Chapter 11 Training Begins
Mother Frieda, as she had been called, bent and placed her hand on the same spot where the master's hand had been. Instead of the white, a red halo now appeared as Elenav screamed out loud suddenly.
"Ignore them. He will be up and running around in no time. Now for your matter. Are you sure that you want to enter the Fists of Justice? The training will be fierce and I will not consider any cries for mercy after accepting. Of course, you can choose to leave in the future, but only after completing the training. These are the instructions of your father, so you have no say in it. Think well before accepting."
Hearing that his father had already laid down instructions, Daneel did not hesitate. He had been thinking about this since the flight and after seeing that both mages and body refiners were present here, he found no reason to reject the invitation.
"I accept.", he replied.
"Good. I'm Felix, but that's Master Felix for you. Wait here while I get our enrollment coin."
Felix walked into the cottage leaving Daneel waiting outside. Elenav's screams were only getting higher and higher in intensity before suddenly stopped with a gurgling sound. Before he could turn around to see what had happened, Felix had returned.
"Put your finger on this coin. Keep thinking in your mind about accepting the invitation."
Felix held out a round coin shaped like a fist which was around 4 inches long. Each finger of the fist could be clearly seen in what looked like excellent craftsmanship.
Daneel put his index finger on the coin. On feeling a small pain, he realized that a drop of blood had oozed out of a small cut made by an unnoticeable needle on the coin. The coin had absorbed his blood and now glowed a bright orange.
[*DING*
Host has entered the faction: Fists of Justice-Training Hall
1 Faction Point awarded. 10 EXP awarded. Incoming communication from enrollment coin. Would host like to hear the message?]
"Yes"
[Welcome to the Fists of Justice! Our motto is this: "Bleeding or hale, my fists shall forever stand on the side of justice-striking fear into the hearts of those who seek to take advantage of the downtrodden. Fists of justice, forever undefeated!"
Touch the coin at any time to inquire about the training hall or check for any missions. This coin shall also act as your identity proof in the Hall. Please note that if anyone else touches the coin, it shall self destruct causing catastrophic harm to the one holding it.]
This explained what had happened before with Elenav.
As if he had been called through his mind, Elenav woke up behind him screaming,
"No! It wasn't me! I didn't set the women's clothes on fire!"
After this strange scream sounded, both Felix and Daneel looked back to see both of the women glaring at Elenav.
Scratching his head, Elenav laid down on the ground as if he had fainted again. Seeing this, Viuda punched him in the groin which made him scream again and wake up.
Hearing them bickering, one accusing the other and the other saying over and over again that it wasn't him, Felix chuckled.
"Lively as always. Anyway, here is your identity token. You can customize it later if you go up in the ranks. I'll be watching you, kiddo. Training begins in 3 days. Pack enough clothes for 3 months and get here. Viuda, stop arguing with him and come drop our young friend off. Remember where you drop him off, 3 days later you will have to pick him up to begin training."
Viuda glided to them before nodding at Felix and taking off with Daneel. The coin stayed with him which he grasped tight in his hand.
Viuda seemed to be a woman of few words. She only asked where to go and then chose to stay silent.
Seeing this, even Daneel decided to mimic here. She used the same pendant again before taking off, which made him suspect that it was some kind of instrument which made them invisible. Otherwise, because they flew only at a low altitude of 40-50 feet, they would have been clearly visible to everyone on the streets. Instead, no one looked up, pointing to see what it was in the air.
After about 90 seconds, Daneel was left at the entrance to the slums after Viuda reminded him that she would be back here after 3 days in the morning. On seeing him nod, she took off, disappearing as soon as she was 5 feet in the air. This reaffirmed Daneel's suspicion.
Feeling that this was a day well spent, Daneel quickly ran back home. It was already evening and he would have to help his mom with the chores.
On reaching home, his father saw the shining gold coin in his hand before saying, "So you met Felix. How did that happen?"
Daneel proceeded to tell his parents about his day while helping with the chores. On hearing that he had been kicked out of the library, his father bristled with anger and said, "Those two! So they are still at it! There is no such thing as a book limit, that's just absurd. The two just derive some sort of sick satisfaction from throwing out poor people who went into the library after amassing the money after a long period of time. They love to see the expression of despair and gloat as these downtrodden people beg them to let them back in. I personally warned them before to stop. It seems they started again after knowing that I was thrown out." His father sighed as he got to the last part.
It was just as he had thought. This made Daneel look forward even more to see these two punished.
After finishing about his day, dinner was ready so his family sat down and had the meal. The dining room was filled with laughter as all three of them forgot their sorrows and floated in the ocean of happiness that was family.
The next 3 days passed quickly. Daneel knew that he would be away for 3 months, so he spent all the time he could with his parents. Each day passed by with many smiles and laughter as the Anivron house was vibrant with the joy of a family who were happy to spend time with each other.
On the third day, Daneel walked with packed clothes towards the designated meeting point.
It was the break of dawn and very few people were on the streets. A group of 5 drunkards were slowly limping down the street after just exiting the bar they had spent all night in.
After waiting for a few minutes, just as the group was about to pass, Viuda appeared in front of him. She had dropped down from the sky again, unnoticed.
On seeing such a stunning woman suddenly appear, the drunkards rubbed their eyes to check if they were dreaming before one of them said, "Hey sweetie, care to come home with me? I'll make it worth your while." He took out a bronze Lan from his pocket as he said so.
With a disgusted expression on her face, Viuda thrust her arm at the group. As soon as she did so, the five were flung back into a wall, coming to a halt just before impacting with the hard surface and breaking all their bones. Still, they fainted from the sudden shifts in momentum.
"Let's go", she said, taking off with Daneel as if the action of flinging 5 people back with just a hand movement and having such fine control of their momentum was something insignificant.