Nothing was going well for Ryan. After his father’s murder, he’d gone to live with his grandparents, and everything seemed peaceful. Actually, it was peaceful. So much peaceful he decided that being a millionaire, he didn’t need to go to school anymore. Besides, he had other goals in mind. He tried to imagine himself going to school while trying to practice cultivation. It wouldn’t work, and that was simple!

After getting home from the hospital, there was a very short gathering in the living room. This gathering consisted of Marjory, Michael, Ryan and George.

Marjory, with a stern face, began, “We know you’ve reached that age where you feel like no one understands you.”

“... Okay...” replied Ryan, with a puzzled expression.

“We want you to know that we are here to support you entirely. If you ever feel like you want someone to talk to, we’re right here for you”, said Michael.

“What’s the meaning of this? And where did this come from?” asked Ryan.

“Nowhere. You’ve been acting strange ever since you got here. You went to the mountains every day, you woke up early before everyone else and ran around the farm perimeter. You even had a tattoo at the back of your hand. Mind explaining these things?” asked Marjory.

“Even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand”, Ryan replied.

“See what I meant when I said that you think no one understands you?” said Marjory. She went on, “your father once went through the same phase. He used to go out with his friends to parties, and he’d return drunk. He had these funny haircuts that young people got in those days. After graduating from high school, we thought he’d change but he remained the same. Even in college, nothing changed until he met your mother. Florence changed him completely, he even started to wear suits, something he never liked to do. He attended classes and he was now punctual. He even went on to start his own company after finishing college. What I’m trying to say is, it doesn’t matter that you’re rich. Your character matters more than your worth.”

“...”

Ryan kept that puzzled expression glued to his face. He really wasn’t expecting this. This lecture would probably go on and on and on if he didn’t do something, but what could he do? Excuse himself to visit the bathroom? Nice try. Or maybe just walk out without saying anything? As if that has ever worked!

Marjory realized that Ryan wasn’t paying any attention to what she was saying. She decided to throw the bombshell that would blow him back to reality. “We have all decided to send you to Clearview High School. And there are no negotiations!”

“...But ...”

“No buts young man! We have already contacted the principal, who is an old friend of mine”, said Michael.

Ryan sighed and then said, “Okay. I’ll go to school.”

“Good, you also remove that tattoo on your hand. I know ...”

“No ways grandpa! I’ll agree to go to school on the grounds that you won’t force me to do anything like remove the matrix...ahem...I mean the mark on my hand. If you don’t agree then I’m not going to school!” Ryan interrupted.

“Fair enough. You’ll be starting tomorrow. We’re going to accompany you there so you can talk to the principal.”

He stood up and went directly to his room, leaving his grandparents in silent contemplation.

“Do you think we were too harsh on him?” asked Marjory.

“I don’t think that’s the case. He’s probably being a teenager. Remember Derik once did it too. He was even worse than Ryan was. But when he met her he changed. We just have to make sure that we monitor him closely, while giving him his own space. He must not feel intimidated.”

Ryan arrived in his room, to see everything just as it was before he left, messy, thrown everywhere. He decided to sneak off to talk to Myra, who had been missing, rather, who he hadn’t seen for a long time. After successfully sneaking out, he arrived on Cloud’s peak, where Myra was sitting in a cross-legged position meditating.

He sat there and started meditating as well. It would be more accurate to say that he was just sitting there, waiting for Myra to say something. Suddenly, the matrix started glowing with a bright blue light, which made Ryan to open his eyes to see what was happening. When he came to, he was within the matrix space.

“Took you long enough”, said Rogarth, who was in his old form, with the distinct robe.

“You were expecting me?” asked Ryan.

“Yes of course. Do you remember what we spoke about in the Dream Plane?”

“The what?”

“Never mind. I know I’ve been impatient with your training. So we’re starting again. Do you know the reason why I asked you to sit under the waterfall? Or even why I asked you to run around the farm for a long time?”

“No. Why did you tell me to do that?”

“The first level, tempered body, makes the body to be as tough as divine iron. There are two ways to achieving this. The first way, is to use ki strengthening, which is what most people do. Ki strengthening just means you take energy pills or herbs and elixirs that give you energy, and then try to circulate the energy around your body using a breathing technique.”

“Why didn’t we just use that method? Not only does it sound easier, it sounds like it will save time!” asked Ryan.

“Because on this planet there are no pills, rare herbs or elixirs. This means that this method won’t work. Anyway, there’s a second method, which is to put the body through a strenuous amount of work, so that it gets tough. From there, you use a martial technique to circulate ki to finish the tempering process. This is the method I’ve been trying to use to train you. That was the reason why I wanted you to learn the dancing dragon fist technique. It will help you to circulate ki.”

