Jin Wei lifted his head up. “There’s something off,” he thought. “Hey Huang”, he called out to his friend. Huang lifted his head up,
“What is it?”
“Can you smell that?” asked Jin Wei, “It seems to me that a storm is brewing.”
“It’s the monsoon, what do you expect?”
“I don’t mean a storm literally. I mean there’s something’s wrong with the world,” said Jin Wei.
“Of course, there’s something wrong. Here we are; a couple of soon to become Ninjaneers sitting by the lake in the middle of the day when we should be off training,” replied Huang.
“So what do you suggest Huang? That we go to class? That’s probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Anyway that’s not what I meant when I said something’s wrong. I think something bad is going to happen, my Ninjaneering instincts are sure of it.”
“Ninjaneering instincts?” replied Huang. “When did you develop those? While sleeping by the lake all day?”
“You can make fun of me all you want. But I’m going to make a fine Ninjaneer, and I’ll be well versed in all the martial art forms, and I’ll become a strong dauntless warrior.”
“Dauntless warrior? You’re just full of jokes today.” Said Huang chuckling. “How many warriors do you know. I mean pretty much everybody did Ninjaneering so how many of them became fully fledged warriors?”
“You’re right?” said Jin Wei standing up. “I’m not going to become a fearless of warrior I’m going to be the first fearless warrior of all time!!”
“Yeah, and one day us Ninjaneers will have girlfriends!!” replied Huang.
“Yeah, it does sound ridiculous doesn’t it? I just thought it’d be possible if I really concentrated and trained hard, and attended all the training sessions too. ”
“Don’t get disheartened now,” said Huang standing up and walking to Jin Wei. You’re going to make a terrible Ninjaneer, we all are. How can we become good Ninjaneers if our trainers themselves get beaten up by little girls. Come on let’s go back to the quarters. The new script for ‘Gossip Maidens’ is out, I want to read it before someone ruins it by telling me what happens.”
*************
“What’s this entire furor about?” said Huang walking towards the notice board (yes they did have boards then!!) where a bunch of Ninjaneers were huddled. “Look, didn’t I tell you something bad was going to happen?” cried Jin Wei pointing at a notice. It was a call to all Ninjaneers who were planning on leaving Ninjaneering after their training was over. The people who had put up the notice said they represented the trainers of Chu Lei. They offered to train those who were planning on attempting the Sacred Challenge of Answering Timepass questions. Also known as SCAT (they didn’t bother putting in the Q, it didn’t sound catchy that way).
Chu Lei was a reputed organization and it was well known all over the world for its timepass training. But among the Ninjaneers it also had a bad name. It was said that the trainers of Chu Lei were an evil folk. That anyone who’d venture into the grounds of Chu Lei would never come out the same. Of course it wasn’t as horrible as the myth about the B-Dojos, that story however is for another day.
“So, what do you have to say to that?” said Jin Wei indignantly.
“There may be something in what you say,” replied Huang. “It seems that their representative is going to give some sort of demonstration today. Lets attend it and see for ourselves whether the rumors surrounding the Chu Lei are true.”
*************
“I am sensei Chu,” said the bearded man staring at everybody, “You have no doubt heard about the SCAT. There have been some terrible rumors flying around about SCAT. But reality is different. You may think that becoming clearing SCAT and joining a B-Dojo is not your only option. I say that it is. You may think that clearing the SCAT is not a very tough task, because you are a Ninjaneer and have the expertise and skill for clearing any challenge. But I say that clearing SCAT is extremely tough and without the help of the Chu Lei it is impossible!!
I myself was a Ninjaneer once. One day I was walking by the training grounds looking at a bunch of enthusiastic first years practicing ninja. When I looked at them I felt something was off. I remembered that I myself shared the same enthusiasm as them when I joined the Ninjaneering institute. But at that moment I felt empty inside. A feeling I’m sure all of you have. Upon a long and deep introspection I finally realized my purpose in life, and the steps I needed to take in order to achieve it. Take it from a man who has had an infinite number of experiences and who has attained enlightenment twenty three times!! This world is not a place for Ninjaneers. Where will martial arts take you? Sure you’ll save the odd person in danger, impair the neighborhood thief’s chances of robbing someone, or help the country during times of war, but what will it do for you? Ninjaneering for the sake of becoming a good ninja is foolish!!
There’s only one thing in which Ninjaneering will help you, or rather it already has. It has prepared you for this moment. You my pupils are the perfect trainees for Chu Lei. When we are done with you’ll be ready to appear and clear the SCAT. Not because you are in any way smarter than everybody else. After two years of feeling completely incompetent for not being able to learn the way of the Ninja, you’ll finally be able to do something that you can actually get the hang of. Something that doesn’t require you to be different or be truly skilled and intelligent! All you need to do is work hard, do what we tell you to do and you’ll be the perfect SCAT answering machine!! I mean… you’ll be ready to face the SCAT.
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