The Two Unlikely Martial Artists

20th of Lumina, year 991

If not for the black robe that clearly confirmed his identity as a young master from the Ragha Martial Arts Academy, nobody would mistake him for a martial artist. Even the way he turned around to acknowledge someone who called his attention from behind was clearly the behavior of a loafer rather than a fighter seriously training in martial arts.

It didn't matter that he had a quarter staff slung over his shoulder with a bundle tied to the end behind his back—the typical fashion adopted by traveling martial artists. He could very well be just another goofy guy masquerading as a martial arts practitioner.

Even among the villagers of Kasgar, they still had a hard time convincing themselves that he was, in fact, one of the best fighters in all of Ragha. The way they saw it, his personality was just all wrong—unrestrained laughter, bubbly conversationalist, easy-going manner, a chatterbox, and, worst of all, a big flirt. On top of that he was actually a very humble guy when one got to know him really well. The men of Kasgar would have had an easier time accepting the fact of him being a martial arts expert had he been somewhat arrogant and conceited like the young masters of the big clans and rich families in the towns and cities.

In a lot of ways the young master of the Kasgar training center was very much like the living legend of the village—Kraszad, or more famously known as Blink whose new nickname—"The Butt Sticking Brownie"—had become the topic of conversations at tea time and coffee break or, in the case of farmers at the end of a hard day's labor, tippling time. Blink had a fair complexion, smooth flawless skin and long shiny black hair. He was such a pretty boy one wouldn't be laughed at for mistaking him for a girl. And he smiled. A lot! Often by himself, too!

The villagers of Kasgar might feel that a lot of the things they knew and observed about the two young men ran contrary to their idea of a martial arts expert. But their battle records only indicated one certainty: they were both certified monsters. From all the stories they had heard, it was clear to them that Blink would become the bigger legend between the two.

At this moment the two unlikely martial artists who were nevertheless legends of Kasgar were staring at each other from afar.

Blink was standing on the plateau where the training center was built. The plateau had an elevation of about eight meters and provided an unimpeded view over the village entry to the south and beyond. That entry point was about seven kilometers away from where Blink stood. It was squeezed between the river to the west and a vast rice field to the east.

From his vantage, Blink had spotted Garth way before he neared the village entrance. He could easily tell that there was a spring to his senior's gait. Blink had a conflicted feeling in his heart. He thought that if his senior brother was successful, then it should have been a different senior walking into the Kasgar. Since he came back, shouldn't that mean that he lost anew?

'Why does he seem happy?' Blink pondered in his mind.

Upon entering the village Senior Garth looked up and waved a hand at Blink. As he walked further, the kids started to gather around him. At something he said, kids jumped up and down. Some of them ran off to tell their friends. Soon enough a crowd gathered around the young master.

What was normally a thirty-minute walk turned into an almost two-hour processional as every kid in the village went up to greet and follow their martial arts instructor along his way.

Soon enough, a large crowd gathered behind Blink as well. They were the other trainees who lived on the other side of the plateau. They, too, came to meet and greet their young master. They were all filled with curiosity they couldn't help chattering among themselves.

"Does this mean he lost again?"

"What else? Or he wouldn't be here, would he?"

"You sound like you wanted him to lose, ungrateful bastard!"

"What do you mean? I was just stating the obvious. And for your information I always hoped he would win. It's just that lately I would rather have Young Master Garth teaching us than some other young master who would more likely hate being here. Young Master Garth at least likes coming here when he could always demand to be assigned to a town or even a city."

"You can't possibly know that! Who would prefer to teach in our shithole of a village over that of a city?"

"Yeah, that's like settling for a warty old hag when a beauty is offering herself up."

"What do you mean I can't possibly know? Didn't Senior Blink say it one too many times? Senior Garth may not be a top disciple, but he ranks at the top of those who aren't."

Blink turned to see who was speaking. It's not what he said that piqued his interest. It was how he said it. He was trying to copy Blink's voice except that he made it sound a little girly.

Everybody froze when Blink turned his head their way. He caught sight of one of them trying to hide behind another trainee. It was the one called Booger. Senior Garth named him so because he was always picking his nose. Booger looked at Blink warily, but it was his shaking knees that gave him away.

When Blink walked towards him, his teeth started chattering. He looked like he was going to faint on the spot.

