Today I woke up due to a nightmare, I feel like shit, I saw Master Ogata as a wild demon, slaying anyone in his path, like in the path of Asura I read, he even attempt to kill me at the end of the dream.

I feel really shitty right now, now I regret that I have to go to school today, maybe that last week wasn't as bad as it looked, then again, I still remember those torture sessions, it was as if it was taken from some horror movie or something.

The breakfast was as shitty as always, my parents also seemed in a bad mood, I think it had to do with Master Ogata's departure. I'm sure they don't hold it against me that he left, after all it wasn't my fault that Violent Miu will attack literaly anyone that walks behind her, especialy if you do so by mistake, you're literaly fucked and get a "sorry" for all the trouble.

I got on time for class, only to have some idiot come inside looking for Shirahama Kid, whom for some reason was hiding in the closet, the idiot then went forward and did it. He punched my desk, breaking it and the lunch box I was holding inside was destroyed and the fucker was going to leave without even a sorry?

-Stop right there!

-Who are you?

-I don't know why Violent Miu hasn't destroyed you yet, but you're an eyesore

-Who's violent Miu?

-Don't change the subject, you fucking idiot, I've had enough shit for one day and you little shit dares to come in here and ruin my day even further, that I cannot accept, bow and ask for forgiveness, or I'll make it so that you can't...Slap!

Before I could finish the man threw a punch at me, which I slapped away.

"I'm not finished yet, I don't know what gives you the right...Slap!"

"Stop punching!...Slap!Slap!Slap!Slap!Slap!"

"As I was saying...what was I saying?"

I couldn't remember what I wanted to do, it's frustrating, thus I just slaped the guy's face, sending him flying out of the classroom.

"I'll get you for that!"

The weakling shouted as he ran away, I don't know whom that was, but he has some nerve, If I was in the mood I might have gone after him, but now I have to go buy something for lunch, since my lunchbox was completely ruined by that idiot.

"Who's violent Miu?"

"Is this guy crazy?"

"Did he just beat Saizo Tsukaba, the leader of the Martial arts club?"

"Isn't he in Rhythmic Gymnastics Club?"

"I remember and Article about him doing secret training there or something"

"Didn't it say he was training to become a ballerine?"

"Wait isn't Miu also in the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club?"

"Is Fuurinji, violent Miu?"

"Makes sense, I saw her attack a teacher the other day"

"I saw her beat up five Yakuza guys some day, wasn't sure at the time it was her"

"What's she doing?"

"Why is she taking Soryu away?"

"Let's follow them?"

"Where'd they go?"

After Violent Miu grabbed me, literaly dragging me away, We were now on the roof.

-What do you want!

-Why did you call me Violent Miu, now everything's ruined!

-What's ruined? You've been beating up people left and right, do you think a sorry will cut it, because of you my teacher called me a failure and left and although he was a scammer and probably part of the Yakuza, he still helped me train to where I'm today, In half a month's time I'm already at a point that I couldn't have imagined before and now all I can do is hope for a miracle, in order to become stronger

-Why do you want to become stronger?

-Because there's a girl I like and she's probably stronger than you, you think she will like a weakling!

-Em...I...

-Shut it, I know you like Shirahama Kid, I don't care what you do in private, but don't ruin other people's lives because you want him to learn some stupid moral lesson, like becoming stronger or that weaklings can be strong, everyone was weak once, the difference is that some wish to change and others don't, you're afraid that if you solve his problem for him, he'll give up on training and will become a weakling again, I know you've been training him in secret at that park, but I don't care, I even know that you can probably beat my ass or kill me, but what will that give you? I'll tell you what Nothing!

-Are you sick?

-What?

-You look terribly pale

-Probably because I've had nothing to eat since breakfast and that Idiot ruined my lunch box, which is also in part your fault!

-Listen how about this, Kenichi is currently training at our Dojo, how about you train there as well, we have many masters and I can assure you that they are stronger than a Scammer that's probably part of the Yakuza

-So what's the adress?

-I don't know how it's called, But I can draw you map!

-Wait, what's this supposed to mean

-This is the kitty that lives in the park, this is...

-No! stop this, this is totaly useless, does this Kenichi know where it is?

