9 The Mountain of Madness

Hey, it's me. How you've been? Me? I don't wanna brag, or anything, but I'm doing pretty well these days.

Seen me on the news? I know, know. You're probably wondering how it must feel being a superstar, living that glamorous lifestyle you've seen in the movies, right?

It's a fucking lie, man. It's not at all what you think it's like; fame's a curse that you can't rub off no matter how hard you try.

Do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake; as the saying goes, 'do as I say, not as I do.'

Reed stood atop a large platform in the remote wilderness. He had been 'living' with his classmates in the wilderness for several weeks. The reason he emphasized the word living was because he sincerely believed that had died already and entered hell.

Instructor Axtorius had brought everyone to a desolate mountain that held a training site at the summit. The first thing he had ordered when they had first arrived was for them to scale the mountain before sunset. Anyone that did not complete the mission in time would receive his guidance, as he put it.

The first step of their training was for them to develop their physical bodies tolerance against Anima. Easiest way them to do so would be to train in an environment that held enough concentrated Anima in its surroundings.

The higher the elevation, the denser Anima would become. As a result, the summit of this particular mountain became a location to train new contenders. The instructors would use this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: increase their tolerance of Anima and train them in combat, teaching them the basic schools of thought when it came to fighting with Anima.

Low and behold, Reed who was among those most ordinary in terms of physical constitution in his class felt like he had been targeted on purpose. All his friends were superhuman by birthright as children of conquerors and here he was, the only normal one of the lot.

Some friends they were, too. None of them dared find out what it entailed to receive Axtorius' guidance and had left him to fend for himself since day one. It didn't take a genius to put the pieces together from there; Reed had unwittingly stumbled into hell on earth.

Reed stood on the fighting platform and stared dead-on at the mechanical android across from him. The bastard lifelessly took a fighting stance and waited for the automatic signal that would tell it to enter combat mode.

Reed had been beaten black and blue by the condemned droid since he had first arrived weeks ago. It was the punishment he had been given for continuously failing the missions that Axtorius had assigned the class.

Anyone who failed his daily missions would have to spend three hours 'training' with the droid on combat platform #6. Out of the twenty platforms on the mountaintop, combat platform #6 held a special position in the hearts of the students because of its unique history.

Combat platform #6 was the only platform that had its training droid set on expert-level combat mode. Every other combat platform had their droids set on novice-level or proficient-level, which designed for fledgling and experienced combatants.

The expert-level mode had been designed for contender use only. The droids combat abilities rivaled that of a mortal grandmaster in martial arts; the worst part was that it was also equipped with limited Anima abilities as well.

The droid had been built to give budding demigods a challenge, so one could imagine that havoc it wreaked upon the students who failed Axtorius's missions. Over the last couple weeks, Reed had formed a special sort of relationship with the droid on combat platform #6. One of intense hatred and despair...

He would wake up, participate in his mandatory training sessions with his classmates, learning the basics of physical combat. He'd practice the martial art that Axtorius had specifically chosen for him - Yohua. It was a martial art characterized by its emphasis on misdirection and surprise above all else: feinting attacks, striking the opponent's most vulnerable points, and overwhelming the opponent before they could properly retaliate.

Simply put, it was a martial art created for shameless, ruthless people that forsook honor and dignity. Yohua was created to end fights as quickly as possible and as a result, practitioners would often not pay mind to the injuries they dealt toward their opponents. Disabling the enemy took precedence over everything else; nothing else mattered.

Naturally, the fastest way to learn was to fail and learn from one's mistakes. The only way Reed would master Yohua was through endless combat. One way or another, Axtorius would etch the martial art into his bones, so he'd be able to use it instinctively whenever he needed it. The combat droids were the safest means of doing so; they'd never deal any lethal or permanent injuries to the students, but would still beat them into the ground as commanded.

Again and again; until their movements became fluid and their strikes flew out without them thinking about it. They'd be put on a strict dietary regimen and be put on a pre-planned physical conditioning plan that had been specifically created for them aside from their combat training. They needed to know how to fight, but also needed bodies capable of performing at their utmost limit.

