The Foolish Grappler Chapter 11
A/N: Long time no see sorry for the long time between real chapters but I have been busy trying to improve the older chapters. But I found them to be a lot more time consuming then I thought so I quickly got this chapter out so you would have something new plus I got bored rewriting. However I won't stop my rewriting as I got chapters 4 and 5 waiting to be edited so they are nearly done. So, you can look forward to them as there are some noticeable changes. Anyway, enjoy reading.
LAST EDITED 11/03/23 CHANGES:
Sorry for any confusion due to the arrow symbol that I used not being carried over to fanfic so I have replaced it with -TO- sorry again.
(dates will be DD/MM/YY)
( Start of arc 2 Book 1 titled "The strengthening" )
OUCH was the first thought that materialised in the black void of my mind. The reason for it was the tsunami of pain signals coming from his body all the way to his brain. I can feel they are old, like unchecked messages in my inbox of pain that I just foolishly clicked read all.
The first thing that hurts is my face. It feels like I got sunburnt and then slapped a couple of times in the face. The same goes for my hands and neck, which brings the question, how the hell did I get sunburnt at night? The subsequent pain I am aware of is that of my mussels or the sad excuse of them that I have. I feel like I walked from the capital to the old man's hut twice; while I can still feel all my limbs due to the pain, they seemingly refuse to move any more than a nudge. They felt like they were filled with lead; they must be tired and overused if I had to guess though I am no doctor.
After some time, I don't know how long, I realised I couldn't just do nothing and be in pain, so it was that moment the rest of my brain decided to wake up. As it woke up, it freed the memories of last night of meeting up with the sisters, being taken to their house and having dinner there. After which, I sneaked out to complete the task to be allowed to be the pupil of the old man. Wait, what happened to the jar? The last thing I remember was that I was still on the wolf's neck. I think I must have passed out there. So ifs that's true, why do I feel like I am in bed? Last I checked, there were no beds up there. Maybe I should take that as a sign to finally open my eyes.
The first thing that enters my eyes is a warm light that lights up a familiar roof I have awoken under quite often lately. Some further observations with what I could see right now confirm the theory that I was somehow in the old man's bed again. Now the new question is, why do I keep ending up in his bed, urgh not have the time to think about it. I can't exactly tell what time it is other than its light outside, so I don't know how long I have been here.
"It's about noon of a wonderful day after the storms we had. I suppose nature is satisfied", Came a voice off to the right, where I had to lift my head to see him. There was the old man, the same man who was the first person I found in this world. The same person who saved me because he could, not once but twice, without asking for anything in return. The same guy who clearly has a mysterious past which he hides for whatever reason. He is currently standing over his fire stove, clearly cooking something, likely lunch, based on the time.
"I will have to take your word on hows the day is going, but could you tell me what happened? I remember the wind dying down, and then everything went black; now I am in your bed." I questioned him, looking to gather how I was able to move from there to here. In response, he turned his head which had a slight smirk on it. "Boy do you believe you passed my test" Clearly, this is a test of some kind, so I better think before I give an answer. So I did fill the jar with the 'wolf's howl', so that's done, wasn't I meant to hand it back to him…. Why can't I remember such a simple detail? I guess right now, honesty is the better policy.
"I think I failed; while I did collect the objective, I was unable to return it to you plus, I don't have the jar on me right now, so it could be broken?" I gave my answer even if it sounded like a question at the end. Right now, I was propped up on my elbows which was hard enough as it was, but I wanted a clear view of the old man. "I don't recall having such a rule that said that you had to return it to me or you would fail. Just that you had to capture it in the jar then to keep it safe, which you did as your jars over there which counts as a pass in my book. Which means if you haven't realised now that you're my student, the first in a long time."
"WAIT, I ACTUALLY COMPLETED IT YEAH- OUCH okay keep the celebrations down", I shout and go to do a fist pump; however my body did not like it one bit. "You should be careful your body it's quite strained right now after pushing past your limits two days in a row. However, you need not worry as this meal that I am preparing should help take away some of the pain," He stated as he continued to stir the pot he was cooking in.
"Thank you a lot, old man; wait, I shouldn't call you old man any more", I realised as I thanked him.
"Your right, though; you shouldn't have in the first place, but for the purpose of being simple, you can refer to me as Sensei from now on, and you wont have to wait much longer for this meal it's close to completion." And I could smell it, and boy, was that a good smell. Clearly, my new sensei had the skills to cook well.
