The Amegakure Combat Center is the village's dojo located across from the academy. The dojo has artisanally crafted wood paneling on the walls. The panels are a mixture of red and purple for the coloring. There are also large floor mats in most of the rooms for the training facilities. There are dummies, countless weapons, and other training supplies on hand. There is also a full staff of instructors on hand at the dojo for training.
Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2022 9:11 am
Ryuken Hoshigaki
Meeting up with his Gladiator contact whomst was an instructor at the Combat Center, Ryuken was intrigued as to the purpose of this career. Ngyuen Song was the Chūnin that had already been a gladiator prior and explained, "Gladiators fight for honor and for entertaining those whom love to watch fighting. It is not for objectives like Shinobi fight for in villages. But, money and fame. For your first mission, you will bring the gladiators here water and hear their stories." Acknowledging what he had been told, Ryuken went to the 6 gladiators here and brought them each their fill of water. While the manual labor was annoying, it was a stepping stone. He heard of each of the gladiators' stories boasting victories and close losses. The concept of fighting just for the entertainment did interest him. [Rank E | Stories of the Arrogant mission complete]
The next mission that Ngyuen gave him was to bring the gladiators their various weapons. Some of them used swords, others used polearms, shields, and even axes as well as generic shinobi projectiles. From kunai to shuriken, to explosive tags, this place had it all. As he brought the equipment to the men who needed it, he watched them all start to inspact the equipment. The last thing they needed was to go out to fight and their weapons break or are less effective. Ryuken noted how meticulous they were about their equipment being to expectation. [Rank E | Loving Their Weapons mission complete]
For his gladiator internship, Ryuken was told to start helping the gladiators by holding up shields so they could hit them. Working with the first set of gladiators, he could feel the force behind their strikes. He then moved on to helping the next set, and then the final set. 6 gladiators was an exhausting group to work with, but Ryuken understood that this was all parts of what they did. He was learning what it was all about at this point. [Rank E | Shield Boy mission completed]
Nguyen finally had Ryuken spar with some of the gladiators. He borrowed weapons from the racks and would exchange blade strikes. These gladiators were not easy on him despite being an academy student, they wanted him to understand what he was getting himself into. After exchanging a powerful blow, Ryuken managed to knock one of the gladiators back and he stepped out of the ring. Having won an exchange with a gladiator, they all cheered and considered Ryuken one of their own. [Rank E | Wild Strike mission completed]
For the final mission in the Gladiator internship, Ryuken watched as they visitted nearby families. The gladiators had paid respects to their fans that kept their careers alive. He was tasked with visitted a frail sickly child and giving her a new teddy bear. This was to help Ryuken be taught a sense of humility, as he realized this girl was actually one of his old neighbors from the Cistern. It was a small world that they had all lived within. As he handed the girl the bear, he saw her lit up with happiness. Gladiators were not just entertainers, but represented strength and hope. Something the people needed desperately in their lives. [Rank E | One Teddy Bear mission completed]
