The loud, reverberating sound of a gong woke up Kakarot. The sun had yet to rise. He got on his feet on the floor mattress he had slept on, although it was so thin it would have been more accurate to call it a bed sheet. He stood in a large hall surrounded by dozens of students, most of them still bruised and aching from yesterday's fight. Kakarot imitated the others as they rolled up their beds and prepared for the day.
A long queue took him to a small one-room building, where an old man from the village shaved the students' heads every morning. The feeling of the blade on his scalp was strange, yet not unpleasant. He would miss his wild mane, but if in exchange he could learn from the best killers on Earth, it was a price he would gladly pay. Besides, it was just hair; it would grow back.
They all formed up in ranks in the large courtyard in front of the main building. Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu were already there when the rest arrived. As the most advantaged and favored disciples of the Crane School, they were granted certain privileges, such as personal rooms and advanced instruction.
The Crane Hermit came out before them with the rising of the sun. He examined them with eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. "As the few who remained conscious yesterday will remember, young Kakarot was admitted as a student of this school. I hope that his presence will serve as a constant reminder of the shortcomings you must surpass. Despite his potential, he is still but a hatchling, ignorant of the way we do things here. Last night he learned his first lesson on the hard floor of the common room: comfort precedes weakness. Strength only comes to those who seek it every waking and sleeping hour.
"This afternoon, I will teach a lesson on the vital points of the body to begin our new student's instruction." Having spoken, the Crane Hermit turned around and disappeared behind a sliding door.
Kakarot trained until noon without rest, performing all kinds of strange exercises: he held buckets full of wet sand with his arms extended while in a low horse stance, he balanced his whole body on a single finger, and held a plank position with heavy stones on top of his back. When it was time for lunch, he had to settle for the meager ration of rice that every other student subsisted on. His stomach growled in protest all afternoon.
In a room that could accommodate all the members of the school, the Crane Hermit unfurled a large scroll hanging from the wall behind him. It depicted a schematic of the human body, with lines that ran through it and various red dots scattered here and there.
The Crane Hermit cleared his throat and tapped the scroll with a long, thin stick. "The body, whether human or animal, has a great variety of vital points. Hit a lesser one and your opponent may momentarily lose the use of a limb, hit a middling one and he may writhe in pain, hit a main one and he may die. Commit this illustration to memory, for it is the result of decades of study and experimentation. These points should be your main targets during combat. And always remember: accuracy before speed, speed before strength." The old man went on and on.
Kakarot sat there transfixed, absorbing every word, every gesture, every point. At the end, the sun was already setting in the west. The other students left the classroom in an orderly manner.
Kakarot stood up, but the Crane Hermit gestured him to come closer. "You are strong, child, and that makes me wonder. Where did you acquire such strength?"
Kakarot didn't even have to lie. "I grew up in the mountains, had to fight wild beasts and hunt every meal. After I was the strongest thing there, I came to civilization in search of greater goals."
The Crane Hermit squinted, and his ever-present smirk grew wider. "And who was it that taught you? Your technique, although lacking all finesse, is based on solid principles."
Again, he could speak the truth. "I learned from everyone I fought against, imitating them at first, then understanding the purpose behind their moves."
"I see. Commit yourself to master today's lesson, Kakarot, and you will prove worthy of further teachings."
"Yes, Master."
Kakarot learned from the other students that there would be no dinner, as eating only one meal a day would teach them to discipline both mind and body. He went out into the courtyard. He had always found it hard to sleep on an empty stomach, so he decided to exhaust his body.
He found a carved trunk in the shape of a man with red dots worn by use. He clenched a fist save for his index finger and prepared to tap the dummy's jugular. The blow was faster than a snake's bite and powerful as a bull's charge, but to his surprise, he had missed the target by a few centimeters.
Kakarot snorted and let out a laugh into the night air. The old man was right, he had depended too much on his strength. Well, he thought, once you know what the problem is, fixing it becomes easier.
He again adopted a low position and brought his hand back with contained tension. Sacrificing strength and speed, he forced his arm to move with exasperating slowness. After several seconds, his fingertip tapped the mark in the wood.
After a hundred repetitions with perfect precision, he increased the pace. Just a little, but enough to lose his accuracy. Through trial and error, he found the point where he could apply the greatest force and speed without missing and drilled the move until the gong rang to call the students to bed.
For days on end, he strived on with diligence, spending his every waking hour before the training dummy. The bones and muscles in his arm hurt up to the shoulder, but he kept on. His finger was red, swollen, and even bled from time to time, but Kakarot paid the pain no mind. He wanted, no, needed to become stronger, to join Chiaotzu and Tenshinhan at the Crane Hermit's side. And then, all the secrets of the Crane School would be his.
While they formed up in ranks before daybreak, the Crane Hermit came out like every day with the rising sun. He went down the steps and walked among the students, scrutinizing them with stern gesture. Finally, he returned to his usual position and called Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu to stand by him on the porch of the main building.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Students, it has been ten days since young Kakarot arrived at our school. More than enough for the wounds received to heal and the bruised prides to have been reforged stronger than before. The rematch will take place today. Last time, Kakarot caught you off guard, but now you all know his strength. You can join forces and use any technique to attain victory. If any of you manage to land a single hit on him, you will all receive advanced training from me.
