chapter 17

Jimmy yells,"Come out and reveal yourself! I know that you are there! Quit fooling around and come out!"

The eatery waitress Holly speaks,"Have you gone mad, Jimmy? What is wrong with you?"

He speaks,"I know that someone else was here! The hand was not the same as yours!"

The petite waitress speaks," No is in here but you, your dad, father and I! The other two are in the kitchen working."

A voice speaks," You are incorrect, my young lady! There is a forth person here!"

The red head waitress drops a huge platter of glass hugs to the wooden floor out of sheer fright.

Out of literally no where, an old man in a weathered green cloak appears.

The old man lowers the hood off his aged head revealing many a gray hair and wrinkled skin.

He speaks," I am so sorry madame that I scared you! I will gladly pay for the damages."

The freckled waitress speaks as she sweeps up the mess," That will not necessary! It is not a big deal!"

The old man looks frustrated and pulls out a small bag of gold and places it on the table that is next to him.

The old man speaks," I will not take no for an answer! I will be staying the night and will be hopefully leaving in the morning. Take this bag of gold and take it as payment for the broken dishes and one night's stay for a private room. Also I would like lunch and diner for today, also breakfast for the morning before I leave tomorrow."

The young waitress has clean up the mess and threw the broken shards of glass into a nearby trash can. She walks over to gold bag and pours it unto the nearby table.

She is horrified by what she saw.

It was more gold coins than she had ever seen.

The waitress speaks," But sir, this much gold will pay for your stay here in a private room for over a year, with over five meals a day!"

The old man speaks," That is correct! Plus it will also pay for my foolishness in causing you to

break your prized dishes! What I do not spend, then you, the cook, and whomever that owns this place can keep the difference! No more arguments about that, since it is final! Where I usually live I do not need gold."

The young lady curtsy the old man and put the gold coins back into the money bag.

She spoke," I tell dad your wishes and hand him the money. Thank you kindly sir!"

The waitress hastily took the money and went back into the kitchen.

#

Minutes goes by and laughter could be heard coming from the kitchen.

Jimmy hears three voices: one female and two male. The female voice was that of the waitress, Holly. The two male voices were that of the innkeeper Honno, Holly's father and Gerald the cook, Holly's husband.

The three were losing their minds that they had been given so money up front in payment for a single night's stay. The three had never charged high fees for their services. Most quests stay in a shared room with ether all males or females. A few rich travelers had of course wanted their own room but that was rare since most travelers were obliged to share a room. Theft was sparse in the village so little worry was given in sharing space with perfect strangers. The village was without any major crime and they possessed had no need for law men.

The old man was thin but seemed to have an athletic body under his dark green cloak and tunic.

He spoke," My name is Kimza and I am from the battle academy, that has been said to be hidden by those in Lowroda."

Jimmy was taken back by what Kimza had told him. He did not know what to say.

Kimza spoke," I am here to see if you would like to go there to be trained by the academy."

Jimmy did a spit take by what he just heard.

Kimza spoke," I am not joking! Us masters at the academy had been sensing your ki for a long

time! We search out all those with great potential to give them the offer to be helped reach their highest prowess and master their ki!"

Jimmy speaks,"Ki? What on Violio is that?"

Kimza spoke," It is the power that is within you! Also, it can be sense by other masters and even by some bandits!"

A look of surprise appeared on the face of Jimmy.

Kimza spoke,"You have physical strength do you not?"

Jimmy spoke," Yeah! I am the strongest in the village, even as a teenager. I have out muscled all the men in the village. They will never admit that fact though."

Kimza spoke," Physical power is your external source of power while ki is your internal source of power."

Jimmy spoke," If that is true then how come I have never heard of it?"

Kimza spoke," It is because most individuals know little to nothing about it. That is why people do not know nothing about it. It usually comes out due to a need at something difficult. Most people see ki as a form of magic use. Most people fear those that can use ki and think of them as evil."

Jimmy spoke," Does everybody have ki, or just a select few have access to it?"

Kimza spoke,"Everybody has ki and the ability to use it. Yes, there are people who have a natural predisposition to using ki and most need advanced training to completely unlock it's usage."

Jimmy spoke," How do I know you are not some conman? What proof can you give me that you are what you say you are?"

Kimza smiled and disappeared into thin air.

Jimmy begin to search for the supposed old master by looking in every possible angle that the lad could think of."

The search was to no avail!

The chairs and tables were beginning to levitate off the floor.

Jimmy spoke," What kind of magic are you using?"

The chair and tables begin to be gently placed back on the floor.

Kimza then reappeared back into the eyesight of Jimmy.

Jimmy spoke," How did you do that?"

Kimza spoke, Come with me and will show you!"

Jimmy spoke," Where will we go and what will we do?"

Kimza spoke," I will show you after we get your parents' permission."

Jimmy looked down at the ground and was silent.

Kimza spoke," I am sorry! I did not know that you were an orphan."

Jimmy spoke as his face arose from looking at the floor," I am not an orphan since the entire village is my family! They took me in as a little baby and I will never forget it! Yes I was not raised by my birth parents but I am not an orphan!"

#

Minutes goes by and Jimmy was still crying out loudly.

He cries so loud that Holly and the rest of her family come storming through the wooden half doors like a bull was chasing them out the kitchen.

Holly screams,"Punk, what have done to our Jimmy? We will kill you if you had even laid a finger on the boy!"

Holly has a long broom gripped by the broom end, while her husband and father are holding long butcher knives.

Gerald yells,"What have done to Jimmy? Come out with it!"

Kimza speaks,"I have not done anything to purposely hurt the lad!"

Honno spoke," Then why is the boy so upset then if you had not done anything to him?"

Jimmy speaks,"He claims to be a master from the hidden battle academy! He had wanted to talk to my parents, but I told him I had no such thing. The entire village's adults are my parents!"

Holly walks over to Jimmy and bends over to hug him. She cried while holding the young Jimmy.

Kimza speaks," We of the academy desire to bring out people's hidden talents, those like Jimmy. We have detected his presence for some time. We fear that unwelcome visitors will come for him and attack the village if he was left untrained!"

Gerald bellows," You are not taking him! You are just some bandit in disguise and nothing more!"

Kimza spoke," Please, look at my official papers, you will see that I am legit.

Gerald yelled," We do not care about no stinking papers!"

Kimza spoke,"Let me see your mayor and he will validate what I am saying. What do you all got to lose?"

Honno sighed," Let's all of us go and see mayor Grimwald! Then and only will we know the truth of what this man is saying."

The family of Honno turned off all their stoves and put up their closed sign on the front door to inn.

#

The group of five took a brisk trip to the mayor's office and the mayor Grimwald was there.

Grimwald was in his small office building and he doing paper work at his large wooden desk.

The old man was balding and has some color still left in his hair.

Grimwald at once stops what he is doing and stands up in a flash.

The mayor spoke," Who is this man and what do you all need of me?"

Jimmy, Honno, Gerald, and Holly are all speaking a mile a minute at the same time for several

minutes.