~ Chapter 5: On Becoming a Man ~

"I can't believe it!" Ichon screamed as he slammed his fist into the wall of the dimly lit room in which he and a few other men were taking refuge for the night. "I can't believe that he'd send Wynn out here! Ugh!"

"What? What are you complaining about now, Ichon?" one of the men asked as he moved the last box of cargo that they'd gotten from the ship that had privately and secretly docked nearby. He was a rather large individual at around 6 feet and 220 some pounds. He quickly wiped the sweat off his bulky face and headed over to grab some water and find a nearby crate to sit on. "And who's this Wynn-character anyways?"

"She's the boss' bodyguard. He sent her here to check up on things."

Whatever water the man had drank came spewing from his mouth even before Ichon finished speaking. "Wait! What?" the man asked, his eyes widening as he felt his already racing pulse race faster.

"Yeah. And apparently he heard the rumor that his stuff is being stolen. So I had to escort this girl of his around our facilities and try to convince her that everything here was okay and that nothing was being jacked."

"So that's who you were with earlier!" another man shouted as he came around the corner of the warehouse. This one was equally large, if not larger than the first guy. This man had more of a sunken face and spoke with a slight accent. "You sly dog."

"What? Shatup, Al!" Ichon shrugged off.

"Hold on… Is she the one you said that you're interested in?" the first man inquired.

"What? Wynn! Heck no, Yerlan! I wouldn't go for her in a million years!" Ichon replied in disgust. It was inconceivable! Him go out with her? No… way… in…

"Well… Is she… you know… available?" Al asked with smirk as he shot a glance to Yerlan. Both started to crack up.

"Pft! Don't know, don't care! I mean, I haven't seen her until the boss introduced her to me yesterday. But I tell you what, you don't want to mess with her! She nearly killed me and I didn't even do nothing!"

Yerlan remarked, "Sounds like my kinda girl! Fiesty! Rawww!" Yerlan and Al chuckled amongst each other and elbowed each other's ribs.

"Hmph. Well when he finds out that we really did steal from him…" Ichon froze as he imagined the look on the man's face when he found out the truth. He shook violently thinking about what the boss would do to do him when he found out. That is, if he found out. He didn't know anything yet, hopefully.

"Yeah. Whatever. He's never gonna know a thing about what really happens here. By the way," Al started, "where is this girl now anyways?"

"She said that something came up and that she needed to make her report to the boss. At least, that's what she said anyways," Ichon said. "I just hope she's reporting that nothing's wrong here…"

"Well I hope she comes back. I could show her a thing or two, if ya know what I'm saying." Al said with a devious grin as he grabbed his belt and shook his pants around.

"Are you insane?" Ichon yelled.

"What?" Al said innocently releasing the grip he had on his pants. "I'm… Just saying… I could… There's a whole lot of me to go around!"

"Well… you try to show her a good time and she'll probably whip her knife out and turn you into a woman! Anyways, I don't feel comfortable talking about her. She just… she's not my type. Anyway, is it just the three of us?"

"Uh… Yeah. Pretty sure everyone else already left. So, anyway, uh, what about this other girl you've been raving about?" Yerlan asked. "You, uh, hit her up or anything, if you know what I mean," he said with a wink. Al started to burst out in his high-pitched version of what could vaguely be called laughter.

"Hmph. Nah." Ichon shook his head. "She's with this other dude. Her boyfriend or whatever."

"Huh? Who is?" Al asked somewhat composed. It looked like any moment he would start his… squealing of a laugh.

"This girl that Ichon likes!" Yerlan answered for his pal. "What was her name? Mira? Mary…?"

"No… hold on. I think it was Martha, right? Or was it, uh…" Al interjected.

"It's Maranda. Maranda Aker," Ichon corrected his friends.

"Wait? So who's this other dude?" Yerlan asked as he took another cup of water and downed it like there would be no tomorrow.

"Well, I think his name is like Knight, or some'in. I sometimes hang out with them but I can never remember his last name. Doesn't matter though. He barely talks to me anyways. But he goes to that martial arts school up the path by the river."

