Chapter 16: Introductions
"Excellent! EXCELLENT!" the madman roared as patted Lex on the shoulders with gusto, shaking him to his very core. Marlo's cultivation was definitely very high. "I love it when a masochist joins the class! They have so much energy, so much vigor!"
"I'm not a masochist!" Lex quickly defended himself, but Marlo didn't seem to be paying attention.
"You can stop for today. I have other appointments to keep, so I have to close down for now. The next class is on Saturday. I hope I'll see you there. That's when the fun really begins. Oh, and all faction and organization members are welcome to join my class except the Ultimate Fighting Fortress." His expression suddenly darkened, and for a moment he seemed lost in thought, but quickly recovered.
"So if you are planning on joining someone, you should not be worried that coming to me might be a conflict of interest. My class has quite the reputation. In fact, if you pass my class before joining the army, you can get recruited directly at the rank of captain. It's quite beneficial."
"I don't plan on joining anyone at the moment," Lex said, rubbing his aching shoulders. "And I do plan on continuing your classes. I am very attached to my life, you know, and I'd like to keep it if I can."
Marlo burst into a roaring laughter at Lex's comment, and gave Lex another pat on the back that sent him flying off the stage.
"That's the spirit! See you on Saturday then. The full self-defense course costs $1.7 million. You can pay upfront or sign a working clause since you won't be having an organization sponsor you." Marlo walked away, still laughing, the floor trembling at his footsteps, with a line of minions following him.
Lex left, ignoring the fact that he had once again ripped his sneakers and tracksuit, thinking of ways he could recruit Marlo as a valet without revealing his identity. He seemed like a very straightforward man, but Lex would have to spend more time with him to figure out his personality completely. It was currently Thursday morning, so the next class was two days away. It was enough time for him to plan how to try to get closer to the excitable giant.
He returned home and went directly into the shower. It occurred to him that he wasn't hurt at all, and he was only sore where Marlo had patted him, whereas everyone else who had left the session looked considerably harmed. He smiled. Regal Embrace was already impressive, and it would only get better as he raised his cultivation.
The next two days went by quickly. Bastet and Falak still had not made an appearance, and no one had used his golden key, so there was no progress there. He had, however, spent a lot of time planning on what he would take with him when he traveled to the other world for the first time. Lex didn't want to be too conspicuous, so he had prepared a backpack with a first aid kit, a swiss army knife, a flashlight, some rations and a firestarter. He would add more things as he thought of them, and currently he was too poor or unqualified for Spirit Tech that might be useful.
He had also spent more time trying to get used to his strength. He exercised for strength control and played video games for delicate control, trying to avoid breaking his controller. That was totally the only reason he pulled an all nighter playing games.
Finally, Saturday morning he went back to Marlo's follow up class and surprisingly only two other people from the previous 15 showed up, a young woman Lex hadn't really talked with and surprisingly Larry. Larry was one of those who had been beaten till he passed out, and judging from his behavior before class, Lex hadn't expected him to be so dedicated as to come back for another class. But here he was, bruised but smiling and trying to flirt with the woman.
"Lex, my good man, good to see you again! I knew you were a tough one when I saw you, unlike all the others who ran away. Come, come, let me introduce you. This is Matilda. She cleared her training last time pretty quickly."
"Hello," Matilda said, her tone very formal, as she looked at Lex. It was clear that although Larry had been trying to get closer to her, she didn't want to become too familiar. Matilda was a fair bit shorter than the two of them, and healthier too, but she had a handsome face.
"Is it just us, or will more people come?" Lex asked after greeting Matilda, but Larry shook his head.
"I expect more won't join. Honestly, Marlo has a bit of a reputation. His training gets only tougher as it progresses and if you don't have a strong mentality, you can't really get through. Most people just want to pass his class because you get better perks from your organization if you do, but passing it is not easy."
"Is that why you're here?" Lex asked. He was slightly curious about Larry now, and it wasn't a bad idea to try to develop a few connections of his own. A potential future army captain wasn't a bad person to know.
"Me? I guess you could just say I'm trying to make the most of my time..." Larry's usually chipper was laced with a tinge of defeat and exhaustion as he said so, but he quickly recovered as if nothing happened. "What about you, my talented fellow? When I left, you were still taking quite the beating. I didn't think I'd see you again."
"I just want to learn how to defend myself. I don't know much about the cultivation world, but everything I've heard and seen makes me think it's a very dangerous place."
"INDEED!" came a roaring voice from behind them, followed by the hulking Marlo with his trademark grin. "Life is hard and living is harder. A man must know how to defend himself. A woman more so!"
Compared to last time, when Marlo was dressed casually, this time he came wearing a suit. His hair was properly kempt, and he had a clean shave. Though his eyes were still filled with madness, he looked much more civilized.
