The man in black felt proud of himself for taking care of the first two arms so quickly before realizing that those arms were simply growing back, and the other ones were getting even closer.
He had no time to panic, so he quickly came up with a new strategy. Only the tips of the arms seemed to come after him, so he led them around and around, flipping and rolling and dodging as they reached for his tender limbs.
His strategy was quite effective, and in a matter of minutes all the arms were so tangled together that it would take them the better part of an hour to untangle themselves, those reaching, feeling tips caught in the middle of the knot.
The man in black sauntered up to the bottom of the trunk and hacked it in two. The tree thing fell over and died, then in an instant it disappeared.
He risked a glance at the Dragon Council. It was clear they were impressed. Unbeknownst to him, that test was reserved for only the very best trainees, and he had passed with flying colors.
While the other members of the Dragon Council could barely contain their excitement, the Great Father stayed amazingly calm. He clapped three times, then motioned to silence everyone. This signaled the end of the weapons portion of the test.
“You have done well, young one, to have come so far so fast,” the Great Father told him. The man couldn’t help but to smile. “The weapons test is now over, we will be moving on to something else now.”
“But, Great Father, I didn’t even get to do anything with my blowgun, or my tanto, or my hanbo, or any of the other weapons,” the man in black complained. “Are these weapons not important too, Great Father?”
He saw the Great Father shoot him another icy glare for complaining and he scraped and bowed graciously, apologizing at once for being insubordinate.
“There is no need for you to prove your worth through any other weapons. You have done well enough with those three.” the Great Father replied.
The young man beamed at the compliment, the expression unnoticed thanks to the fabric of his garment blocking his lips from view.
“And by the way,” the Great Father continued, “we noticed you hesitating a few times when you were executing my orders. This is unacceptable. In a moment’s hesitation, an enemy can kill you, do you understand?”
The man in black was crestfallen and he nodded. Still, he hadn’t been sent home yet.
“Let us hope it does not happen again, or you will be sent home a sad boy.”
He could sense how nice the Great Father was being to him and he smiled subconsciously.
“Now, show us some hand-to-hand technique!” the Great Father barked out in his usual tone.
“As you wish, Great Father, so it is my pleasure to do,” the young trainee answered ceremoniously. Being caught up in the excitement of the tests and the combat, the man in black had forgotten all about his mother and her protestations by this point, a mistake he would soon regret making.
Before moving on, the man in black noticed that he had gotten a lot closer to the Dragon Council in his fighting, so he did another distance-flip before starting. It was nothing special, but it didn’t have to be; it was just a distancing move, not part of his performance. Then he got started.
He opened up with some basic punches and kicks, which, although not very impressive, were considered a necessary part of any demonstration. Then he did a few extended punches and leg thrusts, keeping it simple for now so he could have a chance to regain some of the strength he had expended foolishly on the earlier tests. He wondered briefly why there weren’t any more monsters and thought no more of it, not caring.
Feeling more confident, he moved on to harder maneuvers like roundhouses and sweeps, with some rolls in between for show. When he was satisfied that he had done those maneuvers to death, he switched to doing spins and mule kicks, an odd combination, but he found it pretty to look at. Then he did some spin-kicks and knife hands, always moving to something more complex to impress the Great Father.
Nearing the end of his demonstration, which was looking more and more like a dance, he started doing front and back flips, combined with some odd kicks he had invented that weren’t practical or powerful, just flashy. By the end of all of that, he was getting tired, his earlier showing off having worn him out, and he was hoping he would not have to do much more.
Seeing that the man in black had finished his showing off, the Great Father shouted at him, “Good. Now you will jump-kick me in the heart and kill me! Do not think or hesitate!”
The man in black could tell that last part was for his benefit, but he was still confused. How can this be part of the test?
Still, he knew he had to act fast, so he did, not even stopping to say his ceremonial response.
He raced forth, hoping this test would end in a similar fashion to the earlier one with the throwing stars, and did as he was told.
At the last moment, he jumped high in the air, foot aimed like a weapon at the Great Father’s chest. When he could sense that impact was imminent, the man in black shut his eyes and even turned his head a little, so he would not see the outcome.
He felt his foot impact the Great Father’s broad chest and heard something crunch under it, then he felt himself being thrown backward into the ground.
The impact forced the wind from his lungs and
