Chapter 22: The True Meaning of Killing

Conflicted gaze of Olivia was something I expected. Those feelings can't be processed in just 2 days.

(I know from the experience.)

I didn't want to pull her into a conversation she wasn't ready for, so I asked a normal question.

"How have you been?"

"Go..Good, and you?" The topic I chose surprised Olivia. She predicted we will talk about what have happened and my sudden question broke her train of thoughts.

"Great, after resolving my misunderstanding with Amelia."

"I see." Olivia gave me a simple answer, probably not sure if I will change the subject to the one she was wary off.

"I know you aren't ready to speak about that and I won't pursue this matter if that is the case." I said it in hopes that Olivia's head will be freed from those thoughts.

She hesitated, but nodded her head regardless "Thank you, Alexander."

"No problem." I smiled at her as a response.

*******************

"Ameliaaaaaa!!!"

After going to the kitchen the next morning, I saw Mira jumping at Amelia and throwing her at the ground. Mira's excitement made her express her emotions in that way.

"AAAA!...Mira! What are you doing?" Amelia didn't know what to do, she let Mira hug her and even reciprocate the hug.

"I'm so happy. My sister is finally back." In that moment Mira started crying, all of the previous excitement overflowed her with emotions and the only output they found were tears.

Smile appeared on my face without realizing it, but unfortunately I won't be able to experience this scene any longer.

"I'm leaving. See you all, later." After saying my goodbyes, I left the house.

Today, I decided to go to a specific place, a dojo. I didn't plan to do this so soon, but I had no other choice.

[Hand to Hand combat Lvl 9]

Not long after reaching this level, I felt like I could bring it to level 10 pretty quickly like before, but it wasn't the case. I was stuck on this level, no matter how much I practised, how much I fought. It didn't raise.

I think I know the reason why I'm stuck, it comes down to enemies I fight with. Zombies can't put up a fight, they don't dodge, they don't punch, nothing, it's like beating a bag that doesn't protect itself.

I did the best to kill them in shortest time, in more ways, using different methods, but at some point I couldn't learn anything new. Fight with them looks the same, the only variarity comes when I use other weapons.

My sword let's me kill them better, but I know that not long from now, I won't be able to progress with it too.

(I need to find new enemies, or someone that can teach me.)

While making my way to the dojo, I recalled its advertisement.

COME TO THE HAN FAMILY DOJO

WE PROMISE TO TEACH YOU MARTIAL ARTS, AND TRAIN YOU TO DEFEAT YOUR ENEMIES.

There is also address, and nothing else, just couple of words that intrigued me. They didn't said anything about some masters or how great they are like the rest did.

(I thought it doesn't hurt to look at this place.)

Soon, I reached this so called Han Family Dojo. It was located in the middle of the city, with shops and skyscrapers around it.

I walked around its surroundings, until I saw a stone wall with an oval hole in it. I looked around the corner, seeing a building that made me check my surroundings again.

(Left, skyscrapers.) I nodded.

(Right, shops.) I nodded.

(Front, a big traditional Japanese dojo, with an even bigger traditional Japanese household behind it.) I shock my head and looked around again.

....

.....

.....

Some time later

(Ok. What is this building? It this some kind of joke?)

Just around this corner was a wooden bridge, with a pond under it, in which kois of at least twenty colors were swimming. Around this pond were cherry blossom trees, making it seem like a scene straight from anime.

(Such a simple notice and such a unexpected place. I'm not sure it that's a good, or bad thing yet.)

This sight made me want to see this place, so I walked on this bridge and slowly made my way to the dojo. This walk made me relaxed. I didn't rush myself, I enjoyed this view all the way.

(Let's go inside.)

As I approached the door of this place, they got destroyed. From inside of them flew a guy in a kimono, unconscious.

I checked his state and saw no serious damage on his body. Then, I directed my gaze at the broken door and saw a girl with pink nails on both her hands and feet do a roundhouse kick on a next guy in a kimono.

He stood no chance against her and flew immediately. Couple guys tried to fight her too, but no one succeeded, she beat anyone that approached her.

With no idea what was happening, I left the guy on the ground and entered the dojo, while avoiding the pieces of destroyed door on the floor.

Inside of this place left me mesmerized, something about it's simplicity and at the same time it's decorations, was captivating.

With me looking around the interior walls, trying to see what this place had to offer, I didn't pay attention to the fighting that still proceed on the main mat.

After seeing every wall and place, I returned to my senses and heard a friendly voice beside me.

"I guess you never saw something like this. It's nice, isn't it?"

"It really is." I replied to that person and turned to look at him.

It was a man who was slightly leaning forward and was sitting in a cross-legged position, with one of his hands on his knee and the other possing as support for his head, with elbow placed on his other knee. He look at the scene in front of him, inspecting every disciple in the dojo.

"How is this even possible for a place like this to exist in the middle of the city, Old Man?"

"Old Man? No one called me that for a long time." This man didn't answer my question, he sounded more amused by the title I called him.

With him not replying to me, I didn't ask again. I knew he heard me and he would have replied if he wanted to.

