The Rise of Faim

Training

II. Training

The rooster crowed while Faim ran up to the mountains where Master Koh lived. A small dojo was seen from a distance, by the time Faim arrived to the dojo, he could see that he wasn't the only one who wanted to train under Koh's wing. One hundred and fifty two potential students sat cross legged waiting for the dojo master to open the shuttered door. Faim was the odd one that stood out like a sore thumb. When he sat cross legged, the dojo master opened the doors to his dojo before welcoming his guests.

The potential pupils entered in a single file line before Faim was the last to enter. Koh scrutinized every single one of them, each of them ranged between the ages of 13-18. They all stood stiff, including Faim who stood behind the others, his eyes darted at one side and then the other while the master eyed the other pupils that were in the back row.

"I've seen enough." The dojo master uttered. "I will only need one disciple. If one of you can manage to land a hit on me, he shall be my disciple." Master Ko announced. "Only the one who endures till the end is worthy of my respect. May I remind you that mastering my One Strike is a great responsibility, with great power requires great discipline. To the wolf that remains hidden in the fold, you should be aware that by mastering this technique, you accepted the burden that would befall on you, knowing that with this deadly attack, it will destroy you from the inside out." The elderly dojo master gave a side glare at the pupil that harbored malice within him.

"The beholder of One Strike must be spiritually sound in order to handle the chi." The austere man stood firm, scrutinizing his guests, "Your body is a temple, sacred. Free of any unclean thing that brings dishonor to your being."

A sneaky stranger jumped down and tried to land a hit on the elderly master before Koh kicked the man square in the jaw as the young lad fell to the ground, landing with a loud thud. The other potential fighters looked at the lad and then at Master Koh.

"As I was saying, the body is sacred. The one who brings dishonor by defiling the body is not spiritually sound." The potential pupils stared at the dojo master. "Your trial starts now." Koh glared as he gave them the cue to strike.

They let out a shout before they jumped out to strike down at the dojo master.

Koh was unimpressed, he dodged the first three fighters and knocked down the next two with one push while he tripped one fighter off balance, grabbing the teenager by the hem of one of his trousers while he used his other hand to grab by the back of the collar of his gi to throw him off, using his weight to knock four men down to the ground while two other men tried to land a punch on him while Koh jumped into the air. The two boys slammed against each other by accident while 12 other fighters were shoving at each other to try to get to Koh while the elderly martial artist stepped on the fighters fists, heads, shoulders, ankles and feet as if were hopping on bamboo sticks. Maintaining an unamused facial expression.

24 of the 151 challengers were eliminated. Faim simply watched as he saw Koh approaching. A bald scrawny fighter tried to grab Koh by the beard but the aged dojo master dodged him and smacked him on the back of the head as the young man fell unconscious. Other 26 fighters charged after him while Koh expected nothing less. As he stepped on one loose floorboard, one fighter was catapulted up while Koh kicked another fighter to the curb. 25 of them were waiting for his descent as Koh jumped on one of them in the face as he made a backflip. Faim watched how he knocked down the second wave of fighters in a wind cutting motion as the old dojo master kneed another young fighter by the throat. The third wave of fighters coordinated their attacks to help one another take down Koh. The dojo master blocked their attacks and dodged a back attack as the minor (approximately at the age of 12) tried to attack him but Koh grabbed him by the ankle and twisted it counter clockwise to break his ankle.

The minor yelped from the injury. As Faim went up to the minor to help him, another fighter fell over him. The minor yelped a second time from the pain.

Koh kicked down the pupils, and swatted them down to the ground like flies. One large fighter swung his fist directly at Koh and the austere dojo dodged his fist and knocked him down with a roundhouse kick as the young man fell to the ground. The following pupils fell on top of him in a pile.

As Koh struck down pupil number 139, Faim's eyes darted back and forth and he could only see 10 fighters coming after him while one was using one of the defeated fighters as camouflage. “Why didn't I think of that?” Faim thought to himself.

Koh elbowed one fighter by the jaw while another fighter swung his fist, the fist was two inches away from connecting Koh's face but the dojo master negated the attack and threw the fighter as he knocked down two other fighters. Just when fighter 149 was trying to keep his distance, master Koh came forward.

The ones that were still standing were Faim, the cornered fighter, and the mysterious contender. Koh was about to strike the cornered fighter when Faim got in the way to counter the attack. The elderly dojo master was unphased and struck Faim with such force that Faim was pushed back as he shielded the cornered fighter, though the blonde fighter spotted the sneaky fighter that was behind Koh and threw the body of a defeated fighter at him before Koh dodged it while Faim and the younger fighter got out of the way, the large body slammed against the wall as it plopped down to the wooden floor.

Koh went after the shrewd fighter while the  fighter Faim had protected sat on the ground, reevaluating his situation. "Are you planning something?" Faim asked as he bent forward, putting his hands on his knees as he watched the teenager think.

"Shhhhh! I'm thinking." The tawny skinned fighter propped his shoulder while he watched the shrewd fighter managed to dodge the attack while Koh kicked him in the knee and got knocked to the ground.