Chapter 2

His eyes slowly opened. However, as they fully opened, they opened to an unfamiliar sight. Instead of the normal white ceiling, it was a wooden one, with no further painting. Without a doubt, he was in an unfamiliar room. His mind was groggy, and he wasn’t sure how he got here, but one thing he was sure of. His body hurt like hell. Looking further, he could see that there were bruises all over, and even several bandages. However, before he could think further,

“Ah, you’re awake,” a kind, amiable voice rang out. Immediately, his head jerked in the direction of the sound, and there he saw a tall man entering the room, no, house. It seemed like this was one, single house, due to all the windows.

However, this man was like no other he had ever seen. He was big, huge even. His upper body was bare, revealing all his toned muscles, but they weren’t like the muscles of a bodybuilder, nor like that of a cross-fitter. They were big, but they didn’t seem unnatural at all! It completely looked like it was how it was meant to be, somehow.

“Uh, where am I?” Shin asked, while still not able to take his eyes of those muscles.

“You’re at my house, deep in the jungle,” the man answered with a smile. He was quite something, this man. Not only were his huge muscles unnaturally natural, or maybe even super natural, but his hair was long, and silver coloured, and he also seemed to be of Asian descent.

“Um, how exactly did I get here?” Shin asked.

“Well, I found you by the river, a few kilometres away from here. How you got there though, I have no idea, but you probably washed down, from further out. You must have been out there for days too, since you were nearly dead when I found you, and rather famished. Luckily for you, I’m quite medically capable,” he said with a laugh.

“So, how did you end in that river,” he then asked. He was quite curious how a weak looking boy like this, would find himself half dead in a river.

“Uh, I’m not sure… actually. Wait, I, I don’t know my name… Or anything else,” he said, with a both pained and confused expression. The kind stranger too wore a different expression as he heard those words. One of surprise. He certainly hadn’t expected to find an amnesiac in his care suddenly…

“No, wait, I remember something… shambles. I remember shambles of what seems like me running away from something. From… people, four I think,” he said. As he heard this, the stranger sat down on the bed, and put a hand on Shin’s shoulder, somewhat relaxing him.

“Do you remember anything else, boy? Come on, think hard. Anything you can remember is good,” he said.

“It’s, it’s just running, lots of running. No, we stopped, at, at a cliff I think. I think he called me Shin, one of the guys chasing me,” he continued.

“Shin,” the stranger said, “that’s probably your name. Seems like we’re of the same country, Shin,” he said with the same amiable smile.

“What else do you remember,” he continued.

“They, no only one of them. He punched me, beat me up, and then, then… I think he threw me down the cliff… He, he was trying to kill me!” Shin said, suddenly getting panicked.

“No, no, I need to get away, I can’t let him get me!” Shin started panicking even more, even flailing around in his antics.

“Calm down, Shin, no one’s trying to kill you. They probably think you’re dead already, so they wouldn’t come here. Even if they do, they can’t do anything to you, as long as I’m here,” he said confidently.

“Anything else you remember?” He then asked.

“No, no that’s all. I can’t remember anything else,” he said, already somewhat calm again.

“Well, since that’s out of the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Shou Atsutaka,” he said, as he stood up from the bed. In fact, it was the only bed in the house. It made Shin wonder where he had slept all these days. Or at least he thought it had been several days.

“Oh, uh, thank you for everything you’ve done Mr. Atsutaka. Uh, my name is Shin, I think, but you already know that,” Shin said, a bit embarrassed at not knowing his name for sure.

“Haha, indeed Shin. Now, just lie down and rest. I’ll go make us something to eat,” Atsutaka said, as he walked towards his small kitchen. That kitchen seemed like something pulled out of the past. In fact, there wasn’t a single electronic to be seen anywhere.

“Mr. Atsutaka, just how long did I sleep here?” He asked. As he fumbled with some food Atsutaka looked back at Shin.

“It’s been a week already. The people back where ever you came from all probably think you’re dead, by now,” he said, with a calm smile. But this didn’t worry Shin that much. After all, he didn’t even remember who those people would be.

