The Turtle Hermit

The Turtle Hermit

Easy Quest

Requirement: None

Reward: 1,000 zeni and 10 Hero Points

After Roshi's death, he has since back to life by the hand of the Kais, with his youth restored and on a mission to help raise heroes to face the oncoming darkness. Before agreeing to teach you, he will test your heart to see where it truly lies. He sends you to a remote mountain temple where you will face a masked warrior. Fight with honor and respect, and your earn place as a student of the Turtle Hermit.

]After the events of the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament, Krillin returned to Orin Temple. He had long surpassed the need for Roshi’s training, since the old master had admitted he had nothing else to teach his students, and that in order to better themselves, it was by their own efforts from then on. From there he served under his former master at the temple Master Orin, and helped keep the peace within the local lands. On a personal level, Krillin started his own dojo within the temple, advertising his style of fighting as well as the temple’s, teaching the next generation about ki, finding himself liking the occupation a lot.

Several years have passed since and the media brought terrible news, East City was utterly destroyed. They said it was a nuclear explosion but with what Krillin sensed from what was left, it was obvious that it was caused due to the aftermath of an intense battle. The bad news didn’t stop there though as he helped with the rescue and rebuilding along with the monks, there were later reports that Master Roshi had been killed by an unknown assassin. In mourning and in denial since that day, Krillin spent his time at Kame House in reflection, hoping that one day his former master would return while he slowly accepted his death.

-

On yet another sunny day upon Master Roshi’s island, it was just another mournful day for the monk. He remembered back when he came here to seek training, it was all thanks to that old perv that he became so strong and skilled, and with that it was still hard to digest that he had been killed, actually more so that he was targeted in the first place. They were at peace for several years, what kind of villain had risen out of the shadows this time? The Red Ribbon Army, King Piccolo, it was true the enemies they faced became more fearsome, maybe it was a sign that he should step up his training and play his part again.

With the door at the front of the house opening, Krillin snapped out of his trace and blinked in confusion. Why would someone come here, knowing his master was dead? Was it a potential robber maybe? Of course, he wouldn’t be surprised if the scum of the planet stooped that low to get some loot. Eyes narrowing as he approached the door, he saw what looked like a martial artist that was around his age.

“Hey Krillin, long time no see!” The man greeted him with a wave as if they were long lost friends, Krillin blinked blankly in astonishment, who the hell was this guy? He didn’t have a clue, and that was exactly the problem. “Hehe, I do miss these sunglasses. Though they might not fit me as perfectly as they did be-…” the man invited himself in, picking up Master Roshi’s sunglasses placed on top of the coffee table. Those trademark sunglasses, it was probably what everyone remembered best most by, his most sentimental item.

The monk’s eyes narrowed even more, this guy was taking things way too casually. “How dare you! Coming into this house acting like Master Roshi, he’s dead!” Krillin yelled, stomping his foot in front of the stranger in an attempt to intimidate. Snatching the sunglasses away, his eyes glared daggers at the man. “You’re not fooling me thief, now get out before I make you regret it!” he gave his final warning, he didn’t want to hurt the guy but this was just not unacceptable and his mood wasn’t so great either.

“Wait, Krillin! It’s me, Master Roshi! The Kais resurrected me and restored my youth you see! I’m no imposter! I can prove it!” Roshi replied in a panic, waving his hands in front of him on defence. Of course, he forgot no one probably would recognise him like this except for maybe Shen. “Hold on a second, I’ll show you my old photo book!” He quickly rushed upstairs into his room, coming back with a thick photo book, flicking through the pages until he found an old black and white picture of his younger self. “See, here? We look exactly the same right? Now see here, there are some similarities! I swear, we’re the same guy!” Roshi went on so Krillin could have a clear comparison between the photo and Master Roshi’s last photo, the evidence would be crystal clear.

Krillin looked back and forth, he couldn’t comprehend it first, but yes, he couldn’t deny the fact either. Now that he was much calmer about it, he could sense the person’s ki, it matched with Master Roshi’s too, there was no doubt about it. He couldn’t believe it, he was alive! “Master, I’m so glad… it’s really you…” Krillin started tearing up while he did his best to hold back a pout, but it showed evidently still. Though his face soon lightened up as the tears started to dry, he then started laughing and clung onto his master in joy. “Hahahaha, but this is incredible! You’ve being restored back to your prime, you must be so much stronger than before!” he grinned, he sniffed a little and wiped the tears from eyes. But his face then turned serious, he was meaning to ask while he was here.

“Who killed you master?”

