“So... You’re the one that’s been visiting all of those dojos. Come with me.” he said, calmly. He then turned and began walking down the alleyway. Medicus and I looked at each other, and we began to follow him. We were that desperate. And this guy seemed like he could take us to a teacher. So, we followed him like baby ducks after their mother duck.

We went past by various NPC’s. From various drunkards in various stages, to people that were trading something suspicious. Before I could take a closer look, they stared at me with contempt, and I quickly walked away, wanting to get away as fast possible.

After a while, we finally reached a door. A completely normal door that was so normal that it looked like it should not have been there. The old, wizened man opened the door, and we gasped at the beautiful sight. It was a Zen Garden. And a fan-freaking-tastic one at that. I used to love these when I was a kid, the fact that you could have a cool old tree in the middle, while you oversee taking care of the Zen Garden seemed pleasant back then. And it still is.

The old man walked over to a big rock in the middle and sat down on to it. As soon as he did, however, a prompt came up.  My eyebrows rose at the sight of a new quest.

Quest Received: The Teacher’s Test

That’s all I managed to read, however, before the old man began to speak.

“Hello young ones. My name is Insegnante Accorto. But you can call me Nante.” He spoke. I nodded, and he motioned us over. We sat down on the gravel, where we got ourselves comfortable before Nante dropped a bombshell on us.

“You know, I have seen many things in my lifetime. But I have never seen someone with that achievement, player.” I started to nod, then both me and Medicus’ eyes began bulging out. All there was a tense silent moment when a sudden shout broke the stillness, making birds fly everywhere, cawing angrily at us.

“W-WHAT?!” We both exclaimed in shock. To his credit, he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he put out a hand to quiet us as he smiled.

“Quiet, younglings. Yes, I know who you are. You are… ‘visitors from another world’ as they put it.” He said calmly, as if he wasn’t just delivering groundbreaking news for us. Medicus and I had our brains completely shut down as we tried to formulate a response.

“How- How did you…” I trailed off, trying to think of what to say. Nante smiled.

“That is not important right now, is it?” He said wisely. I was about to say something, but then thought about it.

“No. It is not important right now.” I said as I sighed. Right now, it was time for actions, not words. Besides, I have heard of some quest NPC’s having knowledge of players. Then something struck me as particularly odd.

“Wait. Why did you bring me back here? Why not someone else? Someone stronger and better? Someone just... better?” I said in confusion. Medicus closed his mouth and stared at me in shock.

“Dude! Are you trying to-” He didn’t get any further, before Nante stopped him.

“I chose you because you have that achievement.” I stood there in confusion, before I read the rest of the prompt.

Quest Received: The Teacher’s Test

Difficulty: ???

Condition: Selfless Sacrifice Achievement acquired (1/1)

Description: Nante, the last of the ‘true’ martial artists, have chosen you both as his last pupils to pass on his style of Martial Arts! Be warned, however. The road to mastering the arts is so treacherous, not even the last master has fully mastered the arts. But before you can even begin your training, you must pass the test that he has prepared. Good luck fighter!

I stared in confusion at the Quest prompt. A “true” martial artist? What does that mean? And what was this test? As I was pondering this away, Nante stared at me, and smiled.

“Ah, a thinker. That is exceptionally good. Few fighters can think before they fight, you see.” He said, as he suddenly stood up in an instant. In another, he was suddenly in front of me. Medicus jumped away in shock, but the old man barely noticed him, just nodding towards him as he and I both stared at each other.

I was still. Completely still as I stared into the old man’s eyes, full of ages of knowledge and wisdom. Nante stood there for a few seconds, and then turned away, walking a few steps away. He then looked upwards and smiled an earsplitting smile.

“The gods have gifted me a pupil with gifts.” he said mysteriously, before he turned to me once more.

“Come on then. Show me what you got.” he got into a stance, and I did the same. We stood still, not moving even as Medicus decided to sit down on a rock near the middle of the Zen Garden.

Then I disappeared as I rushed forward.

“BOXER’S DASH!” I flew forward, tearing up the gravel around me. The old man seemed to frown, as if he were only annoyed at me messing with his Zen Garden, instead of the incoming attack that was streaking towards him.

Then he raised his arm and pointed just one, lone finger out towards me. I was about to scoff at this, when suddenly, my instincts flared up as I felt the threat of cold death in front of me. Instinctively, I screeched to a stop, and threw myself to the side, flattening myself against the gravel not a second too soon.

BOOM!

Medicus stared in shock at the wake of destruction that had barely missed him as it split the ground wide open and cracked the steel walls that were surrounding the garden. He touched his cheek, where a straight cut had appeared out of nowhere despite it missing him. He and I shared a look of worry, and we looked back at the old man.

Only to see him gone.

My instincts saved me once more, forcing me to roll to the side as the old man smashed downwards with his heel, cracking the ground, making a pattern like a spider web. I quickly got onto my feet and started backing away as fast as possible, trying to gain some distance, when suddenly, the realization struck me.

“Y-You’re not even going full out, are you?” I said as I redoubled my efforts to get away from him. Nante had the audacity to smile.

“Ah, so you’ve noticed, have you?” He said, then suddenly a shadow went across his eyes. Before I could say anything else, he appeared behind me, and simply poked me in the back. For a second, we were just standing there. Then...

WHAM!

“WHAAAA-?!” I screamed as I was sent flying towards the forest that covered a part of the Zen Garden. The old man appeared above me, and I just barely got my gauntlets in a “X” formation before Nante slammed down a fist on my unprotected stomach. I slammed down into the gravel, making it explode everywhere.

BOOM!

“Crippling Blow.” The man whispered as he watched me carefully.

I desperately tried to get air into my system as I tried to roll away, blood leaking from my back, and the pain pulsating from my ribs. In fact, it felt like lava was poured directly onto my body! I quickly checked my health and sucked in a breath in surprise, wincing as the pain in my chest got worse.

That one blow had taken ninety-nine percent of my health in a single shot! I quickly shook my head slightly, preventing myself from getting psyched out. Trying to keep the pain, I slowly got back up, ignoring the pain wracking my body as it seemed to stab me with razor sharp icicles for moving. I admit, I almost passed out from the excruciating pain. And I did once, but I managed to slam my hand down into the ground, catching myself at the last second.

As I slowly got up, however, Nante’s eyebrows rose, getting higher and higher until I was standing unbalanced in front of Nante, huffing and puffing. For a second, we were both preparing to fight once more... when suddenly...

“You have passed, pupil.” He said, relaxing as he walked over to me. I took a step backwards, getting into a messy defensive position, before what he said finally hit me.

“Wait what-?”

QUEST COMPLETE! The Teacher’s Test

Condition: Stand back up from a blow that would’ve crippled anyone else with sheer willpower!

Rewards: Reputation with Insegnante is increased to: Respect!

Insegnante will now teach you Martial Art skills!

I looked at the prompt in shock, then looked at Medicus. He also stared at me in shock, but for a completely different reason. He was shakily pointing towards my chest, with a face so pale that it made him look like a ghost. I looked at him, confused, before I looked down. Then I almost puked all over.

Broken, bloody bones were POKING THROUGH MY BODY, with blood pouring out of all the various wounds. From my legs to my arms, sharp pieces of bone were popping out, making me look like an expensive Halloween costume. But it was no special effects, no matter how much I wanted it to be. I looked at it blankly, and turned my head towards Medicus, and promptly fainted.

Before I hit my head on the gravel, someone caught me, and I saw Medicus running towards me, already yelling out his heal spells, covering me in something that felt like a warm embrace before I slipped into unconsciousness