LEGEND OF THE MONK: book one

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                                                          CHAPTER 4

                                                     Words of Wisdom

When Yotto and Arty turned and headed back toward the entrance, Yotto noticed some younger students building breaking displays in the courtyard. The kids, ten to twelve in age, had set up several brick stacks in a strait line and placed three bo staffs beside each stack. The youngsters also set up one brick stack front and center of the others. Each monk took a place behind a stack and waited for master Dei Son to speak.

With his staff resting on his shoulder, Dei Son walked in front of the line, looking each monk in the eyes as he spoke. "The past few weeks your other masters and I have been teaching you about your inner ki. In short, you have learned ki is a monks inner power and strength. A monk that can learn to focus this power can do great things..." master Dei Son turned and started back down the line and continued his speech, "...ki is the secret to the monks ability to heal himself after battle...the ability to resist enchantments and mind control...and the skills to preform great feats of strength and agility."

With that said, master Dei Son walked over to the stack in the middle. He brought is staff into a spin above his head, followed by a powerful down slash. The wooden staff smashed through the stack of bricks with a powerful "oosh" sound coming from the voice of the master. All the students, younger and older, gasped and stared in shock.

"You can even infuse your ki with your body and weapons." master Dei Son said to the group of stunned monks. "Dont try to break the bricks with the staff. Thats impossible. Instead, try to focus your ki through you body and into you weapon. Only then will you see that its not the staff that breaks the stack, but an extension of yourself."  Dei Son gave the monks a moment to allow is words to sink in. "To succeed at this takes great focus, few can do this right away, but that is why we train." master Dei Son paused to make sure he had there attention and shouted "Begin." and the young monks rushed to pick up there first bo.

Yotto picked up one of the staffs on the ground and began to spin it slowly.He replayed the words master Dei Son said over and over in his head carefully. He tried to focus his ki as he spun his weapon. His concentration waned slightly as the first sounds of failure echoed through the courtyard. Yotto snapped his eyes open and came down with a powerful strike. The staff slammed the stack of bricks with such force it snapped the bo in two pieces. Yotto looked down at the broken  staff and then to the unbroken stack, and cursed under his breath. He tossed the stick to the side and grabbed his second staff, stealing a glance left and right. Seeing the others fared no better, Yotto focused on the stack of bricks and attacked again, and again the staff snapped in two.

"You are not focused!" master Dei Son shouted, "Its more than just looking at the bricks and hitting hard. You have to push with your heart, your spirit, that living force in side you."

Yotto picked up his final staff and looked around. No one had even come close to succeeding, and there frustration showed. Yotto closed his eyes again, focusing with all his might. He blocked out everything, the sounds of the others failing, the song birds chirping in near by trees,even the cool breeze on his face.His only focus was his heartbeat, and the slow spin of his staff. With his deep focus he could feel his ki began to build in his core.The feeling of his inner power pulsed with every heartbeat, throbbing in his chest.Yotto focused on spreading that feeling through his arms and legs, until he could feel the rhythmic thumping in his limbs. When he accomplished this he tried to focus his ki into his weapon until the slow turning staff pulsed with the rhythm of his heart.

Yotto's eyes snapped open and he brought his staff down, with all the stored energy, into a powerful chop. The staff smashed through the bricks with ease and the end of the bo buried  in the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Yotto just stood there, staring at the pile of rubble, heart racing. The other monks gasped and stared, whispering about what just happened. JoNeek only showed hatred for the blond monk.