Chapter 3: Is My Master Trying to Kill Me

A sudden chilling sensation ran throughout Ryu's body while he was asleep. His instincts were screaming at him that something deadly was nearby. He suddenly awoke completely drenched in a cold sweat. He looked up to see a blade centimeters away from his neck and his master gazing eerily down at him. He could sense the bloodlust rolling off of him and filling the room as he exclaimed, "What are you doing teach!" Jinsoku sheathed his blade as he said, "Your training starts now. It important you level up your detect skill, so you are not caught off guard by anything. Every morning, I am going to wake you up in a similar fashion till you develop your ability to a point where you can passively sense the presences and intentions of the people around you. Now get up and follow me." Jinsoku turned to the door before disappearing down the hallway. Ryu ran his hand through his hair as he tried to calm down before he got up. He glanced out the window to see the moon still high in the air as he climbed out of the bed.

He hurriedly put his shoes on and chased after Jinsoku. Ryu followed him down the stairway to the empty first floor and out onto the dimly lit street. Jinsoku beckoned for him to follow him to the center of the town while saying, "This way kid." As Ryu looked around, he saw very few people out at this time. Excluding a couple of guards, there was only a handful of citizens. It was considerable different compared to yesterday afternoon when the plaza was packed. They continued past the fountain back toward the front gate. As they approached the exit, the two guards posted on the inside of the wall turned toward them lowering their spears as the soldier on the right sternly said, "Halt, who goes there?" Jinsoku raised his hand up flat in front of himself. His green magical aura began to glow slightly as he said under his breath, "Illuminate." A small magic circle formed above his hand as a light suddenly appeared above them hovering in the air. The guards appeared to instantly recognize Jinsoku as their entire demeanors changed. They slammed the end of their spears into the cobblestone straight up and down. They stood similar to soldiers at attention to a superior officer. The guard on the left started to apologetically say, "We are sorry for pointing our weapons at you Jinsoku. We have been getting reports of multiple kidnappings and miscellaneous crimes occurring around the city at night. We have yet to apprehend the individuals committing these actions." Jinsoku nonchalantly waved his hand at the guards beckoning them to calm down and relax as he said, "No worries you two. You will see me and the kid next to me every morning for the next couple of weeks while I am training him. Please make sure you inform the others, so this does not happen again." The light above them disappeared as Jinsoku's green aura dissipated.

The two soldiers let out a sigh of relief under their breath appearing glad to have avoided incurring his wrath. As they made their way past them, Ryu faintly heard one of them say, "That poor kid, Jinsoku is going to kill him." Ryu shook his head as he realized he was not the only one who was afraid of his teacher. Jinsoku suddenly stopped a couple of feet away from the gate on the outside of the city walls. He turned around to him and suddenly asked, "Do you know how to use magic?" As he shook his head, he eagerly said, "No, will you please show me? I have been thinking about it since I got to the city and saw you use yours." Jinsoku sighed as he began to explain, "Close your eyes and focus on the darkness. You should see a light in the void. That is the magic within you. All you have to do is concentrate on the flow of it to activate it." Ryu closed his eyes as he attempted to focus on the darkness. As he discovered the light, he slowly began to let it flow and fill the void.

Ryu opened his eyes to see a faint gold glint illuminating off of himself before it disappeared. Jinsoku had a brief look of awe on his face before realizing that Ryu had opened his eyes. He immediately went back to a stern face. With a slight cough, he started to say, "Congratulations, you completed step one. Activating your magic doesn't cost any MP; however, you have to maintain your concentration to keep it engaged. Now, we will proceed to step two, the basics of using magic. Essentially, you picture what you want to conjure like an ice blade, a fireball, a wound healing, etc. You then channel your magic to a focal point like your hand or foot and say the spell. Eventually casting will become easier and you will reach a point where you do not have to say the spell, but it is more powerful if you do. Let me demonstrate." Jinsoku turned to the right and pointed his hand at the dirt. His green aura glowed slightly before he said, "Ice Blade." A magic circle appeared at the end of his hand as a small shard of ice suddenly formed before launching into the ground. He briefly looked back at Ryu who was clearly excited as he began to clarify the parameters of using magic, "This basic application should be relatively easy for you. It is important you know the more magic you channel the more powerful the spell will be. Also, the more complex the incantation the more MP it will consume. Your MP restores over time, and the closer you get to zero the more strain you feel on your body. The higher you get your MP Regeneration skill will influence your max mana and possibly your MP recovery. Do you understand?"

