Chapter 8 : The Promise

Huk!

Guha!

“Slow, too slow!” said Mr. Romi while shaking his head. “If you move like that, you will expose many opening. Pay attention to your footwork and center of balance!”

Raka rubbed his stomach while crouching on the floor. He had eaten countless punch from his uncle today. He felt pain all over his body. Still, even though the pain wasn’t on a normal level, it wasn’t unbearable for him. Mr. Romi had all the knowledge needed to understand a human body and mind. Some people even said that he had a degree in human anatomy.

“Rest for a minute, then we start again” Mr. Romi sat down and closed his eyes. At his level, entering the state of meditation was as simple as breathing.

Raka adjusted his breathing state. He had always known what his fate would be if he became his uncle’s apprentice. There would be no day without suffering. Though, he had to admit that everything wasn’t for naught.

He just started training for three days. Yesterday, he had been able to unleash the punch with small destructive power. There was quite a difference between his uncle’s and his senior brother’s teaching. Banu may be a good mentor, but in front of Mr. Romi, he wasn’t anyone worth the mention.

Today, he began practicing his footwork and agility. Raka knew that to be able to defeat the golems, he would be needing two things. The first was enough destructive power, and the second was the ability to dodge every single strike.

His training today was to improve his dodge rate and to practice the proper state to strike whilst dodging. This idea was proposed by him, which his uncle happily accept.

Mr. Romi didn’t really care how he wanted to practice as long as it wouldn’t affect his future development. His uncle’s only condition was to practice a certain set of training every day. Of course, it was another hell exclusively made for him.

“Time’s up” Mr. Romi opened his eyes “Let’s start again”.

Raka could only smile bitterly. He moved his body with much difficulty. He really hoped that his college would start soon as it was the only way to lessen his suffering.

…

A week later, inside the game, at the temple.

Ragna was still punching the wall continuously. He was trying to incorporate the technique he learned yesterday into the game. Of course, it was easier to be said than done. He had punched the wall nonstop for a few hours and still hadn’t got the right feeling.

‘Gather the force inside the body into the fist and shape it into a violent type of energy’

BAM!

He kept punching the wall even though he never succeed. He knew that by keep repeating it, he would be able to get closer and closer to his goal.

Suddenly, he seemed to not be able to sense his surroundings. He felt that he got fully immersed into the training. His thought process seemed to increase exponentially.

He entered a trance-like state!

Ragna clenched his fist. Now, he could feel all the energy flowing through his body into his fist. He felt that a part of his overall energy was gathering at his fist.

He pictured a kind of violent, overbearing, storm type of energy slowly materializing in his fist. When it was at its peak state, he punched it towards the wall.

BOOM!!

The punch connected to the wall. Everything shook and the dust spread everywhere. The sound it generated was akin to an explosion inside a mountain.

The dust slowly dissipated, revealing a huge crater in front of Ragna.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You’ve learned a new skill called Mana Strike.

The skill is an active one and would cost MP to perform.

Because you’ve learned a skill that has a considerable amount of difficulty, you’ve gained a reward:

+1 to all stats

Ding!

Mana Strike (Active)

By focusing the energy inside your body into your fist, you could unleash a strike with great destruction power. The energy needs to be gathered first before it could be released. The amount of power would be proportional to the amount of energy gathered.

Damage : 200% Attack + Extra Energy Bonus Damage

Skill level : Beginner level 1

Special Property : Break Defense

“Oh Yeaaahhh!!”

Ragna shouted happily. He finally got the skill he really needed. It took him more time to learn than the previous skill. Of course, its worth was incomparable.

The skill had the break defense property which means that it would deal a considerable amount of damage even though the target has higher defense. Unfortunately, it couldn’t completely ignore the defense.

Though, there was one thing that he couldn’t understand. It said that he could unleash more power based on the amount of energy gathered. At the moment, he had no idea on how to improve his energy gathering.

‘Well, it’s no use thinking about it now. I’m sure it would be clear later’

After closing the notification window, Ragna clenched his fist. Everything had been ready and it was time to challenge the golems again.

…

At the Dojo

Mr. Romi sat inside his personal meditation room with closed eyes. The room was quite spacious considering that he was the only one who used it. The room only had a painting hanging neatly in front of him.

It was a painting of a huge mountain surrounded by clouds. There was a man whose only back could be seen standing on top of it. The man was staring at the sun which shone very brightly.

The painting was a great depiction of an ‘unyielding’ character. The man who refuse to surrender in front of the greatness of nature, and even the sun itself.

Suddenly, the dojo master opened his eyes. Without even turning around, he calmly asked.

“What’s wrong, Banu?”

Banu was standing at the front of the door. He was already used to being noticed by his master even before knocking the door.

“Master... I want to ask a question” He said solemnly.

“Go ahead”

“I don’t understand why you put a great importance in training the young master. Sure, I know he has talent. Unfortunately, he has no desire to pursue the path of martial arts. I’m afraid that all of his sufferings would just be for naught” Banu was really concerned about Raka. He knew that his junior brother was forced to train, by his master.

“It was because of a promise”

“Pardon?”

“I promised someone to train him to the point of being able to protect himself. Unfortunately, he was really adamant about not wanting to learn. The event which happened a few days ago was the only chance for me to finally push him into this path.” Mr. Romi still retained his calm tone. Though, his eyes seemed a bit moist.

Banu nodded at his master’s word. Of course, he knew how Raka always tried to refuse to learn martial arts.

The truth is, years ago, Raka and himself were fellow disciples of his current master. Raka eclipsed everyone with his talent in controlling inner energy. Unfortunately, one day he suddenly announced that he will stop coming to the dojo.

This was also one of the reasons why Banu was so baffled when Raka approached him a few days ago.

“Many thanks, master” He bowed and quickly left the room.

Inside the room, Mr. Romi closed his eyes again. A bit of tear could be seen trickling from his closed eyes. His hand was clenching a photo which may depict someone he referred to.

‘I will fulfill the promise’