"Wait, you talking 'bout that blond haired kid who is like sickly skinny? Thinks he's some kind of bad-a' fighter?" Yerlan asked.

"Yeah. That's him. He makes me sick though! He eats so much and still stays that skinny! If I so much as look as food I already start to gain weight," Ichon said as he patted his rounded belly.

"I hear ya," Al agreed. "Just more to love! That's what I say!"

"Usually she's waiting for him to get out of practice from the dojo. But here's the thing…" Ichon said in a quieter tone as he looked around cautiously and leaned forward. "I don't know, a few days ago I, uh, came up to her as she was waiting for her boyfriend and, um… well… we were talking and stuff, and, uh… well… one thing led to another and next thing I know… I leaned in and kissed her."

"What?" Al shouted as his mouth dropped to the floor.

"No way! Just right there? Out in the open!" Yerlan asked his mouth also wide from the shock of this bold move.

"Oh, yeah!" Ichon said confidently as he leaned back against some crates. He then propped his feet out one the crate in front of him still smirking and nodding his head.

"Lips or cheek?" Al asked excitedly.

"Lips!"

Al and Yerlan both just burst out laughing as loud as they could. Both were hootin' and hollerin' and high-fiving each other and carrying on as loud as they could. Ichon joined in the high-fiving and laughing hysterically as they all celebrated his great achievement.

"Yo!" Yerlan said still laughing as he smacked Ichon's arm. "What about her boyfriend, man?"

"He has nooooo idea." The other guys "ohh- ho- hoo-"-ed, but Ichon raised his hands to quiet them for one more surprise. "No, but it gets better. The past two days when she's waited for him, me and her were little bit more into the woods and, uh, we really got into the whole smooching and hands-all-over-each-other thing."

"Yooo, man! Give it uuuup!" Al said as he raised his hand up towards Ichon for a high five.

"Mmmhmmm! Oh, yeah!" came Ichon's reply as he nodded smugly. "And get this… we both have the day off tomorrow, so…"

"Bow shick a wawh wawh!" Yerlan said.

"Ohh…! Yeah! We'll see about that!" Ichon chuckled.

"Hey! To celebrate our friend becoming a man, let's break out the good stuff!" Al said as he popped open a nearby crate and reached in. He pulled out three large bottles of hard ale and handed them to his friends. "Here 'ya go! The good stuff!"

"Ohh, yeah! This some of that stuff from the ship?"

"Hmm mmh. You know it! Some of that good stuff, cuz! But first…" Al raised up his bottle of ale above them. "To Ichon finally becoming a man!"

Yerlan grabbed his bottle and raised it up. "To good ale and fine women!"

"To already taken women!" Ichon shouted.

The guys clinked their bottles together celebrating well into the wee hours of the night.

"Aww crap!" shrieked Knight as he collected his belongings and quickly got dressed. "I can't believe that I overslept! I'm gonna be late and Master Feh is not gonna like this one bit. He's gonna chew me out, and… oh… dang it…!" Knight took one last look around his place and growled, or rather, his stomach growled. "I guess this means no breakfast. I have a feeling that this is gonna be a long day…"

Knight dashed out of his residence and headed towards the dojo. The light from the sun caused his eyes to squint until they adjusted to the vast difference in light from his dark room to the outside world. Knight reached the bottom of the dojo steps in record time (mostly because he ran instead of usually walking). He took a moment to catch his breath and started to climb the steps. But something struck him as odd as he reached the doors: there were no sounds coming from inside, as there usually would. It seemed a little… too quiet for a place of martial arts training. He reached out and opened the doors slowly and peered inside.

"I've been waiting for you. Come in… Knight."

Knight cautiously walked inside and looked towards his left where the dueling mat was. It was unusually dark. He shut the door and followed the short, candle-lit hallway into the main floor where sitting in the middle of the room sat master Feh. He was surrounded by lit candles. In front of the martial arts master was a small mat also surrounded by lit candles. Master Feh sat on his mat with hands folded and eyes closed. He breathed in deeply and exhaled.

