After getting caught red handed Luna refused to give any explanation hiding behind the confidentiality between a doctor and a patient. Nika could be an airhead at tis, but that didn't an she was blind and was fully aware that whatever she had planned had little to do with research or science.
"What happened to him anyway?" Nika asked after giving up on her attempts to get Luna to tell the truth.
"It's my fault, it seems we went a bit too far," A sweaty dusa explained as soon as she walked in drawn by the commotion caused by Amy, then continued to avoid any double entendre. "with training."
Everyone in the company had sothing to keep busy. Be it hunting, pushing papers, researching or even cleaning the ship, the to do list was long enough to even justify hiring more people. Unfortunately for Uriel and dusa, they were the only ones left with nothing to do.
She couldn't get the communication center to work no matter how much effort she put into it and because of her blindness there was little she could do without inconveniencing other people and making more of a ss.
Uriel's case was different, since no matter how much he begged to be allowed to at least tidy up the ship Nika didn't let him. He held the highest position in the company and he couldn't be seen by others performing nial tasks as it could damage their image, though Uriel couldn't understand it.
To him, taking proper care of his belongings or the place he lived in wasn't a chore but a privilege he didn't always enjoy. He still rembered his childhood room and it was nothing but a windowless box in a forgotten apartnt in the slums with cracks on the walls and stains that wouldn't co off no matter how much he rubbed them.
Despite their pleas, both Uriel and dusa couldn't so much as step outside without being recognized. dusa because of her outstanding appearance and her blindfold and Uriel because he needed to be available in case Nika managed to get an appointnt with the governor.
This left them with nothing else to do but to practice martial arts, sothing that dusa enjoyed but Uriel actually disliked.
One hour before Uriel passed out, in the Pegasus Gym, Uriel and dusa remained kneeling in front of each other at arm's reach without moving.
"Are you done yet?" Uriel asked.
"No, we're ditating, it's supposed to take ti. There's things in life you can't rush." dusa replied, a bit annoyed after having her focus shattered.
"I haven't slept in like a week, if I keep like this I'll just fall asleep." Uriel half grunted and half snored.
"Fine, let's start from the basics again. Retract your fists, take a step back with one foot and lower your body center as close to this height as possible." dusa pointed at her hips.
"That would actually raise my center mass." In the past, Uriel and dusa were at about the sa height, but since dusa reached the heavenly rank she grew taller and surpassed the two ter mark.
"Fine, just... just lower your stance a bit."
"Done." Uriel sighed.
"Now throw a punch with your right drawing power from your feet. Like this." dusa perford a flawless punch that produced a low pitched sound due to her karategi being loose.
"Like this?" Uriel attempted to do the sa, but his movent lacked the finesse dusa displayed.
"No, that's wrong."
"How can you tell? You didn't even see it." As always, Uriel was open to constructive criticism as long as it ca from a rational place and not based on emotions. After being told he's been doing everything wrong for the past hour and then forced to sit without doing anything, Uriel was starting to suspect that dusa held a grudge against him and wanted to make him suffer.
This wasn't true, at least not entirely. While dusa did hold a grudge against Uriel, she would never act on it. Unless she could get away with it, that is.
"It's the sound. Don't just throw punches, you need to feel the power surge from the tip of your toes then move like... like a wave that climbs through your feet, legs, hips and even your spine until it reaches your knuckles."
"Like a wave, huh." Uriel pondered for a few seconds, then started channeling his flux energy.
"No. It's not flux energy, it's kinetic energy!" dusa corrected.
Uriel's mind begged for so sleep, but he refused to do it without first getting his reward for the physical training. Reaching the goal inside a gacity was incredibly difficult, especially when he couldn't even hunt any cryptids or do anything that would exert his body but training.
It wasn't just that Uriel needed the reward trites, but he wanted to learn if practicing martial arts would be enough to let him earn money anywhere he went.
With money on the line, Uriel took the practice as seriously as his archaeology studies which is why he gave dusa's taphor a deep thought. It was the first ti in his life pondering about water properties despite having been possessed by a creature that went by the na Water warlock.
'Water is shapeless and doesn't offer any resistance against soft movents, but it becos like a wall when greeting a fast moving object. It moves slowly, but nothing can stop it. And waves, waves convey the power of moon's gravity and turn it into destructive chaos.' Uriel inwardly rembered whatever could be of use in the many ancient texts he studied in the past.
Contrary to dusa, Uriel was no scientist which is why his approach differed hers although it pointed more or less in the sa direction.
Uriel perford the next punch trying to put concepts into action and a booming sound echoed in the gym after the burst of power that emanated from his fist dissipated in the air.
"Good job! Now all you have to do it is repeat the sa movent one thousand tis over one thousand days and you'll master it." dusa cheered, her hair still waving in the air due to the gust of wind caused by Uriel's fist.
"What!? That's impossible, there's no way I'm wasting so much ti into this."
"You threw one flawless punch, but that was pure luck and it also costed you several minutes just to get the focus.
Unless you practice it enough tis to make it as easy as breathing it will be completely worthless in combat." dusa experienced the sa thing Uriel was feeling now when she started practicing, but after so many years each of her movents were polished to the fullest allowing her to draw the most power with the least possible effort.
"I just don't have the ti, let's just spar." Uriel shrugged.
"Fine." dusa too shrugged and blocked Uriel's poor attempt at repeating the sa punch with ease until they were entangled in a fierce battle. Contrary to most people from the company, Uriel showed absolutely no pity for her blindness when sparing. In fact, he even went as far as to use it to his advantage which made him the perfect sparring partner for her.
The first seconds of a sparring match were usually just to asure each other's strengths, but Uriel knew his chances were slim at best unless he gave it his all from the beginning.
Before even starting their match Uriel was already half asleep, but it worked in his favor since it made his attacks chaotic and impossible to predict even for a skilled fighter like dusa and she received a few bruises on her arms after barely managing to block them.
"I'll admit it, you forced my hand and I'll have to take this seriously. Don't bla if I send you to the infirmary," dusa uttered trying to hide the smile forming in her face, only to have it disappear when she realized she couldn't sense Uriel's presence anymore. "Hey! Hiding your presence is cheating!"
dusa turned in a 360° keeping her guard up in an attempt to block a stealth attack from anywhere, but the more ti passed the more paranoid she felt. Even if she didn't actually see the gastropod in their last incursion, just knowing that cryptids could be around without even hunters noticing made her paranoid and fear overtook her.
For a second she even pondered on whether or not she should take the blindfold off thinking that Uriel may have fallen prey to a hidden cryptid. Fighting that urge was difficult, but not as difficult as admitting defeat.
Then, she heard a soft growling noise faint enough to miss it if she moved, but loud enough to be heard if she focused on it. It was inhuman, unsettling and nacing, quite befitting of the cryptids that now dwelled on her imagination.
She was scared, but she was still a hunter and in the glimpse of a second she launched a powerful kick to the source of the noise that ended up being Uriel who fell asleep the second he received the notification that he received the reward for completing the level three physical training.
Back in the present, dusa blushed in embarrassnt while lying. "He's just overworked..." She said, though she didn't regret her actions.
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