by Justin Parks
Chapter 11
Tutoring
Jin awoke from a restful sleep. Today was the day he was supposed to start his training with Sky. He got up and got ready to go meet him. Jin left his room and entered the hallway. On his way to meet Sky, he ran into a familiar face. It was Liz. She took notice and glared at him. Jin quickly broke eye-contact and continued by her. “Hey,” she said.
Jin stopped and turned to her. “Yeah?” he replied.
Liz waved her finger motioning for him to come closer. Her mood seemed to have flipped. “Come here,” she said, smiling.
Jin went along, but something didn’t seem right. He walked up to her. “What?” Jin asked.
“Come closer,” Liz replied, with a giggle.
This is getting weird, Jin thought as he moved awkwardly closer. Liz began to move in closer. What’s she doing? Jin thought as he began to blush. Suddenly, a small black snake emerged from Liz’s collar and lunged at Jin, causing him to jump back in fear. He tripped and fell back onto the floor.
Liz began to laugh as the snake returned under her uniform. All the surrounding witnesses began to laugh at him as well. Jin angrily made his way to his feet and stormed off down the hall until he eventually met up with Sky.
After telling him what happened, Sky responded by laughing. “She did what?” Sky asked through his laughing.
“Yeah, I don’t know what her problem is,” Jin responded.
Finally, the mood began to settle down a bit. “I don’t know much about her, but I do know that the Faraoh clan is famous for being snake charmers,” he explained.
“Snake charmers?” Jin questioned.
“Yes, their special ability allows them to charm and capture snake-like kami and store them within their core,” Sky explained. “That’s about all I know about it though,”
Jin responded with a shrug, “So what’s the plan today?”
“Follow me,” Sky said, leading him to a door. There was a small scanner on the side. Sky pulled out his ID and scanned it. The door unlocked and Sky opened it. “Being a three-star apprentice has its perks,” Sky said, showing his card to Jin. “We get access to larger training rooms,” he explained.
The two entered the empty room. Sky walked up to Jin, the computer panel on the wall. The floor was replaced with soft dirt and the walls became coved in a soft padding. “Okay, let’s see . . . where to begin?” he said, thinking aloud to himself. “What do you know already?” he asked.
“Well, magick wise, I’m still new to it all. I know basic stabilization and how to do a basic aura shield . . .” Jin responded.
“No, what do you know about fighting?” Sky asked.
“Umm . . . nothing really,” Jin responded with a shrug.
Sky sighed a big sigh before raising his head with a smile. “I guess we’ll have to start at the beginning. Show me a punch,” he instructed.
Jin stood and threw a punch. Sky walked over to him and he repositioned Jin’s stance to show him how to throw a proper punch. “Okay, you’ll want to end up like this. Your stance has to be solid so you can generate power without losing your balance. Now try it again,” he instructed, as Jin threw another punch. “Remember to keep your guard up. When you attack, you are at your most vulnerable,” Sky instructed, as Jin threw another punch. “Also, when you hit or get hit, remember to breathe out,” Sky said as Jin tried again. “Good, now do it again,” he instructed.
Jin continued training with Sky for the next few hours. He was slowly learning how to fight, how to move, and how to react. Sky’s instruction was slowly beginning to sink in, but the training was exhausting. “Okay, let’s take a break,” Sky said as he sat down and leaned against the wall.
Jin walked over and did the same. He was breathing hard. “So what do you think?” Jin asked, looking to Sky for approval.
“Not bad for just starting, but there’s still a lot for you to learn. This is just the basics. However, this is also the most important part because this is what everything’s built on,” Sky said.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Jin responded.
Sky looked over to Jin. “So you know what happened yesterday, right?”
“What do you mean?” Jin asked confused. “Hey, I didn’t start that fight. I lost control,” he said as Sky cut him off.
“Control of your arm?” Sky finished.
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Jin asked.
“Well, it looks like Saga was messing with you,” Sky responded.
“What!? How did he? Why did he?” Jin ranted angrily.
“Yea Saga’s special ability allows him to bend shadows. Looks like he wrapped a shadow around your arm and made you punch that guy,” Sky explained.
