“Awaaaa...”

With a painful scream, I crashed into a nearby tree.

“It’s b-broken... my back,” I groaned in pain as I slumped on the ground and didn’t move for an entire minute.

The moist soil and hardness of the ground didn’t make a comfortable bed for me to lay on.

I looked up at the sky—it was early dawn—. I placed my arm over my forehead and looked up at the dimly-lit sky.

Grooowl—!

With a loud growl of my stomach, I sighed and got up on my feet.

It had been four days since I had left home and came here in the mountains to train. I trailed off and my gaze landed on the surrounding area.

Two craters had been formed in the ground a few dozen of steps beside me. And many of the trees around me were either completely destroyed, wrecked over or had gaping holes between their trunks

“I really wrecked this place in the past four days,” I apologetically said.

Then coming to a sudden halt, I turned around and looked at the devastation I had brought to this place.

“That movement really is destructive.”

Then with a grin over my face, I turned back and followed the trail which led down the mountain—mostly signs that I left behind.

I wanted to rush home and tell Master what I had accomplished.

After a ten minute walk, I exited the mountain and entered an empty street.

No cars nor people visible. Of course they wouldn’t be it was early dawn.

Groooowl—!

My stomach growled again. I put my hand over my stomach and patted it a few times.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten properly since yesterday,” I said as I stepped forward.

Afterwards I made my way back to my house.

***

I extended my arm forward and opened the six feet long wooden gate. Alongside the gate, long and tall concrete wall which was a beautiful pale white colour stood.

With a low creak the gate opened. I stepped inside, and closed the gate behind me, then I stepped forward. My eyes landed on the concrete floor where there were many octagonal designs. Around the concrete floor, were patches of grass, which led to the garden in the backyard, from both sides.

Then I opened the sliding wooden door and entered inside.

I took my shoes off and placed them on the shoe rack. I stepped on to the wooden floor, and made my way towards Master’s room.

I ran through the wide corridors. There were many paintings hung along both sides of the walls, and lightbulbs illuminating the corridors. The wooden floor creaked as I hurriedly reached for Master’s room.

Soon I slowed down and with a deep breath, I approached the sliding door to the room where Master was.

I opened the door and saw Master siting sideways on the engawa. He was cleaning his katana with an uchiko ball.

My eyes landed on Master’s figure. His shoulder length jet black hair which framed his sharp face. His deep ocean blue eyes displaying a deep solemnness. Master’s stature was well-built and he was wearing a plane black kimono. He still looked young and handsome, despite his age being in the late sixties.

“You’re back,” he asked as he polished the katana in his hand. I respectfully bowed my head before replying.

“Yes, I’ve returned, Master.”

I stepped onto the tatami mats which were laid all over the floor and reached the engawa where Master was sitting.

I sat down beside him and looked at the well maintained garden in front of me.

There was a sakura tree on the left side edge of the garden. The sakura petals swayed with the soft breeze and made a tranquil environment.

I turned my gaze towards Master, who had now polished the blade of his katana and had placed it over the stand in front of him.

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He turned towards me and smacked my head as hard as he could.

“What the hell, Old Man?” I placed both of my hands over my head and touched the area where Master had just hit me. It had swollen considerably.

He smacked my head with his fist again, as I opened my mouth to speak.

He looked at me with an irritated expression, as he opened his mouth and speak, “ you disappeared for four days and now that you are back home, ‘I’ve returned’ is all you have say you little shit.”

I shot back and rebutted, “I’ll have you know, that I was training my ass off for the last four days, Old Man.”

I felt the back of my hair stand as I saw the side of Master’s face twitch in annoyance.

He was just about to hit me again, but I heard a crisp voice coming from the entrance.

“That’s enough, both of you." I turned my head towards the entrance of the room and saw a youth in his early twenties.

His long auburn hair were tied into a ponytail with his bangs falling forward, and his emerald eyes displaying a motherly warmth in them.

He wore a navy blue kimono with a white apron.

I dragged my body towards him and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his stomach, whilst pointing my finger towards Master.

“Fujimoto help me, Master is using violence again,” I pulled my head upwards and spoke with fake tears in my eyes.

Fujimoto looked at me for a second before turning his gaze towards Master and looking at him with a sharp glare.

“Master, how many times have I told you to not hit Shun?” He asked with an irked voice. “He’s still a ten year old kid.”

Fujimoto was more like a mother figure to me than a big brother. Ever since Master took me in, Fujimoto treated me like family without even asking a single question.

