The system panel flashed in front of Ethan.
He then willed for a few actions to be done.
=====
[You have unlocked Boxing to Master tier.]
[You have unlocked Muay Thai to Master tier.]
======
Ethan wasn't surprised when the system told him he had unlocked Boxing and Muay Thai. He was the one who asked for it. He had chosen them himself.
But what ca next still caught him off guard.
As soon as the notification faded, sothing hit him. It wasn't painful, but it made him freeze for a second.
His mind was suddenly filled with mories, movents, and lessons. He didn't know where they ca from, but they felt real. As if he had spent years training, fighting, and learning.
His feet shifted. His stance changed. His breathing slowed.
Every part of his body adjusted without him thinking about it.
He raised his fists slowly and looked down at himself.
"So Boxing and Muay Thai were more than they seed," he muttered. "No wonder they're two of the most popular."
He didn't waste ti. He stepped forward again, his fists rising into a clean guard.
But this ti, it wasn't just Boxing or Muay Thai.
Bamba noticed it right away. Sothing was different.
The first few moves were jabs and hooks, followed by clean elbows and knees. Then ca a shift, one that even the most trained eyes in the room didn't catch right away.
Ethan's posture dropped lower. His guard loosened for a mont, but not out of carelessness. His movent turned sharper, tighter. There was sothing raw and direct in the way he moved.
It wasn't just sport.
It was survival.
Ethan was blending in Krav Maga and close-quarter techniques now. His elbows didn't just strike, they trapped.
His punches weren't for scoring points. They were aid at pressure spots and weak spots. His steps no longer followed a predictable rhythm. They were laced with deception and misdirection.
He moved like soone used to fighting in narrow spaces. Like soone who had to win, not for glory, but to stay alive.
'These are all just tools,' Ethan thought as he ducked low and swept at Bamba's legs. 'What I need… is sothing that's mine.'
He was building it now.
Piece by piece.
Boxing gave him the footwork. Muay Thai gave him the power. Krav Maga gave him the kill-switch instincts. Close Quarter Combat taught him control.
And then, he added sothing else.
Stealth.
It wasn't obvious, but it was there. The way he slipped into Bamba's blind spots. The way his footsteps softened. His shoulders dropped. His whole body beca harder to track.
Then he layered in Tracking.
Ethan studied Bamba's stance, his breath, even the way his eyes moved. He looked for patterns. For small tells. For the slightest opening.
He had tried sothing like this before, back in Anterra against Duran. It worked but he didn't continue to perfect it after that.
After getting the Fla Dragon Sword, he started swinging wildly, relying too much on power and not enough on control.
Now, he had the chance to bring it all back.
A clean spar. No sword. Just him. Just his body. Just everything he had learned.
The other Vanguards started to notice.
"Wait… that wasn't Muay Thai."
"Did he just use Krav Maga?"
"That last grab... it looked like sothing from close-quarters training."
"No, that's not it. He's blending them. All of them."
Bamba's eyes narrowed.
He wasn't just seeing skill. He was seeing sothing rare.
Ethan's moves kept evolving. Every step was more precise. Every attack was more refined. His flas burned tighter around his body, not wild, but focused—guiding his strikes, not replacing them.
He didn't just attack head-on anymore. He feinted, vanished from view, then reappeared at a sharp angle. His elbows hit fast and close. His knees ca low and suddenly. His fists followed paths no one expected.
He used montum like a weapon.
"You're creating your own style in the middle of a fight?" Bamba finally said, eyes locked on him.
Ethan didn't answer. He didn't need to.
He stepped in with a tight elbow. Bamba blocked, but Ethan was already spinning low, his foot sweeping Bamba off-balance. Then ca a punch, not wild, but full-body, golden, and direct. It slamd into Bamba's core.
It landed.
Not hard enough to injure, but enough to make Bamba step back.
The entire arena went quiet.
The Vanguards stared.
He had done it.
He had landed a hit.
Ethan took a breath.
The mont his punch connected, the system responded.
=====
[Mission Complete: Land A Hit]
Rewards:
1. 50,000 EXP
2. Dragon Ascension thod I
=====
His eyes lit up as he saw the reward screen. But he didn't notice the shift in Bamba's face.
For the first ti since the spar started, the instructor's calm gaze sharpened. His eyes narrowed slightly. His jaw tensed. The faint air of observation was gone, replaced by sothing else.
