The Foolish Grappler Chapter 9

A/N: Happy new year everyone hope you had a great time and started the new year with a good start. I have some things to say so firstly I am close to the tenth chapter where after I will rewrite each chapter to be better, I will input the date each was edited so you will know if it had been done. The whole reason for the rewriting other then to fix the bad writing and charter developments is that this story is taking foam as I write so this rewrite won't be the last. Secondly, I have changed the city's name of Alpha to Dalpha (Dal-pha) because I am unoriginal just not that unoriginal. Thirdly I may be moving this story to my own account soon as while this group is fun its basically dead So I will see if I can maintain control on this account if I can't, I will move the story.

"Oh now that's just rude, you do know that rudeness is just a weak man's intimidation", He replied slowly, shaking his head in what I could only guess was a disappointment. With that thought, I finally realised that I was still stuck, so I quickly tried to get out of the chains while the bastards were focused on the old man.

Thought I did feel bad using him as a distraction; however, he was the one that willingly entered into this mess, so I shouldn't feel bad; sadly, just because I shouldn't doesn't mean I do. Thankfully I spotted the weight at the end of the chain, which had been stopping me from being free, so as quietly as I could, I tried to untie it to free myself as I continued to hear the old man converse with the bastards.

"So you want to die, huh, because it seems you must be tired of living your pathetic life if you dare speak to us like that, but I bet you don't have the courage to finish it yourself, well that's no problem I am sure Kenny, and Benny would just love to fulfill your Deathwish" As he finished the two mentioned thugs cracked their knuckles and neck respectively as a form of intimidation for the old man yet it seems the old man face hasn't changed either he is really good at hiding his fear or really isn't worried.

"I don't recall stating such a desire. I am quite content with life as it is; however, it seems you four are the ones who, due to their desires, have become foolish and blind by not understanding what's in front of you. Have you ever thought of reading a book I am sure it will be more helpful in obtaining your wants," He replied as calmly as before, either not realising the danger he was in or not caring? Luckily I could nearly undo the chain around me; however, when I was about to undo it, the chain was pulled, dragging me further into the alleyway.

"Yo Garbage ya ain't geting away that easy I know ya impatient, but we will be sure to deal with ya after this baldy bites the dust" Seeing as I was running out of time, I frantically started getting the chain loose as if I didn't then I really won't be making it out of here. Thankfully something caught the chain guys attention, so It was then that I escaped from the chain, slowly finding my feet as everyone was still focused on the old man who was about to be smashed by two big thugs, at least, that's what I thought as the one named Kenny the one who gave me the most damage finally got within striking range of the old man, then in less of a second my mind was blown after seeing what I saw.

"I see I can't change your mind from taking this action; well, maybe you will learn the lesson the if I change how it's taught," He said, seemingly both talking to himself and the gang; sadly, I doubt they are open to learning any lesson. He should have run away from the start and maybe got help, but now he's dead, and even though I am free, I doubt I can make a getaway, so I am screwed after they kill… THE HELL.

As the 'Kenny' guy threw his punch, seemingly going to knock out an old man, his punch all of a sudden swayed wildly, of course, and seemingly in the same moment, was hit by a massive force that simultaneously folded him at his waist and lunched him back a few meters. I could swear after seeing that each person in that ally was flabbergasted with our mouths hanging open with wide eyes. What was that? Does this old man have a devil fruit or something that was so fast, yet he doesn't even look winded from that, which blows my mind. After what seems like a lifetime of silence, it's broken by the lead asshole of this group who showed no remorse to the guy who got sent flying.

"Ah, BENNY BASH, THAT MANS SKULL IN FOR YOUR BROTHER" He screamed, seemingly in fear at this unexpected event which I don't blame him for doubting. I would be much better if I saw a frail old man send a guy flying.

The thug benny seemed to snap out of it and grew furious at this guy for hurting his brother, so he stepped toward the old man and threw a front kick at him, seemingly to give him some of his own medication of being knocked on your ass. Sadly, for this thug, the old man simply used one hand to knock the kick-off course. At the same time, the other arm seemingly threw what looked like a weak punch with no proper stance and not even a fully extended arm. However, if the sound of it meeting the chest of benny was any insight into the strength of the punch, it wasn't needed to be given. He was sent back faster than Kenny and right into the brick wall behind him, which cracked under the impact of him smacking into it. After which, he fell down limp, clearly knocked out.

