Two weeks later, Dam Son, Xuan Li along with Sugar Bun finally completed their mountain climbing training. At the crack of dawn, they set foot on the 70,000th step with their jugs still intact. To show how much energy they had exhausted, the veins that ran across the contours of their muscles were extremely defined.
It took them 2 weeks to complete their training due to the repetitious failures they made. On many occasions, all 3 of them had to start over from the bottom. At first, Xuan Li was in the lead, but he slipped up at the 3,000th step which caused him to start all over. Dam Son restarted a lot too because of Sugar Bun who kept tripping whenever he jumped over a bamboo obstacle.
The 3 minutes break they received per hour wasn’t enough to regain any stamina at all. Thus, whenever they took a breather and recommenced their climb, they would often take a minute just to hop onto the other step in succession.
Jin Hennessy knew he was being too hard on his disciples, hence he modified the rules a bit by allowing his pupils to take a day's rest whenever they reached the 5,000th step. Of course, after the day was finished, they had to start all over from the bottom again. He wasn’t going to give them any advantages.
This process repeated itself for days until the trio successfully made it to the mountain peak. It was an arduous task for them to undertake. However, the benefits which they would find out soon would give them a shock.
Lying flat on the dusty ground, Dam Son and the others were breathing heavily. The hot air oozing out of their mouths scared away many microscopic particles. “We did it.”
“Yes, we did, finally.” Sugar Bun didn’t think that he would have made it to the mountain peak, but thanks to Dam Son’s assistance, he did.
“I’m never doing that again.” Xuan Li felt so relieved. He had no idea how much longer he could have held out for if the climbing continued. Though he didn’t manage to secure first place, he was still pleased.
Coming over to where his disciples were lying, Jin Hennessy brought them boisterous applause. “You did well brats. Truthfully, I thought it would have taken you all a month to complete. Now rest up, you deserve it. When you’ve revived to your peak condition, I’ll commence the next phase of your training.”
The trio was glad for the break, so much so that they didn’t return to the Tower of Residence to rest; they fell asleep right where they laid, among dusty particles.
Two days later, the trio awoke from their deep slumber atop Jin Hennessy’s mountain. They had slept for 42 hours straight. When they awoke, they found themselves swaying in 3 separate hammocks hung between palm trees. The wind blew gently against their faces.
“Huh, how did we get here?” Xuan Li asked while wiping his eyes.
“Master Jin must have placed us here.” Dam Son replied.
“How long were we out for?” Sugar Bun enquired as he hopped out of the hammock.
“I don’t think it would be that long. Probably a couple of hours.” Saying this, Xuan Li summoned his Guide; checked its theme interface. “Today is Saturn day, 5:15 a.m. That means we’ve been out cold for almost 2 days.”
“2 days?” Sugar Bun sounded surprised. “No wonder I feel so energized.” The moment he said this, his tummy started growling. “I spoke too soon. I’m starving.”
“Me too.” Xuan Li agreed.
Dam Son felt a bit famished but he didn’t mention it. Looking around for his master, he didn’t see him in sight. “Where is Master Jin?”
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“Probably out somewhere filling his face.” Said Xuan Li. “We should also do the same. I’m heading out to get something to eat. Who’s with me?”
“We’re in.”
Sugar Bun and Dam Son agreed to get something to eat. All 3 of them left the mountain together and went to dine at an outdoor restaurant. After their bellies were full, they returned to the mountain to discover Jin Hennessy rummaging through his liquor shed enraged.
“Hey, Master Jin, we came back.” Dam Son greeted his senior who was busy searching for something with his back turned. “Did you hear me? I said we came back.”
“Not now brat. Can’t you see that I’m busy?” Jin Hennessy ignored Dam Son to continue his search. “Where the heck are they? I can’t be out so soon, can I?”
“What are you looking for, Master Jin?” Sugar Bun enquired. “Are you searching for more bottles of wine?”