Ryu nodded as he said, "I do. Now it is my turn." As he concentrated on his magic, a slight gold aura enveloped his body again. He pointed his palm toward the ground as he focused on channeling his magic to his hand. He felt he had poured enough magic into the spell as he said, "Ice Blade." An ice shard sprung from the magic circle and struck the ground double the size of Jinsoku's. Ryu fell to one knee as he realized he had expended sixty MP casting the spell. He watched as his magic recovered one MP a second. Jinsoku let out a laugh before smacking Ryu on his back hard enough to almost knock him face first into the dirt as he provided new instructions, "Good Job kid. The practice lessons are over. Get to your feet and give me five laps around the city walls." As Ryu got to his feet and dusted himself off, he looked at the city wall. It appeared to be about half a mile long. If that was an accurate guess, that would mean one lap would be two miles which meant five laps would be ten miles total. Ryu turned to Jinsoku as he began to plead with him, "Are you serious? That is ten miles." Jinsoku's face went blank as he stared intently at Ryu before bluntly saying, "If you cannot complete it before the sun rises in roughly a couple of hours, I will kill you. There is no breaks and no stopping, and I will be watching you the whole time. I suggest you start now to use all the time you have available to you if you value your life."

Ryu could tell he was serious as he turned back and took off at a fast jog. After about five minutes he was at the southeast tower. As he rounded the corner, he started to wonder if he could use his magic to recover his stamina when he started getting tired. He knew there was no way he would be able to keep the pace he was at without it being possible. As he rounded the northeast tower heading toward the northwest one, he checked his MP to see that it was back to one hundred. He activated his magic as he concentrated on picturing his stamina recovery. As he continued jogging, he made sure to use less this time to avoid draining his MP completely like earlier. As he pointed his hand at his chest, he said, "Recover." He suddenly felt revitalized as his fatigue melted away. He was certain if he could keep this up he would be able to complete his objective without slowing. He quickly checked his MP to see how much magic he had consumed with the spell. It appeared he had dropped to seventy of a hundred which meant he had spent thirty of his MP. He was relieved he would be able to cast this spell every wall without straining himself to much. As he finished his first lap around the city walls, his stamina was now level two in addition to his MP regeneration skill and recovery skill. His MP suddenly jumped up to two hundred total. As he continued on, he suddenly felt like he was running faster. As he checked his stats, he noticed his speed was level two as well.

Ryu continued to press forward in the early morning before the sun could rise for the day making sure not to slow his pace at all in fear that Jinsoku would swoop in from the shadows and kill him. As Ryu rounded the southeast tower on his final lap, a slight orange glow was starting to break the skyline. He suddenly burst into a full sprint to try to finish on time. He knew he was going to need to go for broke if he was going to beat the sunrise, so he summoned his magic and casted "Recover" followed by a speed buff "Boost Swiftness." The minor speed buff cost him seventy of his MP, and it appeared it would only last two minutes. He could tell the difference immediately as it only took him roughly that amount of time to round the northeast tower. He swiftly re-casted the spells allowing himself to quickly loop the northwest corner. He continued this cycle as he exploded around the southwest tower to see Jinsoku standing in front of the gate. He panicked upon seeing him causing him to sprint the last quarter mile at his own speed. Just as he passed in front of Jinsoku, the first slither of the sun broke the skyline. He collapsed on the grass breathing heavily as Jinsoku scuffed and said, "How disappointing. It will only get harder from here, and you barely passed the first test." He started walking back into the city as he continued, "Get up, we are going to the inn to grab breakfast before we start your next lesson."

Ryu climbed up from the dirt path with his hands on his hips as he followed Jinsoku. With the morning sun officially shining on the city, the plaza filled with people once more. As they entered the inn, the girl from the night before with the scythe passed by them. Ryu stood in the doorway watching her as she headed down the street toward what appeared to be a library. Jinsoku suddenly grabbed Ryu by his collar catching him completely off guard. He hurled Ryu across the room onto the nearest table to the door. Ryu slid off the table onto the floor face first. Jinsoku was unaware Kasai was not in the kitchen. She stared at him appalled as she quickly stormed up to him. She had a stern tone as she began to yell at him, "While you are here in the inn, training is on pause. Do you understand me Jinsoku!" His cold expression melted away immediately as he threw himself at her feet pleading, "I am sorry Kasai. Please forgive me." As Ryu got up from the ground, he sat down at the table. His face was red with embarrassment from being flung across the room like a sack of potatoes. Kasai huffed at Jinsoku's apology before walking over to Ryu. She winked at him while saying, "Hang in there Ryu. If he kills you, I will kill him." Jinsoku had followed her over to the table as he attempted to plead with her, "Kasai that is not fair. If he dies, it is because he is weak." Ryu quickly quipped back, "Your just as weak as me when it comes to Kasai."

