"Since the Zendo Family is so powerful, why are they sending their children here?" Cypher asked curiously.
"You're asking the wrong person, cause I got no clue, but it looks like the Zendo Family and our Iron Back Gang have some secret dealings we aren't aware of." Kinto said, keeping his voice low.
"So who is this new recruit anyways?"
"Oh man, that's the best part, she's a beauty! You should have seen her, those legs, that chest, and don't even mention her behind!" Kinto said, nearly drooling.
"... You should probably watch your volume." Cypher said.
"Why? Oh heavens, she's behind me isn't she?" Kinto said, turning pale in fear as he whipped around quickly, fortunately seeing no one.
"No, but she could have been." Cypher said with a laugh.
"Don't joke like that, you could've killed me! Anyways man, continue with your training, I'm going to go say hello to the new recruit." Kinto said before prancing off in excitement.
Cypher could only shake his head as he watched Kinto run off. If he had that kind of motivation when it came to training, he'd likely already have accomplished something.
It would be a lie to say Cypher wasn't interested in the new recruit, but he was aware of what was important right now, and that was to improve his strength.
So despite seeing some people gather by the master's room, trying to peek in and take a look at the new recruit, he ignored the excitement, continuing his training as usual.
"She's coming out, everyone back, back!" One man suddenly shouted, catching Cypher's attention.
With his words, everyone ran back to their spots, training even harder, as if to impress her once she came out.
Eventually the new recruit in question walked out of the room. Cypher took a look at her and couldn't help but agree with Kinto, she really was beautiful.
She was thin where she needed to be, and fat where she needed to be, giving her an incredible body.
Cypher didn't want to be rude, so after taking a quick look, he looked back, continuing his training.
"Welcome to the gang Miss Saphi, and congrats on becoming an official disciple." Ox said with a big smile as he led the beautiful young lady out of his master's quarters.
"Thank you for accepting me, but are you sure it's okay I become an official disciple right off the bat? I have yet to train formally." Saphi asked with a gentle smile.
"Of course not, my master and your father are practically brothers, so it's only natural you receive this kind of treatment." Ox said as he waved his hands frantically.
"Well thank you then, I'll do my best." Saphi said with another smile, making the steel-faced Ox blush.
"Well uhhmm, let me show you the ropes." Ox said as he cleared his throat, trying to clear the embarrassment.
Cypher couldn't help but smile under his mask as he watched Ox's performance. Who knew the big guy had a heart of a romantic underneath that intimidating exterior.
Ox quickly gave Saphi a similar rundown that he did with Cypher, of course what Saphi learned was much more intricate and detailed.
"Brother Ox, I learn better in action, is there by chance anyone I could train with?" Saphi suddenly asked after remembering the moves.
"Hmm let me think. Oh yeah, Cypher! He's only been in the gang for about a week now, so you two should be at a similar level." Ox said, as he shouted out towards Cypher.
Hearing Ox's shout, Cypher stopped his movements. Walking up towards the two, he wondered what exactly they needed from him.
"Hey Cypher, I don't want to get in your training, but our new recruit Saphi is looking for someone to practice against." Ox said, explaining the problem.
"I can help, but not for free, after all, this is time I could be using training." Cypher said, after thinking about it for a moment.
"How about one silver coin for every session?" Saphi said, clearly not caring about money.
Cypher's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he heard how much Saphi was offering. While he thought his time was valuable, it wasn't that valuable, but obviously he wasn't going to argue.
"Well, that's fine." Cypher said, trying to compose himself and act normal.
Ox was also well aware of just how wealthy Saphi's family was, so he knew a silver coin was meaningless in her eyes, also he liked Cypher, so he decided not to say anything.
"Perfect, then I won't bother you two anymore." Ox said, as he forcefully pulled himself away, despite wanting to spend more time with Saphi.
"Shall we begin?" Cypher asked, as he got into stance. The Iron-Shelled Tortoise Technique was both a training method, and a combat form.
Of course compared to real fighting methods, it was far weaker, but it won out in its simplicity, teaching the essentials of combat.
"Let's do it!" Saphi said, also getting in stance.
After a quick count down by Cypher, the two lunged at each other, attacking without holding back at all.
Cypher had already been training for a week, so compared to Saphi, he was a bit more refined, which gave him the edge in their fight.
Coupled with the fact that he was a man, naturally bigger and stronger, it didn't take much fighting before Saphi gave in.
"You're strong!" Saphi said as she breathed heavily, recovering from her exhaustion.
"Thank you, but compared to real martial artists, I'm still nothing." Cypher said modestly.
"It's fine, we'll both get there soon enough." Saphi said with a laugh before continuing.
"Also, I've been curious about something, mind if I ask?"
"It's about the mask, isn't it?" Cypher said, guessing her intentions.
"Hehe, I guess you get asked about it a lot." Saphi said with a giggle.
"The truth is I was attacked by a bear and nearly had my face ripped off. Luckily, I managed to kill it just before it could finish the job." Cypher said seriously.
"For real!" Saphi said with shock, believing Cypher's words.
"I'm just joking. If I could kill a bear, I probably wouldn't need to be here." Cypher said with a laugh.
"Wow, to think I actually believed you for a second." Saphi said in annoyance.
"The truth isn't anything interesting, so isn't it better to tell a lie?"
"Well since you don't want to say, let's just drop it. Oh yeah, and here's your silver." Saphi said, tossing a coin towards Cypher.
"If you need any more training, I'll be here, so call me whenever." Cypher said as he flipped the silver coin in a good mood before tucking it in his pocket.
"Hmm, how about this, every morning we'll spend an hour refining our combat skills." Saphi said as she got up from the floor, having finally recovered.
"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then." Cypher said as he waved goodbye and went ahead to finish his daily training.
Saphi also waved before leaving the gang grounds. Cypher was a bit curious about why she wasn't training here, but given her family, she probably had a far better training environment than this loud and sweaty training ground.
…
The next few weeks passed by in a flash, and like Saphi and Cypher had agreed upon, they would start every morning with a combat session.
This wasn't only beneficial to Saphi, but it also helped Cypher, after all he was just as much of an amateur when it came to fighting as Saphi was.
Cypher also received his silver coin as promised, and he used this new source of revenue to buy blood paste packets.
Using a blood paste packet everyday, Cypher's training speed massively accelerated, and he could already feel that his right arm was reaching the tipping point.
Based on his original estimates, he thought it would take at least half a year to reach this point, but with the blood paste on hand, his training speed was accelerated multiple times.
With this speed, by the time the months finished, Cypher would have also reached the Wood Layer on his right arm.
By that point he could officially call himself a martial artist, and he would finally have the power to go with it.
After another combat session with Saphi, Cypher took his payment and went back to his normal training.
"Mask, you lucky bastard! How the hell did you get so close to Saphi?" Kinto couldn't help but groan as he walked up to the training Cypher.
"Like you said, luck. She needed someone to train with, and it just so happened that I'm closest in terms of strength." Cypher said, not denying his good fortune.
"You're really the heavens' favorite aren't you? But hey this isn't all good, you should keep an eye out recently, a couple of the guys have been looking at you with anger given how close you are to Saphi." Kinto whispered, sending Cypher a warning.
"You need to especially watch out for Yikrum, he's an official disciple, and while he's the weakest one, he still isn't something people like us have any chance against."
"Yikrum? What, is he planning on doing anything?" Cypher asked, wondering if Kinto had any news.
"Look I'm going to be honest with you, but remember, I told you nothing!" Kinto said seriously as he whispered something into Cypher's ear.