The Task!!!

As Kai kept reading, scrolling the details of the task down, his face kept on gaining a baffled expression.

A magnificent task he had expected, to say the least.

Stealing a key ingredient from the Armies' headquarters? Killing a specific target? Prove his worth by mastering an impossible Skill or Ability?

These were only some tasks he had thought the Samurai would present him with. Some sensible ones.

But… making tea?

Yes.

The Task itself was titled - Jack's Satisfaction!

The data in the tablet was a detailed procedure of making Matcha tea in a traditional Japanese way. Not only that, but it also listed the etiquette involved, various elements of this ceremony, tools, and ingredients, and various gestures and talks that a host (i.e. Kai) must implement while carrying out the ceremony.

All these things were so detailed, in fact, that even after 3 hours of plunging deep into this hellhole, Kai had yet to read it all. And that was saying something, given his absurd memory and learning abilities.

Then there were hundreds of tutorial videos, a formless figure explaining and introducing all aspects of the tea ceremony with boundless patience.

Kai also knew patience, but this was getting irritating.

What the fuck?! Kai cursed, noticing that he had only gone through 60% of the content. What are the Systems up to?!

So much content did not trouble Kai. It's the nature of the task that made him anxious.

Even though he hadn't read all the data, Kai had already guessed what was the true Task. He just had to make tea. And if the Samurai, who were supposedly named Jack, were to find it to his satisfaction, then Kai would pass the 3rd Stage and win the Tournament of Worth.

"It's…" Kai mumbled, his eyes reflecting the video's content, "… so easy."

Indeed. The reason for his curses and baffled expressions was that he found the Task incredibly simple and easy.

One must not forget that since his resurrection in the Harry Potter World, Kai had been practicing potioneering. Sure, he had gotten little time to do so. But with his background as a scientist, what he could do the best was to follow the instructions in the most accurate and precise way.

With such a thorough explanation and guidance, Kai believed he could brew the potion the Samurai had ever drunk. 

In his mind, and though unintentionally, he had already labeled the tea as nothing but another potion that he must brew using the ingredients given. The etiquette he must follow, Kai related to the various precautions a potioneer must adhere to while brewing the potion.

How could he ever fail such a task that seemed inherently suited to him?

Yet Kai never underestimated his enemies, either. And that's why it troubled him more, finding it all so simple?

What's the fucking trick here? Kai questioned himself, frowning. There must be some hidden trap, I am sure. Tch!

Kai spent another 2 hours going through all the data. When he was done, he put the Tablet down and closed his eyes to go over the contents once more in his mind. Only half an hour later did he open his eyes

But Kai didn't leave the hall he was in. Not yet.

First, he spent 100000 Points on buying a Life Halt Tablet.

[

100000 Points deducted.

A Life Halt Capsule will halt your aging by 10 years.

You can only buy one Life Halt Capsule in the Samurai's Hut, Kai. Also, you must ingest it before returning to Island X.

]

Following Smarty's instructions, Kai threw the capsule in his mouth and gulped it down.

A bright blue shimmer covered his figure as if hundreds of blobs of blue light were entering and exiting him. When the process ended, even though Kai felt nothing, he knew he wouldn't age a day for the next 10 years.

This all sounded a waste to him, for Kai knew the Systems would send him back to the Time Node in the Harry Potter World.

Shaking his head, Kai used the rest of the Points to unlock his Novice Collector Title, the Beast Ball with lvl 1 Dementor, and 2 HP Capsules, which could grant him 200 HP each.

With only 2000 Points remaining, Kai couldn't unlock anything. They got discarded, much to his chagrin.

Let's do it then, Kai thought, standing up.

Kai entered the room, where the Samurai had vanished before. It was an uninteresting chamber, with almost no furniture. In the middle of this chamber, Samurai Jack was seated, holding a set of clothes.

This chamber was not the destination of the task, as Kai had thought before. Only after going through the Tablet's data did he get to know that there were several steps involved before he could even begin.

And the very first step… was having a nice bath.

Kai took a deep breath, approached Jack, and sat opposite him. Then he bowed.

Samurai Jack bowed in return and handed the clothes over to him. "When you walk out from this chamber through that door," he told Kai, pointing at a different sliding door with his eyes, "you will reach the outer courtyard. There's a well in front of the courtyard, between the hut and the tree's trunk. You can bathe yourself there.

"The Tea Room is on the right side of this chamber, accessible from the outer courtyard. The Tea Room and this room shares the wall behind me. When you are ready to serve the tea, knock on it twice and I will know."

Kai nodded.

He walked out and found himself face to face with grandness.

Tall trees, full of greenery, surrounded a pool of water and a well in front of Kai. But with the colossal trunk of the tree, all trees felt like overgrown grasses, making it impossible for one to truly appreciate them. A cobbled path was leading out of the courtyard as well.

 A dreamy indigo light was falling over the surroundings, Kai noticed. When he looked up, he found the blue foggy shimmers in the sky had turned shades of violet and purple. Perhaps it was this dimension's way of portraying evening, Kai thought, stepping onto the cobbled path.

He drew water from the well using the bucket. Every inch of his body was covered in scarred wounds and filth, his clothes tattered and soiled.

Kai put his military uniform and the six daggers on one side and bathed himself before donning the new set of clothing.

It was a black kimono and a pair of white socks, he realized.

From neck to toe in black, and with short, white hair and hazel eyes, Kai looked incredibly handsome, in the prime of his youth. He ran his hands through his wet hair and drew a sharp breath. The air leaned toward the cold a bit, but it was much more soothing than that of Island X. The temperature of this place was also just enough to make a naked, wet body shiver.

Of wind, there was no sign. But Kai noticed the rustle of leaves and the sound they made.

Suddenly, another fact crossed his mind.

Never after his mother's death, Kai found himself so free and relaxed. Yes, the task weighed him much. But wasn't it just like brewing a potion?

With a smile on his face, Kai walked back to the Hut, his ears ringing with the ripples of water, and nothing else.