Chapter 4: Hellish Training

The next day Sam showed up at Old Man Lin's manor he was lucky enough to get a ride from Adam who happened to make a trip home. He was dressed in a regular shirt jogging pant and sneakers. For reasons unknown as soon as Sam got out of the car he sped off as if he couldn't get far enough from this place. Fang'er was the one who answered the door inviting him in.

" Well if it isn't little Sam how are you." Only to be given a stiff glare by Sam.

He detested when people called him little. It seems that Fang'er was impervious to his glare as he continued yapping on about this and that.

" Gramps, little Sam is here for training." He said as he took Sam to an open courtyard next to a pond.

There Old Lin was fishing in the pond, his fishing pole was a stick with a string attatched. Sam found the look comical how could you catch anything with a usless fishing pole. He dosen't even have bait...Before he could say anything else he saw Old Lin pull the stick up with a large fish attached.

Old Lin however didn't seem interested in the fish as he simply threw it back in.

"Well brat you finally showed up. Fang'er go and carry on with your training." Ok Gramps." He said as he gave Sam a 'try not to die look leaving the two alone.

" So Mr. Lin what martial art are you going to teach me? Karate, Judo, Kung Fu?"

He asked looking at Old Man Lin.

"Hahah, kid don't worry about that right now. At the moment you don't have the strength to learn any martial art. Much less what I am going to teach you."

"What, that what are we doing today."

" Conditioning." Old Man Lin gave him a evil smile. " Take of your shirt and pants." He said. Sam gave him a strange look, is my teacher a pedophile he wondered. HE knew that Mr. Douglass trusted him so he put it to the back oof his mind.

He took his shirt and pants off leaving only his leaving only his boxer and his mother necklace.

Old Man Lin's expression stiffened for a second but his face went back to normal. He stood up and went over to Sam as his hand began to wander the boy body. " Hey what are you doing, that feels funny." Sam said." I am checking you aptitude." Thats weird there is no branding. How does he have a pendant like that. " Sam you are adopted right what are you parents names, oh and put your clothes back on."

" My parent's?" Sam thought he thought about them often however their faces are beginning to blur in his memory. He was wondering if he should lie but decided not too. " My father's name was Wang Lie and my Mother name was Li Hua."

Old Man Lin was shocked again. 'Well this just got interesting. I get to pay back two debts.' he thought. "Okay brat this is the first exercise. I want you to stand horse stance. Like this." he." HE demonstrated as he squatted arms extended arms and legs parallel.

Sam copied him with some difficulty.

" Wrong make your arms stiff. Legs Shoulder with apart."

"How long do I have to stay like this" Sam asked.

"Until I say so."

Sam already regretted coming here, but he knew that he had to toughen up if he wanted to find out what happened with his parent death.

So he waited.

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours."

....

Four hours later he fell unconscious and collasped onto the ground.

" He lasted longer than I thought. Fang'er."He called.

" Yea Old Man." Fang'er who appeared behind Sam as if he had always been there.

" Take him and submerge him in the underground spring."

He looked surprised but picked the boy up and bought him inside the manor. Walking down a random corridor he suddenly stoped placed his hand on the wall. It began rumbling as an opening appeared. Going inside the wall went back to normal as if it had never changed.

He began descending a dark set of stairs. Eventually came to a opening. It looked like a cave much larger that the entire manor. In the middle of the cavern was a deep blue pool of water . It didn't seem deep at all but Fang'er could not see more than a couple of feet.

" Well little Sam good luck." He said as he threw Sam into the pool of water.

As soon as Sam hit the water he woke up. He knew how to swim. Their was a large pool in his backyard for goodness sake. However, the water in this pool felt heavy, every time he moved he would sink deeper. He could not see at all everything was dark. At this point he had been in the pool for five minutes! Which should be impossible but Sam felt he wasn't at his limit yet. Eventually he fell to the bottom of the pool. He was stuck and eventually he began to run out off breath.

He didn't know what to do and could only desperately sit there. He could now feel is chest ache as his lungs begged for oxygen. Just as he lost conscious he heard a voice. " Hmm." He heard a deep voice that seemed to shake the depts of the pool. 'Swish' Something suddenly rubbed against Sam's legs. He didn't know what it was but it was sharp as it drew blood.

"This blood." The voice spoke again as if to ponder something.

"It is familiar. Kid who is Wang Huang to you child." The voice asked.

Sam thought about that name. " I don't know. Wait! Why can I talk underwater?"

" Don't change the subject brat, who is Wang Huang to you. Brat think hard, really hard your life depends on it."

Sam was caught off guard, the name seemed familiar but be couldn't put his finger on it. The threats certainly didn't help. Sam was young and was never in such a situation before.

" Ah I know who it is." He said.

" Well brat on with it."

"But how do I know you won't still kill me?"

"Just trust me." The voice tried to coax him.

" How can I trust something I can't see." Sam cleverly said. He didn't know who he was talking about but he couldn't tell the voice that. He could only try to buy time to figure it out.

" Son of a bitch." The voice yelled furious at the child.

" Fine brat I'll show you but don't shit yourself." The voice said as the world in front of Sam became clear. He was now standing on a mountain. In the sky was a large coiling dragon its body looked so long that it could wrap around the earth.

"Dra Dra Dragonn!" Sam muttered