Roshi put away his photo book and sighed, trying his best to word the answer. “I do not know many details, but the monster that killed me named himself ‘Cell’. He is a green humanoid creature with an orange beak and a tail, with incredible power to boot. If you ever meet him then you must be wary of his tail. Not only is it like his fifth limb, but he uses it to absorb the nutrients out of his foes while he kills them, so no matter what you must not get caught, flee if you have to.” the master said grimly, walking towards the window. “Which leads me to the reason why the Kais have brought me back to life, it is time for the protectors of the planet to rise up again. Like we have with King Piccolo, great evil is upon us once more. We need all the help we can get, and that includes you Krillin. So I am glad you are here now, it is time for us to continue our training.”

Well, this was just perfect. Krillin was just thinking along those lines, this was just great timing in his part, the monk couldn’t help smirking. “Heh, that’s exactly what I wanted to do master! Let’s get this training under way, it’s time to show the world that I can be just as awesome as Goku!” He pumped his fist, he couldn’t wait! “So hey, when do we start?” he piped up eagerly.

“Well, I’m not going to let you back in so easily just because you were my former student! You almost attacked me when you thought I wasn’t who I was, your discipline must still stand no matter what obstacles come over you, and that includes the times of mourning. Next thing I know you go confront this Cell to get revenge if I get killed again in front of you, so you must prove yourself to me first Krillin that you can handle it!” Master Roshi lectured his student, it seemed that Krillin was still not the perfect fighter yet, there was still a lot of honing he could do with the kid. “We’re going to visit a temple in the mountains, that is where your first trial will begin. Now come on, there’s no time to waste, let’s go!” the turtle hermit ushered his student, running out of the house and flying off into the distance to Krillin’s surprise, it was his first time seeing him fly like the rest of them.

“R-right, right behind you!” Krillin stammered a little, still in shock at his master’s new powers. His aura blazed about him as he jumped out the window and followed his master, soon catching up to him. “Wow, what did you learn while you were dead master?” he asked him, eager to know, he was sure Roshi was capable of a lot of things if given the opportunity and without his age holding him back.

“All will be revealed after you complete my training Krillin, once you have then we will spar and then you will find out yourself about the extent of my powers. Now if that isn’t motivation enough to do your best then I don’t know what will, this will be the most intense training routine you will ever face I’ll make sure of that, and it will pay off even more, hehe!” Roshi answered with a grin, he was just as excited as Krillin to see his growth. But like all things, hard work and patience must be put in first before the results and rewards could be seen.

Several minutes later and they landed on top of a mountain, at its peak there was a small temple surrounded by trees and bushland. To his surprise there was a small tournament arena in front of it, was this some sacred training spot? “Master, what are we doing here?” Krillin asked in wonder, eyes widening as he saw a figure coming in from inside the temple. It was yet another martial artist around Roshi’s size, and he wore a peculiar panda mask, was he the trial?

“Krillin, this is an old friend of mine. Your task is to break his mask and reveal his identity, of course by fighting him in the ring. You are no bound by it don’t worry, there will be no ring outs, the fight will continue until you complete your task. Even if you fail, I will let you try again until you get it, you will surely be ready by then.” Roshi explained with a smirk, clapping his hands twice as he watched the two people enter the ring. “Now go and take your stances, and let the match begin!” he announced and signalled the fight to start.

“You have an incredible ki just like Master Roshi, but don’t take me lightly, I will break that mask.” Krillin chuckled in confidence as he took his traditional turtle style stance, face hardening in focus as he inhaled calmly. He then ran quickly at his foe, throwing a bunch of punches towards the mask. The masked man effortlessly parried each hit to his surprise, were his attacks that easy to predict? Gritting his teeth, he kept at aiming at the mask, throwing in a few kicks into the mix to spice things up, it didn’t make a difference. Krillin frowned a little, jumping back to rework his strategy, it seemed that direct attacks wouldn’t work on the guy.

“So this is what it is like to be young, you have considerate skill, just what I’d expect of Roshi’s student. However, in order to reach your goal, you’ll have to go beyond your normal approach and thinking. I hope in time you will figure it out, now come at me again.” The panda man beckoned Krillin towards him, remaining as calm as the wind. Krillin smirked at the encouragement; well it was time he got serious then, no point in warming up here.

