[PP-F2] The Journey Begins �Breaking the Unbreakable� (Ssendom) (completed)

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Lonely Anthem slowly came to a large boulder in front of a dungeon's entrance. He sighed and look up at this obstacle in his way. He crossed his arms and exaimed the boulder closely. He figured his sword wouldn't do much. Perhaps there was a trick to breaking it. Maybe it was some form of allusion? There was only one way to find out.

[Ssendom 0]

Ssendom was strolling around on the second floor, not really paying close attention to the path he was walking. He mostly stared at the sky toward the direction he was walking, It was a gorgeous shade of blue with almost no clouds as the tree's in his view helped frame the beauty of the sky on the elevated terrain. After awhile he slowed his pace to halt stopping next to a man looking at the large rocky mass sitting in his path. "Well that's a buzz kill, I was quite enjoying my walk." He turns his attention to the man standing next to him. "Not used to seeing people as tall as me, how do you do good sir." He extends his hand to shake it.

"A pleasure to meet you, the name is Ssendom. What brings you to the 2nd floor?" He asks as he peers over the man's equipment and notices it is all still basic gear. "Can I be of any assistance to you?" He begins to ask a following question before getting an answer to the first one. He rests his head into his palms on the back of his head leaning slightly backwards, it can definitely be inferred that he had been in shape back in the real world.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Lonely Anthem pinched his chin between his thumb and the second knuckle on his index finger. He was very deep in thought. Prehaps it was just as simple as punching the rock. It was then when he realized the man was there.

"I'm happy to finally see a friendly face! My name is Lonely Anthem," the boy said with a smile. He reached for the man's hand, one arm still crossed over his chest, firmly shaking it.

"As for the help, I would be greatful," he said with a deep sigh. "I need to break this boulder but I doubt my weapon will be very affective. You wanna give it a try?" He asked politely

[Ssendom 0]

He took the man's firm handshake in a prideful manner 'He has quite the grip, that is a very good handshake there.' He in return made sure his portion of the handshake was firm as well. He turned to look at the massive rock formation, he looked at it every which way without having to move after retracting his hand from the handshake.

"I agree, It is very nice to see friendly faces." He said cheerfully, "Yeah I can help you out. And I think you're on point in saying that the rock formation will be harmed by any steel, no matter how strong... Maybe a mallet, but that'd be taking the easy way out I think. I'll let you take this one over. I'll try it a bit later personally maybe after you. Might be useful to have one person looking at angles as the other punches it I guess." He pointlessly rants in a monotone voice. He then squats down crossing his arm from one knee to the other, his elbow on his hand thumb under his chin and a finger outstretched across his mouth as he began to think of what would be needed to break down this rock formation, the entire time he couldn't help think the phrase that rome wasn't built in a day, maybe this thought could come in handy some way shape or form.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Lonely Anthem shrugged. Rome wasn't bulit in a day, but it was destroyed by the vizagoths in one. Anthem sighed. Maybe if he just started punching it it might do something. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Here goes nothing...," he said. His eyes snapped open and he pulled his arm back. His fingers clenched tight. He threw his first punch. He almost instantly regretted it. The pain dampeners took most of the force but that didn't stop the massive amount of pain that came from it.

"Ow...," he grunts through his gritted teeth.

[Ssendom 0]

Ssendom chuckled at Anthem's pathetic attempt to punch the thing. "I am sorry, that got me laughing. That musta hurt." He was able to say while wiping a fake tear from his eye. The then cleared his throat, "Come on, didn't you take martial arts while you were growing up?" He asked Anthem as he began to walk around the sides of the rock formation awaiting the answer to his question from Anthem. He began to crack his bones in his hands, neck, and back then he began to do stretches.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Anthem shook his hand and took a deep breath. "Does mortal kombat count?" He asked. He jumps around and takes another deep breath. He looks back at the unphased rock. "Unless constantly punching this thing is the answer, there must be a trick to it ," he said with a chuckle. He was almost tempted to punch it again.

Anthem had never been the strongest person but the skill from this quest would be very useful. It would definitely be best to have it just in case he needed to give away his weapon or wanted to fight unarmed for a while.

[Ssendom 0]

He begins to laugh at the Anthem's question, "I'm sorry I really am, but you're a funny man" He sits down to stifle his laugh into a chuckle, so it doesn't seem so condescending since it was not the kind of message he wanted to give across. After a few moments of laughing, he took a deep breath and regained his composure, "Okay, in Martial Arts they teach you to take a deep breath and focus. But before you do anything, you need to do stretches and loosen your body up. A stiff body is as useless as a dull knife when it comes to using your body as a weapon." He begins to speak in a teaching manner, as a way of guiding him to defeating the task that Anthem has deciding to take on.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Anthem nods slowly. He slowly stretches his legs, crouching on one leg with the other extended. He leaned slowly on the outstretched leg. He did the same to the opposite leg. He stood up and stretched his arms above his head.

Anthem takes a deep breath and smiles "I'm all limbered up and ready to go!"

[Ssendom 0]

He began to shake his head, "It takes about 5 minutes to adequately stretch, you need to feel the looseness of your body. You're never going to take down that rock like that. Come on, think about your body what what needs to loosen up. You think it your shoulders and legs. But go deeper in thought, let it envelope you so you can take on the challenge ahead. You won't need to say you're ready to go, you'll know when you're ready." He tries to speak to Anthem on a deeper level of thinking hoping to inspire true confidence.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Lonely Anthem nodded. He began to stretch his arms across his chest and behind his back. He stretched his thighs by pulling his legs up behind him. He was running through his old football routine.