I also directed my gaze to the mat, seeing that now all of the girl's previous opponents layed on the ground, either beatten to a pulp or breathing hard. The ones that were still standing, probably surrendered before she could finish them off.

(She's good.)

When this thought crossed my mind, I heard the man from before speak.

"Tell me, kid. Who did you kill recently?"

This question made me instantly turn to this man, who was now standing in front of me, without me knowing when he got up.

"How?"

He is a middle age man, build like a wall. Maybe not literal wall, but his muscular build and his height of at least 195 cm, represents that. His aura screams 'You can't pass thrught me without killing me first'. He wears a white karategi with black belt. The front of this karategi is open, showing his chest that has a huge scar going from its right side down to his abdomen. He also wears black sleeves on his forearms, they look like they are made of some kind of leather.

And when you look at his head, you can see it's full of white hair. They are mid lenght and are facing backwards, they aren't staight, they are more like a storm on back of his head. It even looks like they don't dare to cover his facial expression. On his face itself you can see angry looking white bushy eyebrows, just above his golden eyes that have no pupils in them, they just shine. He also has a short beard that follows his hair's example and a mustache similar to chevron, but its ends are much longer making them more pointy and thiner.

I stared at his face, waiting for some kind of reply. And he soon granted it.

"Your killing intent is leaking. Anyone who even killed one creature could easily notice it."

"Leaking? What do you mean? And if that's the case, why I don't feel your's?"

"A lot of question...But I will happely give the answer to all of them." In that moment, I saw a black aura forming around this man. It didn't look like a smoke, it was real, I knew it and that scared me. I felt like he killed milions and I will be next.

As this aura was spreading and when it almost reached me, I heard a female voice.

"Dad, you're scaring the others. Stop!"

And as soon as those words finished, this aura disappeared.

"Of course. I just wanted to show this kid what real control of killing intent looks like."

I swallowed my saliva, trying to moisturize my throat form how dry it became.

"Did you see? This is how killing intent should work, not like yours." He said it like a teacher to his student. Like he wanted to teach me.

"I did...Old Man, can you teach me how to control it?" I smiled hopefully.

"To teach you I will need to explain why your killing intent is leaking in the first place." This time he didn't bother about my title for him. He just crossed his muscular forearms and began explaining.

"Killing intent is not something you gain. Everyone is born with it, it's inside them. And just as a child learning to control your emotions, people need to learn how to control it too." He looked at me, probably checking if I understood everything.

And when he saw that I did, he continued "But it's not like it leaks from everyone. It stays dormant until you kill for the first time, this is when it truly turns into the state you saw."

He stopped talking and I saw it as a sign for me to ask another question.

"And how do one control it?"

"There are couple of ways, the first one being killing. Killing intent is like a hungry beast that never can get satysfyed, it wants to feed on death constantly and won't rest until you give it to that beast. That's why some of the soldiers can't rest after returning home, killing intent wants to feed on what it lacks and when it can't, it does that on its owner. It destroyes him, making his life unberable till his last days, or until it's owner finally gives in and kills whatever is in his path."

This description gave me chills, I thought about every scenario when I end up like one of those monsters, hurting people closest to me.

Terrified by those thoughts I couldn't help, but speak, even if I already knew there was another way.

"There must be another way, right?"

He looked at me, still keeping his calm expression. "Calm down, kid. Your killing intent is unstable."

I took a couple of depth breaths, trying to understand his words.

"Unstable?"

"I didn't tell it to you yet, but killing intent is affected by your emotions, especialy by anger, sadness or fright. It feeds on them, knowing it can make you do things you usually wouldn't, it waits like a predator for a right moment to strike."

I nodded, finally calming down.

"There is another way. After all if there wasn't, our world will be full of mindless beasts....The other way is training martial arts. They can train not only your body, but also your mind and soul."

This time he looked up, as if recalling something.

"Our bodies are like temples and each one is different. Some are big and tall, others are small and short, but no matter how they look, they stand on the same foundation. Can you guess what it is?"

(I never thought about it that way, but at the same time it seems so obvious.)

"Our minds?"

"Correct. It's our minds that those temples stand on. And they let us control the beast inside us. This is the second way, our minds....Some people have them stonger from their birth, but without constant training they will crubmle no matter what."

"What about our souls?"

"Our souls are our existence, they stay in this temple and rule over it" then, he again looked at me "This is all you should know about them, for now."

This explanation made me feel respect for the man in front of me. He helped me without wanting anything back, it maybe were just words, but I know that they potentially saved my life.

I put my hands together and bowed to this man "Thank you for your lesson, Old Man."

"You shouldn't thank me. I didn't teach you how to control it, I only showed you the path."

I raised my head "You will. I decided to train in this dojo from now on. Will you accept me, Old Man?"

To my question, I heard a heartfull laugh "Hahahaha, I never met someone like you, kid. Even when you want to be my desciple, you still call me an Old Man....But, I accept. You can train here from now on."

After that, he sat cross-legged again and spoke to me for the last time before I left this dojo for today.

"I'm called Chikara Han."

While making my way out, I turned my head back and smiled.

"I still prefer Old Man, Old Man."