“Go beyond huh? Well, if you do insist, I won’t hold back!” the monk crossed his arms and closed his eyes. His aura then formed around him and spiked up, white flames rose from his skin him as he began to unleash his hidden power, feeling his power engulf him in its might, he felt he could do almost anything now. “Here I go!” he announced, pushing off one foot and then zigzagged towards the man, trying to get the edge with his speed blurring his movements. The monk flickered from the side, incoming with a quick barrage of jabs at the man’s chest. He caught them speedily but just barely, he was indeed keeping him busy, which was one fact he was glad to confirm.

“Take this!” Feet skidding back as he pushing off from the exchange of blows, the palmed his hand at his foe and release a golden energy blast just to see how his opponent would react. To his mild surprise, the elderly sounding man went through the trouble of deflecting it away with his bare hands, it gave him a small window of opportunity that he’ll use to his advantage later. Taking it up a notch, Krillin shot out another ki blast and flickered out of sight just as he fired it, reappearing behind him when the ki blast neared its target, forcing his foe to react to both moves.

“Quite the tactic, but very fundamental and easy to predict, you’ll have to try harder my boy…” The man said casually, sidestepping away so the blast would head towards Krillin instead. However there was a glint of the monk’s eye, he quickly turned around and kicked at the ki blast like a soccer ball. It redirected the energy towards the masked man who was then forced to block while stumbling back from the explosion, clearly impressed as he lowered his smoking arms. “It seems I have underestimated your skill, I will be sure not to from now on.” It seemed the masked man was holding back as well, and now both would get serious.

Krillin quickly flipped back as he could sense a steady building of energy, this old guy’s ki was incredible once it was released! He could see small waves of white light emitting from his every outline, very different from the usual aura, it seemed to sense out to be a lot more experienced. Krillin then realised if he didn’t give it his all now, he’d regret it later. “Dragging on this fight won’t do me any good, so I’m going to finish things right now.” Krillin stated, dragging his left leg behind him as he leaned on his right. Cupping his hands to his side, the monk went on to prepare the Kamehameha. “Kamehame…” he chanted, summoning a sphere of swirling ki that shot out streaks of light as it grew more potent. The human went to pull his arms back further whilst energy continued to build, arms slowly feeling the strain of containing such energy in his grasp.

“HHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” He roared, abruptly throwing his hands forwards to let the ball expel itself in a thick wave of blue energy that shot off at the panda masked man fast. But even in front of incoming destruction, the man was as calm as ever. Holding his hand up, he went to channel his own energy into it. The hand began to glow brightly as those light waves covered it whole and a light humming sound could be heard from it like a buzz saw. And then right when the Kamehameha would hit him, he swung his hand down, effectively karate chopping the wave to Krillin’s amazement.

“What the hell?! No way!” He cried as he saw his beloved Kamehameha being steadily cut in the middle and that the cutting energy was steadily coming towards him fast. Gritting his teeth whilst thinking on instinct, he pushed the his energy wave down and used it to launch himself in the air while he saw his Kamehameha split in half and then explode in light blue smoke under him. He turned his attention back to the panda mask wearing man, how was he supposed to defeat a guy like that?

Well the truth was that it was impossible and for a good reason, the task wasn’t to defeat the masked man, but to unmask him. Of course defeating him would be the most obvious and direct way to approach it, however he was sure he could not match the man’s skill, so he then began to think of a plan to counter while he took a breather to recollect himself. “What’s the matter kiddo, you giving up?” The masked man asked, hoping it wasn’t the case, the battle was just beginning in his eyes. He couldn’t help but chuckle though, the kid showed all the signs of being trained by Roshi, the power and fighting style was something to be proud of no doubt. But would it be enough for him to go even beyond that? That was what this trial was for, to force Krillin in a simulated situation against a potential foe far beyond his reach.

Strategy thinking almost done, the human heard the taunt but he did not waver or give into it. “Give up? Not a chance mister, I’ll see what I said through!” Krillin declared, landing back on the ground and resumed his stance. He had an idea in mind, and it was time to test it out, the sooner the better. Once again, he pulled his leg back and cupped his hands to his sides, mimicking the same motions as he summoned his ki for the Kamehameha again.

“Uh oh. That will not be a wise move, an attack like that used a second time will not work on me. Save your energy and try something else,” he masked man insisted, putting a hand up to signal him to stop. But those words fell on deaf ears; Krillin was not going to let the guy bend his resolve. For better or worse, he was betting it all in this Kamehameha.

“KAMEHAMEHA!” Krillin yelled, shooting off another turtle destruction wave at his foe. Once again the masked man raised his arm in the air, preparing to karate chop the beam once more. That was just what Krillin was looking for, him taking that stance again as the wave neared closer. He couldn’t help but smirk at his predictability; it was within that instance that he made the Kamehameha take a new spin.

