A Tiger's Troubles

I was able to eventually recover from my psychological breakdown and led Melissa to the venue I had prepared for her and the rest of my family. They were already there, seated.

I counted the seats, and instead of the expected 3, one for each member of my family, I counted over 100 in total. Before I could even question who had messed with my seating arrangement, like a 30-year-old woman flipping out before her wedding because the tablecloths didn't match the color of her dress, I had my shoulder forcefully grabbed by the sneaky giant behind me.

"Good to see you again, Master Ryuu," I said to the old man, while pleading with my eyes to Melissa, hoping she stayed quiet and didn't continue her apprenticeship under Satan. "I thought we were done training for today?"

"Hmm, not taking it seriously again, are we young man?" asked the old man rhetorically, not waiting for my answer. "It's fine, Melissa invited me to check out this little show you were going to perform."

"And the chairs, master?" I asked, already knowing the answer to my question.

"Hahaha, I invited some of the disciples and some other special guests to enjoy the show. You better perform well, young man," said the man with a smile, veiling the threat in his statement.

"Oh! Grandpa Ryuu, come sit here, I saved you a spot," interjected my sister from afar, pointing to an empty chair right next to her, under the gallery of vacant seats all around her.

I was rescued from my predicament and went backstage to change into my Tigress costume. I then jumped out from behind the curtain under the astonished gazes of the crowd.

I let out a roar, perfectly imitating the sound of a tiger, attempting to scare my sister to get revenge for her previous betrayal. Unfortunately, after hanging out with a real-life giant like Kaiou Ryuu, even a saber-toothed tiger wouldn't be enough to scare the little devil.

Other than my aunt and uncle, who let out small smiles at me trying to impress Melissa with my acting skills, and Melissa herself who was having the most fun trying to get Tigress's attention, all the monks, including Master Ryuu, were trying their best to hold in their laughter. An act, which despite their strict training, they were failing spectacularly at.

Taking a mental note of everyone who was pointing and laughing especially hard at me, 'an eye for an eye, remember,' I finally got serious and started showing off my skills in the Tiger Fist Form, having a couple of 'bad guys' come on stage to be beat up by Tigress's Kung-Fu skills.

Of course, all of my fellow play actors were disciples who were either lazy in their training or simply needed to be punished by the temple for one reason or another.

I was able to vent my frustrations and eventually beat everyone up with my skills. I was just planning to end the first act and switch into my Mantis costume placed backstage when I saw Melissa's head turn to my left and an expression of pure excitement don her face.

"Master Shifu!"

I turned my head around fast enough to give me neck whiplash, afraid of what's coming next.

"Hohoho, you did pretty well, Miss Tiger," said the Supreme Grandmaster of Chinese Kenpo, playing into a children's skit.

'Come on, aren't you too old to be doing these kinds of things?' I could only bury my frustrations deep in my heart.

"But I think you can still use some training. How about I help you a bit as your master?" said the old man with a vicious grin, beginning his attacks. The precision and quickness of his attacks made it impossible to completely dodge every single one. Whenever I used an attack incompatible with Tiger Fist Form, I was met with a barrage of offensive Xiaoli attacks in response, so I was forced to continue my act as Master Shifu's disciple.

It seemed even my aunt and uncle were convinced that it was all part of the act, as they screamed at 'Master Shifu' to punch me harder and 'teach me a lesson.'

After an excruciatingly long period of time, the exchange of attacks finally stopped, the costume hiding the many bruises to my body that I had sustained.

"Looks like that's enough for today, Tigress," I was glad at his words, almost celebrating his kindness if not for the words that followed, "...call in Mantis for his part of the training next."

"Yay!" screamed my sister, drowning out my cries of misery on stage.

It wasn't until all the Furious Five members had their individual training session that the play finally came to an end.

I told my aunt and uncle to take Melissa to their rooms for today to avoid her seeing my battered state. I had already told Melissa that I would be 'extra busy' today, so she would have to see the Furious Five without me, so she was prepared to spend the night in Aunt Elizabeth's room anyway.

The sun had long set before the play had ended, and after applying some medicine to nurse my injuries, I decided to go out for a stroll in the wilderness surrounding the mountain. I had traveled for who knows how long while distracted by my thoughts of the future.

Eventually, I found myself near a river with some still water. I looked at myself in the water, not surprised at the reflection that greeted me.

"Why," I asked aloud, still unable to break out of my bad habbit.

"Why am I not surprised anymore?"

'I had remembered throwing away any and all mirrors when I first woke up in Kuzan's body.' The martial system had completely synchronized my movements to the body, ensuring that I did not feel physically uncomfortable in it, but the psychological aspect remained.

'Seeing another face staring back at you when you're washing your face in the bathroom mirror every morning is a feeling of uncanniness that I am sure few have experienced.'

"I know they say you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but, could it be me getting acclimated to this life?" I had spent 14 long years chained up to that hospital bed, but I could guarantee that I didn't have even 1/10th the amount of fun in my entire previous life than I did in the year I had been here.

'So many things have changed.' I sighed at the vicissitudes of life, 'only one thing has remained the same.'

'My resolve.'

'My motivation, my drive, my passion, as long as my martial path doesn't change, nothing has really changed.'

While contemplating my inner thoughts, I felt my martial senses flare up as I sensed a large presence behind me, waiting to attack.

I quickly dodged out of the way of the paw that was about to strike the left side of my back. While turning, I saw the appearance of my attacker, an Asiatic black bear that was surprised that his attack had missed.