Kasai giggled as Jinsoku's face turned bright red. As he attempted to deny Ryu's statement, he ended up just speaking so fast that nothing he was saying could be recognized as discernable words. While Jinsoku tried to calm down, Kasai decided to ask Ryu about his training, "How did everything go this morning?" Ryu was unable to hide his excitement as he proudly said, "My MP Regeneration, Speed, and Recovery magic all increased to level three. It is awesome that each level of the MP Regeneration increases your total MP by a hundred. I am now at a new grand total of four hundred max MP. Also, it felt easier to cast spells as I levelled up. Plus, I felt faster as my speed skill progressed." Kasai clapped once before rubbing Ryu's head similar to how a mother would with her kid. She was happily smiling proud of Ryu's hard work so far. Jinsoku had finally got ahold of himself from Ryu's comment as he suddenly said, "He has much further to go so let's not get ahead of ourselves Kasai." As he finished shaking his head, he continued, "Can we both get the breakfast for today, please." Before Kasai left for the kitchen, she nodded as she said, "I will be back shortly."

As they sat waiting for their food, Ryu decided to ask Jinsoku a question about something he had noticed earlier, "Why were you shocked when I first activated my magic?" Jinsoku leaned back in his chair uninterested in praising Ryu for being able to channel his magic on his first try, so he decided to backhandly insult him instead, "It is rare for someone to activate and channel their magic successfully on their first try. I was just surprised you could since you are so weak." Ryu could tell his master was being nice to him, so he decided not to quip back. Ryu instead continued on to his next question. He was curious about his aura being gold as he said, "What did you think about my magic being gold Jinsoku? Pretty cool right? It matches my tattoo if you didn't notice." Jinsoku laughed before saying, "Is all you care about is being cool?" Ryu quickly defended himself as he replied, "No." Jinsoku shook his head before continuing, "For your information, I have never seen someone with a gold presence. I am pretty sure it is rare, but the color of your magic doesn't mean anything, so don't go thinking you are special." Ryu waved his hand as he brushed off Jinsoku's comment. He knew deep down that Jinsoku thought it was pretty neat that it matched his tattoo.

A brief silence fell on the table before Kasai came back with their breakfast. As she set the two meals on the table, Ryu eagerly stared ready to dig in. Their plates consisted of scrambled eggs, three pieces of crispy bacon on the side, and two fluffy pancakes. Jinsoku and Ryu quickly bowed their heads as they simultaneously said, "Thank you Kasai." The two devoured their food leaving their plates completely clean in less than five minutes. Kasai shook her head in disbelief as she cleaned up. As she walked away back toward the kitchen, Jinsoku stood up from the table and beckoned Ryu to follow him. As he headed for the door, he said, "Come on kid, now your real training begins." Ryu swiftly got up from the table and followed Jinsoku out onto the street. The two of them made their way back through the city as they headed towards the forest. Several minutes passed as they walked through the underbrush before they came to a small clearing. It appeared Jinsoku had been there at some point prior to their arrival. There were multiple wooden weapons on the ground as well as a bow with a quiver full of arrows perched in front of a gigantic oak tree on the opposite side of the field in front of them. As Ryu looked to his left, he noticed a ranged target for practicing archery at the edge of the clearing.

Jinsoku stopped right in front of the tree before turning and saying, "As you can tell, I have gathered five different weapons here for us today. Every hour you will practice with a different one. We have a longsword, a normal sword, a short sword, twin daggers, and a bo staff to simulate a spear. On the sixth hour, we will practice your archery. Since you have an affinity for all of them, you should learn how to use all of them. By understanding how to be versatile, you will avoid ever being weaponless. Our training here will allow you to become adaptable and strategic." Ryu had zero protests for the intense training that awaited him as he continued to listen to Jinsoku, "We will go through this cycle twice a day. The next twelve hours of your life are going to be brutal. You will fight mock battles with me for an hour with each weapon. There are several things I expect you to do during our fights. You are to utilize your magic to defend, attack, and heal. Also, I believe it is wise for you to do your best to strategize on how to block, evade, and counterattack every second we are sparring. I promise you that I will knock you down frequently so remember quitting will only lead to your death." Jinsoku laughed maniacally as he thought about how much fun was to come.

