Chapter 2: Training and the truth about Mel, Belle, and Sanae Y

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A week has passed since Juan received the challenge letter.

Budehuc remained the busy rural castle it always was. Cecile continues to patrol the gate for anything that might resemble an invasion. In most cases these invasions consist of wild boars, holly leaves and trees, some wild birds, furballs, and other assorted wildlife around the region.

None of these possess any threat to the castle's inhabitants, but no one's complaining. It puts food on the table. Most of the time, anyway.

Thomas was sitting in his office, attending to some administrative duties. He possess a surprising amount of talent in handling the day to day affairs of the castle. Sebastian was quite delighted when he found out about this. It helps to have more than one person deciding what goes to where.

Piccolo still lives in his tent, defiantly refusing the call to the great beyond.

Same thing with Martha and Muto.

They lived as per normal. They sometimes wonder where Juan went, but since they always see him at the dinner table, and ha has a habit of disappearing for days on end anyway, no one suspected anything. Eike seemed to be more interested, but even if he knows, it is doubtful he will ever tell a soul.

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A girl wearing a kimono and carrying a naginata walked towards the Budehuc dojo. Following her was a pair of girls and a talking barrel.

The kimonoed girl was Sanae Y, the resident wife-in-training. Following her, a puppeteer by the name of Mel, with her hideous, yet cute, puppet on her right hand. Behind her was the resident engineering whiz, Belle, carrying her pink hammer. Following faithfully at her side was the talking barrel, Gadget Z.

When they reached the dojo, Sanae Y looked in through the doorway. Her bespectacled eyes darted around in an attempt to find someone, or something, within the crowd of students. Most of them were doing martial arts forms. Some others were sparring. Leading them all was the red haired second master of Budehuc dojo, Emily.

"So, did you see him?", Mel asked Sanae. Sanae shook her head.

"No. Looks like he didn't come today either", she replied.

"Where on earth could he have wandered off to? I desperately need to learn some new skills", Belle said. The girls had been bored with their current abilities, and wanted to ask Juan to teach them other ways to fight.

"Why can we not ask miss Emily to teach us? By my complex yet simple, bold yet subtle, incredibly superb, powerfully accurate algorithmic calculations, she should be a good enough teacher for us", the talking barrel stated. The girls thought for a bit before answering. Not from the complexity of that sentence.

"Well, for one thing, she only knows how to fight with her fists", Belle answered first.

"Truly, and her rough style is not very suitable for weaker women like us", Sanae Y continued.

"Yeah, and Mel missed him. No offense to Emily, but Mel just doesn't swing that way. Right, Mel?", Mel, or rather, Mel's puppet, said.

"BRANKY!!!", Mel yelled at the doll and proceeded to beat it against the dojo's wall. "HOW MANY TIMES DID I TELL YOU NOT TO SAY SUCH THINGS? ESPECIALLY ABOUT ME!!", she yelled as she beat her puppet. The others just watched silently. They know better than to ask during these episodes.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-wo-I-am-ow-sor-ow-ry-ow-ow-ow-I-won't-ow-wo-do-it-ow-again-ow-ow….", the puppet said as Mel continued to pound it.

"What are you girls doing here…?", someone said from behind them. They turned simultaneously and saw Emily frowning at them, hands on her hips. The noise Mel made caused her to come out since it was disturbing the class.

"Oh, miss Emily. Good afternoon. We were just searching for the super great, sublimely stately, extra noble, powerfully nonchalant master Juan", Gadget Z replied.

"Searching for him? What for?", she asked, already used to the needlessly complex way the robot speaks in. From the wall, Branky said something that sounded like 'befaus mhl mssses hmmm nf hss beuchflll bdy' before it was pounded back into the wall.

"We just wanted to get some training done, and he seems to be the person to look for", Sanae answered. Emily looked at her and tried to decide on an excuse. Juan had specifically told her not to tell a soul about his training.

