“You son of a bitch!”

Lucia Martinez, a woman with brown hair and tanned skin, stomped her way up the steps to the White Crane sect’s front entrance. She wore a t-shirt, blue jeans, and a stained apron with a plastic handle sticking out of the side.

“So the old hag returns! What, did you wish to join our sect as well? You even look ready to cook for us!” chuckled Peng Cheng. He stood tall with a head of spiky black hair, dressed in a white gi. Behind him was a large green circular door built into the stone wall surrounding the sect’s grounds.

“Give me back my kid or I’m going to kick your fucking ass!” the woman continued to shout. She shook her frazzled hair out of her face and gritted her teeth.

“Fat chance!” Peng Cheng laughed back, twirling his thoroughly greased mustache. “He will be our ace-in-the-hole for the Snowy Peak martial arts tournament in six months! What makes you think we would ever turn away such a gift from the heavens?”

Lucia’s lips curled up into the beginnings of a smile. “Well, he’s never even taken karate, so you’re probably going to end up disappointed.”

Peng Cheng simply scoffed. “Foolish woman, you know nothing of the divine ritual, and how those summoned from other Worlds grow their power at impossible rates! I regret to say he will surpass even me, but it is all for the glory of the White Crane sect.”

“I figured I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, but I don’t remember signing any permission slips for this field trip. So how about you just hand him over and send us back home?”

“We’ve spent countless resources to bring him here, and we will be spending countless more training him to the peak of his power. He will be spoiled more rotten than a crown prince! If you want him so badly, why don’t you try to get him yourself?”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Lucia stormed up the rest of the steps and past the man. She expected Peng Cheng to jump into a combat stance as she made her approach, but he simply stood in place and smiled.

This was a trap, it was so obvious. But what choice did she have? Just a few polite words with whoever was in charge, maybe a quick explanation to her son so he knew what was up, and they’d be on their way! Or if they really were going to treat Daniel like a prince, maybe this could be both of their new homes? A life of royalty sounded better than the tiny apartment they lived in.

Lucia placed a hand on the door’s handle and immediately began to scream out in pain. She looked down at her arm to see Peng Cheng holding it in a vice-like grip.

“As the door guard, it is my duty to keep undesirables away from our sect’s grounds,” he said with a sadistic grin. “And you, my dear, are very undesirable.”

“Motherfu- AAAH!” Lucia screamed as the guard’s grip tightened and ripped her arm off the handle.

He twisted hard and threw Lucia several feet into the air. She landed on her right shoulder with a sickening pop.

“That arm of yours does not look too good, you ought to see a doctor. And there happens to be one within these walls!”

Lucia’s blood went cold. Her pupils widened and held nothing but death behind them. She slowly pulled at the plastic handle sticking out of her apron and unsheathed the kitchen knife with her off-hand in a reverse grip. She would make Peng Cheng suffer.

Her hand stopped when she looked up at the guard’s face, seeing the same smarmy expression completely unchanged. The flow of adrenaline in her blood slowed down enough for her to reconsider her actions. With a deep breath, she lowered her arm and put on the most demure smile her desperation would let her conjure.

“Hey, maybe we got off on the wrong foot here. If you really insist on taking care of my son, would it be possible for me to stay with you? Next to him?” Lucia asked. Someone as lanky as Peng Cheng shouldn’t have been able to throw her so high, yet he did so with absolute ease. He wasn’t bound by normal human limitations, that much was obvious, and Lucia wasn’t about to test how strong he really was.

“Oh, and what do you have to offer the illustrious White Crane sect?”

“I’m a nurse back home and could help your doctors out. Or worst case, like you said, I can even cook.” She bit down on the tip of her lip with all her might, letting a thin streak of blood drip down her chin. It was all she could do to keep the all-consuming rage from taking her. Debasing herself like this hurt, but she had to be practical. It wasn’t the first time she sacrificed her pride to survive.

“What happens when you drink a mixture of Gooseberry extract and powdered cinnabar?”

“Mercury poisoning.”

“Wrong! The gooseberry mixes with the fire chi within the cinnabar to form a low-leveled healing elixir, commonly used by our outer disciples. It is not poison!”

“You must’ve used plenty yourself,” Lucia whispered to herself.

“You’re no alchemist, but maybe you would make a better cook? What are the best fillings for a spring roll?”

“You know, I’ve never made those before. But have you ever tried enchiladas?”

“Pfft, useless. Now get lost, you reek of desperation.”

The chill returned to Lucia’s eyes. She licked her bloody lip and spit out a pink wad of phlegm. “It was worth a shot. Time to choose violence. AAAAA!”

She raised the kitchen knife and charged at the guard. Within the timespan of a mere blink, her fierce battle cry turned into cries of pain as a heavy foot slammed into her chest. Air was pushed out of her lungs, and even through the ringing in her ears, she could hear a light crack at the point of impact.

“Try that again and I shall take a leg next. Though I would prefer you out of my sight quickly, so leave now.”

“And where the hell am I supposed to go?!” she growled through the pain as she slowly rose to her feet.

“The closest thing to civilization would be those strange monks down South, if you can even consider them civilized. But I doubt you could make it through the forest in one piece.”

Lucia turned around and began to drag herself away, tears starting to stream down her eyes, only in part caused by the physical pain she was experiencing. There was nothing else she could do, she was at her wit’s end, completely consumed by the hopelessness of her situation.