-Of course he does, we go there every day after school

-Then it's simple someday after school, I go with you to see what's this all about

-Sure, I'm sure you'll like it

-Isn't that your friend Shirahama Kid by the Fence?

-He's kenichi!

-Whatever, I think he's getting his ass handed to him

-Wait, he's not ready yet

-Leave it be, he'll probably come back to you crawling for help

-Kenichi isn't like that!

-Sure he isn't, so why did you hide him in the closet again?

-He isn't ready yet! He's still under training!

-So why not taking a leave for a few days, now that I think it I should have done the same, maybe that way I wouldn't have been kicked in the head by some violent person

-I'm not Violent, it's just reflexes

-Yup to violent people whom live in the mountains and feed on wild beasts maybe, but we live in the civilized world, do you know how many accidents you can cause with those reflexes, what if the person behind you is a small child, or an elderly man, will your sorry cut for a crippling wound or even death?

-I control my power, even a child wouldn't die

-What if it was a man with heart problems, you might cause his death due to this controled power of yours, If you want to make friends and not be called violent you should be honest about yourself and try control your weird impulses for violence, not everything can be solved with violence!

-Can I go collect him now?

-Why do you ask me, did I ever stopped you from doing so, I believe in freedom, you can do as you like, all I can do is give advise and critisize

-You know you talk too much, girls don't like that in a guy

I felt defeated for some reason, her honest opinion was captivating, maybe Violent Miu isn't that bad. I should go thank her for the advice later, if it works of course.

Somewhere in a Hidden Headquaters of Ragnarok, there was meeting going on.

The leader of the Meeting was Kisara siting at a luxurious chair.

-How is he Tsukuba? how strong is that freshman Kenichi?

-Your prediction was wrong

-Then this year's really all useless

She three a picture at him, which embedded itself into the wall

-That's the next target, he's a freshman with the nickname "Judo Fighter"

-What about Yashin?

-Ah, the guy that beat you, don't sweat it, he's a fellow disciple of Odin, if you think you can beat me you can try your luck with him, he's probably stronger than me right now

-Okay then I'll go crush this weakling

He took the photo of "Judo fighter" and left.

Next morning after informing my parents that I wanted to go see some Dojo with some classmates, they were rather happy, my mother was crying tears of joy, something about me at last making friends. I don't really want to get in depth of how wrong they were, Violent Miu and Shirahama Kid are just acquaintances, nothing more. Now that I think about it, why don't I have friends?

Probably because I lost a week of lessons due to Master Ogata, but the second reason must have been because of my own inadequate behavior.

Today for some reason Miu was more popular than ever as some girls were asking her to teach them martial arts after school. It wasn't exactly a secret that after she became "friends" with Kenichi, he became badass.

Today was the day they would lead me to Ryozanpaku. Me and Miu were at the gate, while Shirahama Kid went to water his flowers.

Miu heard something from a nearby alley and as a girlscout she had to intervene.

It turned to be that Tsukuba, the guy that I slapped out of the classroom, at first he was guarded against me, but seeing as I didn't give a shit and left a girl deal with this matter, he felt more of a disdain for me rather than respect.

Shirahama Kid arrives and surprisingly beats the crap out of him, I call it a fluke, but I don't really care. I can't really tell who's more stupid Shirahama or Fuurinji, one attempts to take the pulse of the man he just beat, instead of calling an ambulance and the other is too infatuated with him to tell right from wrong.

So what if he's still alive, you dambass, call a doctor before he dies of bloodloss or something.

You fucking tenderized his stomach, probably cracked one of his legs and hit him head first into the pavement, the man will be lucky to survive for an hour.

We arrived at ryozanpaku, the door wasn't too well mentained and it wasn't too far from my house and wasn't this the dojo Master Ogata learned from. Well it's worth a try.

We were greeted by a giant of a man at the door, Shirahama went to greet his "Masters", while I went with the giant Grandpa of Violent Miu. Miu just disappeared into the dojo leaving us alone.

-So why do you want to become stronger?

-No, Why do you want to become stronger?

-I don't, I'm already at the Pinacle

-And did you accomplish the reason why you wanted to become stronger?