“So what do I have to do now?”

“Start practicing the dancing dragon fist technique.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I don’t even know what it is!”

“I’ll teach you right now, since you forgot last time. Please pay attention to what I’m doing.”

The space shifted, and Ryan saw himself in a wild land, with a huge tree and lush green grass all around. There were bushes here and there but they were sparse. Under the huge tree were two sits. Rogarth was standing right in front of him, wearing a bronze armor with a dragon on one end, and a phoenix on the other end.

“The dancing dragon fist is all about gathering momentum and releasing it in stages. There are three stages, dragon subduing fist, divine blazing fist and divine iron fist. This ‘momentum’ is just energy that you have gathered and can be released at once in a fist. The first stage is the easiest to reach, after gathering momentum; you form a fist and try to release the energy through the fist. Now, first I’m going to show you how to gather momentum in a set of moves.”

He began by putting his left foot forward, then the right foot, after that; he threw a punch. He retracted his hand, and then repeated the same movements in another direction.

After five moves, Rogarth unleashed a quick punch towards the huge tree. There was a slight sound, and the tree trunk started cracking. The cracks grew rapidly, until the entire tree fell with a large sound.

Ryan’s mouth was wide open with shock. What the hell was this? Did he just punch a tree until it fell?

“Now it’s your turn to try. What I want you to do is to gather energy by practicing the moves I just showed you.”

Ryan was super excited at the prospect of learning to destroy tree trunks. Another tree replaced the one that had fallen. He started mimicking what Rogarth had done. He started by moving the left foot forward, followed by the right foot, and then finally threw a punch. He repeated the same routine five times and then finally threw a punch targeting the tree trunk.

A lot of pain permeated through his bones, and his knuckles began to hurt a lot. It was basically the same feeling that one gets when he punches a wall. Ryan nursed his knuckles, gritted his teeth and kept trying again and again and again, until his hands couldn’t take the abuse anymore.

When he came to, he was still sitting in a meditation pose, beside Myra. He looked at his hands, which were shaking uncontrollably. He turned to his side, where Myra was sitting.

“Have the effects started showing yet?” asked Myra as he opened his eye-sockets.

“Where were you? I almost died, you know! Didn’t you say you were protector of the matrix? Then why weren’t you around?” shouted Ryan.

“Have you asked yourself why you were not badly injured besides the minor bruises? Why do you not have broken bones?”

“Stop answering questions with other questions!”

“You are the one who started it first”, said Myra.

“What happened?” asked Ryan.

“Your body has been tempered. Even though you have not yet reached the first level of cultivation, your body is getting there. Currently, very few weapons can harm your body. I realized that unless you experience pain, it would be difficult to survive as a martial artist. Besides, there are no real threats on this planet. Otherwise I would not have left you alone.”

“What do you mean no real threats? I almost died!”

“No you did not. It is all in your head. Believe it or not, your body is strong enough. I think we need to start sparring, maybe that should help.”

“...”

Ryan got up, and left promptly. Early morning the following day, he woke up and ran around the farm as per usual routine. When he got back, the sun was starting to rise, and the cocks were crowing loudly. After taking a shower, he sat down and had breakfast.

By the time he was done preparing, Michael was already waiting for him in the truck outside. Marjory kissed him on the forehead and wished him good luck on his first day at school.

When he got to school, a nostalgic feeling rose up in his heart. It seemed like it was repeating itself again and again. What ‘it’ was, he didn’t know. The principal was an old man, with white hair and fairly wrinkled face.

“So this is the young man? You really look quite strong. I hope you won’t skip gym class”, said the principal.

“Don’t worry Joe. I’ll make sure he doesn’t”, laughed Michael.

“You’re going to be in Aretha Stevenson’s class. She’ll be here to pick you up to class. By the way, I’m sorry for the loss of your family.”

“It’s okay”, replied Ryan, with a sullen face.

There was a loud knock on the office door. The principal opened the door, and then, in came a middle-aged woman, whose hair was quite long. She walked in and greeted the principal, who introduced Michael and Ryan. After exchanging pleasantries, she left with Ryan, while Michael and the principal stayed in the office, chatting and laughing.

“Everyone, this is Ryan Avariz. He’ll be joining us from now on. Treat him well, okay?” said Mrs. Stevenson, after entering the classroom.

The other kids just kept looking at him, with blank expressions plastered on their faces. Ryan walked along, trying to find a seat for himself. He found one between a blond-haired girl, and a short boy, about his age.

As he sat down, a crumbled piece of paper hit him from behind. When he unfurled it, there were words written, ‘I AM WATCHING YOU’, in blue ink. He turned back to see the person who had thrown the paper, and he saw this burly kid, who appeared to be older than he was, looking at him while making gestures with his hands.