"W,well, he…uh, had some business to attend to, like, like…..trai, tri, tea, tea potting, yeah, that's it! He had to, to, to, plant some tea trees with Barts! Yeah! He probably won't be back for a while, so I will be teaching in the meantime", she said. The girls stared at her. They could tell she was lying. She never was a good liar. Teas don't grow in trees, and Barts' field is already full since a month ago.

"Emily…if you're jealous, just say so. No need to hide your boyfriend from us", Belle said. Emily's face turned beet red.

"He, he's not my b,b,b,boyfriend!", she shouted, loud enough to be heard within a 500 meter radius. The other girls looked at each other. Denial, the surest sign that love is in the air…or IS it…?

"Oookay…if you say so. We'll be going then", Sanae said and the girls left after waving goodbye to the fuming Emily.

After they left, she returned to the dojo and ordered the students to continue with their training. 'You better be training hard, Juan, or I'm gonna kill you myself', she thought as the students continued training.

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Mount Hei-Tou is a peaceful and dangerous place. There's a river running through it, complete with waterfalls. The base of the mountain is home to some low-level monsters. Nothing to cause worry to experienced travelers, though. It is at the summit that the strong ones gather. No one has yet explored the summit, and so, no one really knows what's up there.

The summit of the mountain is colder than the base and is filled mostly with rocks and barren soil. A very different sight to the lush vegetation at the base. Not all is quiet here. There are loud thuds and smacks as a man dressed in blue kimono took down monsters left and right using his bare hands, and feet.

Juan had been training non-stop for the whole week, only taking breaks when it is time to eat. Other than that, he's fighting monsters and reading the scroll 24/7. It is not too far from Budehuc, and the distance makes it perfect for his stamina training.

A boar charged from behind him. Not bothering to turn, he dropped face first to the ground, supporting his body with his arms, and kicked upwards with both legs. The attack connected with the boar's jaw and it flew 3 meters in the air, landing with a thud, unconscious and with a broken jaw.

A bird in front of Juan attacked next, flying up and crashing towards him with talons outstretched. Juan didn't change his movement. The momentum from his kick carried his whole body in an arc, bringing his feet up and forward with his hands as the axis.

Before the bird could land its attack, Juan's legs had dropped on its head and body. It crashed down to the ground with Juan's legs and hip pinning it to the ground. Not wasting any time, Juan placed his insteps on the sides of the bird's head and flipped his body, changing position from face up to face down, and broke its neck.

A wolf attacked from his right, lunging forward with fangs bared, ready for a bite. Juan swept his whole body along the ground in horizontal circle and connected with a kick towards the side of the wolf's head, breaking its lunge.

Before the wolf had a chance to recompose itself, Juan grabbed its head with his legs again and pulled as he arced his body upwards into a handstand. As the wolf's body became vertical to the ground, he simultaneously pulled both legs downwards as he threw his head up. When he reached a standing position, there was a sickening crunch as the wolf's snout was smashed into the ground and broke into smithereens.

Juan was not done, however, and he immediately dropped into his sleeping Buddha position. His body dropped sideways and his right elbow, the one he usually used to support his head, smashed into the wolf's skull. Another crunch sounded as the skull broke, killing the wolf.

A stone golem suddenly came out from the bushes and started lumbering towards him. Juan rolled along the ground on his sides and, with a motion that seemed to defy the rules of physics, leaped upwards, still spinning horizontally with his head as the axis, and with his sides facing the golem. Using his strong momentum and spinning motion, he kicked the golem several times, going upwards and forwards with each spin.

His first kick halted the golem. His second produced a loud thud from its chest. The third produced another loud thud and created a hairline crack on the golem's chest. His fourth kick worsened the crack and forced it backwards. Juan landed after his last kick in a face-down position, but he was not done. Quickly drawing up his body and legs together, he kicked back and launched his whole body forward, spinning like a bullet, palms in front of him.

