23 - Master B!

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!” I screamed at the faraway city.

Winter had passed, the melted snow heralding the season of new beginnings. Soon the land will flourish with green and it’ll be back to business as usual. Since I had no one to celebrate with and nowhere to go, I opted to watch the first sunrise of the year atop the hill. Well, more or less.

Without a calendar, I don’t actually know when the first day of the year actually was.

Woolie also moved in with me permanently. At least, that’s my assumption. I’d expected him to return to his pack once the weather lost its freezing touch, but he decided to make the small shack I built for him his new home. I’ll have to see to upgrading it as soon as possible.

I didn’t stay for long. After greeting the new year, it was time for morning practice as usual. I found it increasingly more difficult to pull my punches, so I reverted back to basic training without the use of mana. Instead, I did that inside my mind palace, and simply practiced the motions in the real world.

Fish also returned to the waters in the springs, granting me a chance at redemption with my fishing rod-

“Just kidding. HIYAA!”

With a mana reinforced push of my hand, I sent an enormous water spout shooting into the air along with my catch; a great, flopping silver fish with scales glistening in the afternoon sun.

“I did it!” I yelled, raising the struggling prize above my head as Woolie cheered. “No problem for an experienced fisherman like me!”

Just ignore the countless attempts the past two hours.

After a meal of grilled fish by the lake, it was time to strike off the next activity on my list; foraging for new plants.

At least, that was the plan. Instead, I found myself heading toward the Tranquil Forest. Maybe I was drawn to the idea of a new year’s visit, maybe I wanted to see how Kikko was doing. But today was a special day, and I didn’t feel like working.

“Mister B? You there?”

I peeped inside the cave. The boulder had been removed, allowing light to finally enter the dark home of the guardian bear. It was empty, and for a moment I was a little worried something might have happened to the family. Of course, that fear was unwarranted; there was likely nothing in the highlands that could match Mister B, and that thought was confirmed upon turning around.

“Hello there. Happy new year, Mister B!”

Standing tall on two legs with his usual smirk was Mister B in his full glory, his little cub perched on his shoulder returning my greeting with a wave. It was astonishing how he looked no different than usual; three months of hibernation seemed to have had little to no effect on the bears’ constitution.

“And, uh… Mrs. B?”

A new creature stood behind Mister B. Or rather, I simply never had the opportunity to meet her. She was clearly Mister B’s wife, and she looked just as capable as him with those honed claws.

Mrs. B nodded, showing more restraint in her actions than Mister B ever could. After she delivered a slap to his head, Mister B groaned, retreating from his two-legged stance back to all fours.

I guess even bear households have wives in control.

“Oh, that’s right! Mister B, while you were gone…”

As I babbled on about what happened with Kikko, Mister B listened in silence. It was surprising how cooperative he was being, but after I spent what felt like ten minutes explaining the whole thing, he simply shrugged and shook his head, then smirked at me.

This guy has absolutely no idea what I’m talking about!

SMACK!

“Graw?!”

Another slap by Mrs. B caused him to drop his cocky attitude, and I couldn’t help but snicker.

“Let’s go see Kikko, she should be able to convey everything properly to you.”

*

It was quite a strange sight to see. Kikko, Mister and Mrs. B sat in a circle along with a group of forest critters, seemingly discussing and arguing amongst themselves. I say seemingly, because I haven’t the faintest idea what they were talking about.

Being the one who couldn’t communicate with anyone outside of hand gestures, I sat in the sidelines against the ever so comfy Woolie pillow, petting Fokko’s head as I watched the bizarre scene unfold. Seeing the rotund bird taking part in the intense discussion stood out to me, as I’d always assumed their heads were completely empty and devoid of thought.

“He does kinda resemble Hooty like that, though.”

“Muu?”

“Hooty’s a friend in my mind palace- in my head. Hooty’s a friend in my head- an imaginary friend- you know what, forget I said anything.”

I’ll have to be careful how I speak about my mind palace to others in the future… if ever.

The animals dispersed after a while, returning to their duties. As I got up, Kikko approached me, her majestic eyes gazing intently into my soul-

*

“Kikko please, you need to stop doing that out of the blue.”

The next thing I knew, I stood in a field of infinite flowers, face-to-face with Kikko.

Reliable way to communicate.

“At least warn me before you do it!”

Will subconsciously resist if expected.

“…”

Having her hypnotic spell broken by me must have been quite a shock to Kikko.

“So, why have you brought me here?”

Guardian has awoken. Forest will be safe once more. Contributions appreciated. Guardian thanks.

“Guardian? You mean Mister B? Him? Thank me? Perish the thought!” I laughed.

Kikko stared at me, unmoving.

“Wait, you’re serious.”

Now that her message had been delivered, I found myself back in the real world once more. While I’d become more accustomed to having my consciousness thrown in and out of my body like that, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully get used to the nauseating feeling.

Mister B approached me this time, placing a paw on my shoulder. Of course, he had his signature smirk on his face, but this time it didn’t feel like he was antagonizing me.

“So, Kikko said you wanted to thank me?”

