2 - Assassin's core

"298, 299, 300!" Kakarot huffed and puffed as he jumped to his feet from his pushup position.

"Alright kid, your conditioning is done for the day, now we'll move on to the real training." Tao laughed ominously.

"Why do you sound like you just stole someone's ice cream? I'm not going to back down from any training." Kakarot blankly stated with an annoyed look on his face.

"Heh, I know you won't kid, but that doesn't mean you'll like it. I'll take you to the training ground and see if you sing a different tune when we're there." Tao smirked as he grabbed Kakarot and flew into the distance at a high speed.

"Hey when can I learn to fly?" Kakarot knew that he'd be able to fly in some time even without training but he hadn't been able to get it down yet.

Firing a small energy blast to light a fire was the extent of his current abilities and even that had been kept secret.

"Once you get kill your first mark you'll be considered a true member of the crane school. That's when you'll learn." Tao had seeming been expecting this question.

He too was a child once and hearing talk of the powers that the great demon king Piccolo and master Mutaito lit a flame of desire in him.

Now that the kid had seen these skills in person of course he'd want them.

As they landed in the training ground Kakarot was confused by the sight in front of him.

A stretch of open land split into 3 seperate sections : a long bed of hot coals, a river of pointy needles and what appeared to be a cracked and derelict pathway made of gravel and cobblestone.

"So what are we training Master Tao?" Kakarot questioned, having learnt from previous experience that any disrespect to the older assassin would make his training all the worse.

Not that he'd know but regardless of his actions Tao would still progressively make his training worse and more painful all for his own amusement.

"It's time for you to train the assassin's core skills, footwork and murder." Tao replied.

"You'll have to walk across all these both quickly and silently. And don't give me that look with the right technique it'll be painless." He rolled his eyes at Kakarot.

'That's if you know the right technique to start with.' Tao thought as he laughed to himself.

"Now, walk across the hot coals without burning yourself, followed by the needles without being poked. After all that you can walk on that old path and see how quiet you are, unless it's silent you can't return to the dojo." Tao gave Kakarot an ultimatum.

"That sounds like it'll suck… so where's the murdering you talked about?" Kakarot sighed, not looking forward to this task at all.

That didn't mean he wouldn't complete it though.

"You'll have to put your footwork skills to the test and hunt yourself some food. I've heard the wildlife around here have amazing senses and are quite jumpy, so you'll have to make sure they don't catch on to you." Tao said as he flew off.

"I'll be back in a few days to check on your progress kid, make sure to put that 'great Saiyan blood' to use. Heh, if you can't do this you won't amount to anything." He provoked Kakarot whilst he disappeared into the distance.

Kakarot grumbled at Tao's words.

He'd show him wrong, a few days? He'd finish this in a few minutes.

He was a great Saiyan warrior and no obstacles would stand in his way.

Stepping out onto the black bed if coals with utmost confidence in himself he only had one thing in his mind.

"HOT!!!" He shouted as he jumped five times his height into the air.

*****

"OUCH!" Kakarot yelped as he tiptoed across the river of needles.

*****

*Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch*

"Why are you so loud!?!" Kakarot screamed at the rickety path of gravel and cobblestone.

*****

And so he tried, and tried, and tried again.

Until he got hungry.

*****

Kakarot was quiet, serene even.

He was one with nature, hiding amongst the bushes, stalking his prey.

A small green dinosaur.

It looked almost like a T-Rex if not for it's 8 spindly legs.

And from it dashing about the place, its speed was obvious.

All Kakarot had to do was pounce on it before it could run, easy.

And so he readied himself to put his training to the test, he had conquered all other obstacles and now he would do so again.

*Rustle*

A bird flew through the branches of a tree up above head.

And once Kakarot turned back to his prey…

It was gone.

"NOOO!"