Rajin:
Man, my back hurts. I thought to myself as I stifled a yawn. I was 65 years old, but still in my physical prime. It made no sense for me to be having back pains right now. Ah, who am I kidding? I couldn't even beat that know-it-all kid Hanabi. He continued to think, dejected.
Just where does he get off beating the snot out of an old fart like me. Ahhh to be young again... come to think of it, I'm on my way to teach someone even younger than him.
Compared to me, Hanabi was still a child, and by those terms, that made this Alexander kid an infant. Just another one of those stuck-up noble brats, it's gonna be fun breaking him! I thought to myself, an evil smirk forming on my wrinkled face.
Ever since mastering my trademark Flow style, I'd been searching for a pupil who would have the potential to not only master my style, but evolve it. I wanted it to reach even further heights, the sky was the limit. But in the end, they all hopelessly fail me.
It was disheartening, but he refused to give up his life mission. He gave everything he had to master this art of combat, but soon he would die, and it would die with him, making his efforts ultimately worthless. 55 years of experience snuffed out.
He started developing it when he was only 10 years old. At the time, Augmenters were the most common of the three skills, and as a Biotic, he was at a real disadvantage. Refusing to let this stop him, he began working to conceive of a way for biotics to be just as good, if not better, at hand-to-hand combat than the Augmenters.
Most of them relied on their abilities to go for an all-out assault focusing on speed and explosive damage. Because of this, they rarely have any thought behind their movements, the phrase "The best defense is a good offense." comes to mind. I planned to exploit that, beating them at their own game. To do so, however, I needed to learn how to use my Biotic spells while still maintaining the focus required to dodge my opponent's attacks.
This was the foundation idea for battle-casting, a term I came up with on the fly. I never was good at naming anyways.
The only method I could think of was to become so used to combat that dodging becomes second nature. Easier said than done, but with enough experience, I think I could manage it. No, I absolutely must manage it. I resolved.
After around 5 years of daily sparring against my brother, I pulled off my first successful spell cast mid-battle. It was exhilarating. 5 years of hard work paid off nicely, and I now had battle-casting in my arsenal.
After that, however, I came to a realization. There's more to this! If I continued to hone dodging until it was second nature, I could wait until my opponent leaves me an opening, and when it's there, I can go for an all-out assault that chains one attack into another, making it impossible for them to react.
It was, once again, quite the tall order, but after mastering battle-casting, I knew I had the grit and determination to do the impossible. I became an adventurer and went around challenging every Augmenter I found to a duel, but this time, I wouldn't rely on my magic, but only my pure physical capabilities.
It was rough at first. I was beaten half to death more times than I could count, but after another 20 years, I finally managed to win my first match. It was against an A-rank Augmenter, and while it came close, ultimately, I won.
Now that I knew it was possible, I became a hermit, secluding myself, training in the harshest environments I could find. After 25 years, I had reached my peak. I came back and updated my adventurer rank to an A, then immediately challenged an SS-rank quest. Technically it's not allowed for you to take a quest above your rank, let alone two ranks above. With enough bribing though, anything is possible.
They probably thought I'd end up dying anyway, so they just took my coin and moved on. Ah, the look on that fool's face when I came back unharmed. It was priceless! I snickered to myself. After a few more quests I challenged the pinnacle of all Augmenters, Hanabi, to a duel.
I put up a good fight, but in the end, he beat me. Despite this, he had the gall to tell me "If you'd have been 10 years younger, this surely would have been my defeat."
That stuck-up prick, I oughtta... But even then, word spread that I almost fought the God of Augmenters to a standstill. This led to me becoming known by a few nicknames, The 5th God, God of Technique Rajin, and Rajin the Uncounterable. With my name so widespread people flocked from all around the continent to train under me.
But not everybody can be as gifted as me, I guess. I sighed inwardly. Now we were all caught up to my current plight. The God of Technique, Rajin, reduced to a teacher-for-hire for noble brats with no respect for the arts or their elders.
"To hell with it." I resigned. I'll just beat the snot outta this kid so hard he begs his parents to fire me. I already got my paycheck, I have no obligation otherwise.
"We're here, chief." the wagon driver called out to me. I hopped off and gave the man a decent tip, taking a look around at the sight in front of me. Yup, definitely a snotty noble.
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The property was quite large, with an orchard in the front, and a huge stone mansion in the center. A well-kept garden complimented the front of the house. The marble pillars that held up the roof above the porch area only further solidified my bias. Alexander Magnus, you sure must have it easy here. I thought with a scoff. I entered the gate and walked to the door, pausing to knock.
A woman answered the door dressed in a classic maid outfit. Figures I thought, mumbling under my breath. "U-Uhm, I'm sorry, who might you be, sir?" she asked timidly. "I am Rajin. I'm here to tutor a brat in my signature art, Flow style." I replied. "Ah, Lilith, allow him to come on in!" a smooth, honey-sweet voice called out. The maid, Lilith, beckoned me inside, taking my cost from me and hanging it on the rack.
I entered what I could only assume to be the living room, and saw a beautiful woman sitting in a reclining chair, reading. She closed the book with a soft thud, and set it to the side. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" she said earnestly, her hand reaching out for a shake.
I hesitantly took her up on the handshake, though she didn't seem to be swayed by this. "Where's the kid?" I asked, trying my best to appear polite and eager to be here. "Ah, yes, one moment please," she said as she sucked in a breath.