In under two seconds, this guy could handle the same number of guys as many seconds it took for him to do so. The last one really caught my attention with how slow it was that I could keep track of it, yet it was the strongest one of the two. Because while I am nowhere close to being good at physics, even I know the force is equal to mass times acceleration, which means either he suddenly gained a lot of mass in his fist or somehow bypassed newton's second law.

Granted, this is an anime world, so that wouldn't surprise me, but still, that was weird; however, I didn't have much time to think about this. I quickly went over to the old man while the other two idiots were still shocked at what had happened.

"Old man, we should get out of here-" I was about to explain why it would be better if we left now, partly because I was on such low health that I couldn't take another hit. I didn't know how long he could continue to fight; he had to have a limit. However, I was interrupted by the lead idiot.

"HEY, YOU TRASH, CAN'T JUST LEAVE I WILL KILL YOU", He yelled as He and his friend began charging at us; why he thought he had a chance, I had no clue, but this is what I didn't want to happen. As I reached over to grab the old man to start running, even though I was in no shape to do so, he batted my hand away and told me.

"This lesson I am teaching isn't over; it would be rude to stop it so soon after it was started but have no fear; it's halfway through." He plainly and simply told me as if this was the most logical thing. Which I could feel give me an aneurysm in my brain.

"WHAT? WHY DON'T WE JUST LEAVE? WE DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT THEM, OH SHIT" I was trying to get him to leave when the two gangsters finally got to us with the chain guy throwing his weapon at the old man. While the leader threw a wild haymaker, probably correctly guessing I couldn't take much more abuse; however, before he could reach me, Old man stepped in front of me and protected me, similarly as the first two by parrying and then striking, which caused the leader to fall on top of Kenny. This seemingly left Chain guy to do as his name implies and throws his chain, looking to catch both of us. Yet the old man seemingly disappeared when I looked at what he was going to do when I looked back at the chain man, he was already falling unconscious due to a strike to the back of the head by the old man.

"(sigh) Perhaps if these fools persist in their folly, they will become wise" As he finishes that statement, this feeling of weight around me disappears weirdly that I didn't even realise that it was there. However, I really should thank him for saving my life.

"Thank you so much, sir; I don't think I would survived if you didn't intervene and saved me. Is there any way I can repay you? I only have five berries left (haha)," I questioned because the least I could do was repay him even with the lack of money; perhaps there were other ways I could repay him.

"I see no need for you to repay me. I just saw some rapscallions making some noise and told them to quiet down, nothing more, nothing less, plus asking for berries from a poor man would be too much for what I did", He replied to my offer to repay him; I can't deny that I was glad that he didn't want any repayment it did cause me to feel slightly guilty, but I put aside that feeling.

"I believe we should leave now before the law enforcement comes due to the commotion that was caused," the Old man remarked, already beginning to leave the ally way to a cart that I guess belongs to him; it must be what he got in the city.

"Yeah, I think we should probably ditch this area lest we get in trouble for that (points at the moaning gangsters), do you mind if I come with you?" I agreed that we should leave, as I had no clue about the self-defence laws here and would think he was more knowledgeable than me in that area. I also thought I should stay with him since he was the only one I knew here.

"Sure, I could use the company I got a small place where I stay rarely stay overnight in, so we can spend the night there", He said, to which I quickly replied affirmative, seeing as that was exactly what I was hoping for.

It didn't take long for us to make it to his 2nd place; it was a small cramped apartment that would make New York apartments seem spacious. When we got settled, he cooked dinner, which was quite nice and then I finally got to ask a question I had meant to ask.

"So you know how to fight, given how you handled the four punks. Do you think you could maybe teach me as I really want to get stronger" I finally asked him; even though I was used to rejection by now, I still hoped that he would finally help me.

