Deacon headed back up to his room. It had to be past midnight and he needed to mentally prepare himself for his first training session with Old Pai. He didn’t know how the training would go and there were still various things he needed to follow up on within the guild as well as in town. Deacon hadn’t seen Armand all day. Wondering if his friend was alright, he reached his door on the fourth floor. Entering his room, Deacon disrobed and stretched out on the cot. He may have to look into whoever makes beds in this world. Missing the ability to run out to a mattress store, Deacon drifted off to sleep.

  Deacon woke with a start as he could feel Zageracks prodding him to wake. Sitting up he noticed the sun hadn’t quite crested the horizon yet. Bewildered by the unprompted wake up call he got up and proceeded to get dressed. Now was good time to break out some of the supplies he gathered on his shopping trip yesterday. The small table in his room now had a medium sized mirror, a bottle of bees wax, and small black ribbons. Getting to work, Deacon began braiding his mane of now white hair down into cornrows.

  “Anything you want to say to me? We’ve got at least ten minutes while I do this.” Deacon said out loud.

  “Look into the mirror.” Zageracks responded. Upon doing so Deacon could see his eyes glowing a pale green. It did not stop him from the repetitive motions necessary to complete his task.

  “Go ahead. This is neat.” Deacon replied.

  “Pai Mei was my student. I taught him to fight after he was discarded by the great schools. He managed to fight his way back to become the master of the Sand Tempest School. They specialized in the air element. None of this information will help you. His training and control far exceed your own. Listen to what he says. This is an opportunity people have fought and died for. Do not be an obstinate ass.” Zageracks said with Deacons face in the mirror.

  “Are you trying to tell me you didn’t plan this? I feel like I’ve been dancing in someone else’s puppet show this whole time.” Deacon said incredulously.

  “You have no idea. Why do you think the fates keep giving you ridiculous names for your abilities? You would be laughed out of every school if you tried to join one. No, this was your only path. Unfortunately this may be the end of Pai Mei’s hard-fought peace.” Lamented Zageracks.

  “Why is that?” Deacon asked.

  “Not my story to tell. If you impress him, maybe he’ll tell you himself.” Zageracks said as the mirror image of Deacon’s eyes returned to normal.

  Deacon finished fixing his hair. Maybe now the cotton head comments would stop. He hadn’t worn his hair like this since High School. Deacon forgot how much he liked it but not how much maintenance it was. Perhaps this world had a solution for that. Ok, he thought, on to training and then to check on Mentalba’s progress. Brands don’t start selling themselves. He also had to stop down by the quest board and speak to Jacob.

  As Deacon opened the door, he heard a commotion coming from downstairs. Since he was going that way anyway, he decided to poke his nose where it didn’t belong. He saw Jacob in an argument with another guild member. That member just so happened to be Amanda from his initiation fight.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “This is none of your concern. The space has been reserved for a special event. You can have it this afternoon. Feel free to watch from the stands it should be a once in a lifetime show.” Jacob said unwilling to budge an inch from the doors to the training yard.

  “This is ridiculous. Everyone knows I train before daybreak. Oh and look who shows up the instant something goes wrong with the status quo. Elle’s little bad luck charm. You know I couldn’t use my arm for a whole minute after that stunt you pulled!” said Amanda stalking over to Deacon.

  “You’ve got a mouth on you. Isn’t that the Guild Master? Show a little respect.” Deacon said with a sneer. It was only then he saw Jacob with his head in his hand shaking it left in right as if to say, “You dumb ass”.

  No sooner did Deacon realize that then Amanda swept his legs out from under him. Deacon immediately realized his mistake as his head bounced off the ground. She followed up with an axe kick to Deacon’s stomach before Jacob managed to pull her off him. To his surprise Deacon saw his health bar tick down by five percent with a notification waiting for him from his slate.

Notice- Internal damage. You will lose one percent health for the next five seconds.

  “Are you trying to kill him? He’s only level ten and you aren’t in the protections of the training grounds. I saw you use Vicious Axe Kick, I taught you that move! Get out of here now!” Jacob yelled.

  “Not so tough now, coughing up blood on the floor.” Amanda screeched at Deacon while she was being removed from the area.

  “She’s fuckin crazy, Jacob!” Deacon managed to get out from clenched teeth.

  “There will be a disciplinary hearing, I assure you it won’t happen again. This is not her first offense. I was hoping she would cool down but something about you sets her off worse than I’ve ever seen.” Jacob said as he helped Deacon to his feet. Just then he looked to the doorway to the training yard to see Old Pai watching.

  “Pathetic.” Was all Old Pai said as he turned back into the yard.

  “Well that’s a good sign, right?” Deacon asked Jacob.

  “Go in there and listen to what he says.” Jacob said as he helped him to the door.

  Inside the training yard Old Pai stood at the opposite end. He had a chair next to him that remained empty. He gestured to the chair.

  “Sit.”, said Old Pai, “Now focus your aura around you.”

  Deacon quickly sat and released his aura receiving a flick on his forehead almost instantly.

  “What?” Deacon asked.

  “What did I say?” Old Pai asked.

  “Sit and focus my aura around me. I did that and you hit me.” Deacon replied.

  “Then what did you do?” Old Pai asked.

  “The very thing you asked me to do.” Deacon snapped back.

  “No, you sat and farted your aura all over the place. Retract it and try again.” Old Pai replied.

  Deacon stopped himself from just blooming his aura again. He began to focus on what Zageracks and Jacob, both told him, to listen. He asked Deacon to focus his aura around him not just to release it. So something like he does with the Nether Beam and Ice Sickles. Remembering the feeling of focus in the palm of his hand and wherever he is spinning the blades, Deacon tried to focus his aura in a smaller area surrounding his body instead of just releasing it.

  “Better.”, Said Old Pai flicking Deacon on the forehead, “But much too slow.”

  What came next was three hours of tight aura control followed by running in circles around the yard activating the tight control and turning it off every time Old Pai yelled the word aura. Deacon failed miserably at the second task. It was one thing to reign it in while staying still and concentrating but while he was on the move, he just couldn’t keep it taut around him. Finally Old Pai yelled out to stop.

  “Come sit over here. You must practice this every day for the next week. We can not continue until you can do this. While I am dissatisfied with your performance today, I did expect to spend more time on stationary tightening. That was a surprise. It is almost noon. Practice until a tight aura is second nature to you.” Once he said that Old Pai spun up into the open air and he was gone.

  “Show off.” Deacon said and received forehead flick for his trouble