As Jinsoku finished his cackling, he gave Ryu his final instructions, "Pick up the longsword and walk ten steps back that way. Once you turn around to face me, we begin." Ryu had to grab the longsword with both hands as he made his way to the starting point. While his back was turned, Jinsoku quickly picked up the short wooden sword. As soon as they made eye contact, Jinsoku disappeared utilizing his speed advantage while Ryu activated his magic to cast a Physical Enhancement Buffer spell on himself costing him forty MP. The longsword instantly became lighter allowing him to move around more freely with the blade. Ryu figured Jinsoku would attempt to strike quickly to satisfy his bloodlust, so he closed his eyes and began to use his "Detect" to see if he could sense where Jinsoku was hiding. Unfortunately, he had a small radius of only about three feet away from himself that he could sense. Ryu also noticed the spell was costing him one MP per second, so while he was using it, his magic was not replenishing. Suddenly, Jinsoku shot out of the tree line to Ryu's right side. As soon as he entered within the range of the spell, Ryu knew his exact location. Ryu acted on pure instincts and reflexes as he stepped backwards to avoid Jinsoku's attack. At the same time, he swung the longsword downward. Jinsoku swiftly changed the direction of his blade as he blocked Ryu's longsword knocking it up in the air and temporarily jolting Ryu off-balance. Jinsoku had stopped directly in front of him in a half crouch position. With incredible speed, he unleashed a spinning back kick that landed flush into Ryu's stomach knocking him back several feet across the clearing.

As Ryu clattered to the ground, He quickly got up while casting "Heal" on his stomach costing him twenty of his MP. Because his concentration was broken, his spell "Detect" was no longer active. Ryu stood ready for Jinsoku's next strike prepared to learn from each time they engaged in combat. Ryu continued to get knocked down and beaten for the next hour as Jinsoku utilized his vast arsenal of techniques. Every time Ryu hit the dirt, he quickly collected himself while healing his body refusing to give up. Ryu was trying his hardest to learn Jinsoku's movements. He used all the information he could gather from their lightning-fast exchanges to unlock new strategies. Ryu quickly understood to become stronger it was important that he was aware of everything around himself at all times. He knew as they neared the end of the first hour that he would need to incorporate his magic, his weapon, and his body if he wanted to successful land a blow on his teacher. Ryu was learning slowly how to defend by anticipating were his master was going to strike him. Unfortunately, everything he attempted failed miserably as Jinsoku relentlessly beat him. Jinsoku suddenly stopped ten feet in front of Ryu indicating the hour was up. He started to instruct Ryu as he said, "Grab the normal sword and get back in place. Time for round two."

Ryu moved over to the tree and dropped the longsword on the ground before he picked up the next weapon. He then got back into his spot ten feet away taking a moment before turning around. He was thrilled that he was leveling up and receiving incredibly valuable practice, but he wished it did not have to be filled with so much pain. Ryu continued to cast "Heal", but the spell did not have the ability to eliminate the agony he felt from each blow. As they started their next session, Jinsoku decided to disappear instantly again. Ryu decided to try a different approach now that he was wielding a lighter weapon. He swiftly retreated into the forest as he darted around the clearing. He casted a speed buff on himself before he activated "Detect" as he tried to locate his master. Ryu was certain when Jinsoku tried to close the distance between the two of them he would be able to utilize his instincts to block or evade the attack. He could only hope in the chaos of the moment that he would have the opportunity to launch a spell at him while simultaneously luring him into a trap setup by the potential failure of his first attempt. Jinsoku suddenly sprung into action as he appeared above Ryu firing a magical rock at him. Ryu quickly swung his blade deflecting the earth spell while hiding his hand behind his weapon trying to conceal it from Jinsoku. As his sword cleared the rock, a magic circle was ready at the end of his hand as he said, "Fireball." A small fast-moving ball of fire launched through the air toward Jinsoku. He instantly dispelled the feeble attack by blocking it with a quickly conjured barrier as he landed behind Ryu on the ground ready to strike again.

