At 10 o'clock in the morning, on October 24th, Hiroki, with his Beast named and registered and his hair cut and combed as decently as he could manage, returned to Omori's dojo with an unflappable determination… and a flat bicycle tire. Driving over a shard from a broken bottle halfway through the ride forced him to go on foot, with awkward consequences.
"You're 20 minutes late," Omori glared from his garden, arms folded beneath the chest as was customary. But much to Hiroki's surprise, his glare turned into his signature smirk, "But no use beating around that bush anymore. Let's get started!"
This time, Omori and Hiroki headed to the grassy, electrically fenced field on the outside of the dojo so they could have all the space they needed. Fortunately, the weather was still very pleasant, without a risk of either cold winds nor rain.
The field was simple, with slag tracks laid out for sprinting, hurdle jumps and long-jumping, wider than conventional ones so they could accommodate for the size of the Beasts. On the outer end, covered from above with a roof, were exercise machines tailored both to human and Beast size, as well as various metering machines for strength. It was clear that the former champion wasn't cutting corners with his equipment.
"All right, then! Introduce yourself, trainee," Omori bayed, with his arms behind his back and his head held high, not unlike what one would expect a drill sergeant to come across (except for his hair).
"My name is Hiroki Hamaguchi," Hiroki returned the enthusiasm, brought out Tengen's egg and triggered the hatching reflex, "And this is my Beast, Tengen!"
Tengen puffed up his chest, placed his hands on his waist and lifted his tail ever so slightly in a prideful gesture, "Pleased to meet you! You wanna find stuff out about me, you gotta beat me first!"
"I'll be the one doing the beating until you two are tip-top! Right now, you're both as stable as the tuning of a Gibson guitar…" Omori smirked daringly, then paced in front of the two, "For every day, ten months starting today, you two are gonna be put through the wringer! I want to bring champion material to Japan. I want our people to be proud and the rest of the world impressed. I'm expecting the same kind of drive from you, Hiro."
"I will not let you down," Hiroki nodded his head with a determined expression on his face.
"Of course, this doesn't mean I'll be cruel to you, either," Omori continued, "Part of becoming a champion is having a clear head and overworking has a countereffect on any sportsman. So, whatever it is you're training, make sure you follow your program. I'm not asking any less or more."
"Yes, sir," Hiroki nodded once again, then recalled that he wasn't told of such a thing when he left the dojo the first time. "What is the program, if I may ask?"
Omori unveiled a thin, black notebook and handed it straight to his trainee, "This is your official training guide. I've written down sets depending on the reader's height, so you'll be able to adapt even if you're shorter and lighter than me. You've also got martial arts notes, diet plans, and everything in between. I'll have you follow this every day of the week."
Upon close inspection, Hiroki saw a small white square on the front cover where it read 'trainee manual' in Japanese and an English print that conspicuously read 'bovice training manual'.
'Bovice'? Really? And I thought my English was bad…
"Something wrong?" Omori's voice shook him out of his humorous bewilderment.
"Nothing at all! I'm ready to begin," Hiroki jolted and straightened himself out, the manual still firmly in his right hand.
"All right!" Omori smirked, then broke out a fairly large, pricy bluetooth speaker which blasted out the most aggressive, most high-gain and scream-induced heavy metal song he could find on his smartphone, and blared at the top of his lungs while pumping his fists, "Let's tear this house dooooooown!"
And so, ten months of Hell began. The training consisted of three-hour sessions that were held every day when Hiroki returned from work, up until some 6 o'clock in the night. Every other training day, Hiroki and Tengen worked out for one hour, sessions alternating between full-body workouts and workouts targeting specific muscle groups. To Tengen, exercises of strength came naturally, but Hiroki took more time, since he was quite out of shape. The heavy metal music that Omori was playing, while most certainly not to Hiroki's taste in the least, helped rouse his motivation.
After working out, Hiroki and Tengen would be taking a short break, before moving onto the next step: combat training. For this, they headed back to the interior of the dojo.
"We're training aikido and karate?" Hiroki asked, now dressed in a white karate uniform and standing opposite his trainer, who was wearing a black one.
"That's right," Omori nodded, with his arms crossed at his midsection and his feet forming an angle at the heels, "Have you been reading that manual I gave you?"
"Yes, sir," Hiroki nodded.
"Good," Omori stood firm, "Then take your stance and try to land a hit on me."
