Three hours later we arrived at a house deep in the forest surrounded by nature. Bears, monkeys and even snakes were awaiting Trisha’s return. When she hopped off the blue dragon all the animals came running towards her embracing her. Fei and I stayed on top of the dragon afraid to step foot down there. “Those animals have a reputation for eating and beating humans” we thought.

Trisha ran the animals away into the woods to give us space to come down. “I can understand being scared of a dragon but bears, snakes and monkeys are just sad” she teased. We hopped off and stared at the house made of tree branches. “Neat right, I made it myself” Trisha said proudly.

“I’ve never seen an old hag like her before”.

We entered her residence and waited for her to finish making dinner. She cooked a simple dish of curry and added fresh bread. “Enjoy the dinner. After this there’s something I want to check on you guys” Trisha said after finishing her prayer. Fei and I wasted no time chowing down our dinner and even asking for seconds to boot.

“Hahaha, men always have an unnecessarily big appetite” Trisha laughed. After eating our seconds Trisha asked us to stand before her tall mirror. I went ahead and did it first. “What’s the purpose of this?” asked Fei. “This mirror shows me all the systems inside your body. Just stay where you are Cj” Trisha answered.

After a good look Trisha sighed “I see a muscular system, skeletal system, nervous system, circulatory and even the digestive system. All except the Mana System”

“Mana System? Is that the system you use magic with” Fei guessed.

“Yes, without that system you can’t infuse Mana and if you can’t infuse Mana then you can’t output magic” said Trisha. “Seriously! Isn’t there some other way for us to use magic then? We lived in a world where magic doesn’t exist so you gotta understand our feeling on the matter” said Fei.

Trisha scratched her head thinking of a solution. “Mmhmm, maybe this can work. You know how the body adapts to the things quickly like the temperature or a certain dish. It can even adapt and build resistance to certain poison. What if I hit you with a magic attack that’s basically pure Mana. Would your body slowly build a resistance to it and if it does would that give birth to the Mana System?” Trisha asked herself. “What’s your weakest magic spell?” I asked.

“My weakest magic spell would kill you. I’m just going to simply punch you with mana infused in my hands. That should work” said Trisha. We went outside and began our beat down. Old lady Trisha punched us senseless in the face, stomach, side and shoulders. Each punched felt like a baseball bat to the face. The headache that left me hours ago decided to come back while I was getting pummeled. Did Trisha bring this training up so that she could bear up a couple if youngsters? The way she is swing her hands and legs at us with joy in her eyes brought me to that conclusion. After fifteen hits Fei collapsed on the ground and couldn’t move. Sadly that didn’t stop Trisha from stomping on him. The sun finally set with Trisha calling it a day. “Hahaha I enjoyed that. Starting today I’ll train you hopeless boys”

“We’re not boys” Fei claimed.

“That really doesn’t matter when you’re at my age” Trisha replied. While she healed us using her magic we fell asleep. The next day I woke to see my face close to Fei’s. We were so close I could feel his breath. I jumped up and screamed “The hell!” Trisha was there watching me by the door. “Good morning sleepy head. Good news, yesterday while I was healing you two I felt a feint trace of Mana. That’s a good sign”

I felt relieved hearing that. I wasn’t hyped for magic as Fei was but it would still be cool to be able to use it.

Clap!!

Trisha proceeded to beat Fei and I senseless day after day. Punching us till near death then healing us again. It was a process impossible to get used to. Three month of the same thing over and over again Trisha’s punches felt weaker. Our bodies gotten stronger and sturdier thanks to all the merciless beatings. There has been many occasions where Fei and I thought about visiting the dungeon but Trisha would always stop us. “We were not ready” she always said. This morning’s routine was different from the others.

“Alright Fei, your Mana systems are finally finished. I can see them clear as day now, Mana flowing through your body.” Trisha said impressed. Fei celebrated by running laps around the house while screaming. Trisha turned her attention to me soon after and said “Cj you may have the system now but you barely have any Mana to use. You need more training”. She looked over to Fei who was running laps and nodded happily.

“Outstanding Fei, your mana flow is perfect. I bet you are natural at this” Trisha complimented. Fei blushed saying “Stop it’s no big deal hehehe”

“Starting today you two will do different kind of training and you will supervise your own training. I’m tired so I won’t be beating you guys anymore” said Trisha.

“Cj you’re meditating with me this morning. Fei try to output Mana from your body. Do whatever you want with it but try to see what your limit of output is”.

“Yes Master” Fei and I replied in unison.

“It took you guys three months to finally call me master. How sweet” she smiled.

Master and I meditated together for the first time ever. I asked in the middle of concentration “Umm, master why am I meditating while Fei gets to do real training?”

SMACK!!

