look at him disgusted.
"No way I want to learn some stupid moves from a dusty old man. Especially a 'crazy' dusty old man"
"Haha, be careful of what you say young man. Don't judge a book by its cover"
"So, how am I supposed to judge you, old man?"
"How about this, if I hit you with just one strike and you can still remain conscious then you may reject. However, if you fail, you must learn my martial arts, how about that?"
"That somehow sounds like I get the shorter end of the stick"
"Well, how about this, I'll give myself a handicap by only being able to use two fingers"
"Aight bet".
A cold splash of water hits my face. I jolt up.
"I fainted?"
"You lost the bet".
What even happened? All I remember was agreeing to the bet. The girl proceeds to dump another bucket full of water on my head.
"I'm awake already!"
Damn, that girl is annoying. Another potential name for my list.
"So, what am I supposed to do now? Pledge allegiance? Do a blood pact? Swear upon my honor to be your subordinate?"
"Haha, such a funny one. Traditions are good but I won't force you to follow it. Well, I would like it if you called me master"
"Fine. Master".
Well, supposing he is strong enough to make me pass out without even knowing what happened he must be really strong. Maybe it isn't so bad to learn from someone than learning by myself.
"So, what now?"
"Well, I only intended to exchange our greetings so there isn't really anything to do. You may leave now".
The girl guides me back to the cave and activated the door mechanism. It really is quite a cool mechanism. Well, now I'm finally free might as well go get lunch. I activated my eyePhone and opened the map app. I forgot this thing existed. I followed the path towards the mess hall. The girl said she had something else to do and disappeared off somewhere.
By the time I arrived the doors were closed shut. When I came closer a popup appeared.
[Lunchtime has ended. Please come earlier next time. Thank you]
What. The. Fuck?! That freaking old man!! How long did he keep me there?! I can practically see him laughing is ass off. Seriously, old men will be the death of me. I just decided to head back to my room to cry myself into depression before evening classes. I came inside the room like a zombie. Did Jeremy always look this tasty?
"Where were you all afternoon?"
"Who knows. Do you have any food by any chance?"
"Why? I thought you would be full considering today's lunch. Then again, I didn't see you since after classes till now. Don't tell me you missed lunch messing around?"
"Well, yes and no. I did miss lunch but I was busy with something else"
"Busy enough that you would forget to eat? Kinda sus bro".
I can't tell him I got my ass handed to me by some old man right? And I can't really tell him I was with that weird girl. He'll never let me live past it. Ughh.
"I was immersed in training my body to perfection" I answer with complete confidence.
"Whatever. You can starve for all I care"
"What happened to the old Jeremy? Man, I miss him. Having a girlfriend really does something to you huh?".
Oops. Did I go too far? Jeremy completely snapped. He pushed me over and pinned me down on the floor. I tried to resist but he was too strong.
"Okay, I've had enough. First! Marie is not my girlfriend. We're just friends, capiche? Second, there is no more Jeremy that used to take care of you okay? That me might as well be dead at this point. We're adults training to be assassins. We have to be prepared for everything. Drill that into your small brain of yours. Lastly, I don't think you should be messing around when you can't even do anything considering the pitiful state you're in"
"Fine! Just get off me man, geez".
He let go of me. What ever is his problem? Is this really the guy that was bawling his eyes out just the other day? Man. We just sat there is silence for a few hours minding our own business after that little scuffle.
"Well, I guess I'll go on ahead".
I couldn't really take the tension so I just decided to leave. We had about 20 more minutes before afternoon classes. We had sparring practice today but I was actually getting quite nervous. I was supposed to partner up with Jeremy but I'm afraid I'll just be a burden. None of us can't really get any practice in since our levels are too far apart.
Besides, I doubt it would be easy after that argument we had. I let out a deep sigh. It was then that the weird girl suddenly came out of nowhere and approached me. Is she a ninja or something?
"Come, follow. Master looking for us"
"What about sparring practice? By the way, I still don't know your name".
She looks at me curiously.
"My name is Ayaka if you not know yet. Is okay. We have permission for the sparring practice".
Well, if she says it's okay so be it. I'll just pin the blame on her or the old dude if anything happens.