“Are you not going to thank me for the help? You would be wandering to your death if not for me! At least you now have some hope to hang onto before your demise.”

Lucia’s eyes widened as she spun on her heel, the fresh wave of adrenaline and rage blunting her pain. “You can take my thanks and shove it up your a-”

The man rushed over and slammed his fist into her nose, before jumping back to his old position before Lucia could register what had happened.

Blood began to gush out as she fell to her knees. The fresh wave of agony and warm liquid flowing down her face drained away the adrenaline and gave Lucia an understanding of her situation. She slowly rose once more, using her left arm to both hold her right arm in place and pinch her nose closed, and shuffled away as fast as her legs could take her.

Peng Cheng’s heartless cackles were drowned out by Lucia’s pained breaths. Bloodied and beaten, lost and alone, her situation was dour. Yet it was not the first time her entire world had fallen apart. And unlike back then, she held onto some hope.

She and her son were alive. She’d treated the kinds of injuries she had back home plenty of times. And unconsciously, the guard pretty much told her she had a potential for growth that far outclassed anyone else around here. She was summoned to this world alongside her son, after all.

She’d never done much exercise beyond the occasional yoga class or weekend jog, and the idea of achieving supernatural levels of strength sounded inconceivable, but she had no other options. Besides, the White Crane sect needed her son for the upcoming tournament, and until then, those violent lunatics would be treating him like a spoiled prince! Right?

Lucia’s eyes hardened as a fresh wave of determination flooded over her. However, before she could scale that mountain on the horizon, she had to achieve her current objective; survive.

Peng Cheng watched as the Lucia became a spec amongst the foliage ahead, and let out a coarse chuckle.

“What is so funny, Peng Cheng?” came a voice from behind him.

The guard turned around to see an older woman dressed in bright green silk robes approaching him. Her hair was streaked with bands of white and her worry-creased brow held several large beads of sweat sandwiched between the wrinkles.

“You should consider yourself lucky that all you have to worry about is watching our entrance,” said the older woman. “Setting up for our new disciple’s welcome on top of my other duties has been nothing but frantic!” She let out a sigh. “But that is the cost of protecting our sect.”

“Fan Shi,” said Peng Cheng, lightly bowing his head to the newcomer. “This one has chased away a most unwelcome intruder.”

“Unwelcome?” Fan Shi’s eyes widened. “Have the other martial sects already found out about the ritual and come to collect the boy?! Impossible!”

“It is not they who have come for our would-be savior.” He gave her a wry grin. “It was his mother.”

“The mother?” The older woman slapped her forehead. “Aiyah! I knew there was something I forgot! We left her body at the ritual site and did not bother to bring her with us!”

“Worry not, Fan Shi, this one has scared her away with his fists, the hag will not bother the sect any longer.”

A swift hand flew right into Peng Cheng’s head. As he let out a shrill cry, grabbing hold of the point of impact, Fan Shi glared daggers at him.

“Are you a fool, Peng Cheng?!” The older woman’s already shrill voice went up a note. “She will grow just as quickly as our new star pupil, and you have just given her a thirst for vengeance! I need to catch up with her and apologize, or else the White Crane sect shall soon have a monster on its hands.”

“But Fan Shi-”

“That’s Elder Fan Shi, you fool!”

Peng Cheng winced in fear of an oncoming strike. When he realized he was being granted mercy, he spoke up. “But Elder Fan Shi, she will not make it far with her injuries. A dislocated shoulder and cracked ribs will have her dead within mere days!”

“She most likely has not awakened her chi core yet, so you may be right… but what if she receives aid? Perhaps from a minor god of the forest, or worse, one of the four auspicious beasts?!”

“Ha! She is more likely to run into a wild animal and get eaten.”

“That is it, I cannot risk it, no matter how unlikely! I am going to run after her and kiss her feet until she forgives us!” Fan Shi weaved around Peng Cheng and began to run down the steps.

“And go against Elder Lang Tao’s wishes?” he shouted behind her.

The older woman froze in place and slowly turned around.

“Did you not hear him after the completion of the ritual? When asked about the hag, he said he does not desire her, as we already have our prize.”

“That was a passive remark, you simpleton!” Fan Shi jeered. “He means he does not wish to be concerned with matters beneath him!”

“Are you willing to take such a risk, Elder Fan Shi?” Peng Cheng curled his lips and cocked an eyebrow. “Is not his word sacred law to the sect, passive or not? What would he say when you defy his direct order?”

The older woman began to pale. Her job was to take care of the sect’s bureaucracy, while Elder Lang Tao’s was to be its face of strength. The laws and decisions she made only existed by the senior elder’s blessing.

With a gulp, she slowly made her way back up the steps. As she passed by the guard, she let her hand fly into his head once more.

“Aah! What was that for?!”

“For your disrespectful attitude.”

Peng Cheng chose not to reply. He let the elder head back inside.

She crossed the threshold into the sect grounds and turned back towards him. The wrinkles on her face started to disappear as her skin stretched taught around her snarl. “If she survives and comes back to do what any good mother would, we will be serving her your head on a silver platter.”

“Y-you do not mean that, elder. She surely will not survive!”

“On second thought, we might just give you to her alive, so she may make you suffer first.”

The door shut with a forceful thud that blew a cloud of dust into the air.

Peng Cheng looked at the exit for several seconds before turning back towards the forest in the distance. “Was the entryway not just swept?”