He struck the cracked spot and threw the golem back against a cliff wall, where it shattered into thousands of small pieces. He rebound after the impact and landed in a half-crouch, one foot in front of him.

Done with this batch, Juan stood up and yawned. 'Only four this time…I wonder if I'm using them up too quickly', he thought as he walked towards a rock that he used to meditate and study his scroll.

"Impressive. What kind of style is it?", a voice suddenly said from behind the trees. Juan turned in the general direction of the voice and slipped into stance.

"Who's there?", he asked. The stranger walked out of the trees. He was a tall, large man with unkempt shoulder-length hair and an eye patch. He wears a black coat that seems to be reinforced with plates along certain parts(no, not his privates). "Oh, It's just you, sir Geddoe", Juan said when he saw who it was.

"I can't believe you still call me 'sir'. Save it for someone who deserves it", the man in black said and stepped closer towards Juan's position.

"Well, I can't really think of anyone else deserving that title", Juan replied and relaxed from his stance. It is not often he called other people 'sir', or 'ma'am', or anything of that sort.

He called Hugo, the blonde Grasslander Flame Champion who saved Grassland, Hugo. Nothing added or subtracted to it. He called Chris, the female captain of the Zexen knights and holder of the True water rune, the 'prematurely aging lady', or 'white haired knight', or just plain Chris, only calling her Lady when there's official business. Needless to say, this trait does not make him too popular with the more affluent people.

The only person he called 'sir' on a regular basis is Geddoe. He recognized the strength and wisdom the True Lightning rune bearer has. The wisdom that can only come with old age and many experiences, good and bad.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Anyway, what kind of style was that? I have never seen anything remotely resembling what you just did", Geddoe replied. He is more used to being called boss than sir. Juan was about to answer when a crazy idea suddenly popped into his head.

"You know, if you're so interested in the style, why don't you help me train a little bit? I seem to have fought too many monsters around here", Juan said with a half-grin. Geddoe stared at him for a good minute or so. He didn't think that anybody in their right mind would even consider going up against a True Rune bearer without one of their own.

Still, the young man standing in front of him is no ordinary man at all. He had seen what Juan could do. He could take down tough enemies in a matter of seconds, provided the enemy could be hit physically. If Geddoe, Chris, and Hugo didn't have true runes, he had no doubt that they would all be defeated by Juan easily. He truly deserves to be the master of Budehuc's dojo. That being said, it might be good exercise to fight against him.

"…Alright. Let's see what you've got", Geddoe replied as he drew out his sword. The sword crackled with electrical energy as soon as its blade was fully exposed to the air, as if relishing its freedom. It's just one of the side effects of being a True Rune bearer for more than a century.

"Right then. Anytime you're…yawn…ready", Juan said and went into a strange stance. He stretched and yawned like a sleepy person, and started to fall sideways to the ground. He never touched the ground with his head however. His right arm supported his head, and his left hand held on to his left leg, which was placed over his right kneecap. His body was supported only with his right leg at approximately 45 degree angle from the ground, leaning to the right. As Geddoe watched, he began to snore.

Geddoe was intrigued, to say the least. That posture may look stupid, but no normal person can do that. He'd need extremely strong legs and an incredible sense of balance. 5 minutes passed with the fighters just standing in their stances. After checking all his options, Geddoe finally made his move. He charged straight forward, intending to slash diagonally at Juan.

At that moment, Juan opened his eyes…the battle begins…

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The café in Budehuc castle was filled with people as usual. It serves as the dining room for the castle inhabitants, and during the war, at least a hundred people would gather there for lunch, breakfast, and dinner. It was dinner time, and the residents had gathered there for their usual meal. There was one seat that was noticeably empty beside Emily. That seat belongs to Juan. He was always late for dinner, and Emily had taken it upon herself to always reserve a space for him in order to avoid any incidents with the guests.