Hiroki focused his gaze ahead, with his master remaining firm and seemingly wide open. As he moved in for a right punch, it was caught effortlessly by his wiser (and taller) opponent. When the hold was broken, Hiroki tried to sidestep a little before doing the same move, only to have both hands swiftly trapped by Omori's left, while the right hand thumped into Hiroki's chest so quickly he wasn't able to see it, sending him staggering back. At this point, the apprentice was already starting to move around more nervously. He changed his strategy with a 'mawashi geri' – a roundhouse kick aimed to his trainer's side – to try and destabilize him, only to be destabilized in turn by a swift punch to the kneecap that sent him jerking back in pain. When he tried to close the distance once more with a chop aiming at Omori's left, the old master caught the attack before sending Hiroki crashing down on the mat back-first with a forearm strike. Dazed and confused, Hiroki stared blankly into the ceiling, before he was roused by Omori's voice, "Get up. Now, tell me: why was I able to catch you every time?"
"It felt like…" Hiroki clambered to his feet a bit shyly, because of his hurting right knee. He was struggling to find the words until he straightened himself out again, "It felt like you anticipated them."
"I did," Omori nodded, seemingly pleased by the answer. He faced his student, "Usually, when you're in a fight, you're looking to end it as quickly as possible. But if you can't, you never let your opponent fight his style. Don't worry about sizing him up. Always be on the offense. Break his rhythm, or he'll break yours."
"Doesn't that involve planning and feeling the opponent out?" Hiroki asked, tilting his head to the left.
"No," Omori cut him off, "You saw a lot of twists and turns in movies where the hero beats the odds, but in real life? The winner's the guy who attacks first. Bake that into your blood, Hiro. Don't wind up for attacks and don't let your opponent see them. You'll be more effective that way."
"Understood," Hiroki bowed.
With all the training Hiroki was going through, his performance at work, as far as physical tasks were concerned, improved significantly. He was also more focused and less stressed, even with the ever-present worry for Shizue. If there was anything that was actually stressing him out, it was training with Tengen.
"Like this?!" Tengen snarled, after a brutally precise forward punch at a stationary bag built to accommodate for his height, suspended by cables.
"Wow, you're doing it better than me…" Hiroki groaned, his shoulders slumping in an exceedingly disheartened manner.
"Hey, lighten up! You can't be strong without putting your body into it!" Tengen gnashed his teeth, obviously agitated by Hiroki's flaccid attitude.
"I mean, I am trying to be precise and quick with my hands, but it just isn't working," Hiroki continued to mope, throwing his hands into a clueless shrug.
"True, but there's more going on," Tengen positioned himself to demonstrate, "If you push the punch more from your hip and your shoulder, it'll have more power." After that, he literally and figuratively put his back into a flurry of punches. Their speed waxed and their strength hadn't waned one bit.
When Hiroki tried to match it, he was painfully obviously telegraphing them, which is exactly what his master told him to do. Tengen flicked his tail in annoyance, "If the old man saw you punching like that, he'd cry!"
"Looks like things are starting to pick up!" Omori seemed pleased with the way Tengen was carrying himself during training.
"For Tengen, sure. Myself? Not so much," Hiroki bowed respectfully.
"I brought you something," Omori spoke, before handing his disciple a short, thick wooden board with some leather padding.
"A makiwara?" Hiroki inspected it, taking a close look. With so many engravings on the back, finely shaped construction and some very expensive leather, it had to be rather expensive, "It's so beautifully made."
"I've had this one for years. But now, it's all yours," Omori nodded.
Hiroki tried to punch into the makiwara, holding it with his left hand. Due to misdirection, it caused him quite a bit of pain. He shook his right hand loose, "I couldn't possibly deserve this."
"Well, you do," Omori repelled Hiroki's attempt to refuse the gift, and grinned, "Don't worry about it, I've got plenty of those things!"
The exercises Hiroki and Tengen were going through weren't merely physical. Some of them were a test of the mind more than anything. And in these cases, it wasn't Mr. Omori that they were being pit against, but Mrs. Omori.
"I'm Hanako Omori. Pleased to meet you, young Mr. Hamaguchi," the woman smiled. To Hiroki, she appeared peculiar in almost every way; her hair was an omnidirectional array of dyed red curls held down by a black headband. She wore bordeaux-rimmed glasses and wore a floral purple kimono. Her color choices were all over the place.