"Kakarot, on the other hand, will fight with a hand behind his back, as it were. He will only be able to attack using one finger, as he has been practicing for the last week, and he will have to bring down everyone with a single blow aimed at one of the vital points, but he will not be able to kill or injure permanently, only paralyze or render unconscious. If he succeeds, he will have proven himself worthy of joining Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu."
Kakarot walked with his back to the student mob, which was beginning to organize. He stretched his neck to both sides, making his spine creak, and turned around to face his opponents. He put himself on guard and extended his right hand, presenting his index finger straight and tense. The tip was reddened and the corners of the nail covered in dried blood after thousands of jabs at the wooden training dummy. He sucked in the fresh morning air and analyzed the incoming battle.
Strength will be useless in this fight, he thought. I can't waste a single blow; if I do, I lose. There are more than sixty of them, and won't underestimate me again. They will work together, try to surround me; if they do, I lose. I must keep them in front of me at all times, back up as much as needed. I'm faster, that is my edge. I will dance around them, dodging any attack they throw at me, and only hit back when I see a clear opening. It won't be easy, it won't be quick, but I can do it.
"Let the fight begin," the Crane Hermit announced.
The small army of Crane students advanced slowly on guard, forming a circular wall of arms and legs. None wanted to be the first to attack, and the front ranks seemed more focused on not standing in front of him than on advancing with the rest of the formation.
Kakarot smirked and threw himself with lightning quickness against the one who seemed most frightened. The student closed his eyes and instinctively threw back his head, but his guard showed no openings. Kakarot jumped over the formation and landed on its empty center. Before they could turn around and reform, half a dozen lay on the ground already.
Kakarot jumped back and returned to his starting position, but the students adapted. They formed up in a smaller circle that defended both its inside and outside. They would not fall again for the same tactic. They were at least that good.
Kakarot probed the new formation with several feints, but it stood solid in place. He needed to make them move. He dashed at full speed around the front row, but just out of reach. He continued until the bait took effect and the blows began. He dodged and countered, putting the teachings of the Crane School to good use. When he disengaged to catch his breath, a dozen more students had fallen.
Unable to find an answer to Kakarot's new strategy, the students threw themselves into desperation, opening up on the flanks to try to surround him and gang up on him. It would have been a smart move against a normal fighter, but Kakarot jumped high into the air and landed where the formation had just been.
Nervous, sweaty, and tired by the accumulated tension rather than by the efforts made or the pain received, the students crossed glances filled with impotence. Kakarot pounced on them, darting to the outside of the scattered formation, hitting, and dashing back to renew his assault from a different angle. The rest fell within minutes.
Kakarot shook the dust from his tunic and walked between the lying bodies of the students up to the Crane Hermit, before whom he bowed.
The old man's smirk widened, sharp as a knife. "Congratulations, young man. You have shown a level of mastery that most of your opponents will never achieve, and in ten days, no less. You have learned not only precision but also self-control, which is as important, if not more so. Follow me, Kakarot, and reap the fruits of victory." The Crane Hermit led him to the individual room that from then on would be his. "Your living quarters are completely equipped, although they lack any comforts that would weaken you. If there is anything you would want to ask, this is the time."
There was only one thing in Kakarot's mind. "I need more food, Master. I've been starving these last ten days, and it has made me weaker than usual."
The old man raised an eyebrow and let out a sharp breath. "As we punish weakness to eliminate it, we must reward strength to nourish it. From now on you shall eat as much as you need, but not a single grain of rice more."
"Thank you, Master," Kakarot said.
They walked to an enclosed garden with a training ground in its center, forbidden to everyone but the master and his chosen few.
The old man paced back and forth, looking up, as he used to do before a long speech. He then stopped, faced Kakarot, and lifted a finger to denote the importance of his next words. "Now you will learn the deepest secrets this world has to offer. There are very few that know what I'm about to teach you, and fewer that would share it. Do you know the reason why despite your small size, you are already stronger than virtually all manner of men and beasts? How can your short arms have more strength in them than a mighty dinosaur in their whole body? The reason is ki."
"Ki?" Kakarot played dumb. He soon learned that the Crane Hermit loved above all things the sound of his own voice.
"Yes. Ki is the energy that moves you, the breath inside you, your very life force."
"And only strong fighters have it?"
The Crane Hermit smirked. "Of course not, my boy. Every living thing has ki, without it, life itself could not exist. But most creatures have the bare minimum to subsist. Through training, you can strengthen and hone it. There are physical limits to the body, but through the use of ki you will be able to overcome this barrier and become stronger than would be thought possible."
Kakarot squinted and let a sly smile form on his lips. "But that is not all it does, right? The Dodonpa, Chiaotzu's flying, and other special abilities; I thought they were magic at first, but they were ki."
"You are quick to learn, Kakarot, that's what I like about you the most. Yes, mastering your ki will not only increase your power but make you able to accomplish wonders. The Sky Dancing Art, what you call flying, will be your first test.
"You will need to draw and precisely channel your ki in order to push yourself off the ground and stay there, defying the laws of nature. It will be hard. Your great strength and speed will not matter, as all your work will be inner. But the rewards well deserve the effort. You will be able to move as freely as you can imagine, to approach and attack from an unlimited array of angles. The sky will cease to be the limit."
Kakarot smiled, genuinely this time. "When do we start?"