It had been nearly half an hour, however, and she was getting a little worried. He usually came in at approximately 5 minutes after dinner begins. Even during this period of intense training, he always came in at most 15 minutes after the appointed time. She had a plate of baked soft-shell crabs in front of her, but she hadn't touched it yet. She had a habit of waiting for him to come in before she starts eating.

'What the heck is keeping him?', she thought to herself.

As if on cue, 2 figures stepped into the light of the outdoor café lamps. It was Juan and Geddoe. Juan looked fine, but his clothes had been cut, tattered and singed in some places. His hair was also frizzier than usual. Geddoe was walking with a visible limp. His left hand hung at an odd angle, possibly broken, and he was clutching his ribs with his right hand. There were also a lot of bruises on his face. His clothes were also torn in places. Juan was supporting him, helping him walk.

Everyone in the café stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the 2 of them. They could easily recognize the 2, but it's not easy to guess what kind of monster could have injured a True Rune bearer that badly. What was more surprising was that Juan was almost untouched. Geddoe swept his eyes across the room and deduced what they wanted to ask. Without a word, he and Juan went up to a small podium near the café's counter. It had been used several times before as a small, makeshift stage for speeches and pep talks.

"I know many of you are wondering why I, a True Rune holder, came to be in this state. That matter can wait for another day. I am more concerned about the upcoming Firebringer Reunion. As I am sure you all remember, the reunion will take place in approximately half a month. Chris and Hugo should be arriving tomorrow, along with my team, as well as Duke's. I am here today to bring you this news and scan the grounds only. That is all", he said in a loud but calm voice. Geddoe was not one for speeches. He could only make a speech when there is something really important to say.

When he finished, he went down from the podium, assisted by Juan, who then handed him over to a man in oriental robes with a ponytail on his head. Following him was a nurse who quickly jotted down Geddoe's injuries as the doctor spoke. They started to check Juan as well, but he insisted he was fine and went off to his chair, ignoring the doctor's pleas.

"What the heck happened to you two?", Emily asked him as soon as he took his seat. He ordered his special training diet to a male waiter before answering her.

"We just met each other while I was training in the mountains and I asked him to spar with me. He became like that because he refused to use magic", he replied.

"You're lying. Even if he did not use magic, I'm sure his swordsmanship is excellent. How could you have injured him while fighting bare handed?", she said. Her purple eyes looked into Juan's, challenging him to say she was wrong.

"You're wrong. It's true his swordsmanship is excellent, even better than Chris, or any of the Zexen knights, for that matter. He has a lot of power behind every stroke, and his accuracy is above average. He also links his attacks very well for such strong hits. Remember, however, that I had trained him before, and I know he has weaknesses. For one thing, he's not too fast. For another, I have been training intensively for the past week, and it's showing results", he explained. He stopped when he saw his food arrive.

It looked like a simple meal, consisting of only several pieces of leaves, some seeds, a chunk of meat, and potato and rice on the side. The truth was, the leaves were from a very rare type of herb that can only be found in the mountains, and had to be processed in order to remove the poison. It works to increase strength, stamina, and improve concentration. The seeds were from different types of herbal fruits and trees. These work to regulate body functions in times of intense physical and mental activities. The meat, rice and potato was nothing special.

"What kind of training were you doing at Mt. Hei-tou, anyway? People have been asking all sorts of questions about you. It's as if I'm not qualified as a bujutsu instructor", Emily asked as she began to eat her now cold crabs.

"Well, technically, you're not", he replied in between bites. Emily narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Now, what exactly do you mean by that? I'm the one who has been doing all the teaching while you're off snoring somewhere!", she said. Juan looked at her. He was still eating and only spoke again when he finished his current bite.

"Well, then….tell me, who, in this castle, have you trained?", he asked. Sharon put a finger to her forehead and tried to remember. When she was done, she looked at Juan again.

"Shabon, Nei, Joker, Kenji, and….", she replied. Juan nodded and proceeded to take another bite before he spoke.