"Pleased to meet you. Where's Mr. Omori right now?" Hiroki asked, confused.
"Oh, Kentaro actually sent me here," Ms. Omori's smile didn't falter for one second. Next thing Hiroki saw, she opened a box that she was carrying with her and clasped her palms in an oddly eccentric way, "Now, let's have a game of Go, you and I!"
Hiroki's confusion grew into puzzlement and annoyance, as he raised his eyebrow with a frown, "Beg your pardon, Ms. Omori, but I've come to train."
"Oh, don't get the wrong idea," Ms. Omori chuckled, "This game is part of your training. You see, playing Go is all about strategy and thinking, which are things you will always need when you and your Beast are in the ring. I don't like the fighting much, but I could run laps around Kentaro when playing Go is concerned!" She finished by laughing heartily and waving at the air. This woman was a lot older than him, but she had a bubbly, infectious energy that would put a lot of big city 20-year-olds to shame. Naturally, it lured a smile out of Hiroki as well.
"It's a good thing I called my Beast 'Tengen', then. I'll always think of these games when I train with him now," Hiroki smiled back, ever pleased to be in the company of such cheerful people.
"Just so you'd know, Tengen will be playing Go with Kentaro's Beast, Musashi," She pointed to the two Beasts hunched over a fairly large board. Musashi's appearance could only be likened to that of an anthropomorphic red black rhinoceros beetle with the legs being notably thicker than any insect would have, and his vividly patterned wings encased in thick armor. Back ahead of him, Hiroki could see Ms. Omori with a daring smirk, "Now, shall we get started?"
Go was a board game dating back centuries, with the simple goal of 'capturing' your opponent by surrounding their tiles with your own tiles. However, with the sheer number of combinations one could make. And it was painfully obvious to Hiroki that Ms. Omori knew those combinations better than he ever hoped. Figuring out where to place the tiles and what it meant for him was a tough pill to swallow, but he was figuring it out defeat by defeat. The sheer number of combinations also meant that games could last very long.
In the meantime, Tengen was proving to be a very sore loser. Every time he lost, he threw a roaring tantrum at his opponent and tried to smash the board. Every time he went too far, he was rapidly punched in the solar plexus and screamed in agony for a minute before resuming the game.
After six consecutive games in the span of two hours, Hiroki was completely exhausted, baggy-eyed and robbed of life force. Ms. Omori, on the other hand, smiled as chipperly as when she started, "Well, that's 5-1! Looks like I totally wiped the floor with you, Hiroki! But beating me once means you can beat me again, so think about this game, and what it means for your fighting strategy! Musashi, how'd Tengen do?"
"A resounding 10-0 for me," Musashi spoke with a monotone, gurgling voice that only fit an insectoid creature such as himself.
Tengen, writhing in agony on the floor, squealed in frustration, "Dammit…"
If there's anything Hiroki noticed in this Go session, even if he couldn't match Ms. Omori's enthusiasm in the least, was that no two matches would ever be the same, even if the opponent was.
One month into training, Hiroki began to show signs of moving forward. His stamina improved, he could work out more consistently and aikido came more naturally to him than before. His bicycle ride to and fro became more enjoyable.
As far as Tengen was concerned, his exercises went from lifting tremendous weights, running quadrupedally instead of bipedally and occasionally hauling Omori's pickup truck as an exercise.
Yet now, Hiroki and Tengen had to perform one special task. One move that he could rely upon for ending fights quickly and reliably.
"A Death Blow?" Hiroki questioned his trainer curiously.
"Think of it as a finishing move," Mr. Omori explained, as he sat during a tea break with his disciple. He sipped down the rest of his own tea before continuing, "It's not a necessity officially, but every Beast Wrestler I know who at least made it to the National Title tournaments had at least one. Remember how I said fights should end quickly? You should think of at least one move that can do just that."
"Very well. Where should we begin?" Hiroki asked.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Omori raised his hand in rejection, much to his student's surprise. With that, he turned around and left, but not before saying this one thing, "The Death Blow is something you'll have to come up with on your own. Let your Beast do the work. If you need some advice, let me know."
After this much time spent having every exercise jotted out precisely for him, the old master's abrupt departure left Hiroki feeling like a raft adrift in the open ocean. He was told that this would likely be the most powerful move in Tengen's arsenal, but he'd be receiving zero advice on how to construct it.
