Ranma straightened up from the bow, watching his opponent, the master of the dojo, warily. They circled around each other, both waiting for an opening. Nearby, a single leaf, estranged from its parent tree, drifted lazily down.
A full three seconds after it touched the wooden floor, the master feinted a punch to hide an elbow strike from his other hand. Ranma saw through the feint, moved to dodge - and was hit by the kick concealed by the double feint. He spun in place, temporarily stunned, and the master moved in to execute a 17-hit combo followed by a knockout blow to the back of the head.
Genma leaned against a wall, watching the match and frowning. This was disgraceful - not being able to defeat a dojo master! When Genma was ten, he'd had at least five dojo victories under his belt - or was it four? More than one, in any case, he was quite sure. The boy was still not powerful enough. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to fulfil his vow. He had no choice - he had to teach the boy the basics of Anything-Goes.
He sighed, and carried Ranma out.
Ranma 0.5: Everyone Dies
By Authority02
"Ranma, what do you know about ki?" Genma asked. He knew what Ranma knew, since he'd been Ranma's only sensei on the subject, but he had to start his lecture somewhere.
Ranma, sitting cross-legged on the grass, recited, "Ki is stuff that makes us live-"
"Life energy, boy!" Genma corrected, rapping him on the forehead.
"Ow! ...life energy, you can knock out people by cutting off their ki with pressure points."
Genma nodded. "Today, we'll be learning about the ways you can use ki to become stronger. By pumping ki into your body, you can make yourself stronger and tougher. Sometimes, people do this by accident when they are put under huge stress - but using ki has a price."
He pulled out a whiteboard and started drawing on it with a marker. "The life energy has to come from somewhere - usually the rest of your body. By making part of yourself stronger, you weaken yourself in other ways - less ki flowing through your brain, for instance, will make you act irrational and obsessive."
Ranma was already dozing off. Genma rapped him on the forehead again.
"But our family style, Anything Goes, is more powerful than that." he continued. "We draw energy from our core itself."
"Wow!" Ranma pretended enthusiasm.
"By pulling energy from unimportant areas like the liver, kidneys and bone marrow, we boost ourselves with far more energy, at absolutely no cost." Genma lectured, adjusting his cap to cover his baldness better.
Ranma frowned cutely, puzzled. "The liver? Isn't that-"
Genma cut him off. "We'll be starting on this today. Get up and come over here."
"But-"
"Hurry up, boy!"