"Is there anyone munch on your list that doesn't use fists as weapons?", he asked. She opened her mouth, but realized that she never taught anyone who used weapons before. Juan saw this and spoke again. "See, that's why I said you're not qualified. A true bujutsu instructor needs to know at least the workings of weapons of all kinds. If possible, one should master them all, so that when he teaches others, he can show them precisely what to do. That kind of mastery takes years to achieve", he said.

"But I'm a fighter who is at least equal in skill to you. That should count for something!", she said, her face turning red. Juan shook his head.

"My father was one of the best instructors in our family line, but he was not the best fighter. I have seen him make killing machines out of inept farmers in less than a month…But he was killed when he fought against the dojo-destroyer", Juan replied. His eyes had fallen to his plate and his voice had gone softer when he said the last sentence. Emily's red face turned back to normal when she saw this and she was unable to say anything for the next few minutes.

"Hey, Juan, over here!", a female voice said from behind Emily. She turned in that direction and saw Belle, Mel, and Sanae Y. Gadget Z was conspicuously absent. Belle was waving her hand as she walked towards their table.

"Oh, hey, barrel lady. Do you need something?", Juan replied. Emily smacked him in the head with a jug.

"Be polite, Juan. Her name is Belle", she said to Juan, who was now rubbing a bruise at the back of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. You don't have to hit me! Anyway, do you girls need something?", he whined. The girls looked at them, amused. Belle was going to speak when Branky interrupted.

"See, Juan, it's like this. These girls want to beep your brains out. Especially Mel. See, they wants you to beep them in the , then the ##$, and &!. Mel's greedy, so she wants you to beep her everywhere at once. They don't mind Emily joining in too", the ugly doll said before anyone else could say anything. Silence reigned in the café for several minutes. Everyone within earshot was staring at them, and they were too stunned to say anything. Mel was the first one to recover and quickly slammed the doll repeatedly against Juan's table.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SAYING SUCH THINGS!!!!! ESPECIALLY IN PUBLIC!!! BAD BRANKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!", she shouted as she continued to beat the doll. It tried to protest, but the beating was too severe for it to make more than 'ow' sounds repeatedly. The girls, including Emily, were blushing so badly, they made tomatoes look white.

"What was that doll talking about, me beeping you girls, and what the hell's a ##$ and &!?", he asked, nonplussed. Now the attention shifts towards him.

In another table…

"What's beep? And ##$? And &!?", Thomas asked Cecile who was beside him. She turned red and tried to say something for a few minutes, but gave up and told him to ask a grownup instead.

Back to Juan…

"You really have no idea what beep is?" Belle asked Juan, disbelief in her voice. He shook his head while Sanae said something about lending Juan her betrothal and marriage training books. Mel had stopped banging Branky on the table and was sweating like mad. The doll had become limp, as if unconscious. Given the beating it just took, that might just be the case. Emily was still too shocked to say anything while the female cook, Mamie, tried to convince everybody that this is a rare occurrence and that the café is usually very family oriented.

"Nope", Juan answered. He was too busy training, and sleeping, during his youth to learn such things.

"In that case, let's just forget about it", Emily said quickly when she saw that Sanae raising her left hand with index finger out. That meant she was about to explain something, and in this situation, that is not what she wanted.

"Anyway, you were saying something about training, right?", he said. Mel nodded without saying anything. It's as if Branky had somehow acted as her vocal chord the whole time. "Well, I can't train you for the next few weeks, so Emily will have to do the honor. Now, if you'll give me some details, I'll make your schedules, and Emily can train you based on that", he continued.

They all nodded and sat on the table. Emily watched as they discussed their latest arrangement. She sighed and looked at the sky. This might turn out to be a very long month.

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End chapter 2.

I had to censor some words to keep the rating. To those who knows what those missing words are, good for you. To those who don't , well, I'll leave them to your imagination. Don't think too much about Gadget Z's words either. Most of them are gibberish in the guise of good old English language.