Foggy town Part 2
Ryan shook his head and slowly walked towards the hut outside the town then stood outside and shouted : “Master Jalip, I’m coming in.”
“Boy, you’re here.” answered a loud voice.
The door opened and a strong figure appeared. He was wearing clothes made of the fur of some yellow magical beast. There were coin sized spots all over it. Around his waist, there was a sanguine belt. And there was a pair of leather boots on his feet. He was none other than Mater Jalip, the one that had been teaching Ryan martial arts for 9 years.
Ryan knew that the yellow clothes was made of the fur of a lightning cheetah that terrorized Foggy town before and the belt was made of the cheetah tendons mixed with Taric antelope tendons.
Ryan followed Jalip in an expedition to Hengduan mountains 5 years ago. The goal was to teach Ryan some survival skills and let him gain some experience.
Unintentionally, Ryan awakened a slumbering earth bear. The bear was extremely angry that he used its claws to sweep at Ryan. At the time, Ryan had only learnt some basic exercises from Jalip. It was already too late to escape and he was going to die under the bear’s claws.
In order to protect Ryan, the nearby Jalip used his skills for the first time in front of Ryan and killed the bear. This incident left a deep impression on Ryan. The earth bear was a level 7 magical beast but Jalip killed it with just 3 strokes.
Firstly, Jalip used his left hand to stop the bear’s claws from killing Ryan. Then, he used his foot to kick the bear away. Finally, he used his right fist to smash the head of the bear. The bear corpse fell slowly to the ground.
Later, Ryan asked Jalip how he managed to kill the bear in just 3 attacks. Jalip answered : “Simple, by being flexible and smart you can attack the enemy’s weak points.”
In the end, Jalip decide to punish Ryan by making him drag the bear all the way back to Foggy town. It took few days for Ryan to drag this heavy guy back home.
Ryan remembered the scene when a little boy appeared outside the town with an earth bear, the townspeople were surprised. At that time, Ryan felt a little proud. Perhaps, that was what Noam was feeling today.
“Ryan, Come in.” Seeing Ryan staring at his boots, Master Jalip said softly.
“Ah, OK.”
Master Jalip’s voice interrupted Ryan’s thoughts. Ryan quickly followed Master Jalip into the hut.
When they entered, Ryan heard an old voice.
“Ryan. You are here?”
Ryan looked into the direction of the voice and said : “Master Draenor, Why are you here?”
There was an old man wearing magic robes sitting on the chair right to Ryan. His face was full of wrinkles. His clothes were simple and he didn’t carry any magic items or ornaments other than a badge on his chest which symbolized his identity as a wizard.
Next to the old man, there were a table and two chairs beside the one he was setting on. They were made from common white birch. The craftsmanship was so rough that even the bark wasn’t removed.On the table, there were a big jar and two wooden cups.
Ryan was surprised to see master Draenor in front of him. Master Draenor left last month and said that he had to deal with a troublesome problem. He couldn’t figure how he managed to solve his troublesome problem in less than a month.
Seeing the surprised look on Ryan’s face, Master Draenor said : “Ryan, don’t overthink it. I came to discuss something important with you.”
After Ryan and Jalip sat around the table, Draenor began speaking slowly.
“Ryan, you are almost 16 years. It had been a tradition in Eslar continent, that when a child reaches age 16, their parents or masters would assign a trial for them called the rite of passage, have you thought about your trial?”
When Ryan heard Draenor’s words he couldn’t help but reminisce over his past.
Ryan was born as the only child to a normal hunter household in Foggy town. When he was 5 years old, a ferocious level 6 lightning cheetah descended the mountains to the outskirts of the town. It moved swiftly like the wind and had sharp claws and fangs. It began killing the hunters that left the town and a lot of them died.
At that time, Jalip was passing by when he found out about the difficult situation the town was facing. So he took care of the lightning cheetah. The town inhabitants were grateful to Jalip and he liked the simple lifestyle of that town, so he built a hut outside the town and settled there.