-No

-That's your answer, everyone wants to become stronger, because everyone has dreams, some have large ones others have small, but people will never be satisfied with what we have, we strive to become better with each passing day, each passing moment, after my master left, for the first time I felt a sense of stagnation

-Have you thought of repeating the basics, they usualy help

-After your grandaughter Miu hit me in the head, my master called me a failure, I wish to know what he meant by that

-Oi Akisame, can you check this fledgeling's health?

It wasn't long before a weird tall guy with a mustach arrived, his figure looked nothing as fantastic as the old man's, he probed a needle into my hand and then took it out, he did so two or three times. The third time he sighed.

-It's an evil body refinement method, it gives a major power boost, but eat's at the person's lifespan, this kid probably won't live past his thirties

-Ogata said he was a failure after Miu touched his head, can you tell what that's about?

-Well it seems that there is still hope, there is a tiny crack in the refinement, we can use this to return the kids body into that of a regular person's, of course he's lose about half his power, but I think it's totaly worth the cost

I was shocked, looking years of one's life for power, that was like making a deal with the devil.

-I don't want to revert, I passed through hell to get to where I stand now

-Believe me reverting is even more painful

-Alright, I'll do it

The two were rather confused by me accepting after warning me about the pain involved, truth was I wanted to see how painful it was, I was sort of addicted to pain now and with my condition, it was almost impossible to feel pain, I felt as if my skin was an invincible armor.

-Is there something wrong with this kid's head?

-How should I know about his head, but he does have a rare physique, one that can better handle pain

-I hope he isn't a pain junkie

-I hope so too, they're not fun at all

-Right, no fun

The two men agreed, completely disregarding me whom was still there.

The reverse wasn't nearly as painful as the original operation, there was no joint dislocations, no flesh ripping, only more and more needles and the operation took hours.

-It's finished, you can go now

-Wait what about training, don't you run a dojo?

-Well our dojo is kind of special, here teachers select their students

-Alright, Who's the big guy destroying trees and stones in the yard, I want to ask him to be my Master

-Apachai, he's not ready to teach yet, he's sort of an intern

-Why not, he seems strong

-Before we begin, can I ask whom your previous master was?

-A Scammer that could be part of the Yakuza called Ogata

-Silver hair, about this tall and wears bandages on his arms and legs?

-Sorry I forgot, he said he used to be a student here himself

-Let me ask you a question, what's your opinion on martial arts

-Martial arts were created for war, to cripple your opponent or killing him

-So you believe that martial artist should kill their opponents?

-Are you asking if a soldier on a battlefield should shoot at his enemies or if a sportsman in a tournament should go for intentional body harm and unecessary violence and violate the rules and be disqualified?

-Why don't you answer both?

-On a battlefield unless you are already heavily winning, if you don't kill the enemy it's you allies that will suffer the consequences, killing an enemy or capturing him should be based on strategic importance and tactics, thus it should not be the duty of a soldier to decide upon it but the commanders, the main reason why capturing enemies during war is a bad idea however is because they require supplies and manpower to be fed and secured. For a sportsman unsportsmanlike actions are unforgivable and that's why there are rules and Laws in our country

-You've got quite the opinion there, but what about lets say both are martial artists, you have the ability to easily capture your enemy or kill him on the spot, the second might cause some trouble in the future, for example he might be so talented that in the future he might threaten your life, would you Kill him or not

-It depends on the sircumstances, first of all how great our hatred is, second of all how sure you are that you can capture him and third of all why is he your enemy?

-Lets say he killed a family member of yours

-Simple I call the police and they capture him, why do I have to fight him myself, that's like the scenario of a regular person trying to find and kill a serial killer, total nonsense

-But humans are humans, if you were really angry and he was in front of you, what would you do?

-First of all, I would capture him, then interrogate him and depending on his answers I would decide the outcome, of course if the police arrives at the time, I no longer have any...

-In a world where there is no police or laws, what would you do, if you find that he's just a scumbag following the path to hell, like a serial killer

-If there are no laws? are you serious? that sort of world is illogical and would crumble upon itself, I wouldn't even need to kill the person, he would just die when the next serial killer wants to kill someone, the heck I would already be dead!

