The Takeaway SMP Novelization

Chapter 38 - The Sensai and The Student

The sun's rays beamed through the window and into Farkie's opening eyes. The room was illuminated with the dazzling morning sunshine, far from the complete darkness that had swathed the room just hours prior. Farkie slowly arose from bed, grabbing the clock.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, jumping out of the bed and racing to the wardrobe, grabbing his black pants, red shirt and white hoodie. He grabbed his wooden sword and shield from the corner of the room, before darting for the door, swinging it open as it led into the rest of the Brigade Base. He stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around before going back into the room and picking up his sunglasses and putting them on the top of his head. Time to get to work.

Ascending the ladder to the rooftop, Farkie scurried like an animal looking for food as he finally reached the top, recomposing himself before walking towards the head of the base, above the large arch that stood as the entrance to the courtyard. Standing in the dead centre of the top of the arch was a familiar face that Farkie calmly rushed over towards.

"Took you long enough," T5 berated, but in a friendly way as Farkie pulled up beside him.

"You know I'm always one to over prepare," Farkie lied to divert from the fact that he slept late.

"Good," T5 chuckled, knowing Farkie was lying to him but playing along with the bit, "Then maybe you might stand more of a chance this time."

T5 walked to the opposing end of the arch, with Farkie backing up to his end. Farkie pulled out his wooden sword as T5 stood with his back facing him.

"Ready position!"

T5 spun around as he drew his sword, speeding towards Farkie, who was caught off guard, as usual, by his immense speed. Farkie quickly swung his sword up high to block T5, who landed his attack right where Farkie had predicted. T5 then broke off, pulling back before immediately striking forwards again, striking low to which Farkie deflected again. Farkie then mounted a counter-attack, aggressively pushing T5, who dodged his attacks several times ending up behind him. Using this to his advantage, T5 kicked Farkie in the back of the leg, knocking him down and grabbing his sword straight from his hand as he did.

"You're fighting with your anger," T5 told him, "You must use your brain. Knowledge will let you win the battle. Get up, again!"

Farkie huffed before helping himself up, turning to face T5 again, who handed him his sword. Farkie stood in his ready position as T5 did the same.

T5 once again rushed forwards, Farkie expected as much but still didn't fail to be caught off-guard as usual. He immediately blocked T5's attack, but instead of counter-attacking, he pulled back and held his ground. T5 smiled, a sort of acknowledgement, before pushing forwards again, jumping to strike high, Farkie blocking and pushing him back. T5 wasted no time in upping the difficulty by introducing a rapid flurry of attacks, of which the first two Farkie successfully blocked, but he was taken off guard by the last two which knocked him off his feet and onto the cold stone brick surface of the arch.

"I defended just as you said!" Farkie exclaimed, "And it didn't work!"

"I never told you to defend, I only told you to use your brain and not your anger," T5 taught, "Why were you angry in the first place? Was it from a place of fear?"

"No," Farkie ensured, "I'm not afraid of anyone."

"Trust me, you were when Loppezz, Josh, Dennis and Icevenom had you on the backfoot," T5 replied, "A little bit of fear is a good thing, a lot of fear is a bad thing."

"But if I'm afraid, how can I be confident in the fact I can defeat my enemy?" Farkie asked.

"You're using your brain, but not well," T5 continued to teach, "You're either all in on the attack or all in on the defence with no goal."