“HEEEYYAAAHH!!!” With a yell, he threw his hands upwards and the Kamehameha soon did the same right before it could hit the masked man. The energy wave shot into the air for a bit, and soon curved around to head back at the masked man like a falling comet as Krillin waved his hands down to command it. “Let’s see you try cutting this one in half!” he called, hoping that he was right in the assumption that the man could not carry out such a feat.

“Amazing…” The masked man could only marvel as the light blue light continued to tunnel towards him from the sky, with a deep breath he took a defensive position and put his arms in front of him in an X formation. The Kamehameha hit him hard as well as the surrounding area, engulfing it in a hemisphere of light as Krillin watched on with wary eyes, keeping tabs in the masked man’s ki signature. Surely he did some damage, that took quite the bit of energy to pull off after all, it had better have been worth it!

“Oho, that was a close one! You got a good hit in kiddo, but that still won’t be enough to beat me!” Krillin heard the man’s voice from the smoke rising from the small crater under where the man stood, the man’s ki wasn’t even wavering at all, he must have blocked it just in time. Frowning, the monk resumed a more defensive stance whilst he saw the man walk out. His attire was dirty and maybe a little torn, but apart from that he was perfectly fine physically, not good for the monk.

Or was it? Upon getting a good enough look at the man, he blinked in confusion as he pointed at the man’s feet. “Uh you know, there’s something on your foot right there…” he said awkwardly as he squinted his eyes as if to confirm, he really wasn’t sure.

“Really? I don’t feel anything…” The masked man started, bowing his head to look down at his feet. There was nothing there, now why would Krillin say such a thing? Buying some time for another strategy? It was when he felt his mask start to fall off that he realised what he did, he couldn’t feel the bands that bound the mask to his head. He managed to have a hand keep the mask to his face just before Krillin could see his eyes. It was outstanding; he couldn’t believe it the boy’s wit. “You didn’t… was that your intention all along?” he asked in amazement.

“Hahahaha!” Krillin grinned widely a laughed in triumph, well he gave himself props for his acting skills, it wouldn’t have been that effective without it. “Master Roshi said that my goal was to unmask you, he said nothing about defeating you. And that technique you used to chop my Kamehameha in half, I doubt you practiced doing that to attacks from the air. I could have fired an attack that way at first, but I wanted you to be off guard just in case and force you to take the hit head on, so I made it look like I was doing the same thing again. I made sure to expand the wave to the point that when it hit, it’ll burn at the bands off from behind even if you didn’t get hurt yourself.” He explained smugly, and then went back into his fighting stance, a lot more confident than before.

“And now that you have one hand holding your mask up, your skill and reflexes have been lowered overall. I’ve got the advantage now, it’ll be just be a matter of time before I shatter that mask!” he declared, dashing forwards speedily before lunging at his foe with his aura ablaze. With a yell he let out a barrage of fast punches and kicks towards the mask again, the masked man could barely parry every aura charged hit with his hand and feet, and Krillin could tell he was steadily losing his balance; he would be slipping up soon and then fight would be over.

The panda masked man did not give up though, the closer he was to be revealed, the more determined he was. With a burst of effort he could predict Krillin’s next couple of strikes and managed to catch both his hands, now it became a battle of willpower and strength to tilt the mask so it’ll fall off. “Why you…” Krillin said through grit teeth, the man’s raw power was beyond his he could tell despite the elderly voice, but he was so close to reaching his goal! If he could just make the mask move a little bit more, he almost wanted to start praying in desperation!

But the man wouldn’t budge no matter how hard Krillin tried, and he could slowly feel his strength leaving him due to the fatigue with using up a good portion of his energy with his previous attacks. His mind scanned for any technique he could use right now, well great they all needed his hands, which were tightly locked with the masked man’s, all he could do was just glare back and hope. “Man this grapple has turned into some staring contest, and he’s winning still!” he whined in his thoughts, and that was when his mind clicked. That was it! He could win by staring, why didn’t he think of that before?!

Well not staring in the traditional sense, but it was good way to cover up what he was going to do. But yes essentially, he stared at the mask, long and hard as if to break it with his mind. Now on the inside, he was channelling ki towards his eyes gradually. It was a risky move, but he was going to put all of his remaining energy into it. He would run out of energy either way, so he might as well use it to put up a good fight. Discretely, his pupils began to slowly glow as the energy continued to gather, giving him a very blank look of concentration, he looked a little mental. If he blinked, he didn’t know what would happen, the ki might explode in his eyes? Well he didn’t want to find out, especially feeling his eyes burn up and water, soon gritting his teeth in pressure as his body began to feel light.