"Booger! That's your name right?" Blink singled out the boy as soon as he was standing in front of him.

"Yes, Senior," the boy managed to say despite the chattering of his teeth.

"Were you just saying something a while ago about something I said?" Blink questioned the boy. He didn't sound angry.

But Booger was quite smart to not think the chinky-eyed hero of their village was incapable of anger despite his very gentle manner of speaking.

"What's that, Senior? I really don't know what you're talking about." Booger managed to lie with a straight face that Blink could not help but be impressed.

"Hmmm… You sure? I'm quite sure that voice came from right here. A poor imitation of my voice?"

"It wasn't me, Senior." This time Booger didn't sound confident. He was also looking sideways through his eyeballs.

"I didn't say it was you. I only said the voice came from right here."

"Er…Senior… I mean, I'm just saying. It's not like you're asking anyone else but me."

"Oh, so you're suspecting that I'm suspecting you?"

"Ahh!" Booger scratched his head not knowing how to respond. His mouth was wide open and remained so for a while.

"It was you, right?" Blink asked Booger once more. Blink was actually quite sure it was Booger. When he turned his head a while back, the boy was about to say more before he cut himself short.

"Now what should I do with you?" Blink said gently.

"I swear, Senior, it wasn't me!" Booger tried to deny it once more.

"Alright, who was it then? Don't be afraid. Just point him out to me."

Seeing that the boy didn't dare to rat anyone out, Blink stood beside a boy to the right. "Is it him?"

Booger did not respond.

He walked across to a boy at the other side of Booger. "Is it him?"

No response.

"Is it Cross-Eyed?"

No response as well.

Blink went back in front of Booger. "It's not anyone of them, right?"

Booger nodded his head.

"So, you admit then?"

"Yes, Senior."

"That you're the one who made a girlish imitation of my voice?"

"Yes, Senior."

"Does my voice really sound as ridiculous as that?"

"No, Senior Blink."

"Good. As your punishment you must entertain us by singing in your imitation of a girl's voice."

"Aah! Could you please ask me to do something else, Senior? I didn't mean to mess around just now."

"No, you were just seeking death, right? I won't repeat myself again. Unless you want to know the reason why I'm called the Butt-Sticking Brownie. Ugh! I hate that name! Now sing!"

Booger didn't need any more prompting. He sang a popular song about a guy revealing his feelings to the girl he had been in love with for a long time. As such Booger's imitation of a girl's voice had such a hilarious effect that made some of the boys sit down and clutch their tummies as they laughed their hearts out.

The boy had sung five songs by the time Garth arrived at the plateau. He led everyone to the Kasgar training center. The center was an open field fenced with logs the size of a man's thigh. At the center of the field was an elevated square platform that stretches for ten meters on each side. At the four corners were smaller platforms with a length of eight meters and a width of seven meters.

The platform at the center was where the instructor stood when he needed to demonstrate a move or technique. The four other platforms were used for sparring. Sometimes, the central platform was used for sparring as well but only for the best fighters among the trainees.

Blink didn't try to pluck his senior from the kids seeing as they were very much eager to hear from their young master.

Booger tried to slink away with the crowd, but Blink grabbed him before he could take three steps.

"I'm not yet done with you," Blink said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Continue singing for me."

The boy tried to protest, but changed his mind. Blink was beating his left palm with an imaginary stick held in his right hand.

Unable to ignore the unusual singing of the boy beside Blink, Garth eventually came down the central platform and walked towards Blink.

"What are you making Booger do?" Garth asked.

Booger immediately stopped singing. His face was red all over in embarrassment.

"I didn't tell you to stop," Blink said

The boy looked at Young Master Garth with pleading eyes.

"Don't look at me," Garth said. "This is between you and your senior."

Finding no help from their teacher, Booger was forced to continue singing that ridiculous love song:

—The memory of your smile warms my heart always;

One I will keep until my dying days.

Please, my cruel love, say you'll be mine;

My heart is dying with each passing time.

What good is life without you by my side?

If you say no, I'd rather I had died.

Don't be cruel my love, say you love me too;

My heart's a dying river bleeding out for you--

Garth looked at Blink with a puzzled expression. "You like this song?"

"Not really. I'm just punishing him for seeking death."

"By making him sing such a ridiculous song with a ridiculous girlish voice?"

"Thank you for stating the obvious."