"Oh, you want to learn to fight? I suppose I could hmmm tell me first why do you want to learn how to fight" He was kinda surprised. Still, his face quickly fell into thought about whatever was in his head until he finally asked me his question, which I had no clue how to answer. I mean, why do I want to learn how to fight? Is it because I don't like being weak? Is it being bullied causing this, or is it a more basic reason, such as wanting to be wealthy and famous? I had no clue why; I felt the need to get stronger, which was confusing me a lot. Hell, I didn't even know what I should be doing in this life; why should I fight. These thoughts are what I told him, to which he replied with this.

"Your purpose in life is to find your purpose, the purpose of why do you fight, why do you get up every morning, why push on when all is against you? Then when you have found it, you must give your whole heart and soul to it to feed it to fuel you. So it's fine for right now if you haven't found out the purpose yet, as you can find it when you hone and better yourself; your purpose will be shown to you when you are at your lowest. I can teach you martial art, which I have foamed over my long life; if you practice it, you may finally understand your purpose, also you will be able to defend yourself.

"That sounds great; if you will teach me, I will gladly accept."

"However, I don't know if you're truly capable; hence I will give you a task to complete, which should display whether you have the will to walk the path of a Grappler."

"Oh, so I just have to complete an initiation task. Sounds simple enough" Finally, this is the closest I have been to finally learning how to fight.

"I suppose that is one way of saying it, yes."

"What is this path of a Grappler? Anyway, is it some type of martial art" If its name is any clue, it's likely focused on grapples, takedowns and holds which now that I think about it doesn't sound that effective in this world; however, it's thankfully cleared up for me.

"The Grappler is just a name the martial art community gives to some people. It's not really a common thing and is really used by old timers like me; I wouldn't worry about it if I was you; it's not important" There, I suppose that's cleared up nicely now; I guess it's time to rest given that it's finally gotten dark.

"Any way you best get a good night's sleep as we got a lot of walking back to my cabin tomorrow."

"Wait, how far away is your cabin? I thought there was a far distance between here and wolf's neck; granted, your cabin is a lot to the east of wolf's neck. Surely that's too far to make in one day," I questioned as; while the ship I got a ride on to get here took a while due to having to go around the coast, it at least gave a sense of how big this island is.

"Oh, it would take a few hours at my slow pace to get there. I will be sure to bring some food to have a break halfway through; there is a nice spot we can rest at", He replied with his old man smile; you know the smile old people have… Anyway, after that, I thought it was good to finally hit the hay, and so did my future teacher/mentor/sensei … I will ask what he wanted to be called in the morning. So I fell asleep on his couch which wasn't the worst sleep I ever had.

So the next morning, I woke up as the old man was finishing cooking breakfast which I ate hungrily, given I didn't really have lunch or dinner or even breakfast yesterday. I didn't realise how hungry I really was. As we were eating, I asked him what I should call him if he was going to be my teacher now.

"Well, I am not your teacher yet, so just Hui is fine titles have little meaning to me, but you are fine to call me however you wish now, though when I finally accept you as my disciple, it will be sensei" weirdly, I felt an ominous feeling, towards the end of the otherwise normal sentence. Regardless of any weird feeling, I nodded as if it made sense.

After we finished breakfast, we started our journey back. First, we had to get on one of the farries between the city and the surrounding sprawl around the coast of the artificial lake. Now that I was finally over here, it was a lot worst than I thought. It was a full-blown shanty town filled with people who either couldn't afford to live in the city or weren't allowed to or were criminals; it was hard to say which one. Not to say none of them goes to the city as many do as they work low-paying jobs, hence why there is a large ferry system. The rest seem to work on farms or as simple tradesmen. The difference between the city and this shanty town was quite disorienting. Its name for the record was Odega, which shouldn't surprise me given the city's name; what's with this place and unoriginal names? At least wolf neck is cool sounding.

Regardless of poor naming aside, we quickly made it through Odega without finding any trouble, which was great. When we got out of Dalpha, I finally realised that I may have made a mistake as the old man who was pulling the cart full of stuff began to speed up slightly even though we were at a fair pace already.

"Um, Hui, why are you speeding up? I thought you said it only took you a few hours at your slow pace", To which he simply replied.

"This is my slow pace," He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world; as if I asked what colour the sky was, he elaborated more.