Seriousness.
Ethan was still staring at the system panel that only he could see when it happened.
Bamba moved. He was moving way too fast.
"Don't lose your focus, Cole," he said.
Before Ethan could even react, a heavy fist slamd into his left side. It wasn't aid to injure, but it didn't hold back either. The force sent him flying across the arena like a sack of grain tossed from a cart.
He hit the ground with a loud thud, rolled a few tis, and finally ca to a stop on his back.
The system panel vanished instantly.
Ethan groaned.
His ribs scread in protest. His breath caught for a second.
"That hurt…" he muttered, coughing once as he slowly sat up. "Yeah, I deserved that."
The Vanguards watching didn't say a word at first.
Then, soone chuckled.
"Got too excited too soon."
"He forgot who he was fighting."
"Classic mistake."
Ethan rubbed the side of his body and shook his head, still catching his breath.
Bamba walked over, stopping a few ters away from him.
"That hit was solid," he said, voice firm but not cold. "But never lose focus just because you landed one."
Ethan gave a small nod. "Lesson learned."
Bamba looked at him for a mont longer before turning away.
"But you did well."
Those words, short as they were, made the ache in Ethan's side feel a little lighter.
Bamba stood still for a mont, then gave a short nod.
"Enough for today. I've seen enough of you."
His voice carried through the training ground, clear and firm.
"That'll be it with ," Bamba said. "The rest of you, dismissed. Be back here this afternoon. You'll be training with a different instructor later."
He took a few steps, then turned his head slightly over his shoulder.
"But tomorrow morning... I'll be seeing you again."
That one line was enough.
A wave of unease passed through the Vanguards. No one said anything, but their expressions said it all.
So swallowed hard. A few exchanged tired, anxious glances. One even let out a quiet groan.
No one had forgotten how brutal the morning session had been.
And now, they knew it was only going to get worse.
Without waiting for questions or responses, Bamba turned and walked off, his coat swaying behind him. No one dared to speak as he left. His presence still lingered even after he was gone.
A few minutes later, far from the others, Bamba reached up and touched his side—the exact spot where Ethan's punch had landed.
He winced slightly.
That one really hurt.
He didn't say anything, just gave a small shake of his head before continuing on.
Back at the training ground, Ethan stood alone in the middle of the arena.
The energy from the fight had faded, and now the silence felt louder than ever. Around him, the other Vanguards were already leaving in groups or pairs. So threw glances his way, but none stopped to talk.
Even Maria and Red walked off without a word. Red gave him a small look—curious, maybe thoughtful—but nothing more.
Ethan looked down at his hands.
They were steady now. The golden fla had faded.
He scanned the training ground again, hoping maybe soone would approach. But no one did.
"I guess… that's just how it is," he muttered under his breath.
He had never been the type to draw people in. That was more Jordan's thing—easy to talk to, easy to like. Jordan could make friends in a room full of strangers without even trying.
Ethan wasn't like that.
He let out a small breath and looked up at the sky.
"Guess I need to work on that too."
As the training ground emptied, Ethan remained where he stood. The silence was slowly creeping back in.
He let out a quiet sigh and looked up at the sky again.
"How many more days do I need to stay here?" he muttered.
He had no idea what ca next. No one had given him a clear tiline. He was just told to follow orders and keep up with the program. But he couldn't help wondering how things were on the outside.
Soone might already be looking for him. Especially if it was about Nova Tech.
Before coming here, he had made sure to cover his tracks.
He had told his family he'd be unreachable for a while, saying he was heading to a remote region to study alternative energy sources.
Sowhere with a weak signal. Sowhere where it would be normal to disappear for a few days. Thanks to the existence of Nova Tech and its ties to it, the story sounded reasonable enough.
They had believed him.
Nova Tech's na alone made the lie sound like the truth.
As for the company itself, he had only told David. A short ssage. Just enough to say it was an important trip. No details. No tiline.
He had left a ssage for Jessica too, and one for Jordan.
Jordan.
Ethan's chest felt tight for a second.
He wondered how his best friend was doing. If he had woken up by now. If he was still lying in that hospital room with wires and machines keeping him stable.
He had tried not to think about it during training. But now that everything had gone quiet, the thoughts ca rushing back.
"I hope you're okay," he said softly, almost like a prayer. "Just hold on a little longer."
Reviews
All reviews (0)