The first three days of training flew by in a flash. With a frightening focus and a prodigy's talent, Ritsuki managed to absorb every physical movement and form of the Karambit techniques taught by Mr. Akbar. Each afternoon, when practice ended, he would sit in the corner of the dojo, filling his notebook with sketches and complicated flow diagrams of attacks.
" I've always been curious," Mr. Akbar said one evening, sitting down beside him. "With everything you've learned these past two years, your notes should already be as high as a mountain."
Ritsuki looked a little startled, then smiled. "I keep them here, Sir," he said, showing his Internal Space box. "All my notes are safe inside."
Mr. Akbar nodded in admiration. "For the Karambit game, you've already mastered the shell," he said, getting to his feet. "Now it's time we fill the weapon with its soul. We're going to learn how to control Inner Power (Tenaga Dalam)."
They walked south of the village, crossed an old wooden bridge, and entered a dense forest. Not long after, a tremendous roaring sound began to rise. They arrived at a hidden cleft where three giant waterfalls poured down millions of liters of water with earth's shaking force.
"Woah…" Ritsuki breathed, his eyes widening in awe.
"In Java, we have names for them," Mr. Akbar explained. "The one on the far left is Si Alus—its flow is gentle. The one in the middle is Si Asal—its flow is normal. And the one on the far right…" He pointed to the largest fall whose spray created a thick mist. "…that is
Si Atos—its flow is the strongest."
"Now, take off your shirt," ordered Mr. Akbar. "Pick one of them and try to stand beneath it. Don't fight it. Feel its current and try to 'Unite with Water'."
Without the slightest hesitation, Ritsuki pointed at the largest waterfall. "COME HERE, SI ATOS!" he shouted, his spirit blazing.
But spirit alone was not enough. Even before he could get close, the wind and spray slammed into him like a storm, hurling him back to the riverbank.
"WHAT SHOULD I DO, SIR!?" he yelled in frustration.
Mr. Akbar simply leaned against a large rock, opened a book, and answered without looking up, "I'll just be watching. Remember what I told you."
That day ended in humiliating failure. Again and again he tried to charge forward, and again and again he was thrown aside. As the sun began to set, his body was covered in bruises and scrapes—yet the fire in his eyes did not fade.
"Ritsu! We'll continue tomorrow!" Mr. Akbar called out. "JUST A LITTLE MORE, SIR! I CAN STILL DO IT!" Ritsuki answered, refusing to give up.
Mr. Akbar only gave a thin smile and walked home alone. "I knew he would choose Si Atos," he murmured. "His resolve is steel, but he's trying to fight a mountain with his fists.
Let him learn it on his own."
Night fell, bringing a biting cold. Ritsuki was still there, shivering but still trying. In the midst of his despair, he heard footsteps. Marika arrived carrying a packet of warm rice and a bottle of drinking water.
"Father said you wouldn't come home," Rika said softly. "At least… eat a little."
Ritsuki looked at the warm rice, then at Rika. For the first time in two years, someone other than his teachers showed him sincere concern. Without a word, he accepted the bundle and ate in silence while Rika kept him company by the riverbank. Her presence gave him a little warmth in the cold night.
After Rika went home, Ritsuki turned again to face Si Atos. This time he no longer tried to charge it. He remembered Mr. Akbar's advice: Unite with water. He no longer saw the waterfall as an enemy, but as a great force of nature. Slowly, he stepped into the icecold water, sat crosslegged, and began to meditate—trying to feel the rhythm of the water rather than fight it.
At midnight, Mr. Akbar came back, worried about his reckless student. What he saw made him stop in his tracks. There, beneath the ferocious hammering of Si Atos, Ritsuki sat calmly in meditation, his small body unmoving as if he were part of the rock beneath him. He had done it.
In his meditation, Ritsuki let everything go—his anger at the world, his sorrow over his mother's death, all the hatred that had weighed on him. He let the water cleanse not only his body but his soul. When he opened his eyes, what remained was clarity—and a single question: What is my true purpose?
"All this time I was always protected," Ritsuki told Mr. Akbar on their quiet walk home. "I don't want that anymore. I will prove to the world—to everyone who calls me 'defective'—that I can become the strongest… in my own way."
Farewell
On the seventh day—the last day of Ritsuki's stay in the village—arrived at last. He had succeeded in channeling his first Inner Power, an achievement that should have been impossible. It was time to say goodbye.
"Where will you go next?" asked Mr. Akbar. "Abroad. Maybe to the Arab lands, to learn their martial arts," Ritsuki replied.
Rika's mother came bringing provisions and a cloth bundle. Inside were three Karambits that Ritsuki had ordered in secret: one made of light steel, one of solid iron, and one of a heavy, unknown metal.
"What do you need three for?" Mr. Akbar asked.
Ritsuki took the heaviest Karambit and attached it to an iron chain he had made himself. With a deft motion, he flung it at a tree and then pulled it back in a blink.
"Like this," he said. "An idea I got while learning to 'unite' with water—combining hard strikes with a flexible flow."
Mr. Akbar could only shake his head with a smile. "Genius."
After the farewells, Ritsuki began to walk away from the training compound. But a shout from afar stopped him. Marika was running from the direction of the school with all her strength.
"RITSUKI!" she cried, breathless. "PROMISE ME YOU'LL COME BACK HERE
AGAIN!"
Ritsuki turned, looked at the red haired girl, then smiled—a sincere smile he rarely showed. "OF COURSE!" he replied, his voice carried by the wind.
With one last wave, he continued his journey, leaving behind his first trace as a friend and carrying with him a priceless lesson about true strength.
[TO BE CONTINUED]