~ Third Person Pov ~
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After everyone had seen all of Ayano's move set, and his level of competency, they had left him in the basement and went to speak on what they should do next...
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"Alright, Eli... How do you say we go about?" Zack asked, not sure how any of them should really proceed with this kind of situation.
"I... I'm not so sure about this either." Eli said thoughtfully, then sighing for a moment, "I think we should tell him about how gifted he is. I partially did so with his talent in learning how to harness his animalistic side... But, in terms of pure martial prowess..." Eli didn't even finish his sentence, but trailed off instead.
Warren then spoke up, "I would say I agree... I also think the boy should be aware of his talent as well... Having four completely different techniques that are nearing the level of those with a fully fledged path are..." Warren paused, slowly noticing Eli's guilty expression.
"Wait just a second, Eli... Is the boy even aware of what a path is?" He quickly asked.
Everyone turned in Eli's direction, "No... I really haven't gotten around in telling him what any of that is, yet..." He said, lowly.
"Then we can start on that first... If he understands what masteries, and paths are. It should help him to grasp how talented he really is..." Vin interjected.
"Yeah, that sounds about right... Let's get it over with first." Vasco said.
Everyone of them quickly agreed, heading downstairs again to explain the new situation.
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Ayano turned, hearing the footsteps of the elders again...
'Well, that didn't take very long... I wonder what they were all talking about.' He thought, idly.
They all made their way down and gathered again, this time, Jihan stepped up, being the one that everyone had chosen to explain what everything was.
"Alright, son... I think it's best we explain some things first. But before I start, I wanted to ask, just in case; have you heard of masteries by any chance, or even paths?" He asked.
Ayano shook his head, and responded. "Uhhm... No, not really... I've never heard of those terms before, why?"
Jihan slowly glanced back to his old friends, and then back towards Ayano...
"Well, I think should start explaining the former first... Masteries, at least, back in our day was essentially a way of saying someone had reached a point of fully understanding how to utilize their overall strength, or assets. Whether it be their speed, strength, toughness, endurance, and technique; Are you with me so far?"
Ayano nodded, "I guess..."
"Good... Now, it's best I get a bit more detailed in my explanation... To start, those who do achieve mastery in any of those fields, are typically very, very close to hitting their own physical limits, understand?"
Ayano nodded, then asked, "I think I get you... But, you said, typically... Is there some sort of other catch to it?"
Jihan nodded, "In fact, there is... Those who achieve it, can still, at least technically speaking continue to grow in their areas of expertise. Still, one thing is very common between the two, is that when you do achieve it, like I've mentioned before; you are nearing how strong you can get in that area, as well as naturally. Think of it as mastering how to lift a dumbbell, but you can still grow stronger overall, the two are tied, but aren't exactly the same... Mastery however, at it's very core is simply a great amount understanding."
Ayano didn't say anything at that point...
"Still, you must be wondering, what does this have to do with anything? Well, mastery for something like martial arts works a little bit, differently. Technique mastery has stages... Regular mastery is essentially having practiced your specific martial art to absolute perfection, and in execution, you aren't missing anything... But, it can go further than even that." Jihan explained further.
"Further...? If you've mastered something, what's could possibly be after even that?" Ayano asked.
Jihan sighed, "Paths, youngster... Paths are what's after it." Jihan answered. He continued, " A path, is a level above even mastery. Think of them as reaching a new level entirely. Please to keep in mind that, there are no paths for strength, speed, endurance and toughness, only for technique; at least, not in the traditional sense. Paths in technique can either be two things, reaching a new height in an existing martial art, or even developing a sub-category of a martial art, that's much stronger or more versatile, than it's normal version."
He slowly looked behind himself, and pointed;
"A good example of these cases would be my friend Warren here. He is a user of CQC. However, he has not only mastered the original martial art, he now has the latter form of a path; having created a sub-category of it, making it far more precise, and worse, deadly... Another thing to note. Your first master Eli has the former, he took his own art, and reached a new level in it's proficiency in it... Other than that, do you have any more questions?" Jihan finished and asked.
Ayano thought about it for a moment, "Ah, yes... I just wanted to ask you if one person who has mastery, can be weaker than a person that doesn't have it?"
Jihan raised a brow, and asked with an inquisitive tone, "What do you think?"
Not really expecting his own question to come back to bite him, he thought about it all for a bit longer, 'Well... Based on the old man's explanation, it sort of feels like mastery is kind of contingent on one's genetics, or potential, so...'
"I'll say, yes; I'd lean more on the thought that, someone without mastery can potentially be stronger. I mean, the world's a big place, isn't it?"
Jihan smiled at that, "Indeed it is Ayano; and to answer your question, you are correct. There has been cases of those who have surpassed others with mastery before, that didn't have it.. However I should note that, not everyone's mastery will always be on the same level. Some may have a deeper understanding of their own strengths than others, and some might simply be more gifted physically than others are; like you've said. That's just how the world is."
"I... Think I've gotten the basic concepts of the two down. But, why exactly did you want to tell me all this?" Ayano asked, not seeing where they are trying to go with all this.
"It's... because you've not only reached mastery in all the martial martial arts you know at the moment. It's the fact that you've essentially even went beyond it with four out of the ten of those you know." Eli suddenly interjected.
"-And, achieving mastery is no cake walk kiddo, most spend their entire lives, both practicing and reaching where you are in terms of raw technique in just a single martial art. You on the other hand did it with eleven different martial arts, and four out of that bunch alone; and like my friend Eli here said, they are already on paths." Vin added.
"To make this all even more impressive, it's that you're also on the initial type of path. It's one thing to just add things to a martial art kid, but improving on what's already there? Well, that is another thing entirely... That shows you've pretty much understood the principles behind it, and made it yours completely, or you're on your way there-" Vasco also chipped in.
"-You are someone with a talent that's unheard of, in every sense of the word... Truly mastering different martial arts is one thing, but doing so with multiple is much more impressive.-" Jay added, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"So, this just leaves us with one more thing left to do..." Hudson explained, smiling. "And that's to teach you, and we've already decided on who'd go first." He then looked towards Zack.
Zack walked forward. "I'll be the one teaching you first, kiddo!" Zack then pointed at himself excitedly.
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Ayano sighed knowing he would regret this, and slowly asked. "I'm not saying, no... But, what martial art doyou know?"
Zack smiled, "Boxing... Fortunately for you; You've more than reached an acceptable level in it already, in fact. You're actually on a path in it. What I'll be teaching you, is my very own perfected technique, initially passed down from my late master, Gongseob Ji."
"Really...? And what technique is that?" Ayano asked, a bit interested in the proposal.
Zack slowly smirked. "The Golden fortress."
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END