Bahukatsu Dojo, Mountain Sheng, Cheena *** Clap. Clap. Clap. A soft clap invaded the small mental chamber. It echoed on the walls. Dreygo stood up, wiped his tears trying to obscure from the source of the clap, and hauled himself up. He felt lighter as if he lost weight. It was Jade standing beside the large column, near the entrance door. “You passed!” Jade congratulated. “How do you know that I passed?” Dreygo asked. “If you fail, then you will probably be in a coma for a few days, or worse, you will be stripped from your insanity.” “Really? Maybe it won’t affect me because I am a demon. It only works on humans.” “I would not be sure about it. During your trance to another world, your body was continuously twitching, like you were having epilepsy. And your saliva is dripping down to your shirt. I thought you were losing the mental test.” Jade said as a long smile curved across her face. Dreygo was silent momentarily and inspected his wet shirt and confirmed that it was his s
North Degestan, Buratia. *** Private Andrei shivered faintly against the icy cold breeze that caressed his face as he stood on top of a 50 meters high guard tower. It was a full moon but its light could hardly illuminate the Buratia Central base that was blanketed with thick sheets of snow. The base was large enough that Andrei could hardly see the next tower adjacent to where he stood and the wind-carrying snow had hazed their visions. Even using his fog lamps had had little help with their visibility. “It’s shitty cold out here. I hate to be on tower duty,” he turned to his partner, Corporal Anatole, who napped on his seat with his both feet placed on a table. “As if you are not used to this cold,” Anatole responded, not opening his eyes. “I’m used to this weather but not this high. It is much colder when you are in this altitude,” Andrei complained, “There is nothing here to guard. Nobody would dare attack the largest military base of the Capital. And the attackers would not
Bahukatsu Dojo, Shang Mountain, Cheena *** “What is this place?” Dreygo marveled at the scenery. A small waterfall fell softly on a miniature lake and trees heaved the surroundings. Specks of water cooled the place and dampened the environment as the waterfall hit the surface of the lake. Mossy rocks surrounded the lake and at the center were two bamboo sticks hanging horizontally constructed that formed somewhat of a bridge that connected across the far ends of the lake. “You are going to train with the elements Dreygo.” Master Yamoto said. “You are going to master your mind, your balance, and your patience. Seems that you lack those qualities. Every great warrior must master not only fighting skills but first from within himself. Control your emotions.” “What am I going to do here, master? Meditate?” Dreygo snapped. “No. Dreygo. All of our meditation training is done in the mental chamber,” Yamoto responded. “You are going to fight the blind master on top of the hanging bamboo.”
The Waterfall, Bahukatsu Dojo, Mountain Sheng, Cheena *** The urge had overwhelmed his consciousness. ‘Not again. Not again.’ He drove to overcome the tremendous control of the urge to feed. The visitations were more frequent now. He felt immense searing strength that coursed his veins. His heart hammered hard and saliva uncontrollably spilled from his lips. His vision steered to the only person nearby, without further conscience and control. He darted to Master Chungtao at the center of the bridge, his steps finding easily the narrow bridge. He strode fast without difficulty and hesitation as if seemed to be light with his feet until he reached a meter near Master Chungtao. The Demon tried his forward hand to grab the master but it was flicked away with a swift sweep of the latter’s forearm. But Dreygo persistently came with a series of combination attacks that drove the master to recede from his position, continually sweeping all incoming attacks with his bare hands. The demon
Bahukatsu Dojo *** He hauled himself from a restful slumber. It was the first hour of sunrise and everyone was busy as always. The warriors had been disciplined to do labor not only in honing their skills but also in maintaining the Dojo’s upkeep. Dreygo and Sho had participated as well, such as hauling pails of water from the artisan wells, helping in the construction of perimeter defenses, and even plowing the fields for the new batch of crops. Two days of waiting for his next training had made him less idle for the said period. He and Sho had wonderful marvels at how the training of young ninja assassins took place inside the Dojo. They had not much time to see Elaine together with his rest as she had undertaken another training journey for herself. She was supervised by Jade and Master Yamoto as well. She did not disclose much of the objectives of her training but to her comrades, she looked like hell every time she rested in between her training. However, today marked the beg
Bahukatsu Dojo, Mountain Sheng, Cheena *** It was an utter acceptance that the Demon had to cope, that he could not defeat Master Jade in a fair fight. But with his full demonic power, the demon was sure that Jade would stand a tremendous chance of succeeding in a fight against her. It was the fifth day, he counted as he entered again the training hall. Dreygo would face another seemingly unending embarrassment. But this time, he was permitted to use his death sword. A weapon that could provide him a significant advantage against the scornful thought of the superior skilled master Jade. This was his final test and for the past few days, he was able to relish the learnings conveyed from the beautiful master. The use of ninja stars, kunais, smoke bombs, kyoketsu shoge – made up of a long chain and a knife at the end of it, and much more were taught and tested in a one-on-one fight with the charming master Jade. Even with difficulty, Dreygo coped with the basic use of weapons especial
Cheena, Earth *** A small inconspicuous tea house at the heart of Tsi Luen was known to have been frequented by Zi Lok’s competitor, the Fang Clan. They controlled 10% of the drug trade in all Cheena and they have been hiding from the Zi-Lok’s network, afraid to receive a brutal confrontation with the much more superior syndicate. But their few hideouts were slowly identified by Belrag and his ninja assassins and all members of the Fang found in the vicinity were unmercifully eliminated. Now, their last hideout in Tsi Luen was finally been compromised by the Zi Lok assassins. *** Two Fang clan bosses were sitting anxiously at the corner of the said tea house. Mr. Chiu, a fat Cheenean man, bald and with an oily face, sat across from the old and skinny Fang boss, Mr. Gongshin that loved tea more than booze. “We must flee this country, Mr. Gongshin. We will liquidate all our assets, our operations, and all our properties and split it halfway for both of us.” Chiu said apprehensively
Tsi Luen, Cheena, Earth *** Heading out of the Dojo saddened Dreygo and his comrades. The invaluable knowledge now sat inside their heads that the Masters had bestowed upon them, expectedly would make the demon a better fighter. Even though the thought of not winning against both masters had led Dreygo, not to his disappointment but a fruitful experience that he had failed to learn for countless years, in hell and his stint on Earth. The wisdom that Master Yamoto possessed had kept the Dojo on its utmost upkeep and produced disciplined fighters for the good of many. The one thing that Yamoto regretted was his student, the Zi Lok clan leader. Not only that he had produced bad fruit, but a fruit that scorned the Earth with death and suffering. Providing innocent lives undeserving of the wrath that Zi Lok had delivered. Master Yamoto had his utmost support to eliminate Belrag with his syndicate scums just to cleanse the slowly corrupted City of Tsi Luen from the grasp of the wretched