"Sorry for my error, sensei; however, I do have one question how did you know I was on the top of Wolf's Neck, and how did I get here from there?" I was pretty curious about how he knew this and got me here.
"Oh, that's simple I was following you the whole day, so when you passed out, I was there to get you to my home with the jar. As to how I got you down the clif well your not that heavy for me," He replied confidently as he began to pour the contents of the pot into two bowls. Clearly, it was finished. But my mind wouldn't let go of the whole I was following you part.
"Wait you followed me… for how long?" I questioned, as I really wanted to know. To which he simply replied as he handled my bowl on a tray along with a spoon. The bowl seemed to be cooking from the hot soup in it.
"I wasn't about to send a young man who could be my next student to climb Wolfs Neck during the wolf's call without accompanying him to see if he would trip over the edge and die a painful goursome death." That he said with such a straight face which honestly terrified me more than being up on Wolf's Neck at night during the storm.
"WAIT, YOU WOULD HAVE LET ME DIE?" I was honestly shocked that he would just let me die. I get not allowing me to train under him, but damn, that's cold.
"I would have helped if you needed it, but I had a feeling that It wouldn't be needed and I was correct" finally, his face broke into a smirk which took me longer than it should of to realise he was joking. In my defence, he doesn't seem to be the type to joke around.
"Wait you just messing with me" I questioned, incredulously, that he would as it didn't seem to be in his character.
"Yes, I wouldn't just send a prospective student to their death, yet they can not know that I am willing to save them else the excise is worthless. You can't determine the ripeness of a fruit without first giving it a gentle squeeze" He finally clarified why he really followed me, which I can't really say is wrong as it makes some sense. However, still, I can be a bit upset about it.
"Well, I should of expected something like that at least this meal looks good" I then tasted a spoon full of the soup " has the taste to match aswell."
"Thank you, It should do well to give your body what it wants to repair itself along with soothe the pain plus good for the old bones," He remarked as he began to start his meal as well. Then for the next few minutes, we spent eating quietly.
"So I was wondering when can I start my training and what it will be made up of as clearly I am too overweight to do any real martial arts training, right" I questioned between mouthfuls, quite curious about what precisely this training is going to be.
"That's a good question, yet the answer is quite complex because there are no two people alike. Each regiment should be tailored to the induvial as since the day you are conceived, there is a golden path that is foamed as you grow, one that will offer the most significant benefits with the lowest risks. However, to learn where that path lies, we must break down your body and only then will your body show what it's made of. However, that's just one part of the training we will do because while some people's paths prescribe to kicking, that doesn't mean that they can't or shouldn't learn how to throw a punch or enter a grapple. The golden path is typically meant to allow any natural gifts you have to shine. Yet, it won't ever replace the tested and proven hard work and dedication methods.
While training your body will be a large part of your training to get it to the level required for me to finally teach to my jīnshēn zhī lù as it's known in my homeland, you can call it the Path of the Golden Body. It requires more than a robust physical form; it needs a sharp mind with instincts and willpower to match. So as I am training your physical body, I will be working to sharpen the rest of you so you can perhaps inherit my art. No one has been able to meet my standards to receive my training in a long while, and none have been able to fully inherit it either. Who knows, perhaps you may finally be the one who does."
I didn't know what to say to that; so many questions and thoughts rushed through my mind stopping me from asking any of the questions I had. That was an info dump and a half. I even stopped eating with just holding my spoon in the same spot it was when he started. It didn't move as I was only focused on him during the speech, with no room for other thoughts.
"Um, I don't know where to start with questions um-" As I was perhaps close to finally asking a question, he interrupted me.
"Now adorno I understand you have many questions, good ones I believe but they can wait as I wish to now go over how a days training will normally work understood. You will wake up at five in the morning where we will start the morning endurance training. Which will last until eight where you will have breakfast. Then after you have been warmed up we can really start your training with the first period being until twelve. Were we will have a small lunch then we can rest and mediate until two. Then you will be doing more endurance training until eight when you will have another small dinner and you can then wash and go to sleep. I should also mention that I will be giving you books to read then during the endurance training I will be testing you on their knowledge, I will also give lesions during endurance training to be more efficient with your time. Overall a good starting program to help get your body in to shape quickly; any thoughts."
