CHAPTER 6: I KNOW KUNG FU
After 10 long hours of sleep, Arnold finally woke up, finding himself laying on the floor of the Temple of the Spirit Master. Having rested much better than his recent nights, Arnold found enough energy to raise from the floor and begin his new day of life, ready to begin his new day of training as well.
Upon gaining his consciousness back from his fading haze of sleepiness, Arnold's first sight was a large plate of food sitting on the floor just across from him. He wasn't quite sure what the contents were, guessing that it was some sort of poultry or fish with a legume, but he knew two things that were far more important in his mind: It was edible food, and he hadn't eaten for three days.
Letting his most basic animal instincts guide him, Arnold immediately chowed down into his meal without thinking twice. Within a matter of seconds, half the food on the plate was already gone, down Arnold's gullet; his body turning it to much-needed energy.
After finishing his meal, Arnold's senses returned to him. The instant that they came to him, Arnold began to sense that something was wrong. He had sensed that some kind of danger was approaching him, as if something was about to attack him. Arnold had never felt like this before in his life, leading him to be naturally curious of the origin of this newfound feeling.
Was it a result of what happened yesterday, the herbs and the experiences that granted him these powers?
Was it something in what he ate, another hallucinogenic?
In his mind, the questions are swept aside as the danger finally arrived.
Suddenly, Luz appeared out of nowhere, rushing straight at Arnold from the air. Arnold immediately jumped back, seeming to know Luz would have attacked a second in advance. Before Luz could land a hit, Arnold safely moved from his line of attack, leaving Luz to do nothing but smash the plate he set aside for Arnold.
Luz, impressed with Arnold's reaction time, stopped his attack and turned his full attention towards him.
"I could tell you noticed me, Arnold. You are beginning to feel the beginning of the powers of a Spirit Master flow within you." Luz said.
"I knew you were coming at least a full 10 seconds before you attacked. What exactly was in that herb you gave me? Pot?" Arnold asked.
"Among other things. Herbs like marijuana have been used around the world for recreation, and its users claim to have a higher sense of conciousness, but the herb is only one piece of the puzzle."
"Then what else was in it?"
"The exact formula is a secret that only a fully-trained Spirit Master can know, and perhaps one day I will teach you."
"So what's today's lesson?"
Luz gave his staff a spin, giving Arnold a visual clue of his next sentence.
"Combat. Now that we have allowed your mind to operate faster, we will begin your combat training. Follow me." He said.
"Can I have some more to eat first? I'm still hungry." Arnold asked.
"You won't want to eat when we begin this step of training, due to all the work you'll be doing. After that, I will treat you to a large banquet. You will need the calories."
After a short walk through the Temple of the Spirit Master, the two came to a huge library filled with at least several thousand books. Some were in English, some in Spanish, some in Russian, and so on. Some were extremely old and looked to be ancient texts, others looked like modern books taken fresh from bookstores.
"There's a lot of books in different languages, I take it you got these from the modern world?" Arnold asked.
"Once again, Arnold, you are very observant. But once again, you focus too much on smaller details." Luz said.
Arnold, not expecting Luz to know his conversation with the spirits, was stunned at his comment.
"How did you know the spirits said that to me?" Arnold asked.
"Because the questions you were asked are the same questions I was asked, as were all other Spirit Masters, though each with slight differences. The idea behind the questions remain the same; to help you discover your inner passion. Our questions were similar because deep down, you and I have much in common. I can feel this in you." Luz said.
Luz took a large, old book off the shelf. It looked ancient and hand-made, ready to fall apart any second. Despite the book's tattered appearance, the book itself was very sturdy and was perfectly preserved inside, a living example of the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover'.
"Read this. It will teach you our language." Luz said.
"This would take me hours to finish, what about combat training?" Arnold asked.
"This is the beginning. Read the book and see what happens."
Arnold, following Luz's instructions, took the book and began to read it. He didn't know how, but just taking one single glance at the page felt the same as reading it ten times in a row. Just from a light skim of the page, Arnold had managed to memorize it instantly.
Wanting to read more, Arnold moved on to the next page, then the next, then the next, until finally he reached the last in a matter of seconds. It wasn't until a few seconds after he finished reading when he realized he just learned a new language in a few seconds.
