Akai

There were no heroes in Stream Valley, only chubby pandas.

Among them was Akai, a fish seller whose monotonous routine consisted of fishing and selling his catch. As the days passed, an exhilarating idea gradually formed in his mind: Become a Hero!

The heroes of legends wielded almighty swords, fought evil dragons, protected people from all harm... Akai clenched his big fists and devoted himself to all kinds of "heroic deeds". No matter what problems the neighbors encountered, whether it was fixing a roof or rescuing a cat, Akai was always the first to offer help. The only problem was… as round and clumsy as it was, it seemed like it only caused more trouble.

"Akai, stop trying to be a hero!" The neighbors didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Akai, however, refused to give up easily. So one day, while fishing, he dreamed of the four eastern fighters of the Riverlands of Cadia... "If only I could join their ranks," Akai thought. Without knowing it, he started punching and kicking at the edge of the stream...

"Slow punches. Wrong! Sloppy footwork. Wrong! Slow reaction. Horrible! Yet you want to become an oriental fighter?!"

An angry roar sounded from inside the stream, while Akai's float shook violently as if something huge had just taken the bite. Akai, weighing over three hundred pounds, was almost dragged into the water! Eventually, whatever was at the end of his rod gave up, and Akai brought it back. It was – a frog?!

The frog jumped atop Akai's head, stroking his goatee, and proclaimed himself the Immortal Frog, a disciple of the Great Dragon who came down the stream from the Dragon Altar. He said that Akai was born for martial arts and that if Akai followed his training, he would definitely become an unparalleled hero - on one condition, of course: Akai would give him all his bait.

The story of the chubby panda disciple and his little frog master thus began!

The first year of training under his new master was exhausting, but Akai was delighted!

The second year… was also quite exhausting, but the ever-persistent panda kept going anyway!

The third year was very exhausting, and Akai was on the verge of giving up...

Under the guidance of Frog Immortal, Akai gradually mastered martial arts and developed his namesake moves – Panda Punches! As he proudly called it. With his relatively refined movements and years of training, Akai could easily catch small thieves and hunt wild beasts.

However, when he wasn't chasing thieves and saving villages, the panda disciple and his frog master were fishing together by the stream. The frog would often sit on Akai's shoulder as they observed the serene view before them.

Everything seemed to be going in the right direction, except… Akai's weapon was still just an old fishing rod, and his chubby form still looked nothing like that of a true hero.

“We martial artists never look down on each other!” said the Immortal Frog with a stern look. “As long as you train hard…”

“–I will become the fifth oriental fighter and be congratulated by everyone?!” Akai hurriedly interrupted.

Frustrated, the Frog Immortal jumped up and punched Akai's stomach, "Is that the only reason you practice martial arts? To be evaluated by others? To be praised?"

The poor panda nursed his aching belly, "but master, isn't that what's cool about being a hero? Being known to people and being a part of their stories?!"

"Becoming a hero is more than just being a part of someone's storybooks. To be a true hero, you must make the ultimate sacrifice..." Akai didn't understand it at the time, but his master knew he would eventually.

In the days that followed, Akai gradually perfected his Panda Punches. He was getting closer to making his dream come true!

One day, the Oriental Fighters came to Stream Valley on a mission. Akai, who had always been a fan of the four, quickly rushed to the tavern where they were staying and took a look from the outside wall: the Oriental Fighters were practicing martial arts in the courtyard. In pure fanatical wonder, Akai followed their training, their movements so fast though that he could barely keep up. That didn’t stop him from savoring this moment!

The Eastern Fighters were the four distinguished disciples of the Great Dragon – Zilong, Wanwan, Ling and Baxia. Seeing the legendary characters right before his eyes, Akai was thrilled beyond belief! At the same time, however, he found his clumsy punches a far cry from the masterful movements of the Oriental Fighters...

He started finding all sorts of excuses to skip Frog Immortal's martial arts classes – headaches, back pains, or even fur aches! – when in reality he was admiring every move of the Oriental Fighters from the top of the tavern wall.

It was at this time that Akai accidentally learned that the Great Dragon had never taken a frog as a disciple, even though there was one among his servants. This frog, once responsible for helping the Great Dragon catch flies and other insects, secretly learned martial arts behind the Great Dragon's back, and was therefore kicked out of the Dragon Altar by the guards...

Looking back, Akai realized that he had met this frog before.

After learning the truth, Akai stopped going to Frog Immortal to learn martial arts.

Without telling anyone, Akai headed towards the Dragon Altar. He wanted to learn true martial arts from the Great Dragon himself, become a true hero, and protect Stream Valley!

A panda, want to learn martial arts? The Oriental Fighters were amused by this chubby country boy and so taught him a move or two from time to time. Akai flourished under the training of Zilong, Wanwan, Ling and Baxia. "I will introduce you to the master." Zilong promised Akai before the Great Dragon was about to finish his solitary meditation.

“I’m about to become a hero!” Akai was carried away by this thought and completely forgot that he hadn't even said goodbye to the Frog Immortal.

And then disaster struck.

After expelling the evil god Lieh, Yu Zhong headed straight to the dragon altar with his men. He wanted to kill the Great Dragon and seize the divine throne! The four oriental fighters went to fight him in all haste. However, as soon as they left, the mischievous Chang'e let Sun out. After being locked away by the Great Dragon for centuries, Sun was furious when he learned that his hometown had been occupied by pandas in his absence! With his golden staff in hand, Sun rushed towards Stream Valley, vowing to eliminate them all and reclaim the lands.

Akai was caught in a dilemma. He wanted to follow the Eastern Fighters to fight Yu Zhong and distinguish himself in front of the Great Dragon, but on the other side, the armless pandas simply had no chance against the Raging Sun! Wait, there was also a frog...

Akai left something missing on his shoulder. He turned his head and realized that this was the place where the Immortal Frog used to sit...

At that moment, Akai remembered his master's words and the real reason he wanted to become a hero suddenly came to his mind. He knew what he had to do!

“A true hero fights for the people, not for glory!” »

The storytellers of Stream Valley have a new story to tell: the story of the almighty panda!

That day, Sun smashed his golden staff at the entrance to Stream Valley, roaring in rage as he thought he would wipe out all the pandas! Just when this peaceful land was about to meet its doom, an old frog emerged from the trembling crowd and fought Sun alone!

The Immortal Frog was thrown by Sun in just a few turns, when a fishing rod caught him in mid-air – it was our Panda Hero, Akai!

Akai and Frog Immortal joined hands and fought Sun together. At the most critical moment, Akai parried Sun's staff with his exclusive Panda move. Taken by surprise by this panda's spirit and prowess, Sun retracted his golden staff, "hmm. You're not bad for a flabby panda."

"Not just the panda, I am the panda, Akai."

Amused, Sun gave him a moment to tell the truth, and the misunderstanding was resolved.

Before Akai could even apologize to his master, the Immortal Frog jumped high and punched him in the stomach. "You brat! I skipped so many training sessions! Did you practice what I taught you today?!"

Once the threat has been averted and carried out, the master and disciple fish together at the edge of the stream in Stream Valley. Akai distributing the earthworms: one for his fish, one for his master, another for the fish, another for the master...