"Take a seat."

Knight slowly approached the cushion on the floor trying to probe the darkness of the room with his eyes. Why is it so dark in here? And where is everyone? He stepped over the candles and kneeled down on the cushion. The entire room was dark except for the two rings of seven candles each: one ring around Feh and one ring around Knight. Each ring was approximately an arm's length away if not a little bit more. The candles cast an eerie, flickering glow on the surroundings as they danced their ritual dance. Seeing the walls of the dojo was nigh impossible due to the candle-lit ring causing his eyes to constantly focus and readjust due to the flickering glare. The candles illuminated just enough to see the immediate premises of their locations and that was about it. Despite the slight warmth Knight felt from the candles, he also felt a chill run down his spine. Something inside of him was telling him, This is not good. Be on your guard.

Knight squinted in the darkness trying to distinguish more clearly the facial features of his martial arts instructor to get some feeling of what this whole thing was about. But the ever-flickering light from the candles danced across his eyes distracting and making it difficult to focus. What little of Feh's face he did see did not sit well with Knight.

Master Feh raised his hands and folded them in front of his mouth. He then set his chin down on his protruding thumbs and finally opened his eyes. His narrowed eyes spoke volumes, yet were still somehow unreadable.

"Why are you here?"

The question caught Knight by surprise evidenced by his slight jump. "I…" he began, then paused to think for a second. "I wish to be stronger."

"Stronger? Than what?"

What kinda dumb question is that? I want to be a better person. I want to be stronger than what I was yesterday, than what I was a week ago, than what I was a year… Then the thought suddenly crashed to a halt as Knight began to think about what led him to this part of the world to begin with. Memories of his time on Hanruh's ship and the people he'd met rushed at him. There on that ship perished the only lead, the only chance he had to clearing his name and finally returning to his hometown as an innocent man. His mind rewound time back further to life in his hometown, more particularly, who he had left in his hometown. Tinaro…

Suddenly, just as on the night his town was attacked, Knight felt a tingle of danger ripple across his senses. Acting on already poised instincts, Knight leaned back as far as he could until his head was on the ground, his eyes staring into the light of one of the candles. A blast of wind rushed above his prone body snuffing out the light from his ring of candles.

That technique! What was… But before he could finish his thought, he heard another wind like sound whoosh up from where Feh was once seated. The light from Feh's candles disappeared leaving the room in total darkness. Knight quickly spring boarded backwards just in time before Feh crashed down into the floor where Knight had just been. Knight skidded back a few feet coming to a halt in a kneeling position.

"Very good. I see you have been training after all," Feh said.

"That technique…" Knight huffed as he slowly stood to his feet. His eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, but he was beginning to see the shadow of where master Feh was standing.

"Ahh… So you noticed, did you? That is the secret technique of our martial art. It's called Hakkei. It's a technique that allows one to attack using one's inner Chi. Allow me to demonstrate its effects, again…"

Knight barely had enough time to put his arms in front of himself in a defensive position before Feh unleashed another intense burst of wind. The burst struck Knight with such fierce intensity that he was flung backward the ten or fifteen feet to the back wall. The wind howled in his ears with tornado-like speed. His body crashed violently into the wall; however, the pressure from Feh's wind-like technique didn't stop immediately after. Knight felt as though the air in his body was being driven out like someone dealing numerous, continuous punches to his stomach. When the wind finally ceased after a few agonizing seconds, Knight collapsed on the ground gasping for breath. A small stream of light trickled in from the damaged wall behind allowing Knight to see Feh a bit better. Feh stood in a lower stance with his right hand extended outward in line with his right leg while his left hand was slightly extended, perpendicular from his body line.

"Tell me. Why are you here?" the question was asked again.

Knight looked up with a fierce determination embedded deep within his narrowed blue eyes. Again with the question? What does he want from me? Unless… Knight paused for a moment and thought. Unless he doesn't want me to answer because the answer is so obvious. I obviously want to become stronger. Otherwise, why would I be here?