"[Fun, isn't it?]" Luz said in his native language.
Arnold, understanding Luz's words, was amazed at how much he learned.
"['Fun'? This is awesome.]" Arnold perfectly replied the Green-Eyed People's language.
Luz, impressed with Arnold's new language skills, gave a satisfied smile.
"Well done, Arnold. Now, I'll let you finish up your reading while I wait for you." Luz replied in English.
"Read what?" Arnold asked in English.
"Everything here. It took me around 30 minutes."
Arnold, taking Luz's comment as a challenge, gave a cocky smirk.
"30 minutes? I'll do it in 20." He said.
Luz, giving an amused smile at Arnold's arrogant but friendly remark, nodded and walked out of the library, leaving Arnold to read in peace.
Arnold, eager to learn as much as he could in his given timeframe, began blasting through several novels and encyclopedias as if they were mere children's books. With each book he finished, his knowledge increased more and more. Where even the most learned professors and doctors would take several years to gain the knowledge they had, Arnold gained intellect outperforming theirs in a matter of minutes.
20 MINUTES LATER
In the centermost part of the Temple of the Spirit Master, Luz awaited Arnold's return from his several minutes of learning. As Luz waited, he sat on the floor, meditating to keep his mind and body sharpened to the forthcoming lesson to teach to Arnold.
During Luz's state of deep thought and concentration, Arnold entered the room. Luz, sensing his approach, got off the floor, bringing his attention to Arnold.
"20 minutes." Arnold said.
"And 13 seconds." Luz replied.
"I still beat you."
"Indeed you did. I very am impressed. Are you ready to try some of the techniques you've learned?"
"I just learned every martial art on the planet including Shaolin Kung Fu, Brazilian Tai Quan Do, and Thai Kickboxing in less than half an hour. I'm itching to try this out."
"Very well. Have at you, Arnold."
Arnold took an offensive fighting stance, ready to strike.
Luz took a defensive stance, awaiting Arnold's attack.
Arnold began by making his strike, beginning his combat lesson. He jumped at Luz with a kick aimed straight for Luz's chest. His range and stance was perfect to the point that it could put Bruce Lee to shame. While Arnold certainly had all the knowledge one could have for fighting, Luz far more experience than Arnold could ever have.
Luz, patiently awaiting Arnold's strike, blocked his kick with a simple raise of his hand, grabbed Arnold's foot while he remained in mid-air. With a swift spin, Luz tossed him to the other side of the temple, sending him face-first towards a wall.
Arnold, gaining control of his situation, spun himself around, aiming his feet towards the wall. Landing both feet on the wall, Arnold jumped back off, launching himself straight back to Luz. Flipping upright in mid-air, Arnold brought himself back on his feet again and rushed straight to Luz.
Arnold followed his bum-rush with several punches and kicks directed right at Luz, moving faster than even the most fluent and fit of martial artists could never even dream of doing. Luz, having more fighting experience, blocked each and every blow, leaving Arnold's attack futile.
Luz finally began to take an offensive strike of his own, preparing to take several strikes of his own. Luz tried as best as he could to land hits of his own in, using his staff and his body as his weapons. Arnold, learning Luz's fighting style and adapting to the fight, blocked every strike, mimicking Luz's own parries of Arnold's attack.
Finally, Luz broke the fight, giving the both of them a break. After Arnold had underwent his training, the two were more than a match for each other. The student has outdone his master.
"Very good, Arnold. Even the best of our warriors couldn't last longer than a few seconds against me. You managed to hold me off for longer than all of them. But you still haven't beaten me."
[Soundtrack Cue: Mephisto Odyssey - Some Kinda Freak; Beginning from 0:44]
Arnold returned Luz's snarky comment with roundhouse kick to his head, only again to be stopped with a single lift of Luz's hand. Luz again grabbed his leg and flipped him upside-down, trying to land him on his back. Arnold stopped Luz's attack by landing on his hand, balancing himself and giving himself an opportunity to land a few kicks to Luz's head, finally drawing the fight's first blood.