He wants to kill me; that's the only reason I could believe for him to force me to do that abomination of a training program. I don't know if I insulted him in another life or something, but it must have been great to warrant this punishment, right. There's no way he is serious about this… Why isn't he laughing and saying it's a joke…. Oh lord, this isn't a joke; this is him being serious, which means this really must be hell.
"Now, clearly, we won't be starting today as you're still recovering from the last two days, so while I go set up for tomorrow, you can read these books as I will question you on them tomorrow morning." He said as he finally finished his meal, as he was somehow able to talk and eat simultaneously, which simply amazed me. He walked over to his bookshelf and picked two moderately sized books, which he then handed me as he put his bowl in the sink. The titles of the books were 'The Mountain's Stress' and 'Harmony of the Golden Body ', which at least looked like regular books, nothing really out of the ordinary, I suppose.
"Also, when you're done with your meal could you set up the folding bed you can set it up over there near the fireplace, you will find the folding bed in the shed next to the cabin. Then you can get some blankets from that cupboard" With that, he then just left out the front door, leaving me still reeling after what he had told me. However, I shouldn't let my soup get cold, so I drank it down as fast as possible while enjoying its flavour.
With that done, I slowly and somewhat painfully got up and wobbled towards the sink, where I placed the dirty bowl and spoon. Realising that this was going to be a pain, if I wanted a place to sleep that was not the ground, I would have to tough it out. Hence I started making my way to the door and finally opened it. I was then able to absorb the beauty that is this island everywhere I looked could be mistaken for a masterpiece of an landscape artwork. For some reason, everything seemed even more vibrant than it had been; maybe the seasons are changing?
Regardless of that possibility, I still needed that bed, so I walked to the shed that was about half the size of the cabin itself. It's weird that I didn't notice this earlier, but that doesn't matter as I go to the apparent doorway, which, thankfully, seems to be unlocked. However, it takes a lot more effort to open and then slide the door open than I would have guessed. I don't think this shed gets the most use; however that doesn't matter to me. Now with it available, the sun does a good enough job lighting the interior; however, from my point of view, the bed was not out in the open, so I had to take a better look. So as I dipped and dived the cobwebs, I kept an eye out for any possible 'folding bed shape', which maybe not be surprisingly hard to find without knowing what it looks like.
****** Thirty minutes later ******
Thankfully It didn't take that much longer until I found it under some tarp thing that thankfully kept it very clean that I didn't think I would need to even clean it, which was a win in my book. So I took it back to the cabin to set it up so I wouldn't take up sensei's bed. Huh, I guess I am finally calling him sensei in my mind now. I think that was going to happen, but so quickly?
Once inside, I quickly moved to the spot that I saw was free and started setting up the bed; it wasn't that hard, to be honest. I had to put up much more difficult beds before when relatives were sleeping over, while this was kind of like a fold-out chair in that it was easy to set up. I don't know how comfortable this will be, but better than nothing, so I can't complain. After I sorted out the blankets, everything for my bed was finished, so I guess now is a good time as any to deal with the notifications I got from the system. So I finally lay down on the newly made spare bed, which does happen to be somewhat comfortable. I finally opened the system notifications.
System Notification
Users' stats and skills have increased due to pushing users' limits.
Gains: +3 Wis, +1 Vit, + 1 Str, + 1 Dex, +1 Cha, + 1000 XP, xxxxx xxxxx, xxxxxx, xxxxx
Ah, the rewards for pushing myself they seem pretty good got a bonus in each stat except intelligence which I suppose makes some sense; I didn't really do a lot of intelligent things. Still weird that I got another point in charisma wonder if it's because I am losing weight. ( looks down) Oh, I have lost a bit of it, but nothing extreme though I shouldn't be complaining about this. A valid worry is the damn redacted gains; what in the hell could they be. My best guess is that there related to some part of the system or something that I don't have access to, which is a possible answer. Overall I am pretty satisfied with what climbing a rock got me.
Now my Quest that I nearly forgot about, but thankfully there was no time limit, and to be truthful, I think it worked out better this way now I am not stuck in some dumb ass gym or dojo where now I got a badass old man that could whoop your ass like your mother.
QUEST: (Yet it won't be easy)
Seeing as you did survive the last Quest, maybe you have a chance in this new world you found yourself in. However, all you have shown is that you aren't entirely useless now; you must find a way to improve from an ant to a slightly more powerful ant.
Well, look at you; you have far surpassed any expectations that were on you. However, you shouldn't stop yet.