After the initial shock of the revelation wore off, some ideas began to flow into his mind. If he didn't know what to do himself…
"We could see what other Beasts can do!" Hiroki, with his laptop in hand, proudly declared.
Tengen, while initially confused, reciprocated the enthusiasm, "All right! Show me!" With that, he laid belly down beside Hiroki and close enough to the screen so that he could actually see what was going on. To begin his rummage, Hiroki searched for match videos with the most views, hoping that whatever garnered those views was a remarkable Death Blow.
"You know, I think something coming from the upper body is about as strong as we can get," Hiroki stated.
"Why can't I just use a good ol' tail slap? That's the strongest muscle I've got," Tengen suggested, all the while moving it around in a wavy motion.
"That's no good," Hiroki cut him off rather quickly, causing the Beast to drop his enthusiasm and frown. Hiroki continued, "It takes the most time to wind that attack up, and you have to turn."
"Yeah, good point," Tengen nodded half-heartedly, scratching his armpits, "Unless I do it from behind, they'll see it coming right away."
"What do you think of Magmasaur's 'Fire Whip'?" Hiroki pointed towards the move being made by a red black reptilian creature with glowing red claws, cutting with immaculate precision, leaving burning wounds on the body of his victim, "I know you don't have fiery claws, but you do have claws."
Tengen tried to match the move, but each time he cut, he could feel his muscles tensing up, and his claws did progressively less damage to the wooden post he chose as his target. By the end, he was panting and making an effort to loosen his arms, "Nah, I'm not sure I could even work myself into it. Too flighty."
"Hmm…" Hiroki, while annoyed with the failure, wasn't letting it show, quizzically holding his chin. It wasn't long before he showed another fighter's example, "What about the Leaping German Suplex from Ploguras? Sometimes, it really helps to have gravity do the work for you, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I can see that move taking somebody down, but I'm not sure I'd be able to use it against everybody," Tengen waved it aside. "The old man said there'd be bigger guys."
"Okay, then," Hiroki started biting his lip already, while he was scrolling for the next result. Before he could say anything, he was sidetracked by his Beast companion.
"Hiroki! I think I've got something…" For this instance, Tengen prepped himself on all fours, before galloping forward and leaping into the air. He skidded to a stop with a daredevilish grin and raised himself back onto two, "Pretty amazing, ain't I?!"
"No, that's ridiculous," Hiroki's deadpan, complete with his stale, gloomy stare, was enough for Tengen to clench his fists, and have his smile turn into the kind of scowl he'd seen from him when he was fighting the criminals back when he discovered him. Still, Hiroki continued his rationalization, "You see, when you run up to somebody like that, they can only dodge you. Besides, it's just a jump. What are you supposed to do with that? Hit them with your body? It's too easy to dodge."
"Not at this kind of speed, it ain't!" Tengen snapped back, pacing towards his master with an obviously angry huff, tail violently swinging from side to side.
"Just forget it," Hiroki remained as dogged as ever. "I'm not saying you should focus on your upper body as the source just on a whim! I've noticed myself that it's the strongest part, and that many other Beasts use-"
"Shut up, already!" Tengen was already screaming, right into his master's face, "Many other Beasts aren't me, all right?! None of those moves came naturally. Not one! Why do you wanna force me into something that doesn't suit me?!"
"Tengen, if you knew any better, you would've come up with an actual move right now," Hiroki continued, pushing himself forward. "You're nothing but a trainee, just like me! You got that?! Either we go by some sorts of rules, or-"
Before Hiroki could finish his sentence, Tengen let out a screeching roar, and his right fist smashed into the very ground that Hiroki was sitting on. More than enough to make him jump in terror and look up at the furious ruby-colored eyes that were glaring into him. He could almost feel the aftershock from that punch. And the primal fear that suddenly coursed through his limbs made them numb at the fingers and stiff from the wrists all the way to his shoulders and hips.
"Forget it," Tengen snorted, before rising to his feet. "I should've thought twice before settling on a loser like you," he said, before collapsing into egg form, much to Hiroki's anger.
"Get back here, so we can work this thing out! I'm not gonna sit here and watch you pout like a baby," Hiroki clenched his fists, shouting straight into the egg while clutching it with his hands.
"This is exactly why you've never had a mate!" Shockingly, Tengen's voice was audible, even from within the egg.