Master pointed his finger in my direction and scowled as he spoke , “its because you spoil him so much that he’s like that, Takeru.” Master crossed his arms and turned his head sideways, and continued, “... and he is my disciple, I can do whatever I want with him.”

With a sigh Fujimoto turned his gaze from Master and looked at me with his eyes slightly squinted.

“And Shun, where were you for the past four days, huh?”

I felt goosebumps all over my body, as Fujimoto’s eyes buried into mine.

I shot backwards and bowed on the tatami mates. “I am really sorry, I was training and—!”

But I suddenly remembered what I had came here for.

I snapped my head backwards and looked at Master.

“What is it?”

“Master I have done it,” I said with a bright smile.

A frown flashed over Master's face as he sighed and pinched the middle of his brows. “What have you done now? You didn’t beat up the Sawada’s kid again, did you?”

I shook my head sideways and spoke, “no I didn’t, despite him being an asshole “

“Language,” I heard Fujimoto’s voice from behind.

“No, Master, I have finally learned how to perform the first movement of the Crescent Moon Style.”

With a complicated look over his face, Master exchanged a few glances with Fujimoto and then turned his gaze towards me, “then get down there and show it to me.”

But there was uncertainty in his voice.

I stepped foot into the large garden in front.

“Here!" Master threw a bokken towards me and I caught it. “I don’t want you slicing your arms or feet off, so a bokken would be better.”

“Yeah, yeah...,” I rolled my eyes and took a stance.

I bend down a few inches and pulled the bokken backwards and brought it down to waist level.

I firmed my grip over the hilt and took a deep breath.

I started channelling the mana inside me and circulated it towards my limbs. After a few seconds, the mana reached my limbs and I reinforced them.

Just as I was about to perform the first movement of the Crescent Moon Style, I felt a sudden tap over my right wrist, which made my mana flow to disrupt and made my grip to loosen over the hilt of the bokken.

I slumped down on the ground and I looked up at Master who was now standing beside me, and looking at me with a—I already knew you couldn’t do it— look over his face.

With a sigh, he shook his head sideways a few times and then sat down on the engawa.

“Your mana flow was second... no, third rate and your stance was so stiff that the circulation of your mana would have blown your limbs off.”

He scoffed, then continued on with his lecture. “Your stance was sloppy and the amount of mana you should have circulated should have been a quarter of what you have.” He crossed his arms and looked at me.

“Well, either way, the entire movement was terrible, considering that you almost killed yourself half-way,” with a lopsided grin over his face, he chuckled a few times.

“So in a way for you to understand, you need more training.”

“Thanks for the debrief,” I scoffed as I lifted my body up and rubbed my wrist which was now purple from swelling.

The tap from Master’s finger was enough to rip my arm off, but I knew he had held back most of his inhuman strength.

He disrupted my flow of mana with that single tap. That’s the super OP-Master for you.

“Shun, go and take a bath first, then let's all eat breakfast together,” Fujimoto said with his crisp and warmth filled voice.

I jumped and hugged him. “Fujimoto you’re an angel descended from the heaven. Seriously, if Master only had a fraction of your kindness...”

I looked at Master with a sad and pitiful expression. “...I would have liked him a little bit more.”

“I’m kind to you, you little twerp,” he shot back.

“Fujimoto,” I said as I hid behind Fujimoto’s body.

With a warm smile he spoke, “now, now, Let’s leave it at that , and Shun... go and take a bath, you smell like dead fish.”

“Okay...” I replied and exited the room.

***

My eyes blinked open. I was laid in a soft bed with a white blanket covering half of my body.

I looked around the room, which was uninteresting. Only a table in front of the bed, and a chair placed near it. There was a window to my right with white curtains.

I maneuvred my body so that I could lean back into the bed, but the moment I tried, my back ached with pain.

The memories of my match against the Saber Tiger crashed into my mind.

I couldn’t feel the three open wounds which had been inflicted onto me by the generosity of the Saber Tiger, but my back still ached.

‘Couldn’t they just give me a higher grade potion?’ I inwardly said. Even after my body was healed, it still ached with pain.

The force at which the Saber Tiger’s attack had hit me was unbelievable. Like being hit with a 100 ton bat at 80 km/h speed.

Leaning back into the bed, I looked up at the white ceiling. ‘The dream I just saw,’ my brows knit together as I remembered about my dream—my past memories.

A tired sigh escaped my mouth, as I blankly looked at the white ceiling of the room.

“Fujimoto and Master...,” I sputtered, as I sighed again and turned to look down at my hands clenched into fists.

But I saw the door of the room open and I saw a familiar face enter.

“You’re awake,” Jiyoung said.