Luz jumped back to recuperate the from the blow to his head, giving a slight window open to attack. Arnold, seeing the opportunity for himself, took it without hesitation. Arnold threw a punch straight for Luz's chest, but Luz knocked Arnold's hand away, following with a spinning strike aimed at Arnold's feet, knocking him to the ground.
Arnold got himself off the ground with a kip-up, rushing Luz yet again. Another long deadlock ensued, consisting of mutual punches and kicks, all defeated by well-placed parries.
A few punches in, Arnold finally landed another blow; an uppercut to Luz's chest. Luz, unprepared for the strike, was pushed against a wall. Arnold rushed to land another punch in, planning his as a knockout hit, but Luz cleverly countered his attack. Luz, with limberness known only to younger athletes, slid to the floor and between Arnold's legs, flipping upright behind him.
Arnold, having invested too much energy in his punch, only managed to hit the wall. To his own surprise, his punch managed to crack the stone but left his own hand only slightly bruised where every bone should have been broken. Luz, taking advantage of Arnold's short distraction, knocked him back on the floor with another sweep attack to his legs.
Arnold performed a backwards flip, landing upright and standing up again. Arnold, this time wanting to use a defensive stance, prepared for Luz's attack. Sure enough, Luz approached with a strike from his staff, just as Arnold predicted.
Arnold, taking a new approach, jumped over Luz's head, avoiding his attack, and ran up the wall behind him. Upon jumping off it, Arnold landed next to a glass wall. With a quick punch, Arnold shattered the wall and grabbed several shards of glass, picking up several large pieces as they fell. Taking the glass shards, Arnold threw several pieces at Luz like shurikens, aiming carefully for his arms and joints.
Luz caught each shard effortlessly, as if they were moving in slow motion. Arnold, not expecting Luz's reaction time to be as good as that, was surprised at Luz's fast action. Giving a smug smirk, Luz took the glass shards and threw them all back at Arnold in a single throw, sending a barrage of sharp glass straight at Arnold with little to no room to escape.
Acting quickly, Arnold slid flat on the ground, leaving the shards to break against the wall, leaving him unharmed. With another kip-up, Arnold got back on his feet again. Upon getting up, he then noticed blood drop from Luz's hands, indicating that he cut himself on the glass as he caught it.
"Not as fast as when you were younger?" Arnold snarkily asked.
"No. I'm faster." Luz replied.
Luz flicked his hands towards Arnold, landing several heavy drops of blood in his eyes. Arnold, trying frantically to wipe the thick red fluid from his eys, was blinded temporarily and vulnerable to Luz's next attack.
Luz carried more strikes with his staff, beginning with a downwards blow towards Arnold's head. Arnold, not knowing how, knew the blow was coming from his sense of sound hearing the staff cutting through the air and his sense of touch feeling the wind resistance. Having no time to stop and admire his enhanced senses, Arnold used his newfound senses to anticipate Luz's strike. With a quick dash backwards, Arnold avoided it just in time, giving him enough breathing room to clear his eyes.
Luz deciding to try a new approach, jumped to the ceiling and hiding in the shadows, disappearing like a ninja.
"Don't worry about any consequences from my blood, Arnold. A Spirit Master has boosted immunity and enhanced healing abilities." Luz said.
Like Arnold's previous encounters with Luz's disappearing act, Luz's voice sounded like a whisper echoing through in his head. As such, not only could he not see Luz, now, he couldn't find him through his newly enhanced senses, something Luz most likely planned.
Luz had kept appearing and disappearing before Arnold, attempting to strike him with surprise attacks rather than a straight-up fight. Fortunately, Arnold's reaction time managed to increase as well, allowing him to block Luz's stealth strikes each and every time.
During the fight, Arnold then began to feel something new. He could start to feel Luz's presence, sensing him move across the walls and ceiling of the temple. As his awareness of Luz improved, Arnold's counterattacks on Luz's stealth attacks began to improve and land more damaging blows.
After a short while of this, Arnold then began to see Luz through the veil of the shadows. While Arnold had a newfound natural night vision, Luz somehow managed to blend himself with the shadows, rendering his night vision useless. Now, however, the edge that Luz one had then is long gone.