"How'd you know that I-?!" Hiroki's eyes widened in shock, before the full scope of the situation dawned upon him. In his stubbornness, he compromised the one thing he wasn't supposed to – the trust between him and his Beast. Not only this, but he took away precious time that was necessary not only for him, but for Shizue as well. He groaned in annoyance and slumped defeatedly into the grass, clutching his face with his right hand, "Oh, no…"
After that fierce argument, Tengen wouldn't come out of his egg, even with the button press. It was painfully obvious that his own Beast was phasing him out for disrespect, and Hiroki knew he couldn't complete training in a state like this. For two days, he counted on the loyalty that was baked into his DNA to come up again and that Tengen would return, but to no avail.
Late into his Wednesday training, Hiroki was practicing punches with his new makiwara. He'd gotten more precise than when he started out, but because he still wasn't quite fit enough, he still had the occasional misdirection here and there. The result was pain and self-deprecation, and Tengen not coming out made matters even worse. He dropped his board and slumped rear-first into the grass, at a loss of nerves.
Suddenly, he was roused from his blues by a deep, gruff voice coming from afar, "Hiro? You still there? You're overdue for lunch break!"
"Mr… and Ms. Omori?" Hiroki raised his head.
"Come over for some mitarashi dango! I just had them glazed!" Ms. Omori motioned the student to come over.
The promise of rubbery rice dumplings covered with a sweet soy sauce glaze, especially after a taxing day of working out, was truly welcome. The three sat on the porch of Mr. Omori's dojo, where Ms. Omori offered some dango to Hiroki first.
"Thank you very much," Hiroki bowed, with a soft smile, before digging in. But as he ate, he could notice a change in the woman's mood. From her usual eccentric cheer, she had a rather doting smile, but with her brows arched in a frown. He could notice that she was looking expectantly at her husband, as if they were about to break some news.
"All right. What went wrong with Tengen?" Mr. Omori leaned forward ever so slightly, with no small hint of annoyance.
The question Hiroki was dreading to hear, but at the same time needed to be asked. After finishing chewing up and swallowing the dumpling that was in his mouth, he sighed with notable duress, "A lot of things. We were setting up our first Death Blow, and I was trying to set his mind on a specific type of move. When he came back at me with something that didn't make sense, he got angry and now he won't come out again."
"Didn't make sense?" Mr. Omori puzzled, folding his arms and then throwing them into the air, "According to whom? Why didn't you tell me right away?!"
"Well…" Hiroki replied, "It's my duty to train Tengen, so I suppose I should-"
"What did I tell you before leaving you to figure out the Death Blow?" Omori raised his right eyebrow. His facial expression held the same intensity he had on their first meeting.
"To let the Beast do the-" Hiroki reflexively repeated, but when he realized what he was saying, he silenced himself and let his face fall down in realization that he wasn't letting the Beast do the work.
"Exactly. To do the work. Not have his master 'set his mind on a specific type of move'…" Mr. Omori parodied Hiroki's aforementioned speech patterns with an overly dramatic lisp, much to the pupil's embarrassment. The retired Beast Wrestler groaned, "Beasts aren't blindly obedient drones, Hiro! Because you listened to your ego instead of Tengen, you got yourself in a mess. I wanna see you get out of it right now. You're a smart kid, so I know you can do it." Judging from his gesture, he was only mildly annoyed.
"But how?" Hiroki, wracked with embarrassment and worry, shrugged, "I need your help, Mr. Omori."
"No," Mr. Omori waved the concern aside with a laugh, "You just need to listen to what people, and Beasts, are telling you."
"How do you make up with someone after a fight?" Ms. Omori's question pierced Hiroki's mind with the precision of a bullet, as he turned straight towards her. She continued, with a more gentle tone than her husband, "You can't change other people, so don't think you can go around doing the same to your Beast. The only way you can build bridges is by listening first and giving advice afterwards, even if the other person might be wrong. After all, it's easier when you can prove it," She finished her statement with a quirky giggle that was more like her.
Everything Ms. Omori, whom Hiroki initially found to be eccentric, made perfect sense. Still, it was the way she spoke that all but melted his heart. His actual mother wouldn't have even dreamed of pausing and asking what's wrong with Hiroki, rather preferring to deal with whatever kitschy date or dinner she'd set up with her gambling friends. Yet here was this relative stranger, speaking to him as if he were her own child. Even Mr. Omori reminded him of his father, minus the fierce temper and the love for heavy metal.