We head to the same dead end where the dojo was. Ayaka activated the mechanism and we both entered the cave. I still can't help but get overwhelmed when I see the beautiful scenery. We entered the dojo and greeted the old dude. I merely did a standing bow.
"Greetings, master"
"Haha, how well mannered. Wonderful".
I ignore his remark. He told me to follow him to the training room while Ayaka was doing her own practices elsewhere.
"Hey, master. Is it really okay for us to be here like this?"
"Well, why not? They should let us old men have at least this much freedom, don't you think?"
"Yeah, why not" I answer uninterested.
"So, how do you prefer training? The easy way, or the hard way?" he asks me with a mischievous grin.
"The easy seems like it's easy so the easy way please"
"Ah, I thought you might be worried, missing five months of precious time. Not to mention you are falling behind your dear friend, am I right? Well, let's take it easy. It's better for this old man anyway" he answers with a cheeky smile.
I suddenly remembered the argument with Jeremy. Then I had flashbacks from being tortured. Never again. That lit a fire inside me.
_____
Was I too harsh back there? Well, it was mostly true. He needs to face reality. I can't always be taking care of him like way back then. Why am I thinking back on those times? I need to toughen up for god's sake. For both us. He needs to get stronger. I know I won't always be able to help him like that time. I just have to grit my teeth and face this.
And what's his deal with Marie? I keep telling him to lay off but he just keeps getting at it. I think I'll just head to sparring practice. Maybe he'll apologize to me then. Well, knowing him that might be highly unlikely. Well, whatever. I'll cross that bridge once I reach it.
~
That's weird. Practice will start at any moment. Where is he? Don't tell me he'll be late. And here I thought that he was finally starting to change. I guess soon I'll have to take matters into my own hands. Again.
The instructor has arrived. Erik's still not here. Where is he?
"Everyone may begin! Jeremy, you'll be my partner again for today"
"How about Erik?"
"Well, he won't be coming to sparring sessions any time soon. We have other plans for him".
What other plans? That's weird. Maybe rehabilitation or something? Well, he seemed okay but who knows what's wrong with him. I'll just leave it up to the academy then. I just hope he doesn't idle around at least.
_____
"You want me to what? That's ridiculous! What kind of person is able to do that?!"
"Hahaha, you heard me right young man. I thought you wanted to do it the hard way?"
"Well, I did say that.. but this is just borderline impossible!"
"Well, too bad you can't. Maybe we'll just have to proceed doing this the easy way. Too bad. Jeremy might be out there doing some ridiculous training"
"Wait. You know what? I was never really known to give up".
Man, this old dude is crazy. How does he expect someone to fight against 'that'?
_
Well, how did I get here? Let's go back to when I said I wanted to do it the hard way. It was back in the training room. The old dude laughed mischievously and went to the old masters' paintings. There was a hidden panel behind one of the paintings. He inputted the passcode and an opening was starting to appear in the floor.
There was a staircase hidden under the training room floor. The old dude guided me down to the supposed basement. He unlocked a door at the end of the staircase which led to a huge, modern training room. The walls and floors were made of metal and huge LED panels lit up the whole room.
There it was. In the middle of the room just sitting there. It was a huge bipedal mech roughly around 9ft. tall and 7ft. wide. The old dude handed me a metal bat.
"Good luck"
"I'm supposed to take down that?!"
"Yes, if possible. Don't worry, I'll be sure to deactivate it if you lose a limb or something".
Well, god, if you're out there, please save me this time as well.
The old dude went to different room with a glass window overlooking the training room. He then activated the mech. As it booted up, I could hear lots of mechanical parts whirring. The machine then stood still for a moment. Suddenly, it turned my way.
"Target locked" it said as it rushed towards me.
Shit. The machine tried to stomp me but I just barely evaded it. It launched another attack, swinging a pole towards my face. I ducked, successfully dodging its attack only to be hit by another swinging pole.
That threw me a few feet away. Damn, that hurts. The machine suddenly charged towards me again. I tried jumping to the side but my legs wouldn't move. What now?! It must be the backlash from that attack just now. Shit. The mech is rapidly closing the distance. I brace myself.