Chapter 8: War and Peace

Xavier grunted as he felt a dull ache spread throughout his arms. Gritting his teeth, Xavier pulled himself up with his outstretched hand and raised his other arm to reach the next foothold (or was it a handhold in this case? He wasn't sure). To his side, Kai was also struggling with the same training, though not to the same degree that he was. Kai was putting in a ton of effort, but he wasn't in a constant struggle like Xavier was. Meanwhile, Wu was already at the top of the mountain, having moved with speed that belied his age all the way through. Xavier had to admit he was impressed, though he wasn't sure if the old man's strength was the result of training or his divine parentage. He wondered if the reason Kai was beating him as well was due to the difference in their training: Kai, who used heavy armor and swords had a lot of strength and muscle compared to him since he used a bow. Xavier was undaunted however, and with patience and determination, he was certain he could make it through the first challenge.

As Xavier slowly but surely climbed up the rocky mountainside, his thoughts drifted off to Falia, who had helped teach him that focus and resolve in the first place. Wu had given him and Kai a few minutes to tell Falia what had happened, since she had been far away from where the action was: from what she had seen, she had thought that the skulkin were monsters that had come to terrorize the village, and when she found out their true objective had been to kidnap Nya and steal something from the shop, Falia almost fell over in shock.

"What are we going to do? We have to go get her back!"

Kai and Xavier were barely able to explain to her about Master Wu, who had shown up and told them he knew a way to get her back if they trained with him. The name seemed to spark a faint recollection in her, and she seemed to scowl, saying that she needed to accompany them. When Xavier told her that Wu was only allowing them two to follow, Falia was filled with an anger like nothing Xavier had seen before. It passed quickly though, and Falia ultimately acquiesced.

"Fine… if there's no other way, then I may as well stay here and help the villagers rebuild from the raid. Those skeletons were rowdy, so there's a lot to repair…. Just promise me you'll stay safe, ok?"

Both Kai and Xavier had to spend a lot of time assuring her that they would both exhibit the utmost caution, which mollified her a bit. Saying his goodbye with Kai, Xav had to admit he felt a bit of guilt at leaving her like this, even for a bit, but he was sure he had to do this. Besides, he couldn't simply leave Anya to her fate.

Xavier's inner dialogue continued for so long he didn't notice how far up the mountain he'd gone until he had finally reached the top. Kai and Wu had already made it to the top, and his fiery compatriot helped pull him up onto the peak. Xavier groaned in exhaustion

"Thanks… I'm going to need a moment…"

Xavier breathed heavily, before finally taking a moment to take in his surroundings. Now the monastery was finally in view, and he had to admit, it was quite the impressive sight, a beautifully designed building that hugged the mountain's peak.

"So this is the place huh?"

Kai seemed a bit skeptical of it however, and eyed the structure suspiciously, seemingly doubting its ability to serve as a place to train.

"You expect us to learn to fight in a place of peace?"

Xavier did let out a bit of a laugh at that, remembering all the novels and stories he'd read in his previous life: warrior monks and wise men who served as martial artists were a dime a dozen, even if Kai wasn't aware of it.

"Yeah it's a bit ironic, but it makes sense. You need to learn peace so you know why you fight war."

Upon hearing that, Master Wu gave a small smile, the first of the entire journey, and opened the door to let in the two.

"Perhaps I misjudged your friend here Kai: he is entirely correct, this monastery holds within it the tools you'll need to learn the art of Spinjitzu."

Letting the two in, Kai and Xavier entered an empty courtyard. Wu quickly walked in and pressed a button that had been hidden under a small dragon statue, and from underneath, various platforms popped out from under the ground, revealing all sorts of mechanical obstacles for martial arts training.

"Your objective will be to complete this course before I am able to make my tea and drink it. Each of you will have only one try a day, so you will need to make them count."

Kai hesitated, seemingly unsure of whether or not to say something about the needless limitation of attempts per day, and looked towards Xavier for his thoughts. Xavier could only offer a shrug in response, knowing that while it didn't make sense to him, there was probably logic behind it. Kai sighed and looked back towards the obstacle course, before taking the training sword starting his attempt. His resolve steeled, Kai actually did fairly well going through the obstacles, getting through the first one, a spinning platform with multiple cutouts of attackers, quite quickly, but ultimately failed when he was unsure of how to get through the obstacle with various spinning rods which needed to be avoided, giving Wu time to finish his tea. Kai looked frustrated, but Wu only looked towards Xavier to see what he would do. Xavier himself thought for a moment, before deciding to ask Wu a question.

"What are the rules for this challenge exactly? Can we only using the training sword or are other weapons on the table?"

Wu nodded, clearly having been expecting this question, but had been waiting until his unexpected student brought it up himself.

"Curiosity, a useful trait for a student of Spinjitzu. Any training weapon will suffice, though since it is intended to teach you Spinjitzu, a close range technique, you should rely on close range weapons. And do try to not damage the mechanisms, they are quite delicate."

Xavier nodded, and grabbing a staff, made his own attempt through the course, getting through the first stage and second stage with ease based on what he gleaned from watching Kai. Countering the cutouts with his weapon, he was able to duck under the spinning rods and get to the next obstacle, a spinning wheel of blades, but having no clue how to get around it, once again, the time limit caught up to him, and he was unable to complete it. Wu looked undaunted however, and only picked up his supplies and stood up.

"That will conclude today. Tomorrow you may attempt it again. Spend the rest of the day as you please."

Xavier wasn't so keen on letting Wu go just like that however. Just because that was the training limit they had, didn't mean that there weren't other things they needed from Wu. In particular, Xavier wanted answers to a few questions he had. Some of the things Wu had mentioned simply didn't add up, and he wanted to make sure the old man was at least being clear about things.

"Excuse me sir, but I have to ask, why was a map necessary in the first place? Do you not recall where you placed each of the four weapons of Spinjitzu."

Wu, who had been turning to leave, now looked back towards Xavier, intrigued by his question, and stroked his beard thoughtfully before answering.

"Hmm… I will say only this. There are many good people left in the world, who have the potential to do good. I had hoped that they would be able to learn the locations of the weapons without my help, but that is no longer an option.:

With that, the old master left the courtyard, leaving a now more suspicious Xavier to ponder his words, and try and understand what the mysterious man's intentions really were.