"Normally, I go much faster than this but seeing as you are with me and aren't in the best of shape, I thought I would go slow and take the serenity in... Is something wrong I can slow down more, but then I don't know if we will make it by nightfall" I should have realised something was off earlier; how the hell am I meant to keep this pace for a day (sigh)? No one ever said getting better was easy. The only thing I could do was keep pace with him and hope to who would hear my prays that we get there soon.

"Nah, I am fine; let's keep going", I replied, dying slightly inside as I said it.

**** 30 mins later ****

OH LORD, WHAT HAVE I DONE FOR YOU TO FORSAKE ME LIKE THIS… was just a sample of my thoughts as I continued keeping pace with this man, who I was beginning to believe must be a cyborg or something. How the hell could a small old man keep going this fast while pulling a cart. I already had a spare shirt I had warped around my head, protecting me from the harsh rays of that damn deadly laser in the sky.

I best think of something else to get my mind off it, so I started thinking about stuff that happened when something instantly popped into my mind, which at the time had no time to really digest it. I am talking about the level up of observe, which given that it can level, I should be doing a lot more. Well, what better time to do so than now as I look toward Hui and give him an Observe.

Name: Qiao Hui

Age: 102

Height: 4'9"

Weight: 60kg

Sex: Male

Lv: 200

Occupation: Martial Arts Master

Hp (1280-1520)/(1280-1520)

Description: To most, he appears to be a typical old frail man, which causes most that wish him to harm to underestimate his threat which is far higher than most would ever think. He usually wears very baggy clothing, which hides his body from sight while walking with a slight hunch to his back. He also wears thick regular glasses on his face for his bad eyesight. His face is usually wrinkled like a severely dried raisin which earned him the nickname "Wise Raisin" from the kids of the wolf neck village of Wolf's island, which he finds humorous and goes with it. He had long settled into this new life that he started thirty years ago when he arrived on this island seeking to live in seclusion due to his past. He is now interested in this new kid that turned up out of the blue; while he still keeps a close eye on him, he is beginning to like him.

Stats:

Brawn: (199-390)

Vitality: (208-290)

Dexterity: (270-360)

Intellect: (50-100)

Wisdom: (80-120)

Charm: (30-40)

Notice: Due to the user levelling his observation skill, He now has access to better details to entities that are higher than the user; however, the higher difference, the larger of uncertainty in the stats; there will also be more information that may be available to the user.

'WHAT THE HELL' (Trips over) argh, that hurt I better get back up before he notices, so I got up as quickly as possible. But the hell with those stats; they are outrageous; how can this old man be so powerful. From the added part in his description, he has a storied past that I am now really interested in. Though this explains why an old man over 100 years old can do this and not break a sweat.

"Are you ok kid?" The old man asks.

"Yeah, yeah, there was a rock I tripped over again" I really should be looking at where I am walking so I finally stop falling over. It's getting really on my nerves. I swear the next rock that trips me will die.

****** One and a half hours since leaving Odega ******

Damn, this is not easy at all with this insane pace I have to keep to. It's funny that here I am, sweating like a pig, while the old man doesn't look like he has even broken a sweat. I suppose that shows how strong he really is; however, that comes with the need not to disappoint him; who knows if this is a form of a test? If so, I can't stop; I can't give up; I must push on. At least that's what I say to myself to gain the power to ignore the pain in my legs from the fast pace.

*****three hours science leaving Odega****

Eyes on the road Adorno, I can't afford to trip now. I don't know If I will have the power to get back up. If I fall, I don't doubt I would faint on the spot as I am already feeling lightheaded from likely not having enough water; sadly, I didn't think to bring water, not that I had any money to buy it; I should of at least asked the old man if he could spare some before we left. However, it's too late to complain about that. I just have to focus on putting one foot before the after taking step by step, and eventually, we will get to where we need to.

Though I got to say this island is beautiful with its nearly full untamed wildness with only the hints of human settlement, It would make for a great place to paint I am sure she… Urgh, I do not have the time or place to think about that. Just keep going forward; it surely can't be much further; otherwise, I will likely fall and pass out before we make it to his cabin.

"How much longer (deep breath), Mr Hui? I was just wondering, do you really walk this path often (deep breath) as this seems a long way back when (deep breath) you could just take the ship back" I finally asked the question that has been on my mind for the last two hours. However, it was harder than I thought to get it out due to how out of breath I am right now.