I turned around, my eyes staring into the beast's in a contest of seeing who's more feral. I let the killing intent ooze out of my body, ready for the fight that was about to take place.

'I always wanted to test my skills out on a wild animal. It's no tiger, but I guess it'll have to do for now.' I tried my best to hide the internal glee that I was feeling at the prospect of being free to fight my opponent to the death. I was afraid of the ramifications that analyzing my emotions while getting ready to kill my opponent would have on my psyche.

I readied my body, curious to see how well the Tiger Fist Form would fare against the bear. My worries were misplaced as before I could even show the bear a 'good time,' it ran away with its tail between its legs.

"Damn, wish it were a brown or polar bear instead." I was disappointed at the outcome of the fight, but considering how I had saved a life, I decided to let it go.

'It's only been a week and I've already improved drastically under the instruction of Master Ryuu and Master Kaku.'

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[Status]

Name: Kuzan Rosan

Age: 14 years

Title: [Martial Novice]

Strength: 30/100 (Average Adult Value: 10)

Stamina: 31/100 (Average Adult Value: 10)

Intelligence: 28/100 (Average Adult Value: 10)

Dexterity: 29/100 (Average Adult Value: 10)

Will-Power: 65/100 (Average Adult Value: 10)

Perception: 35/100 (Average Adult Value: 10)

Skills: [Willful Eye (99/100)] [Warrior's Dominion (80/1000)] [Face Mask (60/100)] [Concealment (80/100)] [Dodging (80/100)] [Anatomy Mastery (15/100)] [Martial Language (learned)] [Goutaijutsu (intermediate)]

Techniques: [Karate (97/100)] [Kick Boxing (55/100)] [Boxing (65/100)] [Judo (50/100)] [Muay Thai (70/100)] [Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (67/100)] [Wrestling (40/100)] [Chinese Kenpo (10/1000)] [Xiaoli (90/100)]

Genes Synced: [Locked]

[Warrior's Dominion (80/1000)]: An upgraded version of the skill [Battle Aura], this skill envelops the host in an overwhelming presence of power and authority on the battlefield. When used correctly, you exude an aura that not only enhances your combat abilities but also instills fear and respect in your opponents. Your every movement becomes a testament to your dominance, and your senses are finely tuned to detect and counter any threat. This skill transforms you into the ultimate warrior, commanding the battlefield with unparalleled confidence and control.

[Martial Language (learned)]: This skill allows worthy fighters to communicate seamlessly, transcending any language barrier. When used correctly, the host can understand and convey messages to beings that resemble beasts in the form of humans. Your ability to communicate in the heat of battle becomes a powerful tool, enabling coordination and understanding in even the most chaotic situations.

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I had found another aspect of the martial system; it would upgrade your skills once you reached their limits. My [Battle Aura] skill had already evolved in my first encounter with Master Kaku. I was thankful that unlike video games, the 'experience' required to get to the next 'point' still remained the same, whether it was the upgraded version of the skill or not.

This meant that the effort it would have taken to raise [Battle Aura] by one point would be the same amount of effort needed to raise [Warrior's Dominion] by one point. Obviously, there was a much higher 'cap' on the points required for the next potential upgrade to the skill, but at least I wasn't left guessing about when I would next reach that level.

I was also able to verify my guess that there was no small limit to martial arts such as Karate or Chinese Kenpo. My [Anatomy Mastery] skill was also finally making some progress now that I had started to learn Chinese medicine from the talented elders at Balin Temple.

However, most important of all was my new skill, [Martial Language]. I had been using this skill consistently during my time at Balin Temple to communicate with the different masters and disciples. I was unfortunately unable to improve it past the 'learned' stage due to the lack of variety of fighters you would expect at a Chinese temple.

'If the description of the skill is true, then it'll only make my future plans much easier.' I was jubilant at the gain of my new skill, especially considering how hard it had been recently to find new ones.

Still, the main reason I had come to the forest wasn't to analyze my new skills in peace, it was in regards to a question I had asked all too late since coming to the temple. "Where's Kaiou Retsu?"

All the fellow disciples I had asked had told me that he had left the temple for some kind of tournament. It was only after I asked Master Ryuu that I was able to dig up more detailed information. Kaiou Retsu had indeed left the temple a couple of weeks ago to participate in a tournament,

'The Maximum Tournament.'

Apparently, he had lost in the tournament to its eventual winner, someone by the name of 'Baki Hanma.'

I was shocked at this outcome, finally understanding where in the timeline of events I was. One of the reasons I had kept from traveling to Japan from the get-go was due to the death row inmates that would make their way there to 'taste defeat.'

Something told me that with my luck, in the entirety of Japan, the inmates would somehow find only me to play with. I was still not confident enough to handle them with my current martial skills.

For that exact reason, I came to the Balin Temple as it was one of the few places where I could receive instruction while guaranteeing the safety of myself and my family.

It seemed that my over-cautious behavior was for naught as the Death Row Convicts saga still had to occur. I had plenty of time to get strong enough to defend myself from them by that time.

Was I sad that I had missed the chance to participate or even spectate the Maximum Tournament in person?

Yes.

Would I have to get over it?

Yes.

There was nothing I could do, it wasn't even that I had been too caught up in my training to notice the tournament's passing, the tournament had already taken place before I even arrived in China.

'I guess I'll just have to kick ass at the Raitai Tournament. I never really liked how it ended in the manga, no disrespect to Master Kaku's final form or anything, but I think I can put on an even better show.'

I found my way back to the temple's entrance and went to sleep, ready to continue Master Ryuu's vindictive training cycle in the morning.