"Thank you so much, both of you," Hiroki bowed, showing a grateful, reinvigorated smile. After finishing the last of his dango, he grabbed Tengen's egg from his side and headed onto the field again. He set him down, and reached for the buttons, but paused his hand. He knew it didn't work before, so he wasn't going to have a rerun. Instead, he took his risks and spoke out, "Tengen? I… don't know if you want to hear from me, but I made you a promise. Back home. That you're a sign that Shizue's gonna get better and that I believe in you, but I didn't believe in you two days ago. I'm so sorry. I want to see what you can do, and I promise I won't shut you down. Not ever."
After he ran out of words to say and fell into awkward silence, Hiroki took a step back. Then, he pressed the buttons again. Much to his shock and delight, his Beast rose from his oval cocoon and stood proud, albeit turned away from Hiroki.
"All right," Tengen turned his gaze behind towards Hiroki with a goading smirk, "You wanna do this?"
"Yeah. Do what you did the other day," Hiroki said, scratching the back of his head, "The all-fours jump."
Tengen wasted no time before propping himself down, springing into a short gallop and making a swift leap forward, where he skidded to a landing on the grass. As he stopped, he faced his master as if awaiting appraisal.
Hiroki, unlike last time, saw an opportunity. Rather than judge the choice, he thought more constructive criticism would be beneficial. He placed his hand under his chin, "Can you straighten yourself out a little more as you jump? I think that'll give you more options for attacking."
Much to Hiroki's pleasant surprise, Tengen listened attentively, then nodded before complying. Recognizing the effect, he shot an approving toothy grin at Hiroki before jumping again, performing a claw strike. Then another time with a punch. Each time more honed than the other, and with different considerations of how to direct the power.
"You're doing great! Keep shuffling them!" Hiroki pumped his fists, suddenly flushed with inspiration. Now, he was beginning to see exactly what kind of power he's been missing out on the past two days. Still, lamenting wasted time took second place to his scintillating joy. And with one more attack, he got an idea, "Oh! Try an elbow!"
Tengen, whipped into shape by the constant jumping attacks, heartly complied. As he leaped into the air, he thrust his elbow inwards in front of his field of vision, where he saw the opponent's head. His landing was a bit more awkward, as he forgot to withdraw his arm in time, and crashed onto the grass by his left side. He groaned, "Dammit!"
"It's okay," Hiroki approached, patting Tengen on the shoulders, "You'll be able to land it. It definitely feels like a future Death Blow to me! You just need time and exercise."
"And water! I think I'm gonna dry up…" Tengen grumbled, eliciting a very loud, hysterical laugh from Ms. Omori, who was watching from the porch.
"Well, that's what you get for crouching in an egg for two days!" Hiroki knocked Tengen on the top of the skull with his fist, which elicited no reaction from the tired Beast.
"I'll be on my way now! Bye, Hiro!" Ms. Omori called out, before taking the empty dango plates and leaving.
"Bye, Ms. Omori!" Hiroki waved, "And thank you for the dango! They were delicious!"
"Hey, Hiro," Mr. Omori called out to Hiroki, as he approached the pair with discerning, intrigued eyes, "You were missing out on an awesome Death Blow idea. The run up is what makes it effective. That said, I think you should go for the elbow strike variant. What are you gonna call the move?"
Hiroki puzzled only for a short while, before snapping his fingers as his bulb lit up, "Since Tengen shoots like a gun when he hits, how about Magnum Dash?"
"Bullseye," Omori winked.
"Love it!" Tengen pumped his fists and danced his tail around excitedly.
"Well, I'll be off, now," Omori turned to leave, "You've got one more hour for today, so make sure you use it well!"
"I will! Thank you so very much!" Hiroki bowed with a determined smile.
"Hey, Hiroki," Tengen tapped his master's shoulder with his claw, "I've gotten stronger! I can feel it."
"Yeah," Hiroki nodded, looking up at Tengen with all the faith in the world.
"You, too!" Tengen tapped Hiroki again, "Get stronger so you can beat the old man! Show him how fast and cool you can be."
"You bet I will," Hiroki clenched his right fist with an audacious grin. Now, he felt there was no stopping them.
True to their promises, Hiroki and Tengen delivered. The rainy winter months that followed forced them to adapt their schedules. Hiroki devised an adaptation of his workout regimen so he could exercise reliably at home, where Shizue was cheering him on. He would arrive at the dojo only for combat training for himself and Tengen, where the Beast would be up against Musashi. Since he had one hour of extra time, it proved exceptionally worthwhile.