“Hmph.”

“In that case…”

*

“You ready, Mister B?”

“Hmph…”

Mister B appeared to be reluctant, standing across me with their cave-home between us. Mrs. B and the little cub spectated from inside, while Woolie and Fokko cheered me on from the side.

Mister B agreed to a little sparring match with me, an idea I’d floated around in the back of my mind all winter. Not only would I be able to gather data on his way of fighting for my mind palace, I’ll finally be able to test my strength against a mighty opponent.

And what opponent could be more fitting that the king of the forest himself?

“Sss… Foo…”

Mister B simply stood there, yawning. He wanted me to make the first move, and was confident nothing I did would be able to faze him.

First, I’ll circulate mana around my entire body. Get comfortable, coat myself in a full layer… send more to my fists, then the rest to my legs-

“I’ll show you the moves I learned from those fighting games! HAIIIIII!!”

I stomped hard on the ground, the tremor I caused reaffirming my enhanced power causing Mister B to stumble in surprise.

Hup!”

With a kick off the ground, I hurtled towards Mister B. He mustn’t have expected someone like me to be capable of such explosive power, taking a step backwards. By the time he did so, my fist was already halfway to meeting his face-

Bam!

Blocked by a paw.

The force of my punch sent a gust of wind through his hand, rustling the fur on his shoulder. Even then, it appeared the blow did little to no damage.

“Hmph!” Mister B grinned, exposing his pristine teeth.

I stepped backwards, exhaling heavily.

Amazing. I’d put about half my full strength into that blow, and it didn’t faze Mister B at all. As expected, a strike that could incapacitate a goblin was ineffective against the guardian of the forest.

Though he managed to block my attack with ease, Mister B’s demeanor changed. No longer was he moving sloppily, the lazy smirk turning into a slight frown as he raised his arms. Strangely, he looked much like one of those fighters I’d seen in the countless Nuutube videos I watched, despite being a bear.

“Foo-!”

I once again darted forwards-

Get in close, let your opponent assume you’re about to strike-

A giant paw from above.

Dodge.

I hopped back. As the paw swiped down at nothing-

Retaliate.

“HWAT-TOH!”

A kick to the arm caused Mister B to recoil; my first successful hit.

Don’t let up-!

“HAIIIYAHH!!”

Wham!

I threw my full body into a shoulder tackle, pushing Mister B back. Hooty was right; screaming while attacking boosted my adrenaline, empowering my spirit to pack more force into my strikes.

Unfortunately, Mister B shook off what little damage I inflicted and resumed his stance, beckoning me to give it another go.

I obliged, moving in for a third time, watching his movements carefully-

He’s gonna try grabbing me from the front-

I went low and slipped through his grasp, my body so small compared to his I could slide through his open legs. His back was now open to me, but-

The complex muscular structure on the back allows it to take stronger impacts-

I kicked off the ground, grabbing onto Mister B’s back, swiftly climbing up.

With his build, it’s pointless to go for a backstrike-!

By the time Mister B reached for his back with one hand, I’d already reached the top of his head. Balancing myself on both hands, I kicked off his back, and using the momentum, propelled my legs in an arc around his head-

“EEEEEEYAAAHH!!”

Wham!

A full-moon kick intended for my sole to connect with his face—failed.

Blocked once again by a paw, force nullified by his sheer strength alone.

I jumped off his back onto solid ground once more, looking up to see Mister B standing at the exact same spot, unmoving and waiting.

“What- you…”

It was then I realized Mister B was going easy on me. His swipes were slow enough for me to dodge, his movements sluggish enough for me to get around.

I was using more than half my full strength.

Mister B wasn’t even trying.

“UUWOOOOOGH!!”

Fine! If you won’t move, just stand there and take it…! Put all my mana into my legs-

Dash forwards! Anticipate the halfhearted swing-

Jump off, springboard my way up to his head-

Concentrate all my mana into one leg-

“HYAAHOO!!”

THUMP!

A full-powered kick, everything I had put into one last burst of energy, aimed at his head-

Blocked by an arm.

“Hmph!” Mister B grunted, his arm shaking from the force of my kick.

Then, his free arm shot out towards my leg.

“Crap-”

Having expended all the circulated mana in my legs, I didn’t have time to redirect the flow. Without enough power to kick myself off him, Mister B was able to grab hold of my leg, leaving me dangling in mid-air.

“… I have lost.”

“Hmph!”

“Woah-!”

Mister B let go, sending me falling onto the ground.

“Ow! Coulda been more gentle…”

“Hmph…”

Mister B took up his defensive stance once more.

“You wanna go again?”

“Hmph!”

“S-should I take that as you acknowledging me then?!”

“Hmph!”

“So you’ll take me as your disciple, then?!”

“Hmph- hmm?”

Confused, Mister B turned to Mrs. B, who simply shrugged.

“Hmph!”

“Oooh, Mister B! No, Master!”

We spent the rest of the afternoon sparring. While I was utterly defeated, my spirit was bolstered now that I had a newfound teacher in Mister B.