-Just answer the question, would you kill him or not!

-Depending on the Mood, sircumstances and what you say, No, I wouldn't kill him, but I would cripple him so badly that he would regret living, is this answer enough or are there more sircumstantial bullshit

-You're rude and I don't like you, but there is another trial, I wish to see your level of martial arts, tomorrow you will go through a trial, if you pass you can join Ryozanpaku, by the way the truition fee is 20.000yen

-Isn't that too expensive?

-10.000yen

-If you are as strong as Master Ogata, I will ask my parents if they agree or not, but they will have to come as well to see if the environment, teachers and facilities are adequate

-5.000yen?

-It's not about the money man, every parent wants to know that their child is safe, would you let your grand daughter go to a place of unknown danger alone?

-1.000yen?

-Man I thought we agreed at 10.000, stop bullshiting, my parents are coming tomorrow either way, if you want it or not, so I expect you to be a good host, do some demonstation or something and get on with the trial

-You just failed the trial, you can leave

-Fuck you!

-You are brave, Insulting me like this, I have a better Idea, how about we do this, you will pass the trial today, right here and now and if you don't pass it, you can just leave peacefuly after kneeling for forgiveness

-And if I pass, tomorrow I will bring my parents and you all will act as civilized humans and at least act as if this is a serious dojo

-Alright, the trial is simple, you need to show me what you have learned from your old Master in the past days, if I'm satisfied, then you pass

-I need a sparring partner for that

-We...

-You the big guy, can you help us out, all you have to do is hit me

-Hopachai no!

What followed was me waking up, a pain in my face as if my jaw just got dislocated and put back in place or something. In front of me was the mustach guy that had reverted my body or something.

-You're a lucky guy, if your previous master hadn't made your body so flexible, you would have died

-Wow that guy's strong, I have to become his disciple

-If you thing he's strong you have seen nothing, everyone in this dojo are at least that strong

-What's with the prostitute on the ceiling?

A metallic object came fly at me from the ceiling, but was caught by the mustach guy.

-That's our Weapons expert

-So you've got a shooting range or something?

A second metallic object came flying at me, for some reason I thing that person really dislikes me, but who told her to dress like a tramp was good?

-That's a traditional ninja gown

-No it isn't that's what those strippers wear in porntube

This time lots of metallic objects came flying, I don't really undrestand their logic, but I'm 100% sure that the person in the ceiling is demented or retarded.

-That, Shigure, could you go away for a little

The person left after flashing her underwear, it was plain white. She sure is a ninja, if kunoichi means stripper assassin, but it kind of makes sense.

-Does she dress as a stripper in order to assassinate famous people or something?

-We at ryozanpaku don't kill

-So she gathers information over sex, that's kind of less smart, but it's her...

-Shigure's not a stripper, she's a dignified master of martial arts and the most deadliest weapon user I know

-But you don't kill, how does that make her deadly?

-Hm, dear...what's your name?

-Yashin

-dear Yashin, you have failed the trial, thus you have to now go and apologize to the elder, but lets make another bet, if you lose again, you will have to apologize to Shigure as well.

-Who's the elder?

-The Man you rudely called "Old Man"

-Oh, alright, I should go do that and then ask Hopochai to become his disciple

-It's Hopachai and no you won't ask him to be your master!

-Why not?

-Because he's not ready

-Doesn't seem like that to me, he's a total badass and probably knows tons of ass kicking moves

-He won't accept you, so don't bother

-How do you know that, he seemed like a good fellow, he even went easy on me

-No, but lets change the subject, how about changing the bet a little, if you fail this trial you will have to apologize to Shigure and not bother Hopachai

-Alright and if I pass do I get to bring my parents tomorrow and be part of this dojo?

-Of course you can

-So what's the trial?

-What's your thought on the path of Asura?

-The book is interestingly deep, but the characters and depictions are too sureal for my tastes, I loved the part about adding mythological deities and whatnot at parts, making it seem a lot like the Deus ex Machina in ancient drama, of course for sceptics that idea of gods...

-Wait, wait, so you think path of Asura is a novel?