Jinsoku was unaware that Ryu had funneled him to where he stood now. His trap laid ready to spring as Ryu said "Earth Wall." The ground shook as the dirt compacted together. Ryu had it aimed at Jinsoku's back as he attempted to strike his teacher in his blind spot. Jinsoku instantly vanished before the spell hit him and appeared in front of Ryu. He was ducked under Ryu's guard with a magical spell ready to fire at him. Jinsoku smiled as he said, "Wind Blade." A sudden rush of air bluntly hit Ryu in the chest blowing him backwards across the clearing. As he got back to his feet, he remained undeterred from the failure as he healed himself again. This back and forth would proceed for the next hour as Ryu continued to try to trap Jinsoku with no success. As the hour ended, Jinsoku stopped again ten feet in front of Ryu. Without speaking, he tossed him the short sword while Ryu threw him his weapon. As they started their next session, Jinsoku had chosen to walk Ryu down this time. Ryu was excited to finally go on the offensive as he casted a Speed Buff on himself before he started to rapidly circle around his teacher.

Jinsoku suddenly stopped as he waited to see what his pupil had up his sleeve. Ryu proceeded to launch multiple physical attacks while simultaneously blending them with magical ones. He tried his hardest to be unpredictable as he struck from various different angles. Jinsoku remained stationary as he deflected, evaded, and launched counterattacks without moving an inch from his spot. Ryu was doing his best to block with his sword, dodge attacks, and use his Barrier spell to deflect Jinsoku's strikes. After half an hour of running different tactics from this strategy, Ryu stopped a few feet in front of Jinsoku breathing slightly heavy from the relentless attacking and defending that had occurred for the past thirty minutes. Ryu summoned his magic and casted a physical enhancement buff on himself as Jinsoku started to walk toward him again. As Jinsoku neared, Ryu decided he would try to engage him in crossing swords and physical combat. The two stood in front of each other for the last half hour rapidly crossing blades and launching various physical attacks. While Ryu was able to evade and block the majority of Jinsoku's attacks, a few cut through landing flush on Ryu in multiple spots. Bruised and battered, Ryu refused to back off or fall to the ground till the time was up. As the hour concluded, Jinsoku jumped away from Ryu and beckoned him to get the next weapon. As Ryu walked to the tree, he started to heal all the bruises on his body as he prepared for round four were he would be using the twin wooden daggers.

Ryu knew he would need to get in close to be able to land a blow with his latest weapon. He quickly formalized a plan were he would use a Mirage spell to attempt to distort Jinsoku's vision. Ryu was certain he could launch a Mirror spell through the illusion that would force Jinsoku to defend a false attack. He hoped that Jinsoku would lose track of him from the façade, so he could quickly cast a Conceal spell on himself to hide his presence. If he was lucky, he would be able to move into his teachers blind spot. As soon as Ryu turned around, he attempted to close the distance between them. He quickly casted the Mirage spell slightly in front of himself while summoning the copy to his right. As he hid behind the illusion, he swiftly concealed himself as his clone moved in to strike Jinsoku. Hidden, Ryu speedily got into position behind his teacher just as he was raising his sword to block the airborne copy of him. Just as Ryu's dagger was about to make contact with Jinsoku's lower back right under his plated armor, he suddenly shifted his body to the left as he pirouetted. He backhanded Ryu across the face knocking him down to the ground as he spun back into position just in time to deflect the clones blade. Ryu hurriedly recovered and swiftly made his way into the tree line as Jinsoku dispatched his replica. Ryu was excited as he rapidly moved through the forest because he had been inches away from landing a blow on Jinsoku. Ryu continued for the next hour attempting to deceive Jinsoku and land surprise strikes on him to no avail.

With the hour up, Ryu used his Recovery spell to replenish his stamina as he retrieved the bo staff from under the tree. As he got back into place to begin round five, he tried to conceive a viable strategy for his latest weapon. Ryu decided the best method of attack would be for him to treat the staff as an extension of his hand. If he channeled his magic through the stick, he would be able to launch attacks while swinging it at Jinsoku. As Ryu propelled himself toward his teacher, he quickly put his plan into action as a magic circle appeared at the end of his staff. Ryu swiftly casted a fireball at Jinsoku who easily dispelled it with a barrier. As smoke filled the air, Ryu quickly utilized an Ice spell and Mirror spell. He froze Jinsoku's left foot before leaping into the air above him. As he swung his staff down toward him, Ryu's copy appeared to his teachers left. He had hidden his clone after summoning it with a Mirage Spell while Jinsoku's line of sight was broken from blocking the fireball. As he closed in on Jinsoku from the front, the clone had positioned itself to attack simultaneously. As Ryu came down from the sky, Jinsoku let out a short laugh before he pulled his foot out of his frozen shoe. Before Ryu could react, Jinsoku vanished and appeared above him. With a spinning kick, he shot Ryu down into his clone and sent them both tumbling across the ground. As they came to a stop in a heap and the dust settled, Ryu's replica disappeared. Ryu swiftly got back to his feet and continued for the next hour attempting to conceal himself while adding layers of complexity to his attacks as he tried to land a shot on Jinsoku with no luck.

