The Thousand Mask Warrior

The Three Step Gods

The afternoon breeze this afternoon blew away the leaves making him rustle softly. The unknown figure stood in front of Sasangka with strange horses. Not dangerous but definitely challenging. The face of the middle-aged old man who was overgrown with whiskers and a thin irregular beard was facing Sasangka coldly.

Sasangka looked at the middle-aged elder with an indescribable strange feeling. How could this person know so many things related to him? Narendra, Katilapan, Jayaseta are the names that are attached to the heart.

"What is your business with me, you stranger?" ask Sasangka.

"Well, well. I told you how complicated your ways of thinking are. Just do as a warrior would, as the leaves follow where the wind carries."

"Your love is getting incomprehensible, old man. Just say what you want, don't beat around the bush while giving me some more puzzles" Sasangka said.

"You can attack me first, Sasangka. I guarantee it won't disappoint" he said.

Sasangka back jerked. He clenched his hands together and clenched his jaws tightly.

"It is unfair to provoke the anger of the enemy into battle. That's not the smart way. The opponent will attack with wrath. The fight became impure again," the middle-aged then stood upright without the horses. He shook his head and patted his own head slowly. "It's stupid, you," he said, also to himself.

When standing upright this Sasangka suddenly felt a tremendous air flow from the body of the unknown person. The style that is strange and unreasonable is in fact a kind of shell that hides quality and meaning in it.

Sasangka suddenly shook. His sense of shortness was blurred, making him secretly prepare his horses and feel three wedhung handles on his waist.

The middle-aged glanced at Sasangka and immediately knew all his movements. He smiled faintly and then sat cross-legged on the ground. "Ah, you are, Sasangka. I was fighting you rejected it and was confused. Now I'm not doing anything you just ketar-ketir," said the man casually. He then went back to chewing betel.

The straightforward words from the middle-aged increasingly make Sasangka amazed and surprised to the point of not knowing what he should do.

Men spit on the ground. "My title is the God of Step Three," he said. "I am a person from the Kerinci tribe who live in the hilly region part of the Barisan hill border between Minangkabau and Jambi Malay state. The hill where I was born and the great red land and overgrown with thatch. The place was not very fertile, nor was it too arid. The ground is scattered with piles or salt stones, coarse sand. Surprisingly, on the hill higher than this plain there are springs that flow inexhaustibly. This is called the Root River."

Sasangka did not relax his guard.

"On the top of the hill of the Root River is called Pamatang Galangang. In addition to the springs, there is also a cave called Pahoh. This cave was once a tiger's den."

Sasangka was about to refute the story of the middle-aged man who called himself the Three Steps God. But somehow, there was some kind of magic that made him reluctant and instead, so interested in the story of the Three Step Gods.

"Pamatang Galangang is a plain where the warriors of Kerinci complain of expertise and devotion after first pitting chickens. Of course, at that time I was one of the fighters and heroes Kerinci Pamatang Galangang. You know, Sasangka. I used to lose every test of dexterity and battle. Until a time when I got the secrets of the ancient Three Steps silat from the Pahoh cave. Long story short, I became the greatest swordsman in my village, defeating and killing the warriors there," the God of Step Three laughed. A terrible hoarse laugh.

"I was adventurous, defeating many warriors from Minangkabau, Malay, Javanese and even Chinese. In essence, I was actually born as a swordsman who kept wanting the fight to show who was the best. When I heard the lunge of the Thousand Mask Warrior from the land of Java, I decided to find out and wanted to challenge it. Well, this is what sets me apart from other warriors," said the God of Step Three as he pointed to his forehead, "I am intelligent. Not just challenging the enemy blindly."

Sasangka suddenly lunged forward with a short but powerful strike.

Undoubtedly, the God of Step Three had already stood up even before Sasangka's kick arrived. He moved sideways so that he escaped the attack and then pushed Sasangka's body with his shoulder.

Sasangka rolled once to the side as a result of that push. His face was flushed. "How much longer are you going to tell me?!" yells.

"Well, yeah ... It will take you a long time to be ready to fight me, Sasangka. Too bad you won't have time to listen to my story until it's over. Even I've omitted a lot of details in my story to summarize it. Especially the problem of my intelligence so that I know various stories even your three-step silat movement," said the God of Step Three chuckled back.

Sasangka's blood bubbled furiously. His attack was avoided easily, even he was pushed hard. On the other hand, that person seemed to know all about himself as well as everything related to him.