THE LEGENDARY STORY OF INAMORTA ?

MASTER SHIFU??

Master Shifu had once talked about these rare beasts. They were bred to be the guardians of the underground vaults and possessed immense power in their horns, which made their attacks very effective and deadly. One hit and even the bravest, strongest of warriors dropped dead within minutes. Their height remains small (2-storey building) for a long time in their lives, but later they can grow up to be 40 feet (4-storey building).

To proceed further, Grendale had to go around the sleeping guardian without waking it or face fatality. He picked up the torch and started tiptoeing around it without even daring to breathe hard. Just when he was almost halfway around, one of the bats squeaked at him. Grendale froze with fear of what might happen next, but thankfully the beast didn’t wake. When he turned around, he saw all of them looking at him with big sad eyes that probably said, “Are you going to leave us here??”. Sighing quietly, he went back for the babies, put them in his bag and continued tiptoeing around the beast. They would have successfully escaped…. (But seriously, who cares about a nice good mission without excitement eh?) …… however, when one of the bat babies poked its head out, it took one look at the beast and before Grendale could stop it, screeched at the top of its lungs.

“So dead!!…. We are so dead!!!…”, Grendale thought when the Charger stirred slowly, opened its big red eyes and turned over to look at the source of the noise. He smiled at it nervously, “Heeey. How was your sleep Mr. Beast?”. The Charger rose with majesticity and roared at him with rage, shaking the whole place violently. Going white with fear, he closely hugged the 3 bats and immediately started running. The Charger rubbed its paws on the ground, flexed its horns and CHAAARRRGEED at them. Feeling the floor shake like a bursting volcano’s mouth, Grendale speeded up, but still it wasn't enough, as the beast was gaining on them. They were mere moments away from being juiced like berries and all hope of ever escaping this incoming death was looking lost, when something strange happened.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around, his eyes glowing bright white. It seemed as if something had unknowingly taken control of his body. He yelled loudly at the charging beast, and it skidded to a halt, taken by surprise at his boldness. The bats dived back into the bag while Grendale and the charger stood there facing each other. The beast swiped its paws on the ground, huffed like a raging bull and charged once again. With lightning speed, Grendale leaped into the air, jumped off a wall, cleanly evaded the charger’s attack, conjured up a fire bolt and smashed it on the beast's head. The force of the spell was so strong that it made it smack its head on the floor and sent it straight into the debris that had fallen against the entrance that led deeper into the vaults. Before it could get up and recover, Grendale turned heel and ran into the wide-open vault. It was quite eerie inside because of all the scattered bones of old dead prisoners and occasional whispering air that definitely wasn’t a spirit…. Right?? At the end of the vault, a white gas ball was floating in the air. (Yep, definitely not a spirit).

Cautiously as he approached the ball, as if it had sensed his presence, the ball went further in through a tunnel until it came to something that must have been some kind of weapons room. Then it took the shape of a much younger man of 40 with brilliantly designed armor and a long shiny sword. " M… Master Shifu?", Grendale called out to him, unable to believe but still overjoyed on seeing his master again. The spirit Shifu slowly turned around and smiled. When he approached him, Grendale was already full of tears. He immediately fell to his knees and cried at his feet. " Oh master. *sniff*. Master, I am so happy to see you again. I couldn’t bear the fact of losing you when I saw your body in the cave that day. *sniff* *sob* You were like a father figure to me and I lost you. I really wish I could have done something. Anything that might have saved you". *sniff*.

Shifu smiled once again and said, "My dear boy, I never actually left you. I was always there with you in every step of your life you took from the beginning of the journey, and I'll always be there with you. You just have to close your eyes and remember me inside you" Spirit Shifu picks Grendale up and wipes his tears, “Moreover, you couldn’t have done anything even if you wanted to. When it comes to fate, everything happens for a reason. I was meant to live long enough to train you and prepare for you for what was coming, just like how it was your destiny to awaken the warrior inside you and realize the big part you were meant to play. My work was done, so I left, but you still have a lot to accomplish. The sword of MAG-BLADE had not chosen a warrior in 10 million years until you came. Not only me, but the whole universe expects great things from you, including the vanquishment of the greater evil that now threatens everything we know. So be brave my boy. Always remember everything you have learned and be open to new things. You may never know when it will come in handy”, Spirit Shifu grinned.

Grendale tearfully smiled at him and nodded in response. "Thank you master. I will always remember your lessons”. While they were talking, the bat babies get restless and climb out of Grendale’s bag. They were flying around and playfully wrestling, when one of them accidently knocked over a chair, which drew everyone’s attention. Spooked by the noise they made, they fled and hid behind a broken bookcase. Looking at the babies, Shifu's eyes widened and after learning their story, he deeply appreciated Grendale’s unconditional love and care for all the creatures. After a few more conversations about the ongoing situation in the outside world, Grendale remembered and asked, "By the way master. What was it that you wanted to give that you had to call me to such a place in the dream? Is it something related to the MAG-BLADE?"

"No, my boy. Not the Blade, but you. I am afraid, ever since I lost my physical form, it has become increasingly difficult to communicate with the physical world. So, I had to make use of whatever sources I could get to connect with you. Hence, I came in your dream to call you here and give you the 2nd stone for the ring. By facing all the obstacles and challenges till now, you have proven yourself worthy of the spell - ‘Insta-boom’.” Grendale grinned at his words,” However…” but it faded as Shifu’s voice grew a little darker. “… you still have to pass one last test for the stone to fully accept you as its new master. You have to defeat the beast that guards it”. “Oooooh dear...!!!” Grendale thought as he imagined all kinds of things. ‘Ogres, Giant spiders, scorpion queens, dragons……maybe his master himself (considering he was the last bearer)’.

What kind of trail awaits our hero now???

Find out in the next episode,

Stay tuned.