Chapter 6: Saint's First Actual Combat
Colleen Wing raised her eyebrow of surprise. Back when Saint's parents were still alive, she was a frequent customer of Lee's Chinese Restaurant. Although she and Saint never had much contact, she had been around him for years and very familiar with him. This Chinese American teenager one year younger than her was usually really shy. He was never as bold as today, but she did like being praised for her beauty. Curious, she couldn't help but ask: "Saint, why was your restaurant closed for so many days? Is there something wrong?"
Saint walked over to her, giving her a half truthful answer: "Nothing, it's just that my training reached a critical point; I've been practicing in the past few days.
"Practicing?"
Colleen was surprise and asked suspiciously: "The Lee Family has Martial Arts traditions? How come I don't know of that?!"
Saint shook his head, remembering what he told Danny the day before: "That's not it. I've learned the teaching of the "Kame Sennin" back when I was a child, but I've never practiced them until now."
"Kame Sennin?" Colleen looked at Saint with a sigh of interest: "A strange name! Is he from China town?"
"No." Saint shook his head again saying: "Do you know of K'un-lun?"
Hearing that word, Colleen eyes went wide open. She remembered the "geek" she met the other day, Danny Rand. She remained stunned for a while, and then said: "Yes I heard about that."
Because Saint had already deceived Danny once yesterday, he was lying more smoothly this time around: "We at "Kame School" just like "K'un-lun" keep our presence hidden. Back when I was a child, I met the Kame Xiānrén by chance as he went to visit the outside world. He accepted me as an apprentice, and taught me how to control Ki, and even how to fly."
"Xiānrén?!"(Translator Note: I've kept the word's pronunciation in Chinese here. It's the same Kanji for Sennin in Japanese. It means Sage, and whenever the fact that Saint used the Chinese Pinyin is not accentuated, I'll be using the more common "Kame Sennin" as it's far more familiar.)
Colleen was half Chinese. Having spent most of her life in Japan and New York, she wasn't that good in Chinese. However, words such as Xiānrén were not forgotten.
Saint shrugged his shoulders bragging about his supposed Sensei saying: "He was a Sage indeed, even able to fly in midair!"
"Fly?" Colleen gasped and then said: "You mean, through practicing Ki, people could fly?"
"Yes." Saint nodded and said: "It's a very advanced technique called Bukujutsu (T/N: lit."Dancing Sky Art"). But my Ki is still far too weak, and in this short period of time, I didn't even reach a level high enough to practice it."
Colleen's face was full of disbelief, and she immediately started doubting Saint's word: "How old did you say you were when you met this Sage? I'm starting to feel that you've been cheated!"
Saint laughed indifferently, not bothering to argue with her saying: "Words are empty, you'll see it 1st hand later. Soon or later, one day, I will fly before your very eyes!"
"Come to my Dojo at anytime!" Colleen said as she raised her eyebrows: "I have to see if it's even real martial arts that you've learned!"
This was very convenient! Saint was already looking for someone to practice with, and to gauge his current level. He looked back and forth then said: "I'm free now!"
"Alright!"
The two stood up, and Colleen left the rice that Saint was preparing for her and said: "Let's go!"
Saint quickly took off his work apron, locked the restaurant door and walked half a block with Colleen, soon arriving at her small Dojo.
She walked to a corner and picked up two wooden swords and then asked Saint: "Do you use weapons?"
"I don't need them." Saint waved his hands and said: "I only use my fists. However, I'll make it fair for you, by allowing you to use a sword."
"What?"
Colleen sneered and laughed, never imagining that she would be underestimated by Saint. She made up her mind to teach him a lesson! She advanced with her wooden sword staring at his eyes: "Well, you've asked for this!"
Because this was Saint's 1st actual fight, he was rather nervous. However, thanks to Goku's life experience, he quickly managed to calm down and lift his arms saying: "Let's go!"
"Take this!"
Colleen wasn't through saying that when her wooden sword swung forth towards Saint. However, she was shocked to see Saint go forth while dodging swiftly, going past the sword and aiming a fierce elbow to her from the front!
'What perfect form and footwork!'
Colleen's eyes shrank sharply and she immediately lifted her left arm to push his elbow to the side, pushing herself away from his body. However, that gained her no room to breathe, as Saint's side Kick had already followed.
'How could he be so fast?!'
She was rather stunned, and found that he had to hold the hilt of her sword with both hands to block it. She thought she was able to use it to block Saint's kick difficultly, only to hear the sound of a crack! Splinters of wood were flying in the air as her sword was actually broken by his kick.
After his foot went through the sword, because of his momentum, Saint had to forcibly divert his leg away from Colleen, and then take a step back into a "drunken" posture.
Colleen's eyebrows rose up, and then she walked to the corner of her Dojo without saying a word. From her cabinet, she took out a sheathed Katana, and pulled out of its sheath. She had obviously recognized Saint's strength, and decided to go all out against him.
At the sight of cold steel, Saint's heart inevitable shook. With his current Ki, he shouldn't be able to keep a real sword from going through his body. If he was to receive a direct hit, Colleen's Dojo was definitely going to see blood!
"I shouldn't have provoked this mad woman…"
Saint knew that his regret was far too late, for Colleen, with her Katana in hand, immediately attacked him. He did not dare to block her weapon, and felt he was walking on thin Ice as he swiftly and carefully dodged all her swings, remaining focused to find a window for a counterattack!
The situation wasn't going to remain this stagnant for long. After he dodged over a dozen swings in succession, Saint's footwork inevitable got sloppy; he seemed to have lost his balance. Colleen's eyes shined as she saw her opportunity, and she went in in with her sword aggressively!
Watching the approaching blade, Saint, while in cold sweat, desperately suppressed his instinct telling him to dodge, and instead walked forwards, straightened his right arm, separating his fingers, pointing at Colleen's chest and shouting: "Jan Ken: Pa!" (Translator Note: This is how Goku announced his Grandpa's Rock Paper Scissors attacks, Pa is the paper variant. The description of the attack fits Hiken, also known as Soaring Fist, perfectly, as if it's an evolution of Rock Paper Scissors.)
Inside the sealed Dojo, a wild wind blew! Colleen could clearly see that Saint's hand was at least ten centimeters away from her chest, but he felt an invisible big hand pushing her back. The powerful air current made her eyes open wide out of surprise, and the two rounded hemispheres on her chest were squeezed in. At that moment, her feet involuntarily left the floor, and her entire body flew backwards!