Charles enters his room as the guards shut the door, he was escorted to his new personal room after finding out that he will be leaving for Zhong Zhou tomorrow. Charles looked around his new room as he happily thought about how nice would it be to not share a room with Robert anymore. The room's walls were still made out of stone but they were smoothed out. The floor was made out of smooth stone bricks laid down in a straight pattern. The only furniture in the room is a wooden bed, the same kind Charles saw in the doctor's room. 'I finally can stop sleeping on the floor!' Charles thought as he placed his katana and book for "Dashing Rabbit Strike" on the floor and happily laid down on the comfy bed. " Now before you get too comfortable you should at least learn some of the techniques you just got!" Janko reminded Charles.
"Ah, you're right! Let's see what this technique is all about!" Charles said as he picked up the book from the ground and started reading. "Dashing Rabbit Strike" is all about running into the middle of the fight, whether it may be a one on one duel or a group fight you should be the one who strikes first! The first person who strikes first is usually the winner and the faster killing your opponent, the less time you are in immediate danger! The best way to live longer is to kill faster! That is the way of the "Rushing Rabbit Strike"! We must rush to the opponent not allowing him to think and strike him down as quickly as possible! Your movement must be like a rabbit! Kick the ground and dash through the air as though you were flying and as you land kicks the ground again. This movement is to increase the speed of your dash! A dash isn't a constant speed, but instead a burst of speed!
So to get to your opponent as quickly as possible one must make one's dashing speed extremely fast! The best way to train this is to practice kicking off the ground multiple times! Legs are your most important assets in any form of fighting style so one must train it well! Next is striking! If one is unarmed, you will not have the reach to kill your opponent quickly, but one will have a much faster attack! Your fists are as quick if not even faster than most weapons; the only problem is that your punches are too weak to finish an opponent with one attack without a proper technique, this technique sadly doesn't state anyway to improve the fist. If one is unarmed the first is to go to where the opponent is most open! It is usually either the head, side or legs! This principle is also the same with weapons, but the most suitable weapon would be a sword or a sword for a quick cut or thrust.
If one's attack is blocked, then one should try to run back and try not to engage in a long battle as there are many ways the battle could end up with one's head on the floor. And if one is being attacked by multiple people run back and try to make it so that you are fighting with a one to one fight every time. Do not allow more than 1 opponent attack you at 1 time. There are too many ways that a 2 on 1 fight could go wrong. So one should use the same kicking motion to avoid 2 on 1 situations by positioning oneself into one on one scenarios. The technique talks more about the different ways to dodge opponents, which gave Charles many new ways to dodge.
"Alright, I think I understand the technique now!" Charles says happily after 2 hours of reading. "Mhm, as long as you have the book with you to reference now and then you should be able to learn it fairly soon! It has gotten late so you should rest for tomorrow." Janko commented Charles, nodded at Janko's suggestion as he paces the book back down onto the floor and fell asleep. The next morning Charles woke up well rested and his body felt much better. Charles then realized that he still had the red cloth on his cloth that was put on him at the start of the battle royal. 'I should keep this on, to remember the times I have spent in this arena.' Charles decided to keep the red scarf and picked up the technique book and placed it inside his hemp shirt and held his katana in his left hand as he walked out of the room.
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Charles walked out of the room to a guard was waiting at the front of the door. "I was just about to call you out young fighter Charles; the Arena Master has asked you and nine other fighters to meet him. I shall be escorting you to where you will meet the Arena Master." the guard said. Charles nodded and followed the guard as they walked through the hallways. After a while of walking the guard and Charles finally stopped a courtyard filled with green grass, trees, and flowers with a large metal gate leading to the outside at the end of the courtyard. In the middle of it was a large stone platform where the Arena Master and nine other young fighters were standing on. "Ah, Charles you are finally here come and join us." The Arena Master says as he spots Charles arrive.
Charles walked up to the platform and looked at the nine other young fighters. He doesn't recognize 8 of them but does see Andreas there, the Arena Master then started talking. "The 10 of you here have been chosen to serve the 100-man general Er Hong in the state of Zhong Zhou. You will protect his estate, and if you impress him enough, you might join his army and become a free man. Though that will depend on your performance while you serve general Er Hong." the Arena Master says as the gate opens. "You will ride the carriage out to Zhong Zhou and meet with general Er Hong there, but even though the arena's high-rank guards will be escorting you there will be some danger on the road."
"With the war in that area becoming quite heated bandits are now abundant. So when the carriage comes under attack, you must help the guards! Do not be complacent and think you will arrive at Zhong Zhou unharmed. Treat this as a test for the 10 of you to reach Zhong Zhou alive and well if the guards feel like they are about to die they will prioritize their own life than yours, this is an order that has been told to them by general Er Hong and me. Now prepare yourselves mentally and get to know each other as the guards prepare the wagon." The Arena Master concluded his speech and walked out of the courtyard.
Now left alone with the guards starting to set up the wagon with supplies the eight other fighters began talking amongst each other and Andreas walks up to Charles. "I finally get to see you again, Charles." Andreas smiled as he looked at Charles, after fighting together with him during the end of the battle royal Andreas has begun to respect Charles. "At least this time you aren't trying to kill me." Charles replied "Hmph one day we will have a duel to see who is stronger! By the way, what's with that stick your holding there? Didn't you get some weapon from the Arena Master?" Andreas asks as he stares at the katana. "This is my weapon! It's rather good quality too!" Charles smiled happily but doesn't unsheath the katana. "Hmph, I don't know what you see in this stick, but you also got a new technique right? Mind telling me about it?" Andreas decides to ignore the katana and focus on the technique Charles obtained.
"Now that is going to be my secret, maybe if we get ambushed by bandits like how the Arena Master said then you'd see it in action!" Charles replied. "Hmph, well, then I'll look forward to it! Well then let us work together again. Since you met the Arena Master before this, you know anything about this general Er Hong guy?" Andreas asks " Not much, the only thing I know is that the Arena Master owes a debt to general Er Hong so now this is the Arena Master's way of repaying it. " Charles recounted as he remembered what the Arena Master told him before.
"Well, looks like we have to go into this blindly, while on the road let's train with each other! It'll get us ready for the road ahead!" Andreas exclaimed, and Charles nodded in agreement. Charles and Andreas talked for a while more before a guard started shouting:" Alright you 10! The wagon is filled with supplies so we aren't able to sit on the wagon so we will have to walk the entire way! Now then quickly move, and we can get going." Everyone sighed as they heard the news "I guess this is another test?" Charles wondered "If it is I swear to god that the Arena master and this general Er Hong guy must have some weird hobbies." Andreas grumbled as all 10 of them walked through the gates and started the journey off to Zhong Zhou!