-Of course it is, my old master even gave me a copy

-What about the philosophical depth and meanings of the value of Life

-Well life is as precious as one believes it is, there's no reason to put a value on something that's not sold or bought, it's not a product or service you know

-I mean the taking of another's life to become stronger

-That's just the plot of a novel, do you realy believe that if you cut my head or something you will become like highlander, or that people acquire super powers when bombarded with radiation?

-Power can be literal or a metaphor, killing another person for food or to take his weapon also attributes to strength, the deeper meaning is that you are too shallow, you see everything as a game or movie, you don't understand the gravity of your circumstances or the danger you and your family are in

-Are you threatening or belittling me?

-Both, but congratulations, you have failed the trial, you failed to take seriously this conversation and thus failed the trial, you have ridiculed your master's life long work and beliefs, and thus failed the trial, now you can go apologize to everyone you need to and don't bother Hopachai

-You know I think I like you, you're a really shrewd guy, you asked me a trick question, because no serious person would take it seriously and you went on to guide me to the wrong conclusions, you trapped me in a hole and then went in to burry me, but I respect that, sir this bet you win, congratulations! Now where can I find that Shigure person and the Elder?

-Wait, before you go, you should go visit Kensei, he's waiting for you at the door to the left, tell him Akisame sent you for the trial he'll understand

Well it's not as if I'm losing anything to go see who Kensei is.

I entered to see A large man with a scar on his face, drinking beer and an older man with a chinese gown and a hat reading what seemed to be porn at a corner.

I of course understood easily who if Kensei, such a surname can only belong to the buff guy, drinking.

"Akisame sent me for some sort of trial"

The man holding his beer looked at me and then jammed the empty beer down and took another one completely ignoring me.

-Master Kensei, you really should cut on alcohol, it's not healthy and it makes your breath stink

-Your breath stinks, your whole family stinks, I'm not even Kensei, he's Kensei go bother him and let me drink

-Is this the trial? You want me to believe that the senior sitting over there minding his own business is a Master of martial arts? did you see too many kung fu movies and believe that martial artists are decrepid elderly people with, real martial artists should be like the Elder, not like uncle over there

-Did you hear that kensei, the brat says you're not martial artist material

The old man for some reason nodded, I don't know if he agreed with me or him or was just too engrossed with reading his porn.

-See he agrees, so Master Kensei, lets get on with the trial already

-Brat, I'm Sakaki Shio, a karate master, the one you want is the old man there, so get off my back and shoo shoo

-Whatever if you don't want to give me a trial, just say so, don't try to bullshit your way out of stuff, it's not manly

-Whom did you call a woman, you milksucking twerp!

"Now, now, please calm down, I'm Kensei Ma and you were supposed to come to me for a trial, right, just follow me for a short walk"

The old man guided me outside and as we walked he jumped on a wall, I followed behind by using Dou, he jumped on the roof, I had to impovise a little by using a tree to follow him, he jumped off the roof, on which ocassion I was forced to jumped into a lake nearby and he brought me to what seemed to be an outdoors bathing place.

"Peek into that hole"

He told me and I did, inside was that Kunoichi girl that tried to kill me before. Bathing completely naked, her body was so so, not really my taste.

The old man pulled me away and then put the lens of his camera into the hole and clicked, the next moment a sword or spear had embeded into the camera and Shigure wearing only a towel jumped on top of the wall, one could see everything from underneath, if it wasn't already dark, it would have been a really crazy situation.

The old man ran, but I didn't see the reason to run, she looked at me rather confused. I kneeled for the first time in my life.

"I apologize for acting rudely and disrespectfuly towards you, I judged you by your appearance and without knowing, I sincerely ask for you to forgive my transgretion"

Shigure seemed shocked, but there was a smile on her mouth, I don't really care if she forgave me or not, but since I promised, I always keep my promises or at least try.

The old Master Kensei appeared out of nowhere and took me away while I was still kneeling.

"You're a real piece of work, but the trial has just begun, lets go to my room"

His room was an unadorned tatami floored room, with only a bed at a side and a large trank, I could see porn flooding from under the bedsheets.

-First question of the trial, are you Gay?

