A Day of Training [Training]

The sun was hot but the shade was cool. Shadow positioned himself so his legs were crossing and his hands were behind the back of his head with a piece of wheat in his mouth. He reopened his eyes to the world above. The clouds were big and bushy that day, the birds were chirping and the flowers were blooming, if at all a clear sign of spring and Shadow was bored, he wanted a little mayhem and chaos but of course he was too busy dealing with other forces, such as strengthening himself up so he doesn’t die first day on the job, which would REALLY look bad on everyone. Shadow stood up and paced around for a little while, he was trying to master lung control.. well at least make it so he can last longer if he ever suffocates. He looked to his evil foe the large bucket of water ”Phew.. Alright Shadow you got this, no water can defeat me! I’m a Tengu after all! hah!” he said to himself. He walked over to the bucket of water and stared down into it right into his reflection. His eyes were glowing red, a clear sign of his heritage, and his hair was spiky and long. He touched his right eye scar and then in closed his eyes, remembering to when he was abandoned on the side of the road. He awoke from his daydream to be still staring at himself, to himself he counted from three. Three, Two, One.. and down he went plunging face first into the water. He sat there for a couple of seconds before he opened his eyes underneath the cool blue water and looked around for a second. he thought to himself ”Have i done it? Ah ha! See! What did i tell you Shadow ol’ Boy! No water can defeat a mighty Tengu! Nothing can! Ah ha!--” he would be cut off there by a sudden gasp for air, he jolted himself up out of the water and fell backwards landing directly flat on his ass. He stared at the bucket of water a for a bit then stared down, saying to himself ”Greeeat going Shadow.. A god damn bucket of water defeated the mighty Tengu warrior... What am i? A spirit demon or a bloody cat..” he said to himself before getting up, he walked over to the barrel and stared at his reflection after the ripples in the water stopped moving. His head was drenched in water from his hair to his neck and was still dripping water everywhere. ”Well... I hear the circus is a nice place.. not as entertaining as causing destruction but.. Hey! I can pull off that whole lion jumping through the fire ring act easily..” he said to himself still staring at his reflection. He went over to grab a towel and dried himself off before laying down again staring up at the skies. Was this really all he would ever be? Was this is true potential? It couldn’t be, not for a spirit demon. He stared up at the sky for a little bit longer daydreaming about nothing He reopened his eyes to the world above, and pondered about his place in it all, Where did he come from after all? Of that he had no clue about but it no longer mattered, his only goal now was serving his ultimate master, but how can he serve him in such a weak state right now. He stood up and unsheathed his blade, using it to cut a watermelon he had shoplifted from a very dumb merchant. After munching down on that and thinking more about where he belongs he in the universe he got back up and started pacing again around the water bucket. He stared at it for several long seconds before moving around to the left of it, he put up his fingers to it like he was framing it in order to get a good look at it. He closed his eyes and digged deep, he breathed in and out, this time he could do it for sure. he went over to it and plunged his head in face first. He sat there for a few seconds, a few seconds became a few minutes, a few minutes became twenty minutes, he pulled his head out of the water. He smiled and walked away

735/2100 words, lung capacity trained, unto reflexes and super speed.