Objective 1: Find a way to learn how to fight. (COMPLETED)
Rewards: 250 XP, 2 Stat Points
Optional objective 1: Have your trainer be in the top ten fighters on this island. (COMPLETED)
Rewards: 500 XP, 1 (Hidden) Perk
Optional objective 2: Start a fight with at least 5 opponents and survive. (FAILED)
Rewards: 750 XP, 5 Stat Points, 1 Random Perk, Item: 1 Skill book (Random)
Optional objective 3: Become a disciple of Qiao Hui (COMPLETED)
Rewards: Unlock the Daily Quest Function, 1000xp, 10 Stat Points
User Note: objectives that were redacted if complete are shown along with their rewards.
DAMNIT, I really should have realised that I wasn't going to get that objective two. Still, I suppose I got carried away with everything. How could I miss something as simple as there weren't even five attackers or that I didn't start the fight? However, I should move on from that and be thankful for the good things that I got. This Daily Quest Function seems like the thing that I need most right now though I will have to check what that does. As I thought that, a box popped up in front of my face.
Daily Quest available
You may pick one of three quests; however, beware, if you do not complete the Quest before the deadline, you suffer the penalty.
1) Surpass your Physical Bounds
How can you become significant if you don't push against the bounds that you reside in?
Well, this is your chance to push past them; in return, your body will become more refined.
Run 2 Km
Do 20 push-ups
Do 20 sit-ups
DO 20 squats
Reward: +1 in all physical stats (Str, Vit, Dex)
Penalty -2 in all physical stats (Str, Vit, Dex)
The deadline for completion is midnight.
2) Increase your Mental Hoard
Like the great beings of old, you should amass a horde of valuables. Yet, the only valuables you have access to right now is knowledge, and it's worth more than gold or gems.
Read 2 books
Reward +1 In all mental stats (Int, Wis)
Penalty -2 In all mental stats (Int, Wis)
The deadline for completion is midnight.
3) Start the Harem
You know this has been your dream since you watched anime, so why not start fulfilling your dream of having countless women fawning over you as their harem king.
Ask a girl out
Reward +10 Charmisa + 1 Date
Penalty -100 Charmisa
The deadline for completion is midnight.
Really system….. Why I get it, I was or still am a nerd who has dreamt of having an anime waifu harem for a long time and now here you are trying to tempt me into making a foolish mistake. Well, it won't work; that's a fool trap if I ever saw one; well, I won't be tricked so easily. Now out of the two other options, the second Quest seems evident as I already need to read the two books; however, this is just a trap. Because I won't be able to finish any of them before midnight so I will just leave it alone for today. There's no downside other than the opportunity cost of it, and that I am okay with.
However, that's neither here nor there as right now, I should focus on my new stats as I now have twelve unspent points that I should use. While I want to keep bumping vitality, I think the safer option before I start the training that indeed will suck is to bump my other physical stats while giving one to both mental stats. While I am not specialising yet I think my performance for the training I am about to do Is of a higher priority.
Name: Adorno Landor
Occupation: Vagabond
Bloodline: (Hanma)
Level: 7
XP: 3664/4096
Unspent points: 120
Hp: 100/190
Brawn: 9-TO-14
Vitality: 22
Dexterity: 8-TO-13
Intelligence: 14-TO-15
Wisdom: 10-TO-11
Charm: 3
After all, that's done, it's time I finally start on these books; they look interesting. I think I will begin with 'The Mountain's Stress'. I don't know what it's about, but that doesn't matter.
'Because surely it's going to be fine. I know this isn't going to be easy; it's going to suck hard, but if I want to be able to make anything from her effort in helping me when no one else did, this is how I can do it. She saved me when I needed saving, yet I didn't want to be saved. She went through hell and back to help me understand I was just in need of help, and she was the only one oftering it. She did so much for me I won't be able to give back because when she needed me to do the same for her, I wasn't there to be the shoulder she needed. It doesn't matter if I just didn't realise she needed help as she kept on giving that I didn't realise that she was in dire need of help. Theres only so much a person can take and even for people like her she finally meet her limit. Then I wasn't able to wade through hell to save her like she did for me, I never deserved to be so privileged to have meet her that afternoon.' As I think this, a stray tear forms and begins to slide down my cheek as I bring up sad memories.
'Not again I am not going to waste this second chance to make her effort worth it, this time I am not going to fail. This time I am going to make something of myself for once I may not know what that will be but it will be something, now I better start this book.'
