After chugging down several more bottles of tasty wine, Jin Hennessy stored the rest in his liquor shed and gave face to his newly accepted disciples. “So you brats are still here?”“Of course, we are, master. Now that you’ve accepted us as disciples. Please instruct us!”“Very eager I see.” Jin Hennessy thought to himself as he observed his new disciples, ‘These damn brats are so annoyingly mischievous. I can’t believe that I was swayed into accepting them. This is all that damn brat’s fault.’ He gave bad eyes to Dam Son. ‘I should have never taught him the basics of Natural Verb Force. Now he has brought further nuisance to my doorsteps. I haven’t forgotten about those dangerous figures who trespassed onto my mountain for the sake of finding the Kismet Coin which that brat has stolen. He has turned me into an accomplice goddammit! I should be living my retirement in peace. Why do I have to be nurturing these brats? On the bright side, I will be regularly supplied with free liquor. S
“What is so important that you wish to speak with me alone, Master Jin?” Coming into Jin Hennessy’s abode, Dam Son was directed to sit by a table where he would be comfortable.“Listen well to what I’m about to tell you brat.” Jin Hennessy joined Dam Son around the table while sipping on his bottle of wine. He took a few gulps, wiped his mouth clean of alcoholic beverage then gave his lips to Dam Son’s keen ears. “This morning shortly after you left, several no-good characters showed up out of nowhere on my mountain peak. Are you listening?”“I am, Master Jin.”“Those men are members of the infamous Vage Gang that is hidden somewhere within Raixom Academy. They are a bunch of unscrupulous characters, one you don’t want to entertain.”Dam Son asked curiously, “Why did they visit you, Master Jin?”“Why do you think brat?” Jin Hennessy gave Dam Son a dark glare. “They were obviously after that damn Kismet Coin that you stole from them.”“What?” Dam Son touched his head in amazement. “So
Bright and early in the morning, 4 figures were gathered at the nadir of Jin Hennessy’s mountain. They were Dam Son, Sugar Bun, Xuan Li and of course Jin Hennessy. Behind them was a long flight of stairs comprised of 70,000 steps leading to the peak of the mountain. Each student stood beside 3 large empty containers which measured 1 ½ metre in length and a diameter of 3 feet. These items were essential to their imminent training.“Okay, you damn brats! Wipe that sleep out of your eyes and get ready to increase your stamina!” Jin Hennessy shouted through a folded Noun Script he had placed near his mouth. “Today’s training will be mountain climbing. You see those stairs behind you?” He gestured to the endless flight of stairs that seemed to have disappeared beyond the fog above.“We see it, Master Jin.” Dam Son and the others felt slightly threatened as they stared up at the mountain peak, it was extremely high. They could already tell what their master had in store for them.Sugar Bun
Many hours had gone by since Dam Son, Xuan Li and Sugar Bun began their mountain climbing training. Now the nightly environment was rapidly taking over and they still hadn't reached the 70,000th step. The trio missed a day of studies at Caromine Institute to enhance their raw stamina and strength. If anything valuable was taught in today’s lessons then they weren’t present to learn it.Jin Hennessy was a hard-ass instructor. He made sure that his students were punished accordingly whenever they messed up their climb. He slapped them, kicked them and even punched them. He spared no expense when it came to enforcing his rules.After so many hours of repeated efforts and failures, Dam Son and the others were now struggling at the 10th step. Their complexion was pale as snow. They resembled a haggard towel rinsed of all its moistures.Breathing very heavily, Xuan Li said to his peers, “I’m extremely tired. I don’t know if I can make it to the 11th step.”“Me neither.” Sugar Bun agreed. “T
Approximately 5 minutes after the students were granted their rest period, Jin Hennessy hopped up from the ground and reached for his lanky bamboo stick. “It’s time to restart your training!”Jin Hennessy slammed the bamboo on the ground. The impact roused some frightened dust particles that started the trio who were literally dozing off while leaning against each other. Very quickly they were spurred awake.“We’re up! We’re up!” Dam Son, Xuan Li and Sugar Bun had no other choice but to wipe the sleep from their eyes and get back to training.“Stop dawdling around brats! Pick up those jugs and start climbing! I’ll give you 3 seconds! One, two…”The haggard trio hurriedly picked up their respective containers and motioned their butts towards the first layer of steps.“Good, now start climbing!”As the students set foot on the second step, Jin Hennessy hit their legs roughly with his thin bamboo stick. “Too slow! Too damn slow!”“This would be a lot easier if you weren’t hitting us old m
Hours after midday, Sugar Bun came back with Xuan Li tagging at his rear. They discovered Dam Son nearby the tent playing with an amiable monkey. “Isn’t that the Dark-Human messing around with a monkey? He talked so big I thought he would attempt climbing the mountain without us.” “I’m going over there to find out.” Sugar Bun ran ahead towards Dam Son. “Hey, we’re back and we’re ready to climb again.” “Oh?” Dam Son looked towards Sugar Bun and glanced at Xuan Li at the rear. “What about him?” “He’s also ready to climb again. So what have you been doing all this time Dam Son? Were you just playing around with that monkey on your shoulder while waiting for our return?” “Yes, I was waiting for the two of you so that we can continue our training. Remember what Master Jin said? Only when all of us reach the top will our training be complete.” “But how will he know if we complete the training when he isn’t here? He didn’t stop by when we were away did he?” Xuan Li asked curiously. “No
With the evening shadows already cast over the skies, Raixom Academy lit up with resplendent nightly decorations. Around the base of Jin Hennessy’s mountains were multiple illuminated flies moving about the shadows. “Ouch, that hurts.” Sugar Bun felt the back of his head for bruises as he aided himself from the ground. “Yep, I feel a swelling.” “Damn that old bastard.” Xuan Li’s ankles suffered livid bruising. The pain made it slightly harder for him to stand up. “Did he have to blast me away too?” Dam Son reached for his sapphire suitcase that was close by and slowly rise to his feet. Just as the students found their footing, Jin Hennessy landed in front of them with his long bamboo stick in hand. After calling out the jugs filled with rocks and water, he said. “This time around, your breaks between climbing will be shortened to 3 minutes per hour. I know you are not pleased but this is your punishment. I will also add another factor to your training.” Jin Hennessy motioned tow
Two weeks later, Dam Son, Xuan Li along with Sugar Bun finally completed their mountain climbing training. At the crack of dawn, they set foot on the 70,000th step with their jugs still intact. To show how much energy they had exhausted, the veins that ran across the contours of their muscles were extremely defined.It took them 2 weeks to complete their training due to the repetitious failures they made. On many occasions, all 3 of them had to start over from the bottom. At first, Xuan Li was in the lead, but he slipped up at the 3,000th step which caused him to start all over. Dam Son restarted a lot too because of Sugar Bun who kept tripping whenever he jumped over a bamboo obstacle.The 3 minutes break they received per hour wasn’t enough to regain any stamina at all. Thus, whenever they took a breather and recommenced their climb, they would often take a minute just to hop onto the other step in succession.Jin Hennessy knew he was being too hard on his disciples, hence he modifi