'Rivers of time... enemy... change... death?!'
Tenshou's mind raced as Master Gekko's words sank in like stones dropping into still water.
Each concept hit him one after another, building a terrifying picture he couldn't ignore.
His master's impossible speed and movement weren't just some hidden martial arts technique he'd never seen before.
They were something else entirely.
At this point, everything clicked into place with sickening clarity.
He understood that what his master was saying might actually be true.
The rational part of his brain screamed against it—time travel, alternate realities, all of it sounded like something ripped straight from his anime collection.
But considering what he'd just witnessed, the evidence balanced on his extended leg like gravity meant nothing...
He was leaning toward believing every impossible word.
More importantly, if his master spoke the truth, his life was in real danger.
Not the kind of danger he'd faced in tournaments or street fights, but something far worse. Something that apparently required fleeing through time itself to escape.
Tenshou's expression hardened as the weight of the situation settled on his shoulders.
His usual easygoing demeanor vanished, replaced by the focused intensity that had made him a champion.
"What about you?"
Master Gekko's weathered face remained calm, but Tenshou caught the brief flicker of something—sadness? Regret?—in his eyes.
"Don't worry about me for now, I—"
*GROOOOAAAANNN*
The world exploded into chaos.
Everything began to shake violently, as if the mountain itself was having a seizure.
Rocks tumbled down the steep slopes around them, and Tenshou had to widen his stance to keep from falling.
But worse than the earthquake was the sound that accompanied it—an ominous ringing that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
It wasn't just loud. It was wrong.
The sound felt like fingernails on a chalkboard scraped directly against his soul, making his teeth ache and his bones vibrate in ways that shouldn't be possible.
"Damn it!" Master Gekko cursed, his usual composure cracking for the first time Tenshou had ever seen.
The old man's eyes darted around frantically, searching for something in the trembling landscape. "Time is up! I should still have at least an hour."
His voice carried a note of genuine panic that sent ice through Tenshou's veins. "Something is trying to speed up the process."
Without warning, the iron grip on his shoulders disappeared.
Master Gekko had removed his hands, allowing Tenshou to move again, but the young martial artist barely noticed.
He was too busy staring at something that defied every law of physics he thought he understood.
A sound like fabric being torn echoed across the mountain peaks, but amplified a thousand times.
Tenshou watched in absolute shock as reality itself seemed to split open not far from where they stood.
A jagged line appeared in the air, growing longer and wider with each passing second.
Through the tear, he glimpsed something that made his stomach drop. It wasn't another place—it was nothingness. Pure, absolute void that hurt to look at directly.
"A rift in space?" The whisper escaped his lips before he could stop it.
His mind tried to rationalize what he was seeing.
Some kind of optical illusion?
A trick of the light?
But deep down, he knew better.
This was real.
This was happening.
Tenshou spun toward his master, desperate for answers, for some explanation that would make sense of the impossible scene unfolding around them.
But before he could speak, he heard Master Gekko sigh—a sound filled with years of weariness and regret.
"I'm sorry, my boy."
The old man's finger moved faster than Tenshou could track, striking a precise point on his throat.
Immediately, his voice died. He opened his mouth to protest, to demand answers, but nothing came out except a strangled gasp.
Behind him, the air began to swirl and darken. Tenshou's eyes widened as he watched a portal—perfectly circular and black as midnight—materialize out of thin air.
Unlike the jagged tear in reality he'd seen moments before, this portal felt like a passageway.
'What is he—'
Master Gekko's palm struck his chest with surgical precision.
The moment of contact sent a shock through Tenshou's entire body as something warm and electric flowed into him.
Blue light erupted from the point of impact, spreading across his chest like liquid fire. He could feel it—whatever his master had just given him—settling deep inside his core.
"Take care of yourself, Tenshou."
Strong hands pushed against his back. Tenshou's feet left the rocky ground as he tumbled backward toward the swirling portal. He reached out desperately, trying to grab onto something, anything, but his fingers found only empty air.
The last thing he saw before the darkness swallowed him was his master's face—lined with age and filled with a sadness that seemed to encompass lifetimes.
Then everything went black.
---
At this time, a silver-haired middle-aged woman suddenly appeared beside Master Gekko, her form shimmering slightly as if she'd stepped through water.
Her elegant features were marred by worry lines as she stared at the spot where Tenshou had disappeared.
The portal had vanished without a trace, leaving no evidence that it had ever existed.
"Will they be fine with him?" Her voice carried centuries of concern, though she appeared no older than forty.
Master Gekko's tense shoulders finally relaxed.
For the first time since the world had started shaking, he allowed himself to smile. It was a small expression, but genuine.
"Who else would be best to keep them safe if not a monster like my disciple?"
He glanced at the woman beside him, his ancient eyes twinkling with something that might have been pride.
"Don't worry, Selene. They'll be okay."
Selene seemed to consider his words, her ethereal features softening slightly. Some of the worry lines around her eyes faded, though she still looked troubled.
"But we still don't know how his anomaly will fare in the other world," she said, voicing the concern that had been gnawing at both of them.
Master Gekko waved a dismissive hand.
"Don't worry. I already took care of it. It was just a matter of him being taken as a native of the world. No big deal..."
His expression shifted, becoming almost mischievous as a chuckle escaped his lips.
"Although I would have loved to see the youngster's face when he experiences what he always read and watched in those fantasy entertainments of his. Hehehe..."
The sound of his laughter echoed across the mountain peaks, a strange counterpoint to the chaos that was still tearing holes in reality around them.
---
*Gasp!*
Cold stone pressed against his back as consciousness crashed into him like a freight train.
A teenage boy who looked to be fourteen years old jolted awake in a dark alley, surrounded by shadows that seemed to move in the corners of his vision.
The acrid smell of garbage and something else—something wrong—filled his nostrils.
He tried to stand, muscles coiling with the trained precision of countless hours of martial arts practice.
But instead of the fluid grace he expected, his legs betrayed him completely.
He collapsed back onto the filthy alley floor, his body refusing to obey even the simplest commands.
'What the hell happened?' The thought felt sluggish, like his mind was wrapped in cotton.
'Why do I feel so weak? I can barely let out a whisper?'
Confusion crashed over him in waves as he stared down at his hands.
They were smaller than they should be.
Paler.
The calluses he'd earned from years of training were gone, replaced by soft skin that had never thrown a punch in anger.
His eyes widened in shock as the impossible truth hit him.
"What the hell?!"