As the hour concluded, Jinsoku leaped away from Ryu. By this point, the Sun was high in the air as Ryu wiped the sweat from his brow. As he put the bo staff down, he noticed the quiver had about twenty arrows in it. As he grabbed the weapon, Jinsoku suddenly appeared right next to him as he said, "This exercise will be a little different. You are to evade my strikes as you attempt to shoot the targets. You are not to counterattack. Your objective is to learn to aim and defend while under pressure. You are to stay on the opposite of the clearing for the duration of this practice. Do you understand?" Ryu nodded before heading toward the tree line on the side of the field opposite of the targets. As Ryu prepared to start, Jinsoku had a wickedly excited tone as he continued, "For every arrow that does not hit the target, I will hit you with something you will not be able to dodge." Ryu felt chills run down his back from the comment as he tried to determine how far away the targets were from him. Using some knowledge from his old world, he guessed the distance was about the length of half a football field.

As Ryu notched the arrow on the bow string, he activated his magic and casted his Detect spell. Jinsoku acted swiftly as he moved behind Ryu and attacked from the tree line. He fired a rock at Ryu that flew rapidly through the air. Ryu quickly leaped out of the way to his right evading the attempted strike surprisingly easily to his astonishment. As he landed, he used his magic to create an earth wall behind himself hoping to delay Jinsoku from firing another attack at him. Ryu did his best to speedily line up the bow with the target aiming it slightly higher in an attempt to account for dropping. As he released the string letting the arrow fly, Jinsoku suddenly appeared above him casting several ice blades at him. Ryu hurriedly conjured a barrier that effortlessly blocked the ice shards as he watched his arrow soar through the air. As it struck the ground several feet short, Jinsoku appeared abruptly in front of Ryu with a magic spell ready to activate. Jinsoku had a devious smile on his face as he said, "Lighting Shock." As Ryu fell backwards toward the earth, he was certain his master was trying to kill him.

As he landed on the grass, he let out an uncomfortable grunt. Ryu knew this was going to be the most challenging part of his practice to this point. He was positive he was going to be flirting with death for the next hour as he attempted to learn archery and hit the targets. It was clear to Ryu his teacher had been holding back a lot of his power for most of the morning. As Ryu painfully got back to his feet, he quickly healed himself as he tried to mentally prepare himself for Jinsoku's next strike. He had no doubt that he would inevitably miss the target with his next arrow. Ryu tried for the next hour to give himself the best chance at shooting by utilizing all his skills to block Jinsoku's relentless assaults long enough to get a clean window to fire. Unfortunately, none of his arrows hit their marks for the duration of the practice round. As they continued to miss, Ryu felt excruciating pain from each blow from Jinsoku who mercilessly struck him over and over to his satisfaction. As the hour concluded, Ryu was relieved to have survived archery practice but was depressed knowing he would have to endure another smackdown before the day was over.

As the next six rounds passed by, the sun melted out of sight staining the sky orange as darkness started to creep over the opposite horizon. Each session went similarly to the first set as Ryu continued to get beaten up, down, and around the clearing. He tried his best to utilize all of his skills to land a strike on Jinsoku while evading his attacks to no avail. As Ryu collapsed to the dirt from exhaustion and pain from the second round of archery practice, Jinsoku let out a slight whistle before saying, "Wow kid, you must be a masochist because the way you were fighting out there made me think you enjoyed getting hit." Ryu continued to breathe heavily as he murmured "Heal" and "Recovery" under his breath while listening to Jinsoku insult him. Jinsoku laughed as he stared down at Ryu before turning around. As he started to walk away toward the edge of the clearing he said, "Come on Ryu, it is time to get something to eat. You deserve it after surviving that onslaught. Heck, only a truly courageous person can continue to fight with such spirit when the odds are zero in their favor."