Jin clinched his fist in anger. “What is his problem? Actually, what is everybody’s problem in this place?” he asked.
“Saga wasn’t always like he is now. This place changes people. Not always for the better, but it will make you stronger,” Sky explained. “Around here, it’s kind of survival of the fittest. The stronger apprentices pick on the weaker ones. It’s just the way things go. It helps make the new apprentices step up and take things seriously,” he said.
“But why is it like that?” Jin asked.
“Because it’s necessary to develop that mind-set because out there, you’re gunna need it. Kami won’t think twice about killing you,” Sky explained.
Jin thought seriously about this. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” He said agreeing.
“Yeah, but at times it can get out of hand. Saga was such a case. You see, Saga’s a prodigy. He’s the first shadow weaver in the last ten generations of his clan. So there were great expectations from him, but he had yet to master his ability, and was quickly knocked down to the bottom of the food chain. He got picked on a lot . . . mostly by one person in particular. Saga could barely weave shadows and couldn’t do much to fight back. It eventually got to the point where Saga stopped going to class. No one knew what he was doing, but apparently he’d been training in secret. A few months or so later, he came back and challenged that guy to a fight—and he won,” Sky explained.
“But anyway, speaking of special abilities, what’s yours?” Sky asked.
“Special ability? I don’t have one. I haven’t picked one yet,” Jin said.
Sky began to laugh again. “You don’t pick one, dude. You’re born with it,” he explained. He placed his palms together and created a tiny crystal. “See . . . my special ability allows me to solidify and crystallize light,” he said before flicking it across the room. It popped, creating a tiny flash of light. “I can detonate them to make big flashes of light,” Sky explained.
“Is that all you can do?” Jin asked.
“It may not seem like much, but it is powerful when used correctly,” Sky explained as he waved his hands past each other. “Deception is a powerful tool. I make you look where I want; then I blind you before you even know it happened. But that’s just what I can do now. Special abilities can become more powerful and more complicated as you grow,” he explained.
“Hmm . . . I can’t do anything like that. I’m still new to all this. I don’t even have a star rank,” Jin explained.
“Hey, that’s fine. Sometimes it can take a good while for someone to discover their special ability. So don’t worry about it—but yeah, that’s enough talk. Let’s get back to work,” Sky replied.
They stood and began going through different drills. Jin continued working with Sky over the next few months until he had finally learned how to fight. Over that time, Jin and Sky became good friends.
Jin and Sky were sparring with each other one day. Jin had improved with all his training. “Very good, apprentice. You have learned well,” Sky said in a sarcastic tone.
“Thank you oh so much, master. It means so much to have your approval,” Jin replied in the same tone. The two stopped fighting for a moment.
“Okay, but on a more serious note . . .” Sky said taking a breath. “There’s m
ore things I want to teach you before you go back to Ares’ class,” he explained.
“Yeah, like what?” Jin asked.
“Well, martial-arts wise, I’ve got you on a good enough start. You can take that from here, but there is a magick technique I can teach you to go along with this,” Sky explained. “Now watch me,” Sky said as he squatted down. He then jumped up very high. Jin watched in amazement. Sky jumped high enough to touch the ceiling, which was higher then any normal person could reach. He came back down and touched lightly on the ground.
“How did you do that?” Jin asked in awe.
“That’s what I’m going to teach you. Of course, since your magick isn’t as strong as mine, you won’t be able to go as high. However, the technique should make you stronger, none the less,” Sky explained.
“So it makes me jump higher?” Jin asked.
“No, it’s much more than that. It’s called muscle manipulation. Basically, you run your magick into your muscles to increase their strength and flexibility. Using this, you can run faster, jump higher, and hit harder. Basically, everything is improved,” Sky explained. “Okay, now you try. Squat down and focus your magical flow into your legs. When you feel ready, jump as high as you can,” he instructed.
Jin followed his instructions and jumped. To his surprise, he jumped about twice as high as he normally could. However, to this surprise, he lost focus and botched the landing, causing him to fall forward onto his stomach.
Sky laughed at Jin before helping him up. “That was good, but we have to work on that landing of yours,” Sky said patting Jin on the back.
ToC
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