"Once again, I would like to welcome you to Marlo's Self Defense for new cultivators. Just by being here today, you have proven yourself worthy of the title of cultivators. Just by being here today, you have earned the right to tell me your names. Just by being here today, you have earned the right to hear my self-introduction."
Marlo paused and took a look at his three future students, carefully studying each one of their faces as if he was etching them into his memory forever.
"You may have done your own research about me before joining this class, but nonetheless, I will tell you a little about myself so you know whose hands you will be in, in the future." He paused for a moment, looking at his small audience, before continuing with a hint of solemnity in his voice.
"My name is Hanson Marlo Bravi III. The III comes not from my family having predecessors with the same name, but is something I added myself for each time I faced death and emerged victorious. For each time I emerged a new, stronger man.
"The first time was when I was eight years old, and my village was attacked by a pack of jackals that had gone through spiritual awakening. For hours I escaped through the wilderness, sometimes running, sometimes tumbling, carrying a newborn child with me until I eventually ran into an army unit conducting training in the wild. I led them back to my village, only to discover nothing left. Only the child and I survived." He paused once again, his grin completely gone from his face this time as he looked his three students in their eyes. He studied their expressions in silence, then he continued.
"The second time was when I was 28 years old, during the Australian Beast tide of 1981. A new Golden Core Beast was expanding its territory and many other Golden Core Beasts were using that opportunity to expand their own territories. I was a member of the Nosso private military at the time, and we were stationed near where the Beast Tide originated. Four days," Marlo paused again, to give emphasis to his words. "When the Beast Tide emerged, our base was overwhelmed and for four days I was stuck in what was a red zone, surrounded by enraged beasts with no knowledge of what was going on as we had lost communication. Out of the entire army base, I was the only survivor. When the UN response team found me, I was hiding in the carcass of a Golden Core level beast that I had killed. At the time, I had only just entered the Foundation Realm."
Larry visibly trembled when he heard Marlo, and Matilda's complexion visibly paled. Lex was also quite shocked; Mo's Blessing, an insanely strong cultivation technique, gave the example of fighting higher realm cultivators, so was Marlo's cultivation comparable to that? Or was he just lucky?
"The third time was during the war of 99 between Navo Corp. and the Pelican Sect in Western Europe. Navo Corp had provoked quite a few people here in the US as well, and I was acting as an escort for a diplomatic mission to France to see if we could potentially ally to put pressure on them, but were ambushed en route. 36 Golden Core experts against a team of 9. That incident later came to be known as The Day of the Red Dawn. Every time a Golden Core expert dies, the sky is covered in a red hue by the spirit energy released from the body, and that day, the sun rose to a red sky.
"Every time I've been close to death, it was during something unforeseen. It was during something no one could have predicted, but that didn't change the fact that any of those incidents could have killed me. That is why a man must know how to defend himself and how to survive. The world is a tough place and dying in it is the easiest thing to do - it's surviving and living on that's hard."
Chapter 17: What is self defense?
Lex found it hard to believe that the giant in front of him could be so profound, but it was exactly that giant's life and his words that gave him goosebumps. Dying was easy, living was hard. At first it was a strange thought, but it reminded Lex of all the struggles he'd ever had in life. He recalled the worst and toughest parts of his life. Although his life up till now was very ordinary, no one could claim there weren't parts of it where he felt very miserable. Living truly was difficult sometimes, but it was worth it. He was ready to go through harder difficulties for an even better life.
"Now, one by one, introduce yourselves. Give as much or as little detail as you want. It doesn't matter."
"Ladies first," Larry quickly said as he looked towards Matilda with an honest smile.
Her lips twitched, but she controlled her annoyance and focused on Marlo.
"My name is Matilda Ross. I am 22 years old and inherited my cultivation method in my brother's will. I want to continue on this path and not only survive but also flourish. But first I need to focus on survival, so I am here to learn how to do that."
Marlo gave the woman an accepting nod, his expression still serious. Lex almost found it unusual to see the man without some manic expression.
"I guess I'm next, huh?" said Larry with a hint of reluctance. "I have a bit of ambition, you could say. I want to do big things, and for that I need a solid start. Going through this class will really help with that, so I'm here." He smiled weakly at his fellow students, as if trying to portray a weak determination. "My name is Larry Dershaw," he finished, his volume lowering almost to a whisper, yet its effect was drastic. Marlo's expression changed to that of surprise, as if he had heard something truly unexpected.
After a moment though, Marlo's expression returned to its former serious state, and he made a short comment, "A man can be defeated but he cannot give up. Your journey may be long, but every breath you take is a victory against your enemies."
After that, all three of them turned to look at Lex, who was slightly distracted. It seemed Larry had a story behind him, and Matilda too, for that matter. But thinking about that was for later. Right now, he had to focus on himself.