Master punched me in the face. “Why are you talking when you should be meditating!”

I rubbed my left cheek and said “Answer the question master, please”.

“Fine, I’m teaching you something different from magic. To be honest I don’t see your mama flow expanding any more than it already has and if that’s the case you will be limited by magic”.

“Limited? Are you saying I’m not going to be good at this magic stuff” I asked surprised. “Yeah sorry. You’ll be able to do a little bit but don’t expect much. That’s why I’m going to try my best to fill the gap” Master reassured. I sighed and continued my meditating. Somehow I am not surprised to hear this.

When noon arrived Fei walked in the living room where Master and I were meditating. Clearing my mind of all thoughts and distractions gave me a sense of freedom. It felt like I was a piece of paper flying around wherever I want to go. When Fei entered the room I immediately detected him. He didn’t make a sound while entering the room because the door was already wide opened and he made sure not to make not even a slight sound because he knew that would disrupt Master’s concentration. I didn’t hear him or see him but I could feel his presence inside the room.

“Fei’s in here I just know it” I thought to myself.

“Open your eyes Cj” Master Trisha stated as she opened her eyes as well. Fei was in front of me waving and making funny faces. I pushed him away and said “Master I felt his presence in here. When your dragon Ragnah picked us up I bet you sensed us in the area and came to save us. You didn’t happened to see us” I said confidently. “Hmm are you sure?” Master grinned.

“Dead sure, you were meditating when we got on Ragnah’s back” I replied.

“Aura Zone, a technique where you detect someone’s aura at a certain range by closing off all distractions. It’s very simple but very few managed to master it. Seems like you’re a natural at this Cj unlike you are with magic.” Master complimented. She proceeded to list other Aura Techniques “Shadowing for sneaking up on prey, King’s Eye for seeing the future, Aura Sensation, an advance version of the zone in which you can detect other people’s emotion. There are a handful of techniques. If you master them all, you’d be extremely hard to kill”.

“Hmm, only if I can learn them”.

Fei asked “It’s noon. What now? Continue what we’re doing or do something else”? “Fei, you should ask Ragnah to show you how to output Mana like a weapon. Cj I want you to go out in the wilderness and practice your zone there. Try and see if you can detect any animals. Be careful” Trisha said while she yawns. “Zone is one of the few Aura Techniques out there. I’ll try my best to teach you most if not all of them” she added.

We did as told and continued our training. Three months of being in this world I only know one thing for certain. That I like Master, maybe because I don’t know anybody else here. That could be another reason. “In my past life I was always in the shadow of someone amazing. No matter how hard I tried to stand out I just couldn’t. I thought things were going to repeat itself when I heard Fei has a talent for magic when I don’t. But now I am introduced to something that Fei isn’t aware of. She’s helping me to close the gap before it broadens” I smiled at the thought. I practiced my zone all evening and managed to detect ants and gooses. During my training I started to realize that seeing with my eyes is very limited comparing to using Zone. Casting away my sense of sight, everything around me becomes clearer.

“Rooaaaarr!!”

Even the bear sneaking behind me was easy to detect. His bloodlust and hunger towards me could have been picked up without giving him a glance.

“Rooooaaarr!!”. Knowing the bear is behind me is good and all but I figured that out too late. I was already in the bear’s attacking range. To put icing on the cake, my legs are crossed as I sat on a flat rock in the middle of the forest. Just attempting to run away will result in my head getting crushed. “Wow, he’s pretty close”.

When the day was over Master wanted to see our progress. Fei’s hair and clothes were all torn and a total mess. The Thunder Dragon Ragnah must have rough him up a bit during his training. He got off easy however, because of my carelessness in the forest. I got confronted by a bear. The wounds I received were healed by Master Trish but the pain of remembering will forever haunt me.

“Next time when you’re in the forest Cj, try your best not to be in the open. There are experts out there who can use Aura Zome with their eyes open. You should definitely aim for that feat”.

“Ok”. Little do they know, the bear who attacked me is actually six feet under right now. In a straight up fight, I demolished it.

Fei’s Mana color was blue. He stretched out his left hand and slowly visible Mana started coming out of it. It formed a scythe that’s the same size as Fei’s body. “A scythe made out of pure Mana. Your mana control is insane. You meet the requirements to be called a mage in this world ” said Trisha happily. Fei’s scythe disappeared as he fell on the ground tired and exhausted. “Maintaining the scythe or anything I make is quite draining though”.

“See if he could only maintain a scythe for a minute you wouldn’t have a chance” said Master Trisha.