Nothing was spared for them and as the weeks passed, almost everyone made a tremendous improvement in the development of their techniques and martial arts.

Reed stared at the droid menacingly as sweat dripped down his cheeks. He had been platform #6's one number regular since they had all arrived. No one came close to the number of hours he had logged with this godforsaken mechanical nightmare.

The worst part of it all was that because Reed had been assigned to learn Yohua, the droid also used it in their fights. Some of the things that the robot bastard had done to him could not even be described with the full extent of the spoken and written language.

Day after day, Reed would be beaten into the ground by the android no matter how hard he struggled. The specs between the android and himself were too far apart for him to even contemplate a victory.

It was a one-side training session that had its order reversed; Reed held the role of the punching bag and the android acted like it was the trainee. His days were mostly set in stone by then, he'd get beat the goddamned android and then he'd be carted off to the infirmary. A vicious cycle of recovering and being destroyed formed.

Four hundred and fifty-seven losses over a month and a half; not a single victory or even draw on his belt. His fighting record on platform #6 spoke enough about his life on the mountain.

At one point, Reed had genuinely cried his heart out in frustration in the middle of the night. Astor and Horatio had to console Reed for the better part of an hour until he finally fell asleep. That night, they both agreed that what had happened that to Reed would remain buried under the ground for his own sake.

They understood that the boy's delicate feelings mattered just as much any fair maiden's; Astor and Horatio both acted like what happened that night had never occurred. This was them protecting that tender and fragile part of Reed's soul - his pride as a man.

Since then, Reed had developed an almost obsessive dedication towards defeating the android. In the month and a half that the class had been on the mountain, Reed had long since caught up with his classmates. It was impossible for him to not have improved throughout the training period, but more than often, he'd still fail the missions that Axtorius would assign.

Eventually, Reed's hatred of the android lead him into purposefully failing his missions to gain extra time on platform #6. He would fight the android, get his ass beat by it and sleep in a recovery pod overnight. It had gotten so bad, that all he ever dreamt about was fighting...

One night, Reed felt that something had changed about him. He noticed that he had not been focused at all on a fight with a proficient-level droid and still easily won the fight. His mind had been preoccupied imagining a fight against his nemesis and before he had realized it, he had dislocated both of the android's arms and had swiftly broken his neck in a matter of seconds.

"It's clear enough that I've become strong enough to handle these piddling droids because I've been training under the tutelage of an 'expert'. But it doesn't mean shit if I can't beat that bastard even once. So what if I've caught up with everyone?"

"I've got bigger problems than them and need to grow stronger as quickly as possible. Or else I'll spend the rest of my life clinging onto Astor or Horatio's thigh, hiding in their estates like some terrified rat." He left the platform, unaware that he had set a new high score for the time it took to defeat a proficiency-level droid.

Reed felt like it was time to settle his grudge once and for all with the bastard who had helped him so much. He felt confident about his chances this time and ran off towards platform #6.

Horatio would later discover that his position as number one on the leaderboard had been robbed, much to his dismay, by Reed no less! Still, it shocked him when he put together the facts he knew.

Reed had been a normal person without any fighting experience before this. And in a month, he had set a new record for the proficiency-level stage. It was the equivalent of him besting a black belt martial artist that had completed several years of diligent practice in a month.

Even with the superhuman conditioning program, this was still a bit too much for a month and a half of growth. Was he some sort of genius? Probably. Given what he knew about him, Reed likely held several secrets.

Still... it was a bit odd. A genius martial artist who was also a crybaby and a sore loser. This was someone who had been blessed by the Will of the World? It was probably best not to think too hard about it...

As soon as Reed stepped onto the platform, the android lit up and assumed a neutral stance in preparation for what was about to come. Reed had come late at night, so everyone had mostly turned in for the night. Few people ever came out to practice during this time, so Reed had all the time in the world.

A woman's voice resounded across the platform as she said, "Training program initiated. Combatant level: Expert. The match will begin in thirty seconds."

The three brilliant moons that hung in the sky would be the only witnesses of this fight. A cold gust of wind rushed past both the man and the machine as they waited for the signal...