Back in the day, Loney Anthem was on his junior varsity football team. That was, until the bullying started. It was when his whole team turned against him. It was for this reason he was always on guard. Even now, as he looked perfectly fine with this man, he was still very suspicious of him.

When he was done with his routine, he took a deep breath. He cracked his knuckles then tilted his head to the left and right, several popping sounds came from his neck. He remembered the years of bullying.

He knew true focused was somewhere between anger and serenity. He remembered the days he cherished playing video games online and by himself. He knew nothing would ever be the same again and he accepted that. And with that thought, he knew he was ready.

[Ssendom 0]

Ssendom watched over the man as he stretched, although the man seemed to be in routine and rhythm something indeed seemed off, something that was more primal in nature as if it was from his past. Ssendom nodded as he watched over him making sure to keep his distance as to not cause issues with this new found man, he begun to reminisce of the past and the issues he got in with other students and people of society. He shook his head to dis-spell the thoughts that were beginning to accrue, he needed to remember that this was a new life and there was something that made everything feel right in this world. He jumped up after Anthem cracked his bones, he could feel the intensity that was being emitted from Anthem's aura.

"Now focus and hone your Heart and Soul. Feel as if you were your them in their very essence!" He shouted hoping to guide him through the steps of true harmonic bliss of martial arts. Ssendom was starting to become giddy, he had a feeling deep down in his gut that Anthem would overcome this trial and destroy the rock formation and he couldn't wait. He wanted to explore more of the floor and unleash his bloodlust upon the creatures that inhabited it.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

He took a deep breath. He felt his mind focus on the rock. It was the only thing he could see. He pulled his arm back at waist height. His fist as tight as he could make it. He held up his left hand to aim his punch. He opened his eyes and thrusted his fist forward.

He felt the rock tremble under the force of the blow. He felt a small crack form under his fist. He gritted his teeth as pain ran up his arm. He grunted aloud

[Ssendom 0]

Ssendom began to nod and sat back down on the rocky terrain that was nearish the rock formation he could clearly see the crack that Anthem had created in it, "Good you're starting to hone your mental focus, now focus all your energy into your right hand. Put all your heart into your punch." He continued to guide Anthem down the path of completing the trial. After the next punch there would be only one more thing he might need to do order to obliterate the rock formation, but he kept his tongue held on that fact because he knew Anthem needed to follow the path of guidance to reach the pinnacle of his martial arts training here.

'You can hone yourself so much more naturally in this world when it comes to this, it's almost like this world is enhancing your capabilities of learning how to fight with a weapon and get your body, mind, and soul honed to the art of martial arts. That or this guy is a savant at it.' His thoughts praising Anthem whose focus would allow him to get a feel for people's auras in the area and could feel the benevolent aura that Ssendom was emitting himself.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Lonely Anthem slowly closed his eyes. He didn't think he was quite ready for another shot just yet. He tilted his head back and sat down quickly. He took a deep breath and laid back. He looked up at the virtual sky and sighed. "I'm getting there..." He said with a smile

[Ssendom 0]

Ssendom flopped back, the anticipation was getting to him. 'No need to rush him, he'll get it. All in due time.' He began to stretch and stare at the blue sky of floor 2, 'So peaceful... It's hard to imagine that this game is calling for our deaths these days. Everything is going so smoothly, it's rather nice.' He thought to himself bringing on a smile.

He finished his stretches then performed a kick up after rocking backwards and launching himself forward onto his feet, he then strolled down the hillside and over to Anthem, "Wanna eat some food and relax for a minute?" he asked the man.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Anthem looked at his hunger barbanf saw it was fairly low. "Food sounds great right about now," he said with a large smile. He opened his inventory and took out one bread. He quickly took a bite. He was surprised. He didn't think he would actually taste the bread. When he took the bite he was amazed at how delicious the bread really was and quickly devoured it.

[Ssendom 0]

Ssendom chuckled at the man who was surprised about the food, he then sat down and pulled out a bread of his own and began to eat it. He turned his head and looked at Anthem. "Put all your heart in your next punch. Think about it this way. Don't think about punching the rock, think about punching through the rock. This next I am sure you'll break it in one single strike." He said in an attempt to lift Anthem's spirit, "Give it everything you got." He continued as he violently ripped off a piece of bread with his teeth to add emphasis to his words.

[Lonely Anthem 0]

Anthem nodded. After he finished the bread he stood up again. He took a deep breath. He slowly stretched his arms again, feeling a bit stiff from laying down. He put one hand on the rock and looked up at the colossal piece of earth. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers over the crack he had made.

[Ssendom 0]

He finished his bread and stood up, he crossed his arms over each other and leaned back. He could feel the focus that Anthem had, he could feel the intensity like a beacon from the man. Deep down in Ssendom's gut he knew that Anthem would obliterate the rock everything was in place, everything was set. He kept his eyes on the rock and the man awaiting for the triumphant moment of him unlocking the ability to use Martial Arts the most sought after extra-skill next to Katana's. Ssendom kept quiet although he wanted to cheer the man on, he understood that he would only break the concentration that was being built if he made a single sound. In his mind he cheered the guy on, 'You can do it! Obliterate the rock formation!'