“Grrr… it’s game over for you mister! Kiai-ho!”

With the declaration, he released the energy stored in his eyes and shot off a shockwave blast that effectively shattered the mask and sent the man flying into the bushed from the sheer force. With his pupils returning back to normal, he feel incredibly drained and fell to his knees, hands holding himself up from the ground as he soon collapsed further. “That was… more like training… than a trial Master…” Krillin panted, man was he pushed to his limit physically and mentally, he hoped the real training wasn’t going to be this tough, he might die from exhaustion!

“Haha! I must say, I am quite impressed with your pupil Roshi. You have trained him well. I see he will be quite the asset with the fights to come. I believe you will agree, that he is ready to resume his training with you.” The man gave his compliments as he came out of the bushes and finally Krillin could see his face, and he could recognise it too, it was from one of the pictures within Master Roshi’s photo books.

“No way, you’re Master Mutaito!?” Krillin’s jaw dropped in amazement. Holy crap, he was somehow holding his own against his master’s master and managed to land a hit on him too! He understood why he had to hide his identity, Krillin wouldn’t have fought to his full potential because he didn’t want to hurt him or though that it’ll be impossible, knowing about his legacy from Master Roshi. The guy was the one who sealed King Piccolo in the first place, he was extraordinarily incredible as a martial arts master.

“Hehehe, well Krillin is quite the witty one master, you know. He bribed me with magazines so I could train him, and tried to forge my handwriting on a rock instead of bringing the real thing during one of my trials, not to mention he always tried to take shortcuts during my training regimes…” Roshi started, rambling and the list went on, Krillin knew his clean slate when it came to reputation was screwed in front of the legendary master.

“Master! I was just a kid back then! I’ve grown up and changed plenty since then, honest to Kami!” Krillin defended himself hastily as he waved his arms comically in emphasis like a bird flapping its wings, he was being honest this time too. He really did turn over a new leaf, what was left of his wit he did not use to shortcut his way through hard work, but through his battles up to this point to survive. The one he just finished now just confirmed that, he thought he’d at least deserve some credit. And as for being a perv, he was more into romance than getting laid, but then again the romance would get him laid but that was aside the point.

“But despite all that, he has made me very proud. He has made it through the quarter finals of his first couple of tournaments, even beating one of Shen’s students as well. His opponent was the reincarnation of King Piccolo in his last tournament if I remember correctly, and he lost, but hell he put up a great fight to be proud of! His improvement is outstanding, and there is still a lot of room for him to go even beyond that, I will make sure my training does so.” Master Roshi continued on with a smile, he could not wait until Krillin finishes his training and so how much progress he’d make.

Well as fast as his confidence dropped, it rose back up at his master’s praise. The monk grinned and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, something like this was quite rare for a guy like him, he’d relish in it. “Aw, thanks Master! I won’t let you down, I’ll put your training to good use!” he then smirked and punched the air in enthusiasm, he too couldn’t wait to see how strong he would become. Oh yeah, he almost forgot his manners, so went to bow at Master Mutaito in respect. “But yes it is an honour to meet and spar with you Master Mutaito, I won’t let you down either.” he vowed to his master’s master, yes he really could not afford to disappoint anyone from now on.

Master Mutaito smiled and then placed a hand on the monk’s shoulder, he could feel great potential from the boy, and from that he would be expecting great things. “Haha, that’s the way my boy. I expect great things from you Krillin. With the abundance of aliens, demons and mutants on the Earth now, we must once again show the might of us humans like we had in the past. Continue and finish your training, and show the world that you can be just as great as the rest of them. With that said, my job here is done. I look forward to our next meeting, until then, farewell and work hard.” He gave Krillin his parting words before turning away and walking back into the temple and disappearing from sight.

Krillin was left with renewed confidence and determination, turning to glance at the much younger Master Roshi, he knew he was ready for the new batch of training now. Raising his head, he looked to the skies, hoping previous human martial masters were watching over him, because he too will strive to be a legend just like them one day. “I’m pumped up Master Roshi, let’s get this training under way already!” he said impatiently, watching his master hold his hands behind his back and then walk off.

“Okay okay you big baby, we’ll resume when we get home!” Roshi told his student with a dismissing wave, then he jumped up and then flew into the horizon on route back to Kame House, with his pupil following suit close behind.

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5,050/1,500