The town folks got used to their new neighbor very quickly. The children would surround him to admire the lightning cheetah pelt he was wearing. In the beginning, he was indifferent to them, but later he gave up and accepted to teach 7 or 8 of them martial arts. Ryan and Noam were among them.
After a few years of teaching them the basics, the children who followed Jalip became more skilled than their peers. One day, Jalip asked them why did they want to learn martial arts from him. Some of them said that they wanted to show of in front of their lovers, while some said that they wanted to support their families. Only Ryan said that he wanted to protect the people close to him. Jalip was touched and began to pay more attention to Ryan's training, so his level surpassed Noam and the rest of the group.
Five years ago, when Ryan dragged the earth bear to the town, Draenor heard about it and came to Foggy town to look for Jalip. It was extremely difficult to take down a earth bear in the mountains to the west of the country where Foggy town was located. Usually, it took the efforts of a team of more than 20 person to hunt the bear and there would be casualties. However Jalip and Ryan went alone into the mountains for a few days and then they returned with an earth bear and the fur wasn’t even damaged.
This incident spread to the surrounding towns and caused a sensation. When Draenor was staying in Tacre town, he heard about the incident so he went to find the adventurer who hunted the bear and it turned out that this adventurer was Jalip.
They knew each other before, so they were happy to see each other again. They spent the night talking about what their adventures.
The next day, when Draenor saw Ryan training with Jalip, he found out that he had a good aptitude for magic and offered to teach him.
Like this, a magic course was added to Ryan’s daily schedule. After 4 years, Ryan mastered a lot of magic techniques which made Draenor very satisfied.
A wind roc’s cry from outside the hut woke Ryan from his reverie and brought him back to reality.
“Master Draenor, what do you think I should do about my rite of passage?”
Draenor already knew that Ryan would ask him that. He exchanged glances with Jalip then smiled. His smile made the wrinkles on his forehead more prominent.
“ Ryan, in few days, you’ll have your 16th birthday. As far as I know, the traditions in Foggy town is that you hunt a magical beast alone then invite your friends to participate in your ceremony to feast on the hunted beast.”
“Yes, Master Draenor.”
Ryan nodded. He then thought of something and added : “I have just met Noam, He wants me to go to his place at night for his rite of passage celebration.”
“You have been studying martial arts for 9 years and magic for 4 years.”
Jalip joined the conversation and said : “If it’s about hunting beasts, then with your abilities and some traps you can even hunt a level 7 earth bear, so I don’t recommend this trial for your rite of passage.”
Ryan nodded and agreed. He spent a lot of time training with his 2 masters and he put in a lot of effort. So this ordinary trial wasn’t enticing for him.
Jalip continued : “I still remember, when I asked why did you want to learn martial arts, you said that you wanted to protect the people close to you. ”
Jalip looked in Ryan eyes and said : “Why did you say that?”
Ryan didn’t think that Jalip would still remember something that he said years ago.
“Master Jalip, I remember once when I was a kid, My father took me and my mother hunting for magical beasts in Hengduan mountains, He had a good harvest and managed to hunt a few forest phoenix fowls. However to protect my mother he received a frontal attack from a wild boar and was injured by its fangs. Later that night, we set up a campfire and father asked mother to wrap his wounds and said to me “Son, remember as a man, you must protect the people close to you even if you have to sacrifice your life.””
As he spoke, Ryan became emotional and stood up.
“Master Jalip, Master Draenor, even though my father is a normal hunter who won’t conflict or argue with anyone, He used his body to protect the people important to him. His power exploded as he used a pitchfork to pin the boar to the ground. This incident left a deep impact on me, and even though I was a kid, I made a promise to myself to be like my father and learn martial arts to protect my family and friends.”
Jalip and Draenor listened quietly to Ryan. Seeing how excited he was, Jalip said : “Ryan, calm down. Here, drink some water. I believe you can keep your promise.”
Ryan took the wooden cup on the table and drank the water inside. After he calmed down, Jalip made him sit down and said: “Ryan, Draenor and I not only taught you martial arts and magic, but also taught you a great deal about Eslar continent and the vast world outside. Have you ever considered leaving the town?”