"You're distracted. You're movements are slow and predicable. You say that you want to become stronger. But for what purpose? To be able to beat up on others?"

Knight gasped and his eyes widened. That was the same thing his mother had said to him when he had asked about taking sword lessons. What were the both of them getting at? I told her then that I wasn't going to beat up the other kids. That wasn't the point of getting the lessons. I wanted to be able to defend myself from the monster attacks. But she couldn't understand that part. Sword lessons would have helped me when I was defending Tinar…o…

Feh suddenly closed the gap between them coming in for a left-handed palm smash to Knight's chest. Knight narrowed his eyes on the master. Feh planted his right foot and began his attack, both left hand and left foot in motion. Knight acted almost immediately after Feh planted his right foot. Knight spun around and deflected Feh's left hand with his right forearm. Feh countered this move by throwing his right elbow back; however, Knight was still in motion was able to catch Feh's hand with his left hand. Knight then with his free right hand focused his powers and attempted to palm smash Feh's back. The master managed to twist free of Knight's grasp and leap back far enough to be out of Knight's arm reach. However, Knight channeled his elemental power through his body and out his palm creating a focused wind blast just how Feh had done earlier. Feh already had his hands across his face in a defensive position when he was struck with Knight's wind blast. The attack was strong enough to push the master back a few more feet in the air before he skidded to a halt; but the attack wasn't as powerful as his own technique.

"Don't you dare… judge my intentions!" Knight yelled angrily. He focused his eyes on Feh.

The master froze for a second the moment he saw Knight's eyes. The ferocious violet hue of Knight's eyes stood out clearly in the darkness sending chills down the master's spine. The air suddenly became much more saturated and heavy as the aura around Knight became much darker. What's this I sense? Such… evil in the air… Like an oppressive heat, yet the air is feels so chilly. And it seems like the pressure around me has increased. What's going on? Who is this boy?

Knight charged the master with such speed that an afterimage seemed to follow. Feh barely had time to duck under the punch thrown by Knight. Feh then spun his feet under Knight's to try to trip him up, but Knight had jumped just enough to avoid the sweeping kick. Knight spun while in the air and landed a solid kick on Feh's right side. But his kick met Feh's arms which protected his face. The force of Knight's kick caused Feh to strain underneath the tremendous force exerted on his guard. Knowing that he couldn't take many more hits like that, Feh quickly grabbed onto Knight's leg and tossed him as far from him as possible. Knight landed nimbly on his feet like a cat and skidded to a halt never once losing his stance. Before any words could be spoken, Knight charged once again as fast as the first time. But…

Wait…! Through the darkness, Feh barely saw the approaching shadow. He rolled off Knight's high right punch but was suddenly struck in the side with a low left hand. Feh's ribs flexed under the incredible stress, on the verge of breaking. He soared across the room and rolled on the floor several feet. Feh coughed up some of his own blood and glanced upward toward the boy. His moves are faster than before! What's going on? This boy… he could… Feh gritted his teeth under the waves of pain than plagued his body sourced where he was just struck. He's strong… perhaps even strong enough to beat me.

Knight breathed labored breaths as he glared coldly at the master lying on the floor. It felt good to finally be able to show how strong he had become. His eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, but it was more than that: he could actually see clearly as if the light wasn't blocked from coming in! Knight smirked as he beheld the stumbling form of the great master Feh.

"Is this…" Feh began as he slowly stumbled to his feet. "Is this how you use your strength?"

"What?" came the short, angered reply.

"I'll ask again: why are you here? Why are you learning the martial arts?"

"Again with that question?" Knight clenched his fist and spoke with raised tone, "I'm here because I want to be stronger!"

Feh scoffed. "If that is your answer, if that is the culmination of everything that you've learned here about the martial arts then you have learned nothing at all."

"Say what?" Knight responded in an almost disbelieving tone. "Are you saying that I've been wasting my time here?"

"If you have learned the martial arts only to become stronger then you have learned nothing at all. Which is why, from here on out, I will no longer be your teacher."

"What? You're…" Knight felt his anger kindle as he clenched his hands into tight fists. "You're kicking me out! But why?"