With time, Hiroki learned how to defend himself effectively from any position, and any attack. He was taught to keep his feet down at all times and to slide them on the floor as he moved around, and has fully mastered channeling attacks from his whole body. His stamina consistently and constantly grew, and his strength piled with the weights he was putting on his dumbbells and barbells. Agility is something he exercised even more than strength, and passed as much as possible to his Beast.
Tengen's training was as intense as it has been from the start, but significantly bolstered by his strengthened bond with Hiroki. As opposed to his ungainly bipedal running, his quadrupedal gallop became a great asset, and he improved its speed drastically with short sprints. To further build his strength, he ate slightly more than what was prescribed, so that he could gain more strength when training. His tail attacks proved ruthlessly effective from behind, while Magnum Dash proved to be the most devastating move in his arsenal, and Mr. Omori's favorite. He also increased his win ratio to 40% – even though Musashi was superior, the draconian Beast wasn't about to be left behind.
During spring and early summer, temperatures rose, and so did Hiroki's motivation to continue. Because of the change of weather, Omori recommended using hanging bar exercises, swimming and other calisthenics routines to Hiroki and Tengen to improve their strength. The promise of a dip in the ocean, after years of being crammed between the four walls of his warehouse, was more than welcome to Hiroki. Even Tengen joined in on the fun, even though he proved to be quite a clumsy swimmer, and fearful of the depths.
On August 18th, 2021, at 3:30 PM, Hiroki Hamaguchi and Tengen completed their training: Hiroki with one last 100m swim, and Tengen by testing Magnum Dash against a custom mannequin and successfully knocking it down.
At this time, Hiroki could throw a softball 67 meters (220 ft) forward, run a 50-meter (164 ft) dash in 7 seconds, swim 100 meters (328 ft) in 1 minute and 45 seconds, demonstrated a grip strength of 60 kg (132 lbs), a punch force of 2,500 Newtons and was able to win a game of Go in as quickly as 25 minutes. This slew of feats was also accompanied by changes in personality. He procrastinated less than ever before, could focus much more easily on a given task and felt more encouraged than before, having less bouts of depression. His body had inevitably changed: 10 months of training turned his once gangly physique into that of a lean, but still muscular athlete. His chest and shoulders became firm and slightly broadened, his arms enveloped with some additional muscle mass, his stomach flattened and hardened, but his legs, once thin and flat, changed the most.
Tengen's feats were naturally more impressive. He could deadlift a terrifying 1,204 kg (2,654 lbs), could gallop at a speed of 49 km/h (30 mph), had a grip strength of 520 kg (1146 lbs) and a punch with the force of a staggering 38,000 Newtons. On the other hand, Magnum Dash could produce a force of 50,000 Newtons. Tengen's deductive skills had improved dramatically since the beginning of his training – he could easily tell a feint from a genuine attack during sparring and heightened his sense of smell and hearing when his sight wasn't aiding him.
When Hiroki came out of the sea and Tengen had completed his task, Omori looked upon the two with a proud, solemn smile, his hands folded at the midsection as usual, "To be honest, I didn't think you'd be able to get this far. Most of the kids I trained gave up during the first half and some of them turned tail and ran the instance training got tough, or their Beast didn't listen once. You looked so indecisive, so scared, that I was sure you'd be tapping out during the first week. On the contrary, you not only met my expectations, but pole-vaulted over them in almost every way. Hiro, Tengen, well done. You two are the best pair I've ever had the privilege to train."
Beast Profile!
Beast Name: Tengen
Beast Master: Hiroki Hamaguchi
Base Beast Model: HALT Co. ENTALL 2019 Dragon
Diet: Carnivorous
Height (upright): 250 cm (8'2'')
Length (head-tail): 457 cm (15'0'')
Weight: 454 kg (1000 lbs)
Stance: Biped (capable of quadrupedal locomotion)
Death Blow: Magnum Dash (quadrupedal charge with a leaping elbow strike)
Skin color: Olive-green with dark-green scutes
Eye color: Red, round pupils
Trivia: Ever since he was found by Hiroki, Tengen has been trying to poke his head through the window of his apartment, because he likes watching cars. Hiroki's not very happy about this.
This was one of the harder chapters to write, but I hope you love it as much as I did! If you wanna see more of Hiroki and Tengen's adventures, stick around!