Chapter 46 A second visit to China

Merlin took a deep breath and savoured the mountain air. It was good to be back in China. He had been surprised at just how easily he had been able to convince his Dad that they should return.



Albin was just as eager as Merlin, they had both fallen in love with Sim Fu.

Albin was the more advanced of the two having obtained a level six, blue belt. Whilst Merlin had a level three, orange belt. Albin, though he was getting on in years, had always been very fit and was spending his retirement perfecting his knowledge of Sim Fu.

They had brought Lance with them and spent the airplane journey enthusing about Sim Fu. Lance trained for a few days and was able to gain a level two, yellow belt. However after that he lost interest.

Lance was more focused on working to increase his fitness levels in hopes that one day he would be picked for the local team. Training in fresh mountain air was bound to help.

Merlin decided to spent a few days exploring before focusing on Sim Fu and went visiting the local tombs.

Whilst, Albin got straight to training. He was now a high enough level to join the Sim Fu tournament in China. By sparring against different opponents he would earn himself a ranking and he hoped if he worked hard enough to perhaps even make it to Grand Master.

His training at home paid off and he sailed through the first ten matches, beating every opponent.

Albin met his match in a Level 8 Brown belt. 

He decided that he needed to train even harder and to gain a new belt. He managed to reach  Level 8 Brown belt himself and then started sparring contestants again.

Merlin spent a few days training hard and been given a Level 5 Green belt but lost his first sparring match.

He decided that it was best he spent this holiday training and learning all he could. He was young and there would be many more years he could come and visit China and compete in the tournament. 

Before they knew it the holiday was ending and they were flying home again. Lance had enjoyed training in the mountain air. Merlin had enjoyed improving his knowledge of Sim Fu. Only Albin went home feeling a little sad. He had learnt loads and come so far but he wondered if he would ever reach the title of Grand Master. Who knows how his health would be in another year or whether he would still be here. He was keenly aware that he was getting very old.