When Luz delivered his next strike, Arnold effortlessly grabbed Luz's staff, catching him off-guard. With a simple heave, Arnold threw him across the temple, making him land on his back. Taking his chance, Arnold leapt in the air and aimed straight for Luz.
Landing straight on top of him, Arnold held Luz's own staff to his neck, leaving him seemingly defeated. Arnold, believing he'd won, brought the staff to Luz's neck.
"Ready to give up?" Arnold asked.
Luz gave an amused smirk, bringing confusion to Arnold.
"You still haven't beaten me." Luz said.
Making a move that could only be described as a mixture between a kick and a kip-up mixed with a mid-air flip, Luz pushed himself off the ground, his own staff still at his throat. With Arnold still holding the staff, he was launched backwards, flying across the temple.
Caught off-guard, Arnold hit the wall behind him very hard, knocking all the breath out of him and leaving him defeated, crowning Luz as the victor in the friendly brawl.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Luz approached Arnold, picking his staff up off the ground. As Luz stepped to Arnold, he took his staff and put it to Arnold's chin, lifting his face to make eye contact. After giving Arnold a friendly smile, Luz offered Arnold his hand to help him up. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Arnold took his offer, standing firmly back up again.
"I must congratulate you, Arnold, no student of mine has ever used my own staff against me. You show much more promise than I expected." Luz said.
"Thanks. Are your hands okay?" Arnold asked.
Luz held up his hands, now no longer bleeding and fully healed, as if his injury never happened.
"Just fine, thank you." He said.
Arnold, impressed by Luz's fast healing abilities, couldn't help but feel a tad childish in his enthusiasm.
"Whoa. It's like nothing happened. How'd you do that?" Arnold asked.
"Another benefit of being a Spirit Master. The herbs you took were part of a formula that was meant to accelerate and facilitate human evolution. As such, you gain the abilities that you have now and the abilities that you have seen me perform. However, there is one more decision that you must make now." Luz said.
"What decision?"
"You wished for me to take your pain away. I believe I have done so, have I not?"
"Well... I suppose you have. I still do miss my grandparents, but their loss doesn't hurt me anymore. I feel a lot more... in control than before than I did before."
"You have taken your pain and you have turned it into something to aid you in your passion. However, as you have made clear, you still wish to make amends to your lover and your family. While I cannot make you stay, I do wish for you to know this. You have gained many of the powers of a Spirit Master, but you have not mastered the discipline required to achieve your full power. You now have much untapped potential in you, but I can help you tap further into it. Many Spirit Masters before you have taken 20 or even 30 years to achieve their full potential. With your promise, you might complete yours in 10 years. Do you still wish to continue your training, Arnold?"
Arnold thought for a moment. While he got what he wanted, he was given the promise of something more. While he wanted nothing more than to make life better with his parents and, more importantly, with Helga; here, he was given an opportunity for something much, much greater.
For years, he'd been helping others in need, going almost to the ends of the Earth just to make someone else's life better. This could be an opportunity to make himself even better at it, someone who could be greater than human, someone who could give their innumerable gifts to the world.
That said, what of his normal life? He'd never finished middle school, what of high school, or further than that? Not that he'd need the education anymore, but what of the social opportunities? With this, he may never have an opportunity to experience life as a normal child growing up. Never knew what a real date would be like, not counting the secret half-dates with Helga; never knew what working a job felt like, and maybe, if he wasn't careful, never knew what it would be like to start a family, if he never made amends to Helga. He'd never know a normal life.
But then again, how many normal people would get a chance like this?
With thoughts of both young recklessness and in careful, logical thinking, Arnold made his final decision.
"10 years? I'll do it in 5." Arnold answered.
Luz smiled in satisfaction, pleased to know that he'd fulfill the prophecy meant for Arnold.
"Very well, Arnold. 5 years. We shall start this long journey tomorrow." Luz said.
"Why wait? How about a round two?" Arnold asked.
Luz gave a light chuckle at Arnold's brash challenge.
"As you wish, Arnold. Let us begin." Luz said.
At Arnold's request, the two began a new training session, one that would be among the first of many, many more to come.