-Of course not, I even have a girlfriend, well sort of, it's not official yet, but it will, as long as I can get stronger, she will fall to my charm and macho

-Are you impotent?

-Of course not, at least I hope I'm not, haven't tested it after that reversion thing

-So why didn't it grow after you peeked?

-She's not my type, I like them firm and fiesty

-So you're a lolicon?

-More of I like them medium rare, Espe...

-Shoo shoo, Last question, have you killed a man before?

-Not as far as I know

-You pass, the entrance truition is 20.000yen

-I told the elder that as long as My parents agree to me studying here, even 20.000yen might not be the problem here, you see, my parents will want to visit this place and as I've seen so far, I don't mean to insult you, but both the facilities and the professionals are kind or lacking in the dojo aspect, this looked more like a retirement home for old veterans

-No problem, no problem at all, you should go apologize to the elder now, just follow me

I don't know why, but I had a bad feeling about Master Kensei, the man wasn't as simple as he outwardly seemed. I think he's a member of the chinese Triad and that Sakaki must be a Yakuza, it makes total sense with Akisame's threats. Everything connects now, the Elder's questions, Akisame's beliefs, the word "deadly" and Kensei's question "Have you killed a person before?" they are all bloody assassins, hitmen hired for organizations to kill people, of course they would say we don't kill, would an assassin tell you he's an assassin?

I trully was too naive.

We arrived at the main room, where I could see my parents happily drinking tea with the Elder, the Master Assassin himself, now Violent Miu's reflexes makes total sense. Yup Hopachai is not ready, he probably hasn't killed a person yet, thus he's not ready to teach.

-Son we have talked with the Elder and we have agreed on you joining the dojo, after all 10.000yen although a bit expensive, but if they can produce genious Doctors like Master Ogata, it's worth the price

-Mom, Dad can I talk with the Elder privately for a little

-Is it about the apology, the elder has already said he forgives you for your rude behavior

-I must insist, please, it will only take a short time

-Alright

Once they left, I lost all strength in my legs and knelt, my hed hit the tatami floor with strength and blood was visible on the floor.

-I apologize to the Elder and all the members of Ryozampaku, I was naive and a fool, I saw only the surface, I was a frog in the well, a large fish in a pond, I didn't know the intricasies of the Sun and the Moon, elder please forgive me and don't hurt my family, I now understand the path you all thread and I don't think I belong here, my world has laws and restrictions, I cannot kill people for money, I no longer wish to join your Dojo

Tears dripped down my eyes, mixing with the wet blood on the floor. the next moment not only the Elder, but every single teacher of Ryozanpaku in the room begun to laugh their hearts out.

The mustache guy, Akisame, helped me up, although I geniuinly didn't understand what was going on.

-You seem to have misunderstood our intentions, we're not hired killers or anything of the sort, we believe in the Katsujinken(Saving Fist), we use our strength to save people and not kill

-I've already failed once you don't have to rub it, I know all of you are assassins, the elder probably has even trained his own grand daughter to be an assassin as well, If he really wants me dead, he can kill me right now, you don't need to keep them or me hostage

The elder stood up and put his hand on my shoulder.

-Listen young man, We don't kill people, you can believe whatever you like, but here in ryozanpaku we have all taken a vow to not kill, as for why we asked you again and again about killing, it's because your previous master has broken his vow and joined the Satsujinken(Killing fist), they are the assassins that take lives, for money, for power or simply for entertainment

-It makes no sense, I'm sure Shigure has tried to kill me like three times and even tried to murder Master Kensei

-Don't act like a child, if She wanted to kill you, you would have already been dead, it was all done just to scare you, I promise you on my honor that both you and your family has nothing to fear from us, so if you still wish to join the Dojo

-I do, but I'm still unsure whether I should, I will take your honor as a guarantee, but what about these two, I'm sure Master Sakaki has some relations with the Yakuza and master Kensei has some relations with the Triad

-You have nothing to fear about, I assure you they have no...

Master Ma however came and whispered to his ear, I could hear what he said, but only slightly."My Third Cousin is in the Triad, also My sist...".

-Well I'm quite sure you have nothing to fear from them

That was my first interaction with Ryozanpaku, the place that would be the foundation stone to what was to follow.