Garth smiled at the sarcasm in Blink's tone. "You don't seem very happy to see me," he teased.

"Just that it took you forever to get here. I've been taking care of your litter for days, but you sure took your time getting back."

"Hey, I got entangled in some bandit business along the way! Those stupid townsmen actually expected me to handle a dozen bandits in a minute like some brownie that passed by not so long ago!"

"Why get mad at your own incompetence?"

"You…" Garth had a sudden realization. "Oh, so you missed me didn't you?

"Well, I would have missed you too if I didn't have such an exciting time at the academy."

"You wish! So, who'd you lose to this time?" Blink had a smirk on his face.

"Lose, your ass! I won ha ha ha ha!"

"Ha! Don't make me laugh. You're here, so that means only one thing."

"Ouch, that hurts, brother! I chose to come back, that's why."

"Alright, I'll play along. So which senior brother was stupid enough to let you beat him this time?"

"Hammer." Garth said it so casually like it's no big deal.

"Hammer? No way!"

"Yes way!"

"You beat Senior Hammer?!"

"Yeah!"

"The number one senior disciple?"

"Yeah!"

"I don't believe you!"

"I can't believe myself either!"

"That's…That's great ha ha ha ha!"

"It is. Now I'm the number one disciple of the Ragha Martial Arts Academy."

Blink shook his senior brother's hand and congratulated him. As for Garth, he thanked Blink profusely for helping him prepare for the assessment.

Blink had a sudden thought. "But why are you back here? Aren't you supposed to teach at the academy as the top senior disciple?"

"Didn't I tell you? I chose to come back. I requested Master Tszarek and he readily agreed."

Blink was confused. "Why would you rather teach here when you can actually have the best students there?"

Garth looked Blink up and down. He gave his junior brother a sly grin. Seeing that, Blink had a sudden feeling his senior brother was up to no good.

"I met this girl, you see."

"A girl? A girl had you running all the way here? Stop talking nonsense, Senior!"

"You don't understand. This girl is uncommonly beautiful. If you let her stand among other beauties, her beauty would still stand out."

"Bullshit! If she was such a beauty, you'd have run towards her, not away from her!"

"Let me finish first. Anyway, she begged me for an audience which I gallantly granted as a perfect gentleman."

"A lot of things wrong with that statement."

"You're interrupting me again, Brother Blink. So she asked to talk to me, and I said yes. She told me about this boyfriend of hers who left her nearly three rahang ago under very dubious circumstances."

Blink had a feeling that he could smell a dead rat.

Garth continued with his story.

"Since I am personally acquainted with the erring boyfriend. I told her that he's doing well at Kasgar and is actually helping me teach the kids."

Blink finally figured it out. "You met up with Berge? My Berge?"

"Of course I did! Like I said, she initiated the meeting, not me. Obviously, I'm too much of a good friend to hit on your girl."

"How is she?"

"Oh, she's fine. Still not yet over you, I suppose. Anyway, she is now number one among the junior disciples. She must have channelled all that rage at being ditched by you at her fellow junior disciples."

"I didn't ditch her!"

"Oh, but that's how she felt about it."

"Stop messing around, Senior!" Blink suddenly had a pensive expression. "So, she's number one now huh? That's good to know."

Garth smiled mischievously while Blink was pondering the latest news on his girlfriend.

"Quite an interesting girl, your sweetheart is," Garth said then cleared his throat. "She wouldn't let me go even after I had told her all she needed to know about you.

"I think we might have made a connection there. And since you are going to be away for a very long time, there's a good chance we can get closer to each other."

At that Blink gave his senior brother a nasty head-to-toe and back lookover.

"Aren't you rather much too old for her? She's only fifteen, you know. Half your age?"9

"Wouldn't that make me the envy of my friends ten or so years from now? Besides age is just a number."

"That does it! Right now, you and me! Let me see how your number one martial arts stands up to mine. I'm going to put you to sleep on the ground and leave you there the whole night."

"You talk as if you have the capability. C'mon! Bring it on!"

The children were suddenly excited. They were about to witness a fight between the two best fighters they knew (the only fighters they knew actually) and they jostled each other for position.

But contrary to their expectations, it was the most boring fight they had ever watched. A sparring bout between newbies was a lot more exciting. They mostly saw several kicks and punches that were pulled. Moreover, they couldn't understand the constant switching of stances.

