Once more on the seventeenth try, lenny failed.
This time around, the dire wolves had gotten him.
The monastery of Pain and pleasure was a a place of incredible and divine capabilities.
Regardless of the injuries lenny sustained, as long as he was not dead, they had ways of healing him.
One would think that this was a good thing and that one could do as so freely wanted.
However, this also meant that the training gauge of their discipline was very high.
This test was one such a test that left many sinking in the could claws of Death's embrace.
yet, this test was one of their lower tests.
The Monastery of Pain and Pleasure welcomed all. Whether it was a criminal as creative as a monster, or an innocent person, they were all welcomed. As long as the individual sort the mastery of the two most extreme and basic forms of interactions with the world, then they were welcomed to stay.
Lenny had gotten the interest of a very secluded but incredible master amongst the masters of the temple.
In fact, rumours had it that he only came out of training once in a year for one hour to ensure the activities of the Monastery were running smoothly before he would dive once more into his training.
It was on one such visits that he met Lenny and had taken a liking to him.
He was a bald man with a very long, white goatee that reached his knees. His brows were also long and white and his eyes looked as if they were going to close and never open at anytime soon.
However, those that knew him well, knew that this old man did not even need his eyes. They were just additional features ocean of incredible capabilities.
He was known as master Lucian.
He always wore long flowing robes, and many said that while he approached, he gave one the impression that his feet were not walking on land.
Lenny beat against the ground with his fist in annoyance of his own incompetence. He did it so hard that they bleed, yet he did not want to stop. He had yet failed again and his master had to rush in to save his life from the Dire wolves that wanted to continue enjoying the taste of his flesh in between their teeth.
In his blood soaked and torn out clothes, he sat on the ground. His young eyes carried the disappointment he had in himself.
Master Lucian sat on a high slab not so far from him enjoying an apple he had plucked from a nearby tree. "Young disciple, are you already going to give up?"
"Well, what the fuck do you expect me to do? I have already tried Seventeen Fucking times. This damn test is impossible. Its either that or i was never destined to pass it in the first place."
"Hahahaha!!!" master Lucian could not help but chuckle loudly to his words.
As he laughed, Lenny covered his ears with his fingers. No matter how many times he heard that weird laughter, he could not just bare it. It sounded like chalk screeching against a board.
It even made the other masters shy away from Master Lucian, and he did not have any friends.
Master Lucian took another bite from his Apple.
"I remember you said that you are an assassin in the outside world. Is that what are you going to do once you give up here? I wander if your clients are going to give you jobs when you are such a failure."
Those words were obvious provocation to lenny.
"Oh! trust me old man. I am good. I am really good! If I was to assasinate you, I would..."
Lenny's words paused in his throat as he noticed a blade at the back of his neck.
He looked before him and Master Lucian was no longer there. Rather, he was behind him.
Lenny swallowed hard, but that action alone had made the blade against his neck give him a light cut.
Cold sweat ran down Lenny's back.
"You were saying!?" Master Lucian asked, his lips a fair distance from Lenny's ear.
Lenny immediately raised his hands in surrender.
master Lucian suddenly cracked up another laugh, "here you go!" he dropped the so called knife Lenny had felt against his neck in Lenny's hands.
To Lenny's surprise, it was just a piece of leaf. It was most likely from the tree he had plucked the apple.
However, Lenny could see a stain of his blood at the blade of the leaf.
"Come with me Young disciple!" master Lucian called to him.
Lenny massaged his neck a little, but he stood up and followed after master Lucian.
Both of them stopped at a particular tree.
"What do you see over there?" Master Lucian pointed high up on one of the trees.
"Leaves!?" Lenny answered.
*bam!*
He was given a knock on the head, "look closer, dump young disciple!"
Lenny nodded and looked even closer at the leaves.
There, it the shadowy parts, there was a large web, and on it was a black spider with a quite big lower abdomen that had a red hour glass painted on it.
"Its a Black Widow!"
Lenny responded.
"Good!" Master Lucian nodded, "Do not disturb her, she would be having a guest soon, when the guest arrives, tell me what you notice!"
Master Lucian turned about nd left him standing there.
This sudden assignment had taken Lenny by surprise, but he knew better than to disobey Master Lucian.
He stayed and watched.
However, even after watching for an entire hour, nothing happened. There was no guest whatsoever.
Lenny got tired and sat on the ground in his wait. However, even after another three hours, there was no visitor.
By now, he was already getting hungry.
Luckily, for him, a snake strolled by. He killed it, made a fire a distance away that would not disturb the Black widow and ate the Snake.
He waited for a while longer, and just when he started to think that his master had pranked him, he saw another spider suddenly approach the large web of the Black Widow.
This spider was grey in color. It was also large, but compared to the size of the black widow, it might as well just been a dwarf.
Steadily, one step at a time, the spider approached the Black Widow. It its mouth was an Insect it had caught, well wrapped in webs.
It was normal occurrence for a spider to rush after its prey the moment it got into its web trap.
However, the Black widow did not move. Apparently, it was not the first time that this guest spider had visited.
The grey Spider dropped the prey before the Black Widow, and moved a few distance back.
The Black Widow gently walked forward towards the prey that had been presented before her.
Immediately, she sank her mandibles in its flesh to enjoy her meal.
As she did, the male spider sneakily went behind her.
However, she did not notice the spider getting behind her.
Not of course until the grey spider mounted her.
Lenny raised a brow at this.
The grey spider was obviously a male spider, and this was mating.
Now that Lenny thought about it, it was indeed Mating season.
He wanted to give the Grey Spider a thumbs up for such a move, however, as he watched, he noticed something.
The Black Widow seemed to be done with the present that had been gifted to her.
But with the way her mandibles moved, it was obvious that she still wanted more.
Immediately, she rolled over to grab the grey spider, but the Grey spider was faster.
Apparently, it had already anticipated this move.
It immediately dived out of the way and to the ground, escaping the mandibles of the Black widow.
As lenny watched the grey spider walk away, he suddenly heard his master's voice right behind his ear.
"Fascinating! isn't it?"
Lenny instinctively jumped into a fighting stance in response.
Master Lucian chuckled at this, "do you understand now?" he asked.
Lenny scratched his head in confusion.
*Bam!*
Master Lucian gave him another knock on his head.
Lenny scratched hard. He really did not understand the lesson that the Master wanted him to learn.
However, Master Lucian was going to explain either ways.
"The Grey Spider is biologically programmed to seekk out the big, dangerous female Black Widow in the pleasure of mating, but it knows deep down that it also spells his end," Master Lucian pointed to the tree again.
There were other Spiders also engaging in mating, but just before the male spider would escape, the female spiders would grab it, wrap it in her web and feed on it.
"Do you know why that grey spider escaped?" Master Lucian asked Lenny.
Lenny shook his head.
Master Lucian nodded as he placed a palm before the grey spider on the ground and it climbed its palm.
He turned to Lenny, "This spider has survived many mating Seasons with one thing the others did not have," he smiled, "it is called WILL. The zeal to go against any circumstance or situation, or in this case," he let the spider crawl around his palm, "ONE'S own nature."
Master Lucian turned to him, "WILL is essence. It's born in all things. it is the reason why the Antelope runs for its life and the same reason why the leopard chases for its food. WILL is life. The one ability that defies mother nature itself. Do you understand Young disciple? It is the Actualization of Desire. It's the fuel of IT."
Master Lucian walked towards him. "So let me ask you, what is your desire? This you need to find, because without desire, WILL is weak, and if When WILL is weak, the Universe shall hide her answers from your eyes..."