'This brat. Since I praised him a little, he had to jump out right when I was entering the climax of my past.'
Iwan thought to himself while the lady next to him was staring at him.
"Since you are sitting here with me in this rundown wreck yard, it means you failed to join any sect this year too."
The beautiful lady guessed while keeping an eye on Iwan's reaction.
Iwan didn't even flinch at her guess.
"You are wrong, my lady. Even though I am still here, in this random wreck yard found in some random corner of Tokyo, that doesn't mean you have reached the right conclusion."
Iwan told her with a confident look, but he couldn't hide the beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.
"How so? I hope you are not lying to me."
"Just tell me what happened."
Just when the lady urged Iwan to tell her the truth, Pudin jumped out of his shirt and landed after showcasing his agile skills.
Pudin landed after doing a never seen 720° flip.
'Mhuum~'
"Shut up, Old Pudin. I will tell her that myself."
Pudin cried out with a smile as though he had made a big achievement by dropping a spoiler that no one would understand.
Even though the lady couldn't understand Old Pudin, it was nice to see Iwan getting riled up for nothing.
"So?"
The lady stared at Iwan with an obvious look of 'I know what happened' while also looking forward to hearing Iwan's excuse.
"You may think that I failed to join the Sects but there is only one truth."
Iwan looked at the lady while raising his busted middle finger.
It wasn't because he was cursing the beauty in front of him, instead, he wanted the lady to put some importance on his upcoming words.
"What's that truth?"
The lady asked eagerly while ignoring the finger that Iwan had placed right an inch away from her face.
"The Sects of Japan failed miserably. None of them were up to par with my ultimate talent of being talentless so I had to reject all of them."
'Before they could throw me out like a ragged doll!'
Some words were filtered unconsciously by Iwan, unlike his face which was full of sad emotions.
Tears were rolling down his face, his mouth was curved downwards while he had his fist clenched.
His emotions showed how hard the people of the Martial Society had tried to get him to join their Sect but he declined again and again.
"They were even willing to sacrifice their willy."
Iwan continued while wiping off his stream of tears.
The beautiful lady shook her head and finally did something that made Iwan quiet.
'Fwish~'
A hug from the beautiful lady acted like an instant heart pain relief for Iwan.
'Mhuum~~~~'
On the other side, Old Pudin cried out in jealousy while the lady was being affectionate with Iwan.
Iwan glanced at Pudin and smirked.
'Mhuum~'
"Thank you! I needed that."
Knowing that the lady was a martial artist from one of the great sects, Iwan didn't allow the hug to go for too long.
"Ahmm~"
Iwan was at a stop.
'What should I do now?'
A thought passed through his mind that made his body tremble.
He had reached the end of his road.
No Sect had been left unchecked by his visit.
There was also no sect that hadn't kicked him out in a very humiliating way.
Orthodox.
Unorthodox.
Good.
Evil.
Light.
Dark.
Religious.
No matter what category the Sect belonged to, when it came to Iwan they all acted in the same way.
As if he wasn't even a human in their eyes.
'Was I just a bulk of mass to them? Or, did they treat me like an animal because I was always accompanied by Pudin? That can't be. Even Pudin managed to become a disciple of the Forest Beast Sect. Even a bear had more talent than me.'
After going over his past with someone Iwan was also opening up to himself in his mind.
His body and mind were becoming one. Slowly he was coming to peace with the talentless being called Iwan.
The beautiful lady didn't interrupt Iwan. She could see the myriad of expressions appearing and disappearing from Iwan's face.
A few minutes passed in silence and Iwan finally looked at Pudin.
"Old Pudin, It was a nice journey. It's time for our farewell."
Iwan told Pudin with a serious tone.
It was more of a glimpse of the coming future than just a farewell.
"Mhuum~"
Old Pudin cried in reluctance but Iwan only shook his head.
"I know you can be with me since you are a remote disciple of the Forest Beast Sect, but... it would be better for you if you stop that. We have already reached the end of my journey of becoming a martial artist."
Iwan knew how Pudin had sacrificed his early years as a disciple but even then with his talent alone, Pudin was able to reach the checkpoint of becoming an inner disciple of his Forest Beast Sect.
"If you had stayed in the Sect, you would have become an Elder. Elder Pudin~"
Iwan clasped his hands while contemplating the future of Pudin if he had stayed in the Sect.
Iwan closed his eyes as a tear rolled down from both of his eyes.
"Fwish~"
Two giant thick hairy arms covered Iwan as he was pulled in an embrace.
"Pudin, you."
Iwan opened his eyes and found himself getting crushed by Pudin who was using the 'ShaShift', a shapeshifting martial art that only the inner disciples of the Forest Beast Sect were taught.
It not only allowed Pudin to unleash his hidden strength but also allowed him to take a shape that most suited his talent.
With a burst of emotions that Old Pudin was going through because of the unforeseen separation, Pudin lost control of his strength and unconsciously used his ShaShift on Iwan.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
Iwan screamed in pain as he could feel the pressure slowly causing his ribcage to contract.
Because of his scream, Pudin released Iwan and changed back to his smaller height.