Raising Wonders

Chapter 4: Adventure (Part 3)

Chloe opened and closed her mouth like a fish as she couldn't find the words to contain what she had just seen. Giving up, she jumped up and down trying to express the rush of emotions and energy. It had all happened so smoothly that she couldn't believe it wasn't a dream. It was something she would have expected to happen in make believe and not real life.

"It at least appears you don't get queasy easily," Mask commented as he looked to the three fresh corpses seeping blood into the ground.

Chloe shook her head, "I-I'm fine."

"Good," Mask nodded. "Now you may questions but first we need to take care of the wolves." He took out a knife and began to work on the closest wolf. "Usually it's easier to hang them up and let the blood drip out before skinning however for our purposes today we need to try keep the blood inside."

Though she said she wasn't queasy, it was another sight to see someone work at peeling the skin and fur from an animal. Chloe however gulped down any reservations she had and watched carefully, learning from Mask's movements.

"What you did, can I learn that?" Chloe asked.

"I assume you mean the martial arts but yes to that but also what I'm doing now," Mask answered without stopping. "What I just displayed was what a better off intermediate stage martial artist could achieve. The average adventurer would be about that level in at least one of the styles. If they weren't then coming to a place like this would get them killed."

"So I can do it too?"

Mask stopped for a moment and looked at her directly, "Yes. It would take a year or two to reach of daily practice but it does depend on your talent and drive."

"Even though I'm only 8 and small for my age?"

"Even then," Mask returned to his work. "I myself reached the advanced stage when I turned 13. The gap between the stages however becomes harder and harder the more you go up. I've been sitting at expert for nearly 15 years at this point. Who knows though, you may have the talent to surpass me. To start things off, which style did you like the most?"

Chloe thought for quite some time as Mask pulled the skin and fur off the first wolf and made his way to the second, "Are Strike, Flow and Flare the only styles?"

"No, but they are the vastly the most common and what most people will have Titles for learning. A part of a Title is that it needs to be known. All the other martial arts combined don't even make half a percent of the world's practitioners. And they're popular for a reason."

"Which is?" Chloe prodded him to continue.

"Because beyond anything they're the most effective. Strike is the most popular with 50% of people studying it as their main focus, then comes Flow with 35% and Flare makes up the rest. The three styles also balance each other. In general terms at the same stage, Flow beats Strike, Flare beats Flow and Strike beats Flare."

"But wouldn't that make Strike less popular?"

"Strike is the easiest to learn but hardest to master. Against monsters it's also the most usable. Besides, who doesn't dream of having the power to end any fight in a single motion."

"Hmmm, can I learn all three like you?"

Her question caused Mask to smirk, "You can, but it'll take you longer. Usually people focus on one style and then learn the others after building a foundation."