“Precisely, but there are only empty bottles here. Do any of you brats have any more wine on you?” Jin Hennessy eyeballed his pupils with thirst in his eyes; waiting patiently for their answer.
“No, we don’t. We gave you all that we had.”
“Then what use are you being here. Hurry up and get your smelly asses off my mountain!” Jin Hennessy tried shoving away his disciples, but they refused.
“Where is all of this coming from? Didn’t you say you have a reward for us if we completed the training?”
“I said that when I was drunk. Now that I’m sober, I don’t know. Consider yourselves no longer my disciples. Now get the hell out of my sight.” Jin Hennessy didn’t hesitate to kick all 3 of his former pupils off his mountain top. They flew 300 metres away until they regain their equilibrium mid-air.
“What should we do now? The old drunkard refuses to teach us anymore Word Fu.”
“What are you talking about turtle? That old fart hasn’t taught us one lick of Word Fu since he accepted us as his disciples. All he had us do was hopped up a bunch of stairs as if we’re bodybuilders.”
“But you have to admit that his training made us a lot stronger physically. At first, we struggled so hard to get across the 100th step but look at us now. We’ve climbed to the very top of that mountain.”
“Sugar Bun is right.” Dam Son proposed a solution for their current situation. “Master Jin is upset because he has no more liquor. To get him to accept us as disciples again, all we need to do is get him more liquor.”
“Dam Son has a point. That elder loves his liquor. That’s how we got him to train us in the first place.”
“Yeah, but you two geniuses are missing the main problem.” Xuan Li highlight a crucial factor. “We depleted all of our funds on purchasing those 100 bottles of wine. Do either of you have any more Q-currency left?”
“We don’t.”
“Then first we have to earn some Q-currency before we can coax the geezer again.”
“And how do you propose we do that, Xuan Li?”
“Simple, we sign up for team battles at the Page Coliseum after general lessons are over.”
“The Page Coliseum? That sound familiar. Isn’t that where our orientation started?” Dam Son remembered correctly.
“The last time Sugar Bun and I went back to the Tower of Residence we discovered multiple posters plastered all over the lounge. They were advertising this new arena set in place for students to test their Word Mastery against each other and earn some Q-currency out of it. The maximum members to a team that they allow in our first-year division are 3 persons.”
“Great, then that means that we can apply as a team of 3.” Dam Son felt excited about challenging fellow Word Masters.
“That is my idea exactly, Dark-Human. However, we would be at a drastic disadvantage because we won’t be able to utilize any Martial Arts Powered Scripts.”
“Oh, I almost forgot that the old man put a seal on us.” Realizing the puddle they had stepped into, Sugar Bun contemplated many ways to get out. “I’ve never actually fought without script assimilation before. I don’t know if I can participate, guys. My raw martial arts skills are really lacking.”
“Mine too.” Said, Dam Son. “But, I think that I can overpower most opponents with my Natural Verb Force. I can also adapt well during a battle.”
“I hate to admit this, but the Dark-Human is right. He’s very skilled at stealing others' moves.”
Hearing how Xuan Li responded coldly, Dam Son could tell that he was still upset about the loss he suffered during the admission matches. “Let’s put that behind us. Right now we need to focus on earning some Q-currency.”
The trio formed an agreement with each other. Even though they weren’t prepared, they decided to visit the Page Coliseum. It was the only way they could think of at that moment to earn Q-currency. Without it, they wouldn’t be able to purchase any wine for Jin Hennessy, and they needed his help to better their Word Fu Mastery.
“We should practise our teamwork for a bit before we go there.” Dam Son suggested.
“I think a sparring match would be great to strengthen our basic teamwork.” Sugar Bun glanced at Xuan Li. “What do you think?”
“It is for the best, and I know just the place.” Xuan Li along with the others went to a secluded spot to test their raw abilities and share whatever martial arts techniques they could. They also came up with a strategy to defeat most opponents. Afterwards, they went on ahead to the Page Coliseum.