Glory Days

Kumatetsu reminisces with his young disciple about the bodybuilding years in the Beast Kingdom. Enjoy, and thanks for the support!

----------------

Another day of training was complete, and Ren dragged himself into Kumatetsu’s den. A human boy escaping into the Beast Kingdom, Ren had been training under a warrior named Kumatetsu- neither of them were thrilled with the situation, but, as time wore on, Ren felt a sense of loyalty to the hulking, brooding bear. Kumatetsu was still talking with Tatara, and curiosity tugged on Ren as he noticed some of Kumatetsu’s things strewn about, after a half-hearted attempt to clean the house. The young boy’s brow bounced when he spotted a picture. Taking it in hand, he stuck his head outside.

“Hey, Kumatetsu? Is this a picture of you?”

“Hmh? Hey! Put that down, that doesn’t belong to you!” a tall, broad-shouldered bear with dark red fur bellowed back at his young apprentice. He charged for the door, snatching the picture out of Ren’s hand.

“What? You left it out in a pile of junk!” Ren protested. “Come on, what is it?”

Tatara, a monkey who had known Kumatetsu for ages, smirked. “You know he’s not going to let this go, Kuma. Go ahead and tell the kid about it- it’s hardly your worst moment.”

Kumatetsu groaned, rolling his eyes. “Fine. Years ago, the Grandmaster got it into his head that he might be able to find an alternative to duels, while still celebrating warriors’ strength and might. You ever heard of bodybuilding?”

“Uh, those really big guys flexing their muscles in their underwear? Wait,” Ren snickered. “You were a bodybuilder? What happened? You got so small!”

“I am not small!” Kumatetsu snarled. “And I’m still plenty strong! But… yeah. Everyone involved was a lot bigger back then.” He sighed, glancing down at the photo. It appeared that the bear standing before Ren was now less than half the man he used to be. He was nearly as wide as he was tall, every part of his body packed with dense, rock-hard muscle, oil pressed into his fur to make it look like polished stone. His inflated biceps alone were bigger than his head, supplemented by triceps that were thick as car tires. Those two peaks framed sprawling shoulders and a neck like a bull’s, forming an impressive mountain range. Just below that was a pair of pecs like a canyon, wide, broad, and billowing like sails in full wind. The width of his torso was augmented by slabs of muscle forming his lats, and then tracing down to densely packed, diamond-cut abs. Blue posers straddled his hips, and his legs were like sculpted columns, holding up and forming a magnificent edifice, from the bloated teardrop of his quadriceps and his finely shaped calves.

Kumatetsu smiled thinly. “It was a different time- all kinds of potions and elixirs were used to make people bigger and bigger, but, y’know, form is important, too.” He flexed his arm, still roped with thick muscle, but it was a far cry from the behemoth in the picture. “I can still get bigger if I want to, you’ve seen me fight- but it’s not the same. People actually liked me showing off and swaggering around- heh, not that any of them would admit nowadays.”

Ren quirked his brow. “So… what happened?”

The bear waved it off. “Ah, the Grandmaster banned the contest after a few years. Things were getting a bit out of control- some of those potions were potent kid, and some of the contestants let things go to their head. They were all hulked out and picking fights, breaking the rules- heh, some of them made me look calm and centered. Grandmaster didn’t like where things were heading, so he banned the potions and recipes next, too. No one knows how to make them anymore. Can’t find the elixirs anywhere anymore.” He shrugged, and then frowned at Ren. “Now stop pokin’ around! Go, I want three laps from you around the forest before dinner!”

Ren’s face fell. “What? But one lap takes twenty minutes, and the sun’s about to go down!”

“Then you better get started, huh, squirt?” Kumatetsu snapped. “Git!” He shooed his apprentice out of the house, watching him reluctantly start jogging down the trail. Once he was certain he was alone, Kumatetsu grinned at the photo.

“Heh… have to admit, those contests did feel good…” Kumatetsu rubbed the back of his head. He was tempted to do something that was a little reckless. Glancing around to make sure Ren wasn’t coming back and that Tatara wasn’t hanging around, he rummaged in his messy kitchen, looking for an innocuous black battle sealed with a band of calligraphy that simply read “Power.” Before he could reconsider, the bear broke the seal and took a deep swig. Soon, he could feel an energetic burst of power spreading from his core and into his limbs.

“Mm… ooooh, yeah…” the bear groaned softly. He looked down at his arms, now tensed and primed. In a series of twitches and quick breaths, his arms inflated, veins poking out from his fur as his biceps billowed forth, matched by his triceps filling out. He beat his fist against an inflated chest, huffing slightly. With this stuff, he felt like he could take on the entire Beast Kingdom. He stepped into his bedroom, and glanced at a cracked mirror. He wasn’t as large as he had been in the picture, but feeling the sheer strength pulsing in his body was a rush. He had missed it more than he cared to admit, as his boulder shoulders were filling out the mirror, and his thickened, trunk-like legs were threatening the integrity of his pants. He went through a few practiced poses and surprisingly fluid motions, making his surging muscles from his pumped biceps, his puffed-up chest, and his rippling quads swell. It was the same rush as it was so many years ago; it wouldn’t last for very long- it wasn’t designed to- but maybe he could find a use for his augmented muscles while he still had them… after just one more drink, of course.