Beginning

In a distant land one boy was born to a poor family, in a land where fighting power is everything the first king of martial arts was born.

"My name is," I paused and took a deep breath, "Jason Davis and I'm going to be the king of martial arts!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs like I do every morning before my training.

The sky was still dark and the air cold as I began to jog around our small village of Hass. It wasn't much but it's my home, mama and papa were the village leaders, so needless to say I was treated pretty well. But whenever I would mention my dream to them they'd look sad and say, "be realistic hon'." Or "We can't support that dream with the coins we have now." We might be the village leaders but everyone in the village was poor, barely making enough to support their families. I looked down at my feet, that was the driving force behind my dream, with the constant battling between the martial arts factions no one could make any money that wasn't stolen or taken to use in battle. I began to push myself faster, my pace doubling. Each faction has their own style of combat, but no matter what it's always a dead tie between the three factions whenever they fight, no one making any progress towards a victory. I was determined t become the king, make my own faction, and unite the land, and bring peace. I had to, I would rather die then see my family keep struggling like this. I will make it happen, I kept swearing it to myself. But before I could do anything like that I had to prove it to my parents first, so every morning I run, as I am now.

I kept running until I rounded the village three times, then it was on to strength training. After I caught my breath I jogged over to the nearby forest, I managed to find a large tree. I stepped in front of it, quickly sliding my feet and hands into the proper fighting stance for Oikni. Oikni is a stance that has been passed down from generation to generation in my family, it's said to have a special place as the god's favorite fighting stance. Whatever that meant, papa always told me that whenever I saw him practicing his fighting. I steadily began to slow my breathing, I could barely see the tree but as I pulled my right fist forward I felt like I could see the green leaves and brown bark in my mind. I had intended to punch straight through the tree but my hand bounced off the hard, cold bark. I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming in pain, I did that every morning. I began my real strength training, i got down on one knee and pushed myself so I was standing on my hands. I began going up and down, I didn't keep count but when my arms collapsed from exhaustion they burned. I knew I had pushed myself by that feeling alone, and that brought a smile to my face. "Now for legs." I said aloud, enjoyment in my voice. I hopped up and began to balance on one leg, I began going up and down again. After an even longer time my right leg was shaking, I smiled bigger as I switched legs. The amount of pain I was in was immense but I kept going. I had one quote in my mind as I began to push my left leg down and up, "Hard work pays off, no matter what you do." My father told me that, I'm sure he meant it to help me feel better when I had to change my dreams. But I took it a little differently. When I was done I could barely walk, but that's when I heard my fathers voice. "Good gods Jason, you know your only fifteen, most kids in the village don't start training til they're seventeen" I could see his face in the dim morning light that cut through the trees. He had a huge grin on his face,

"Are you ready to spar?" He asked.

I looked at my father and smiled, "I am." I said.

I slid my feet and hands into the staance I had done before, an aura of calm about it. I faced my father every morning at the brink of dawn, and I'd lost every time. I had a feeling today would be different. He wasn't even in his stance, he just waited for me to make the first move. I stood there, still for a few seconds and then I attacked. I sprinted forward, the ground cracking beneath my feet from the sheer force I pushed into my legs, with blinding speed I spun my right leg into his midsection. He simply jumped over and kicked my left leg to make me lose balance, "Way to rushed and violent. Calm yourself and read my Kon." I was confused on what Kon was but I knew he was right, so I slowed my attacks and began adapting to his movements after my strikes. In a flurry of blows and kicks I had become out of breath and my attacks sluggish.

"You think an enemy is going to take it easy on you when your on the field of battle?" Father barked.

With that he grabbed my hips and slammed me into the cold sodden dirt, knocking the wind out of my chest in the process. He stood above me, waiting for a response. I had lost again, I knew my father was the best fighter in the village, but I had never seen that side of him before.

"No sir." I replied slowly.

He helped me up and we sat and began to talk, as we usually do after we spar.

"You've been getting stronger." He noted.

"Yeah, I've never seen you bring out that slam before, what's it called." I asked.

"Back when I was still fighting it was called the final bell." He said, a sly grin on his face.

"Interesting, teach it to me!!" I said, eyes wide with anticipation.

"When your strong enough to learn it I will." He said.

"Oh father, what is Kon?" I asked.

"I did say something about that huh." He said, pausing to think of a way to explain it.

"Yeah, I figured I'd ask you so it can help me." I said.

"We'll son, Kon is a type of energy force that lives inside us. It can be used to enhance our physical abilities, predict movements, sense people and even used in fighting. Once you unlock your Kon you must master it swiftly." My father finished, pausing again to think.

I waited for his next words eagerly,

"And since you've been training so hard I'll even tell you about the advanced stages of Kon." He said.

I was happy when he said that, he was actually praising me. I could feel the joy twinkling in my eyes as I sat there waiting for him to speak.

"Stage one of advanced Kon energy is Blood usage, you channel your Kon into your own blood and decide where you want it to go, it can be used to enhance attacks and sharpen your senses. But the downside is it can only be used for one thing at a time." He stated.

"So it's a way to sharpen your senses and power up your attacks even further then they already are?" I asked.

He nodded and kept talking,

"Stage two is more attack based and more dangerous, it's called Muscle Enhancing, it's pouring Kon energy into a muscle or limb to drastically enhance its attack power. But the huge downside is, if you miss with that attack there is a huge opening for your opponent to strike seeing as the attack is supposed to finish off your opponent." He said.

"Kind of like a finishing blow?" I asked.

He nodded again and kept talking,

"Stage three is Kon manipulation, this extremely difficult stage has a huge major upside and downside. It's upside is it can change the tide of battle, it's downside is it has a time limit. Also it can only be used for one move, a move that you create." He finished, jabbing me with his finger.

"So my own move?" I asked, father nodded again.

"How do I unlock my Kon?" I asked.

Father hesitated before he answered, "Don't tell your mother but it's from a huge surge in your emotions, weather that be anger, sadness or love. Any large enough effect on your emotions has a chance to unlock it." He said. I smiled up at him, by that time it was bright outside and the village was just starting to wake up.

"Come on, I think I smell your mother's elder berry fruit salad!" Father said happily.

I began to walk alongside him back home, my heart tingling with joy, I was sure of what I needed to do now. I needed to unlock my Kon!