The Final Test

He tied his boat off and started to climb the cliffs. He knew that no one had lived to tell what was behind the clouds, but still he climbed...

Kim Jon's karate sensei, Master Chang, said that he must travel far to the clouded peek of the island of Faroe to face whatever sat at the top of the mountain to become a karate master. All his 26 years of living, he had always wanted to become a karate master and his chance finally arose so he happily took it. He ventured for several arduous years through cold mountains, desolate and dry deserts, and on the choppy seas with only a small ration of food to survive off of.

Throughout his entire journey, he meditated to mentally prepare him for what was to come. When he traveled on foot he tuned out the outside world to connect with his inner being. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he let his body guide him most of his journey. Even through the most contorted routes on his path, his body slide passed them with ease. This is the result of many years of training.

He traveled through by foot and animal through Asia and Europe to get to the shore of Norway, where his master said the island would be off the coast of. He stood there on the shore with his feet planted firmly in the sand as waves hit his shins hard but never moving him. A strong ocean breeze blew into him, rippling his shirt and  blowing his short, flowing black hair behind his head. Kim stared out toward the grey horizon in the direction of the island thinking about what may be there.

He remembered rumors he heard of what was hidden in the clouds. "There's a dragon up there." He remembered an old man saying at a bar, "A deadly dragon by the name of Ro Shenhi sits atop the island, minding his own business and anything that trespasses, he takes their life. No one has ever survived to tell their story." Then another man asked, "If no one has ever survived to tell their story then how do you know about it?" and the man simple replied, "I don't" and laughed followed by a sip of his sake.

"There aren't any dragons in Europe you old bat!" Kim remembered another man saying, "In Europe there are a lot of gods and titans and all that everywhere. That's probably what is at the top of that island. Your Sensei is trying to get you killed! I wouldn't do it if it were up to me."

Kim Jon didn't care what that man would or wouldn't have done. Kim knew this is what he wanted to do and he was too far ahead to turn back now. He did not even want to turn back. His light brown eyes burned bright and screamed determination.

He scavenged up and down the beach in search of a boat to get a cross the ocean to the island. He eventually found a man with a small wooden boat. He went up to him and asked, "Do you mind if I borrowed your boat to get to Faroe?"
"Faroe?!" The little pale man shrieked, "You want to row this little thing all the way out there? You'll never survive against the waves."
"Have faith little man." Kim replied calmly. "I will make it there perfectly fine. No need to worry at all"
Kim gave the man a jolly grin that made the man have faith in him. "All right, you can take the boat. I was going to chop it up anyways. It's useless."
Kim's grin turned into a smile when the man said yes then said, "Thank you mister" and took the boat. The little man watched as he slowly drifted away.

Once he was a good distance away from the shore he started meditating again. He sat on the wooden bench of the small boat with his feet folded, his body tall and erect, his chest out strong and his fist touching knuckle to knuckle in front of his chest. The boat rocked and swayed with each bump in the ocean but with all the movement, Kim's body stayed in place like a strong stone sitting at the bottom of a river.

Being so deep into his meditation, he was not able to row the boat so the slow current took him to the island. It took days but he finally reached the side of the island which was a step climb. He rose from his seat and looked directly up the mountain then started to climb. Foot by foot and hand by hand. He was anxious to see what was up there so he picked up the pace and flew up the mountain.

In no time he was up in the cloud and at the top. The cloud was so thick he could not even see 2 feet in front of himself. He stayed in his fighting stance and on guard for anything that might happen. He stood with his feet spread widely apart to give him a firm standing. He held out an open hand with his thumb pressed against the top of his palm and a clenched fist close to his body. He closed his eyes since they were useless to him. He depended on his ears to tell him where things were at.

He slowly inched forward toward the center of the plateau until he heard a shaky voice say, "Who are you?"
Kim stopped in his steps, put his feet together and bowed in respect then answered in a haste. "I am Kim Jon of China. I am the pupil of Master Chang and I am trying to being a karate master. I have come to challenge you to become master."
"I know what you have come for. After all, I am the one that sent you here. Rise my pupil."
Kim rose quickly in surprise. "Master?! I have to defeat you?" He asked with a bit of hesitation? He knew couldn't defeat him no matter how hard he tried. He was scared.
Master Chang just laughed at him. "Oh no my student. You've done enough to show me that you deserve to be a master. Not many people would make this journey all the way across the world just for a title. You have shown me that you really care about this and that is enough to be a master. You already had the mental and physical strength needed to become a master. The only thing left was the emotional strength. This was shown by following your dreams. You followed it no matter how difficult it was and that's all there was to it. You have the right to be called a true master."
Kim said, "Wow.... So All I had to do was come to this place? That wasn't so hard." A small grin came up. "So can we go home now? I'm starving. I haven't had a real meal in a long time!"
"Why yes of course! Let's go Master Jon. We'll get home in no time and you can eat all you want."