In the end their Young Master Garth lost. He conceded defeat after their Senior Blink launched himself in the air, twisted and struck down with his palm. The palm actually didn't hit but overshot Young Master Garth, hitting nothing but the air on the side of him. This and their young master's subsequent admission of defeat only confused the younger children.

The sparring bout lasted for fifteen minutes, at the very least. It was an intense fight that required every bit of tremendous concentration. As soon as it was over, Blink plopped down and laid against the grass. He could see splotches of orange and crimson on the clouds to the west. He turned his head to have a better view of the sunset.

Garth sent the kids home before plopping down beside Blink. He pulled a grass stem and munched the lower edge before leaving it hanging in his mouth.

"That palm style of yours is getting more and more elusive," Garth declared.

"You almost got me with that push kick to the chin as you pretended to stumble," Blink replied ignoring the compliment.

"I was setting up for a four-punch body to head combo follow-up, but you happened to crouch down for a wheel kick."

In that sequence Blink pulled back the wheel kick then projected a turning side kick with his lead foot (left) and shoulder. However, at the end of the turn, Blink set down his right foot and swung a slap with his left hand as his left foot stepped forward. It was the next strike that struck though. Garth blocked the slap and prepared to deal with the incoming palm to his face with an upward block. It was actually a [Curling Strike] that went under Garth's forearm and slammed against his chest.

With Blink attaining advanced proficiency with [Collapsing Mountain] that would have been a decisive strike had Blink bothered to put some strength to it.

As they were talking about Berge a while ago, one of the teardrop gems had a sudden reaction. After talking about the fight, Blink peered into his dimensional ring with his spiritual sense and his mind registered a silvery teardrop gem with rays of faint, light and deep purple. He withdrew the gem and held it before him.

A few days ago, he gave one of the gems to Hubr. He had noticed that whenever Hubr was close to him, the gem would enlarge and emit a silvery lustre with a dab of light purplish glow.

So, that evening, Blink went to see Hubr in his room to hand over the teardrop gem to him. He explained to Hubr how he got hold of the gem telling the boy that it chose him to be its owner. He explained to Hubr the process of the gems merger with its owner even as he gave his nephew sufficient warning of the tremendous pain he was likely to experience.

When Blink handed over the glowing teardrop gem, Hubr held it in frong of him and guided it to a specific spot in his forehead.

To Blink's shock, Hubr felt no pain at all even when the gem emitted a powerful radiance before disappearing into Hubr's forehead.

After some extensive sparring with Zugr, Hubr came to realize that the gem guided him how to channel his internal energy to be able to resist when he couldn't dodge or block a powerful blow.

"I have a favor to ask you," Blink told his senior brother.

"Hmm… What's that?" Garth sounded sleepy.

Blink checked, and he had indeed closed his eyes.

"Could you give this tiny little gem to Berge?" Blink said.

Garth opened his eyes to look at it. Upon seeing the teardrop-shaped silver and purple gem, Garth looked almost shocked.

"Such exquisite craftsmanship!" he gasped in surprise. "Wow, I really have to hand it to you brother; you sure know how to value your woman."

"Of course!" Blink said trying to appear casual. He handed the gem over to Garth who couldn't get over the awe he felt looking at the exquisite beauty of the gem. He could not have possibly known that no craftsman could ever produce such exquisite texture, not to mention the color scheme.

They continued to lay down some more and talked about the changes in the academy. During their conversation Garth reminded Blink of his mission.

"Master Tszarek said, 'Time is of the essence,'" Garth recalled.

Later on Garth recalled an amusing matter that made him laugh.

"What's so funny?" Blink asked. He was a bit surprised by Senior Garth's sudden laughter.

"You remember that bandit you captured at Calandra?"

"Yes, what about him?"

"That foreign bandit did turn out to be a soldier from the Kingdom of Layivja but was doing mercenary work for our northern neighbor, the Kingdom of Tarask."

"Why am I not surprised?" Blink retorted drily.

"You know what's funny? That one has a very strange fear of sticks. Whenever he saw one, he'd cringe into a corner and shake uncontrollably. That's how we got him to spill out the information."

As Blink didn't bother to say anything, Garth asked him what he did to the bandit to make him so scared at the mere sight of a stick.

"Something related to my new nickname," Blink replied.