……

“Guess I’ll give up on Magic then. I’ll master the zone instead”. Master kicked me in the stomach and sighed disappointedly. “How do you expect to be a Powerhouse when you’re giving up so easily”

“Powerhouse? I’ve never seen myself as one”

“Try to become one. That’s what I’m training you for, I don’t really care about your dungeon assignment. I just want to see you two weak boys become powerhouses” said Master Trisha. “What defines one?” Fei asked. “Someone with a purpose.”

“Someone who’s brave and bold”.

“Save everyone. Even those who are deemed unworthy to save by others”.

“ Someone who compete only with themselves. Meaning he tries to surpass his past self”.

“Last but certainly not least Be confident as hell. Do you have what it takes to be a Powerhouse?” Trisha asked. “Why didn’t you say never give up?” Fei asked…. “It’s a cruel and harsh world out there. Sometimes you really should give up and accept your losses. But now’s not the time” Master said pinching my ears.

One more month of training Zone my range expanded to a fifth of the entire forest. I could even slightly detect birds now but I can’t sense Ragnah’s presence whenever I train with him. I asked master why that is and she replied “Ragnah knows a technique called Shadowing Zone”.

“Shadowing? What’s that?”

“It’s hiding your presence or should I say aura. The aura feels like it has extinguished. It’s almost like you’re invisible but you can still be seen if you activate in in front of someone. It’s made to counter the zone” Master explained. “So how do I detect someone who can use Shadowing?”. “You can’t, I don’t know a way to deal with that. Don’t worry though only a few like me and Ragnah knows this technique. The chance of you encountering someone with it is very low” said Trisha. “I wanna learn it too” I said.

“You have to expand your range for Zone first. Only then I will teach you how to use Shadowing”. Later on that day Fei visited me in the forest. “Yo Cj! How is your meditating going!?”

“Not bad, some bloodthirsty animals are coming my way though. I don’t think I can outrun them” I told him.

“Hmm, for a guy who is in a dangerous situation you’re surprisingly calm. I’ll kill them for ya, tell me their locations” Fei said stretching his hands. “You sure about this Fei? Are you strong enough to fight bears and gorillas” I warned him.

“I might sound arrogant here but my strength is unmatched. Same goes for my speed too. With time I can best anybody” he confidently claims.

“Do your thing then”. I gave him directions to where the dangerous animals were and he took them out effortlessly one by one. They just could not run from his scythe or counter it. When he was finished, he managed to create two scythes instead of one. “Yipee! I knew the forest had its use” he said proud of the results. The creatures he killed with his mana scythe could have died by my bare fists, guess I’ll keep that to myself.

When the day was over Fei showed us his growth by making two swords out of Mana. “You can barely maintain one so why make two. Quit showing off” Master told him. “Quiet!” Fei shouted.

I displayed my growth by using the Shadowing Technique to sneak up on Ragnah while Master and Fei watches. “What’s he doing? He’s just walking up to him” said Fei confused. Master on the other hand was shocked to see me using Shadowing so soon. I jumped on Ragnah’s back and that’s when he finally noticed me. He quickly hid his surprised expression but we all saw it. “Ragnah’s zone is one of the best I’ve ever seen and this guy slipped passed him so easily” said Trisha surprised.

Master decided to tell me a way how to counter people who uses Shadowing. “Just expand your range to a crazy extent. That’s the best way to deal with people who can hide their presence. No one will know how wide your range is so the opponent might use zone in your range and if you’re as experienced as me you’ll realize when something suddenly went missing in your zone. If you detect someone and that person suddenly becomes undetectable then it’s safe to say that person is using Shadowing or just left your range. That will alert you to watch your back. That’s how I deal with them”

I thanked Master for the advice and did some extra training after dinner. Before too long I started to see my grandmother inside my master. Fei said the same thing too.

All good things must come to an end though. The world ending disease that infected most of the world infected Trisha as well. She was no longer able to get out of bed. Paralyzed and suffering from her inner organs rotting away fast.

 “This disease is super deadly. We have to get the medicine for this illness soon or else she’s going to die”.

“Damn it, why did this have to happen. She was already one foot in the grave” Fei said as he head-butted the wall.

“We have to clear that dungeon by next week. Let’s train our bodies like crazy till then. She made us strong, she wanted us to be powerhouses and we’ll make sure of it” said Fei looking dead at me. I nodded in agreement and shook hands on it.

Touching Fei’s hands suddenly reminded me of my past life. “My fiance and child hmm”.

Anyways this is only a façade. I know very well that Fei and I aren’t ready for the Javahono Dungeon. If we go there we will most likely die and fail our mission. Besides Master’s condition, there are other things that intrigues me at the moment. First bring the state of the world, how badly is Saigon Disease affecting its citizens. Second thing is to find a strong ally who can help us clear the dungeon.

“We can do this Cj” Fei said.

“Yeah”. No we can’t you idiot, you’re being naïve if you really think that.