"Because you don't know is reason enough!" Feh countered.

"That's… that's absurd!" Knight focused his psynergic power to his hand and punched the air towards Feh releasing a burst of wind.

Feh countered by palm smashing the air in front of him. Feh's wind attack and Knight's wind attack met halfway between the pair, but Feh's attack sliced through and dispersed Knight's attack. Knight's surprise was short-lived when he was struck with Feh's attack. It felt as though his inner organs were being torn to pieces. Such strength! Knight doubled over in pain holding his stomach. It was incredible! His eyes were clenched so tight that tears began to trickle out of them. That technique! Any closer and I would have been a goner. But still… even at such a distance… Knight glanced up towards Feh estimating the distance in his mind. To be able to cause such damage… When the pain subsided enough, Knight slowly stood to his feet. He still had to hold his stomach, but still, he was standing even if his legs felt rubbery and weak. He glared over at the master who seemed to have a sympathetic, almost regretful look in his eyes.

"Do you even know what I did here yesterday? I prevented Valleroy from killing another student! I not only stopped the fight but I also saved Feizhi from being harmed! Doesn't any of that matter?"

Feh took in a deep breath a hesitated for a few moments. "No… I haven't forgotten what you've done. To be honest, you're one of the best students I've ever had. And you remind me a lot like me in my younger years. You have so much potential. And I feel like you will make a difference in this world." For the first time since they had been in the dojo, Feh smiled. "I want you to stay, I really do. However, I can't permit you to train with the other students. Unfortunately, you too broke the rules and attacked with weapons."

"But Valleroy…!" Knight interjected.

"I know what he did. And he's getting a much more severe punishment. But whatever happens to him, what is that to you? You should be more concerned about yourself." Feh sighed as his eyes matched his drooped posture. "I will allow you to be my pupil once again, but only after you serve out your punishment."

"And that would be…"

"For breaking the rules of this dojo you are not allowed to train here for a whole month."

"A whole month!" Knight exclaimed almost disbelievingly.

Feh held up a hand to silence his pupil. "Furthermore, during your month of probation, you are to clean up and repair this dojo. You will do this without speaking to any of the other students, including Feizhi."

"Really?" Knight said exasperated. "I can see not talking to the other students, but why Feizhi?" Knight asked with raised eyebrow.

Feh sighed and lightly stroked his beard. Knight had noticed that he did that when he was nervous. "Not talking to Feizhi is not part of your punishment for breaking the rules. That is my own decision." Feh then addressed Knight's confused-looking facial expression. "It's for her protection as well as yours. Besides, you are seeing someone, right?"

Knight furrowed his brow in contemplation as he let his words sink in. For her protection and my protection. Really? That's the best excuse you've got? That doesn't make sense! He sighed and looked up at Feh. "Whether I'm seeing someone or not doesn't matter. Feizhi was… is my friend. And now you're trying to break up our friendship! I know I'm an outsider. That being said, I don't know a lot of people nor do I have a lot of friends. And now you're telling me that I can't even talk to one of my only friends that I have here?"

"Please, you must understand. I only wish to protect her. She is my daughter after all. And it will only be for a month."

Knight averted his eyes and exhaled disgustedly. "I still don't understand. I was doing the right thing and yet I'm the one being punished. Doesn't seem fair at all…"

"Well, you do have a choice. You can choose to stay here, man up, and serve your punishment or you can choose to leave. However, if you do leave then I'll have no choice but to expel from this dojo forever. It's your choice."

Knight dropped his head and thought for a moment. I know it's my choice! Hmph. I don't really want to stay, but if I leave then I can never step foot in here again. I don't really have anywhere else to go either. Besides… Knight recalled the technique that Feh had just used against him… twice. It would be a waste not to learn that technique. Guess that I have no choice. After all, it shouldn't be that bad… I've got Maranda at least…

"I'll… I'll stay…" Knight said defeatedly.

"Good." Feh again smiled. "I knew you'd make the right decision. Owning up to what you've done is a true sign of becoming a man."