As Ryu gathered himself and got back to his feet, he had a big smile on his face from hearing Jinsoku's praise as he followed him back to the city. By the time they had reached the inn, the sun had completely disappeared, and the moon was high in the sky. As they entered, Ryu noticed that the girl with the scythe was in the same corner again tonight. The rest of the dining room was empty as Jinsoku and Ryu sat down at a table near the door to the kitchen. Kasai came out from the cooking area just as they had settled in. As soon as she saw Ryu, she almost tackled him out of his chair. She was clearly relieved as she said, "I am so happy you are alive Ryu. I was for sure Jinsoku was going to kill you after this morning." As she stepped back from him, she studied him up and down as she continued, "My goodness it appears like he worked you over good though by the look of you." Ryu started to rub the back of his head as he looked away. He was embarrassed by Kasai's caring affection as he murmured, "I am fine Miss Kasai." Ryu suddenly had a serious demeanor, and his eyes were filled with conviction as he continued, "Please do not worry. He will only kill me if I quit, and I will never quit." Jinsoku let out a laugh as he inserted himself into the conversation, "I will break that resolve tomorrow during training if I am lucky kid." Kasai put her hands on her hips as she stomped her foot and angrily said, "You be nice to him Jinsoku! He is a good kid and if you drive him away with your craziness, I will never talk to you again." Jinsoku went white as a sheet as his spirit appeared to leave his body.

Ryu started to laugh while Kasai giggled as they both enjoyed the sight of Jinsoku floundering. While he continued to beat himself up for upsetting Kasai, Ryu decided to start ordering, "Kasai, may we please have two of the specials for tonight?" She nodded before she started heading to the kitchen while saying, "You got it." As Ryu turned back to Jinsoku, he had appeared to have recovered evident by the stern look on his face now. He was curious about Ryu's progress as he said, "How are your skills looking after our first day of practice kid?" Ryu was proud of his progress as he happily replied, "I have tons of different affinities nearing level ten. My highest of all of them is my MP Regeneration which is halfway to eleven. My total reserves are at eleven hundred." Ryu grinned as he arrogantly continued, "I almost had you a few times today, so you better up your game tomorrow." The comment annoyed Jinsoku as he quickly quipped back, "In that case, I will go full speed on you since you are so strong now." Ryu instantly regretted his words as he swiftly bowed his head and tried to beg him for forgiveness, "Please spare me your mercy. I am positive only my peril awaits if you sparred me any harder then you are now." Jinsoku laughed as he slapped Ryu on his back while saying, "Calm down kid, I was just kidding. If I fought you any harder, I would just be wasting my energy since I can beat you so effortlessly right now. I promise I will continue to hold back to spare you from death."

As Ryu picked his head back up from the table after being slammed back into reality from Jinsoku's reassuring insult, they both turned toward the kitchen as Kasai emerged with their order. Ryu instantly started to salivate at the mouth at the sight of the food. He was starving from the hard work he had put in today. Jinsoku similarly had worked up an appetite from relentlessly beating Ryu, and he was on the edge of his seat at the alluring aroma of the delicious meal coming there way. As Kasai approached there table, she felt slightly scared as they both looked like hungry dogs off the leash about to attack her for the food in her hands. As soon as the plates were put down in front of them, they both started devouring it barely taking the time to breathe. Kasai stared in horror as they devoured the baked chicken breast, vegetables, mash potatoes, and bread roll in less than five minutes. As they both put their fork and knife down, they said in unison, "Thank you for the meal, Kasai!"

As she removed their plates from the table, she could not help but be appalled at what she had just witnessed as she headed back toward the kitchen. Jinsoku abruptly stood up from the table and grabbed Ryu by his collar as he dragged him out of his chair and onto the floor. As he began to carry him up the stairs, Ryu started to plead with him, "Come on teach, do you have to yank me along? This is embarrassing." The girl with the scythe briefly looked up at Ryu and giggled at the sight of them causing him to blush in embarrassment as he quickly turned away. He remained quiet the rest of the way up the stairs as he thought about her. Even after Jinsoku threw him into his room for the night, the beautiful girl with the scythe was the only thing on his mind. As he started to drift to sleep, he thought about how he could start a conversation with her. Ryu wished he was confident enough just to walkup to her and start talking. He had little time to ponder on his dilemma as he passed out from exhaustion.