"ALEXXXANDERRRRRRRR, COME HERE RIGHT NOWW! YOU HAVE A VISITORR!!" she screamed. I was stunned. She had a shout that could put a dragon's roar to shame. What a terrifying woman. I thought to myself.
Soon enough, a little pinprick twerp ran over to meet me. He looked to be only 5 years old, and I had to heavily resist the urge to burst out laughing. Really? This is the Alexander I've heard so much about. The assignment description made him sound like a beast, but this kid looked like he couldn't win a fight against a rock, let alone a monster or another person. Whatever let's get this over with.
"Come on, little guy, meet me in the backyard. I'm gonna do a little preliminary test with ya." I said with a grin on my face. We went to the backyard and stood 10 feet away from each other. I explained the rules to him.
"You will use all methods at your disposal to land a hit me. I will use only my right arm and my left leg, and I won't move from this spot." Perfect. It sounded manageable at first, but in practice, the rules are just vague enough for me to be able to expose loopholes. For instance, if I move so fast he's unable to see it, how will he ever tell I moved at all?
It was foolproof. I'd get to crush his spirits and embarrass him, and he wouldn't be able to do anything even with a handicap. As soon as I called to start, he began casting a spell. With lightning-fast speed, I launched from where I was and kicked him in the arm, sending his spell veering off course and breaking the arm in the process.
"Ack!" he yowled. His arm fell limply to his side and he cradled it with his other hand. "What the hell was that, you old bag of bones! You cheated!"
"Did not!" I said, acting offended. There's no way he saw through it that quickly.
Casting a healing sell on his arm, he readied another attack. This time, he was going for a melee attack. Bad idea, squirt. Should've just stuck with spells. I thought to myself with a chuckle.
He charged at me with unnatural speed and it almost caught me off guard. Quick as light-speed, I moved out of the way, struck him three times, and moved back. To any normal person, it would appear I hadn't moved at all this whole time.
I heard three satisfying cracks as the boy crumpled to the ground. I'd struck him in his ribs, left leg, and other arm. All three bones snapped cleanly. "Gahh ack ughhhh," the kid sputtered. He cast another healing spell on himself, then huffed, and sat down in the dirt, crisscross with his chin on his hand and his eyes closed.
Just what is he doing now? I thought to myself. For the next hour he sat there, keeping that make position. I began to lose my patience. "Just what the hell are you doing you twerp, come and get me!" I said, trying to antagonize him. He didn't respond.
"Hellooooo? Anyone home?" I continued, my irritation growing. This time he looked up at me with eyes full of hate. They reminded me of myself when I was young.
"You wanna use loopholes, fine. I could tell from the first attack that you were moving at light speed the second I readied my spell. I also saw you move out of my way and strike me with the same speed. But guess what, Mister, I'm smart too. You never gave me a time limit. I've already eatem three good meals today, so I'm sitting pretty. You on the other hand..." he trailed off, looking me up and down with a smirk.
Shit. I haven't eaten since yesterday, I remembered. Whatever, he's just bluffing, there's no way he can keep this up much longer. I refused to lose to a little snot-nosed brat.
One hour became two, two became four. The sun was setting. Neither of us had moved from our spots. The kid would occasionally pop one eye open to check if I was still there, then just as quickly close it back.
My stomach was growing audibly and every time it did he'd get a smug smirk in. It infuriated me to no end. After another hour, the sun had finally set and it was officially night. For 6 hours we sat there. Suddenly, I felt light headed and drowsy.
Damn this aging body of mine. Don't crap out on me now. I glanced over to the kid. He appeared to be asleep. That little punk. Why was I staying here anyway? I already got paid, I could just dip out right now. There was no reason for me to stay here.
That's when it hit me. This kid is the one. I'm certain. He was clever, and obviously pretty damn determined. On top of that he was stubborn and saw things through to the end. This wasn't just some spoiled noble kid. He may just have what it takes.
With this thought in mind, I pretended to stagger, then drop to my knees. "Fine, I give. Just hit me so we can be done with this farce already."
Startled, the kid looked up at me. He seemed skeptical, obviously expecting it to be a trap. Despite this, he readied another attack. With quick speed he dashed to me and punched me square in the jaw. The impact actually mangaged to knock me over. The kid then landed, but lost his balance and tumbled over. Groaning, he clutched his stomach.
That was when I heard the growl. On second glance, the kid didn't look too hot. His cheeks were a bit sunken in, and his eyes had dark circles under them. This damn fool! He bluffed his way to victory, and I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. Clever little rat. I poked him.
He was unconscious. Shit shit shit, his mother will kill me. I thought to myself. I quickly picked him up and brought him inside. After explaining the situation to the maid, his mother came over and gave me a swift uppercut that sent me flying from the doorway into the backyard.
I lay there, starting up at the stars in silence. He got me. I got outsmarted by a five-year-old. Goodness I must be losing my touch.
I reached my hand out to the moon, pretending to grasp it. Then, I took a look at the palm of my hand. It was covered with wrinkles and callouses that told the story of my decades of experience. He's the one no doubt. I'm gonna train the hell outta that kid, and one day, he'll surpass me. Man this is such a nice breeze. And with that thought I grew drowsy. At some point, I drifted to sleep...