"Oh, I suppose at the pace we been making, we should get there around an hour or so before the sunset, so we have a fair distance; I understand you having difficulty right now I would suggest you take this time to temper yourself as my training won't be at all like this, this would be a reward if you train under me as I hold myself and any disciple I will take to a high standard that you will have to meet. Unless you want to give up now?". He finished by looking at me with a sight turn of his head, a smirk, and a raised eyebrow, clearly interested in what I would reply with. Before I answered, I looked up to see if I could judge what time it was;. At the same time, I never did this before; I had read enough stuff on the internet that I remembered how to let a rough time using the sun position. It looked to be a few hours off midday as the sun was quite high in the sky, meaning I likely had to walk for another six to nine hours or so. I didn't trust my estimate that much since this is my first time using this skill really wished I was in scouts now.

"Well, I suppose (deep breath) we have to keep going (deep breath) if we really want to make it to your house (deep breath) before sight set. Also, this is nowhere close (deep breath) to what I had to deal with when I was younger (deep breath), so really, this is quite a nice walk in the park, hahaha" I tried to act confident; however, I doubted it worked; seeing it got the old man to laugh.

"Well, Given that this is so easy for you, I guess we don't require a water break in about half an hour in a creek that I have passed many times on my way to and back from the capital." I suppose it was too much to ask to fool him when I have no training or talent that I know of in lying.

"AH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT… (cough) I mean, that would be a smart use of our time to recuperate", I quickly answered so he couldn't say I wasn't looking for a break.

"Well, great to know; you see that hill over there, it's over that hill over there" He points to the hill that is in the way that we have been travelling towards.

**** three and half hours since leaving Odega****

"OH, THIS IS HEAVEN ON EARTH" I yell as we come upon a small spring that has a modest-sized brook that looks quite clean, which is great; as soon my eyes fall onto it, I dash to it and drop to my knees and lower my two hands into the water and bring them to my lips gulping as much water as I could. I was getting water all over me, but that didn't matter to me at that moment; if anything, it was cooling me off, which was nice happenstance.

After I composed myself after getting my fill and cooling off, along with getting my breath back. I went back over to him as he was setting up a fire to cook our meals. The meals turned out to be quite decent, given that he was doing it in the wild with only a fire to cook with. While we eat, I ask him what he has in that cart that he keeps pulling; it's been bugging me as I wanted to look but couldn't sneak a peek at it.

"So Mr Hui may I ask whats in the cart? I been meaning to ask as its been really bugging me."

"It's just a few things that I can't get at wolf's neck like books, some materials for my hobbies, nothing really exciting", He simply answered, clearly not thinking much of it, which could be a sign of how often he makes this trip. I wonder what his hobbies are, given that he has to pick materials up from the city.

"If you don't mind me asking what hobbies are those that you need to travel to the city for them?"

"Oh, you will find out if I train you as part of the training will be doing the hobbies as they can be good ways at improving oneself, so I won't ruin the surprise". He answered back, smirking, and with that, we continued our small talk until finally, he decided that we should start again. I dreaded this as my body was aching all over, mainly in my legs and feet; relaxing has only made it worse with the lack of adrenaline helping to suppress the pain. Regardless I got up, trying not to make a sound, helped pack up the sitting area and cleaning after ourselves; then, when that was finished, we set off again.

**** Nine hours later, after leaving Odega*****

I am dead; I must have died when I ran in front of that truck; how dumb was I to think this was a second go. How could a second shot at life be so hard? Is my hell to continue to walk this path for all of eternity? What did I do to deserve this? I wasn't that bad of a guy, right, god sure, I was no paragon of virtue, but still, this is too far. I couldn't even tell If I was still walking as I lost feeling in my feet hours ago, my body is basically just redoing the same movements as I did for the past hours like it's on autopilot. Plus, it's getting dark out here I feel like I am nearing my limit soon.

However, it was finally at this point where my knees gave in, and I fell luckly, my arms helped lower the fall's speed as they were relatively fine. Sure they are hurting, but nothing the rest of my body. However, while lying there, I heard a voice behind me give me the best news I had ever heard.

"Ah we finally made it back to my cabin."