Day 2

Shadow walked into the dojo, he looked around for a little while before proceeding to step in and cross the room. It was empty, and it was damp, and it was ugly. But Shadow didn’t care, he knew what he was here for. He had managed to locate an old and abandoned karate dojo with the equipment still intact. He dropped his stuff and proceeded to pull out the duty old equipment, he found an old bed as well as some wooden swords and staves. After searching some more he found some dusty old books that were in a language to foreign to him he thought he was reading a secret code to somebody. He walked downstairs and took off his robe, he pulled out the practise dummy, where when you struck it, it would spin around and strike you. He struck it once as hard as he could, a wooden stick from the left came flying towards his head but he just barely blocked it in time and then striking it again. The more he struck the practice dummy the faster it got, until it was too fast and one of the wooden poles struck him in the side. He fell over holding his side “Damn it!” he yelled throughout the dojo only to be responded with the echo of him yelling it. He stood up and walked over to his robe and put it back on, the dragon silk thread ran down the robe and flowed as he walked past the training hall and into the kitchen, which was only getting half power so he couldn’t cook any nice meals, however at least there was water and enough fire to cook Ramen noodles. He put the Ramen in the pot over the fire, grabbed a glass of water and sat down waiting for his food to be finished. He slammed his head against the table he sat at, he hadn’t had any sleep in the past few days and was dead tired, but he still had work to complete by the end of the week. he recently learned that he can enhance his speed and his reflexes by the force of hard work and physical punishment.. they weren’t kidding on the physical punishment, Shadow’s side still hurt from when the training dummy struck him in the side, he had almost threw up right there and then but contained himself. He really needed something to help with his pain tolerance. At any rate he lifted his head and walked over to his noodles and added the beef sauce then began to mix it all up, after finishing his noodles he cleaned up his mess and returned to the main hall he went for a stroll up the stairs and around the area. He went over to the back to stand in the sun for a little bit, after a while of standing there a small cat appeared and began meowing at him, he stared at the small cat for a while, it was a skinny long haired tabby cat with brown fur. He picked it up and began petting it for a while, it began to purr and he took it inside with him and fed it. “Hmmm... I’ll call you... Kurai.. yeah I’ll name you Kurai” Shadow is not entirely sure why he just fed a cat and then named it. but that didn’t matter. He walked back into the training hall and positioned himself in front of the training dummy once more, he began to strike it, block incoming wooden poles, strike again, block again, rinse and repeat. Until the same thing happened he once more was hit by one of the wooden poles, this time he fell over and gagged but didn’t puke, that one hurt for sure. The cat came up and sat beside him, purring and rubbing her head against his. He smiled at the cat and said “I see.. So you understand me...” the cat simply meowed. With that he would get up and walk over to the corner of the wall. he leaned on it for a while before stopping, turning and walking towards the training dummy, he struck it once and blocked it, struck it again, and blocked it, over and over again the same process, but when he got up to is normal limit he noticed his hands and legs were almost moving on there own, he continued to block and strike the target until the training dummy was just a blur in motion, and then *SNAP!* the training dummy broke. Shadow smiled he picked up his gear, he placed Kurai in his bag and he left the building he would keep the cat around for a bit longer.

1,524/2,100 words, both lung capacity and enhanced reflexes trained, unto super speed.

Day 3

Shadow walked down the street, his sunglasses on to hide his red eyes, and Kurai the cat relaxing in his backpack, and his blade hidden inside of his robes. This was the calmest creature he had ever seen, the pathetic humans held nothing against the calm creature who seemed to enjoy Shadow’s company. He continued strolling down the street. He looked up to the big buildings above where the lawyers and officials of the city had conducted their daily unworthy business, “Ha!.. Truth worth is proven by the warriors test.. not by talking your way out of a situation.. pathetic right Kurai?” the cat meowed in response and Shadow continued on his way. He was not entirely sure where the hell he was going but he was sure that he would find out when he got there. He came to an underpass of a bridge, walls of each side were covered in graffiti art, trash bags, beer bottles, and soda cans littered the floor, it was a downright mess. To make matters worse six thugs were dealing drugs when they walked up on him “Sup Punk, you're getting a little too close to our little operation here, so unfortunately we have to off you now” with that two of the thugs laughed and moved towards him, Shadow dropped the bag but Kurai remained perfectly still, he unsheathed his blade from under his robe and rushed forward cutting off the drug dealer’s hand, as blood spewed everywhere he fell to the floor and his buddies ran away like cowards who just saw a ghost. Shadow looked him dead in the eye before saying.. “Luke... I am your father” with that he burst into laughter holding his side, even falling over and sitting down, when he finally got control of himself he looked at him again “Aaaaaaah.. I crack myself up.. No seriously get out of here before i do worse” he said with a smile. He watched the thug run off into the next tunnel over, probably never to be seen again.. or will probably die from blood lust and shock. Shadow smiled again before sheathing his blade and hiding it once more under his robes, he picked up the bag with Kurai in it and walked on. He crossed the street, multiple cars passed by and one of them called him a loser while driving by. He paid them no mind, he had bigger goals, he needed to find a spot where he could be at peace to learn his super speed. He needed a long stretch of terrain, and no one to be nearby. As he continued walking he started to pet Kurai causing her to purr again. He eventually came on an overpass above the tunnel he was just in. He looked down to see a bunch of teenagers walking along and making noise. He had started to really hate humans, how could they live like slobs? They couldn’t be possibly this stupid could they? No matter, he would see the world at war with itself, only then would they learn that there lives are meaningless, ants waiting to be crushed by the boot. His master would be the boot, he would be the one who makes sure nothing happens to the boot and the that the ants accept their fate. He was walking along when suddenly, a car drove by and jacked his bag just as he was walking. Shadow glared “You little shits!” he yelled, there was a lot of money in that bag, his journal, and most importantly, Kurai! He ran down the street but he couldn’t keep up with the car, they would slow down and speed right back up as if a child taunting another child, but Shadow was no child and he was not happy at all right now. He began sprinting after the car but it kept speeding up faster then him, after a while he noticed he was getting faster, and faster, and faster until he was right next to the car. He smiled and slashed the tires with his sword, catching his bag and Kurai then running off. He stopped behind a gas station. He smiled at Kurai and then ran right off again.

2,229/2,100 words, all training completed