“Didn’t any search parties come looking for me, or something?” Shin asked. He couldn’t help but wonder about this little detail.

“Who knows? Anyways, they certainly didn’t come this far in. We’re actually really deep in the jungle, you know? For your average person, it would take several days to get here on foot. You probably floated to here on a log, or something,” he said with a laugh, as he continued to make food.

“I see. Wait, what are you even doing down here then? I mean, we’re so far from any civilization. What do you do if you get sick?” He asked.

“Haha, you sure are talkative. What I’m doing here doesn’t really matter. And I don’t get sick,” he said, not explaining any further.

“If you say so,” Shin said.

A few minutes passed, and the food was served. Atsutaka helped Shin out of bed, since he was still very weak, then they ate at the table.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“This is really good!” Shin said, as he enthusiastically gulfed down all the food on his plate, and then asked for seconds.

“Well, when one has to cook for himself, one will naturally get good at it,” Atsutaka said with his usual laugh. As they had finished eating, Shin went back to bed, and then quickly fell asleep. His body was in very bad shape, so he had very little energy. As he had fallen asleep, Atsutaka went outside.

Outside was a small clearing, and next to the hut, was a river. Probably the same one Shin had appeared from. As he had stepped outside, suddenly his body flickered, and he seemingly disappeared. A short distance away, he had reappeared on top of a tree, almost as if he teleported. At least it would seem like that to the normal eye. In truth, he had only moved so quickly that only a highly trained fighter would have been able to just barely see it.

“How interesting this has become. A young boy, void of any memories, except for those of brutality. A clean slate. I wonder if I could make something out of him,” he spoke out loud, to no one in particular. Indeed, this strange man had high hopes for the frail looking youngster. After all, what kind of person could survive after getting beaten up, then thrown off a cliff, then float through a river for several days? Even if he didn’t have talent, he was sure that he had two, even more important traits for what he had planned. Endurance! Durability!

“Haha, maybe this is what I’ve been looking for. Someone to pass down my art,” he said, as he casually jumped down from the tall tree. However, instead of getting hurt by the huge fall, he easily landed on his two feet, back on ground, not even putting a dent in it. Thus, this man, wearing a white cloak, with white, baggy pants, and only bandages for footwear, walked back towards his wooden hut.

Thus, another week passed, as the young Shin recovered from his injuries. With the help of treatments from Atsutaka, and many weird medicines he gave him, he was recovering rather quickly. By now, the injuries were only light. At this moment, Shin was doing light exercises, which Atsutaka had instructed him to do every day. Suddenly, Atsutaka walked into the house, wearing his usual outfit.

In fact, the outfit that Shin wore was very similar. It was white, baggy pants, and a white jacket, which was being held together by a gray belt. It looked pretty similar to what those Karate people would wear, or like something out of a Chinese Kung Fu movie. They really showed the Asian roots in Shin, even though he was only half Asian. It also showed Atsutaka’s preferred fashion style.

“Hey Shin, come with me for a bit. There’s something I want to show you,” Atsutaka said, as he led Shin out.

“What is it that you want to show me?” Shin asked. However, Atsutaka didn’t answer, and only continued to walk, until they had entered the forest, from their little clearing. They were following what seemed like a natural path, at first, but eventually, they had taken several turns, until Shin completely lost track of where they came from. Suddenly, he heard a rustle from the side, and turned to look, but there was nothing there. However, when he turned back to Atsutaka, he was gone.

Atsutaka had disappeared, as if he was nothing, but an image, made of air. Shin looked around himself, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Mr. Atsutaka? Where are you?! This isn’t funny!” Shin said, as he frantically looked around everywhere he could get to. But no matter how well he searched, he was nowhere to be found. “This isn’t funny, you know,” He finally said, as he gave up on finding him.

Meanwhile, Atsutaka stood on top of a tree, gazing down at Shin.

“Well then, let’s see how he does,” he said, mysteriously, with a scheming smirk on his face.

