The Basics

That same evening, Kyle followed the waypoint to his next instructor, Master Khanda. Kyle found his instructor waiting in the training field.

It was awkward for him because he didn't know if he should make a certain bow or something. Without any other manner of greeting, he bowed deeply.

"Greetings Master Khanda, I am ready to learn," Kyle said. Master Khanda smiled briefly.

"Although it isn't the proper greeting; it demonstrates you have enough sense to give a proper greeting to your teacher. From now on, this is how you will greet me," Master Khanda said.

He put his right hand over his left fist and did a bow. Kyle copied him and did the same.

"Good, let's get to work!" Master Khanda said.

"To begin with, I know the old man probably gave you a combat manual, right?" Master Khanda asked.

"You know about Gramps?" Kyle was stunned, he thought Gramps' existence was a secret.

"Of course I know about him and your system, I'm a contractor after all," Master Khanda said with a smile.

"What's a contractor?" Kyle asked.

"A contractor, I'm someone under contract to provide you with training. The people you should know about are the talent scouts, the system master.

The System Master is the one you call Gramps. I and the three others you met are contractors or teachers.

Finally, there are the Users or Players depending on the system designation. The System, teachers, all of us are here to take people like you and make you extraordinary." Master Khanda smiled as he spoke with Kyle. It was probably a lot for him to take in.

"I'm not the only one who's gotten a system?" Kyle asked.

"Of course not! I've trained five other fellows. It's a good job with great benefits," Master Khanda said.

"What happens after you finish training us?"

"It depends on how well you do. I can't tell you specifically, but if you do well enough you can receive an updated system and we'll all get very generous bonuses, so work hard!"

"Have you ever gotten a bonus before?" Kyle asked.

"Sadly, no, but I have high hopes for you. Now, shall we put this nonsense aside and get to work?" Master Khanda asked.

"Yes, sir," Kyle said even though he was still thinking about this new information.

"Like I was saying old man Yu probably gave you a combat manual, right?" Master Khanda asked again.

"Yes, the Monkey King Rock Fist. He also gave me a movement technique, breathing techniques, divine sense techniques, and soul art.

I don't know if all of those are combat techniques, but when I read their descriptions they sounded like they could be used for combat." Kyle said as he remembered several of the manuals he received from Gramps.

"Have you been practicing them?" Master Khanda asked.

"Not really, I studied the Monkey King Rock Fist and the movement technique, but the others I've ignored because I've been too busy doing missions," Kyle said.

"He overwhelmed you with martial techniques and you probably don't even understand any of it. Plus, you come from a very lazy and pampered culture.

I and the other teachers think it's a mistake to just hand out technique manuals like that. You need to earn martial arts with your body, and occupations with your mind and body.

Just imprinting the information into your head can make things go faster, but they can also cut off future progress. Without a solid foundation, how can you burst through the restrictions of your talent?

I have a request for you, would you mind not studying those manuals until I tell you you're ready?" Master Khanda looked hopefully at Kyle.

"You're the teacher, I'll do whatever you say," he responded with a shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't really sure what to do with those things anyway.

"Excellent! I knew you were a good boy. We've been monitoring you for years. You have strong character, a can-do attitude, and perseverance! You might be a little whiny, but there's a lot to work with.

The request to stay away from the manuals applies to all the manuals, not just the combat ones," Master Khanda said.

"Yes, sir, that's what I understood."

"Good, and don't level up anymore if you have already," Master Khanda suddenly remembered.

"I have two level up options but I haven't used them yet since I didn't know what they would do," Kyle said.

"Very nice! Cautious, it's never wrong to be cautious. Alright, now it's time for your training for the evening.

We're going to start with basic exercises for the morning and evening, and then on the days when I have you, we'll focus on training your basic combat techniques.

One thing that is very important is that you do these exercises in the morning and in the evening whether you are here or in your world. Do you understand?"

Kyle nodded his head acknowledge the importance of doing the exercises although inside he was feeling a little lazy. He had super-strength and stamina, did he really need to exercise?

Kyle was forced to change out of his superhero costume and put on a white training uniform with black bracers, chest pad, headgear, and boots. He thought he looked like one of those silly soldiers in a low-budget sci-fi movie.

With the gear in place, Kyle felt like his body was at least 100 times heavier. He weighed about 150lbs. With the gear on he felt like he weighed about 15,000lbs or a little over 7 tons.

The weight wasn't too much for him and it seemed like he barely felt it. None of his movements were restricted.

"You are to wear this training gear for the entire time you are here and when you return to your world.

The only time you can take it off is if you are changing clothes or taking a bath. When you are doing that, you must use this disc to temporarily created a weighted zone.

This will make it seem like you never removed the weights. You can only use this for a max of 30 minutes. Then, I will be alerted that you are cheating and you will be punished. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Kyle responded.

"Good, now, it's time to do a quick evening workout. You can start by dong mountain dashes, up that mountain, bear crawls, crunches..." Mister Khanda went on and on. He followed Kyle throughout the workout.

Kyle finally realize, even with his superpowers this workout routine was brutal! He could only hope his other classes would be easier.