"My name is Lex William. I am 23 years old and I was only just introduced to the world of cultivation. I don't have any grand ambitions or anything like that. I just feel like the world is very dangerous, and that if I am not prepared for it, I won't even know how I died. The difference between what the world is really like, and what I used to think it was, is too big. I want to be better prepared." Lex's words were very simple, and he tried to downplay his life as well as himself so that no one would think anything interesting was going on in it.
He thought he had done a good job. The look on Marlo's face, however, said otherwise; he had a knowing smirk on his face as he eyed Lex up and down. It was quite a contrast to how he responded to the previous two, but he made no comments.
Eventually, he addressed all three together. "Matilda, Larry, Lex, the three of you have an admirable will to show up here after last class. You have also demonstrated a knowledge of your current weaknesses, as well as a desire to improve. To me, that is admirable, but actions are the best way to communicate. Take these and sign them to officially start your classes. The training period will be a total of three months, during which you are not allowed to miss any classes. If you cannot attend a class or need to miss an activity, you will have to inform me prior with a good reason, otherwise it will be deemed as a violation of your contract. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I have a reputation to uphold. Anyone who has attended my class has an 87% better survival rate compared to other cultivators in up to level 3 danger situations. I won't have that number drop because a student is too lazy to complete my training."
Marlo handed the three contracts and gave them time to review them. The contract only had a few main points, first about the payment and the forms in which one could pay. The preferred method was actually 1 Bloodline stone, after which were 5 spirit stones, after which was cash, and finally an employment contract if you were unable to pay. It also accepted sponsorships from any organization that might be backing the student.
The second clause was that if a student were to miss a single class without sufficient reason, he would be immediately expelled and could not claim any relation to Marlo or his self-defense class under penalty of law. The third clause was an unusual one; it stated that so long as a student attended even a single paid class with Marlo, even if they did not continue with the full course, the student was not allowed to join an organization called Ultimate Fight Fortress, and if this clause were to be violated Marlo reserved the right to challenge the student to Legal Trial by Combat (LTC).
Lex didn't know what that meant, but a quick search on the Bluebird portal told him it was basically a government sanctioned death fight. Whoever participated could kill the opponent in combat if they wished, suffering no convictions or punishments. The rest of the contract was pretty basic, and covered stuff like Marlo would not be responsible for injuries caused during training, etc.
After going through it, Lex signed it, only to realize everyone else had already done so and was waiting for him. Finally, once the formalities (signing, setting up payment plans or methods etc.) were completed, Marlo brought them back to the arena where 3 minions were waiting for them.
"As of now, for the next three months, we have officially established a relationship as students and as a teacher. Before we begin training practically, I would like to impart some of my experience onto you. The most important thing to teach you is what self defense actually is, and what it looks like for you now, and what it will look like for you in the future.
"Some of you may have an image in your head that we will be learning martial arts, or some form of hand to hand combat, but that is a misconception. While combat skills are absolutely essential, you must realize that combat between cultivators and mortals is very different. Right now, you are basically just a slightly stronger mortal, if you will. This is because in the Body Tempering stage, there aren't really any cultivation skills you can use. Later on, however, you will learn them and be able to use them. That doesn't, however, mean that right now you won't encounter an enemy that can't use cultivation skills.
"How do you deal with a situation where you encounter an enemy who can use cultivation skills? How do you deal with an enemy who is in the same realm, but higher level than you? What do you do if you encounter a beast? How do you deal with a hostile mortal carrying a gun? How to survive if you are being targeted by a spirit formation? If you are being poisoned? How to defend yourself when suffering from legal persecution? I will cover the basics on everything I have mentioned so far and teach you with varying depths how to react in those situations. Everything that is a part of your syllabus is a result of my direct personal experiences and I will do what I can to teach you how to react in those situations. Of course, this is only a beginner's course, so I will only cover stuff to a certain degree. If you wish to learn to a greater level, you can take up my intermediate and advanced courses later as well."
Lex had to admit he was fairly impressed by Marlo. The man was extremely professional, and had not let his hysterical tendencies loose during the class so far. It was no wonder he was so reputable.
"Let me ask you all a question. In any given situation, what do you think self-defense looks like?"
The three students looked at one another before Larry hesitantly answered, "Ensuring your own survival..."
Before Larry could finish his answer, Marlo let out a deafening roar, "WRONG! Self defense means to kill your opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible! If the source of your danger is dead, then by default you are safe!" Marlo burst into a loud and hysterical laughter after he finished saying.
It was extremely brief, almost as if Lex had imagined it completely, but it seemed as if the minions looked at the three students with eyes full of pity. Lex felt like beating himself up for believing Marlo was a professional. The man was a giant child hopped up on a dozen energy drinks. Lex was once again worried about his future.
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