Meanwhile, Shin was already trying to find his way back. He had regained his composure rather quickly. Maybe they had accidentally separated, and it only took him a while to notice. If he could get back, then everything should be fine.

Thus, he started his journey back, however, there was one little problem. He didn’t even know which direction ‘back’ was. He was completely lost. The only thing he could do, was choose a random direction, and hope for the best. However, as he walked, he couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. Like some sort of disaster was brewing. Thus, he walked carefully, and tried his best to take his surroundings in.

“Heh, this kid is quite impressive. He can actually feel it. Maybe he has potential after all,” Atsutaka said, as he continued to observe the kid. Meanwhile, Shin continued walking, but that feeling didn’t go away. In fact, it only grew worse. He was sure something was wrong; like something was watching him.

Then, suddenly he started hearing rustles again, but from behind him, this time. This caused him great shock, but once more he quickly calmed down.

“Stay calm, stay calm,” he chanted, as he continued walking. However, then the source of his nagging feeling finally revealed itself. And it certainly wasn’t anything good.

“Grooooowl!” The bear growled that had suddenly appeared behind Shin. As he saw the bear come out of the bushes, he immediately felt a surge of fear, and stumbled to his feet. He started crawling backwards, but then, he suddenly started shaking his head.

“No, no, stay calm, stay calm,” he said. And indeed, he quickly managed to calm himself, and he stood up. Atsutaka was clearly impressed by this.

“This kid, he sure is brave. Or maybe not brave, but composed. Easily able to regain his calm. He is indeed promising,” he said, getting even more excited. Meanwhile the bear was walking towards Shin, seemingly ready for its next meal.

‘Alright, what to do in case of bear attack?’ He thought. ‘Right, walk away slowly.’ Thus, he started walking backwards, while saying, “Easy, easy,” trying to calm the bear. However, much to his dismay, it didn’t help at all, and the bear started running for him.

“Shit!” Shin said, as he, too, turned tails, but the bear was much faster than him. In a matter of seconds, it had caught up to him. Shin felt a sharp pain, as the bear slapped him with its paw, sending the boy flying. Luckily, it had not used its claws, so he wasn’t cut. However, that didn’t matter much, since the bear was quickly drawing closer. Only a few seconds passed, before it stood before him again, with a raised paw.

Then, it started to descend at great speeds, and Shin could only embrace himself, and closed his eyes.

“Hah!”

However, that sudden pain never came. Instead, as he opened his eyes, all he saw was a leg, clad in white, held high. This leg seemed like it had been pierced into the bears neck. Then, suddenly, the bear was sent flying, and the white clad beast followed it, and with one decisive punch, it shattered the bears skull.

“Haha, sorry you had to experience that, but I wanted to test you,” the white clad beast said, as it walked back towards Shin. It was only then that he realized that it was in fact Atsutaka, who had appeared, and saved him. Shin could only stare at him in shock. This was truly nothing like anything he had ever seen before. This human, had actually killed a bear in two strikes!

“Shin!” He suddenly yelled at him, quickly pulling him back into reality.

“Shin, you’re going to have to make a choice,” he said, which quickly got Shin’s attention.

“A choice?” He asked.

“Shin, I will now give you two choices. The one you choose is going to decide your future. Either, I can take you back to your home, where you came from,” he began.

“Or,” he continued, pausing for a while, as he stared deep into Shin’s eyes.

“Or you can stay with me and train in martial arts! Shin, become my disciple!” He almost shouted at him. Shin stared at Atsutaka, then back at the already deceased bear. Go home, or learn martial arts? He couldn’t help but think about how he had killed the bear in two strikes. That was like nothing he had ever heard of before. Not even Bruce Lee would be able to do something like that. This was simply too incredible!

Should he choose to go back home? He didn’t even know what he was going back home to! The only thing he remembered of his past life was him fleeing for his life! If he went back, would he even be able to survive? Thus, he looked up to Atsutaka with decisiveness.

“I’ll stay with you!” He said without even a semblance of hesitation.

“Haha, great! Then, Shin, today we will have bear meat for dinner!”