Chapter 84- Blood Technique (Part 2)
"Now, try to strike with your fist. But don’t use your arm. I want you to put all the montum in your body and then channel it through your fist. That way, you can deliver a far stronger hit since you’re using every muscle in your body to do it."
Elio listened carefully to Fiona as she explained what he had to do. At the sa ti, she showed him exactly what to do. The boy was able to sowhat understand what she was trying to say, but it still didn’t sound easy at all.
"It requires a lot of body control and synchronized movent. However, I am certain you will be able to do it. Now try." Fiona said as she stepped back to give him so room to move.
The boy finally focused and took a deep breath as he put his full attention into the next move. He recalled what she said exactly and then tried to imagine how his body would move.
After drawing a rough image of it in his head, he finally locked his eyes ahead and then...
*Swish*
As fast as he could, he stepped forward and delivered a precise strike, as precisely as he could. It was shockingly fast, and it made a sound cutting through the air, but it was naturally far from the level of technique Fiona showed.
He was sluggish and slow, even filled with flaws. Elio slowly stood up and looked at Fiona.
"That is an impressive start, Elio. Your first try is better than normal, way better." She praised. "However, you hesitated."
"Hesitated?" Elio raised an eyebrow.
"Try again," Fiona said.
"..."
Elio didn’t understand what she said and simply decided to try again. Taking the sa stance, or the closest to it he could rember, and then delivered a second strike. It was better than the first one, but not by much.
"Again, you hesitated. Try again." Fiona said.
Elio felt even more confused than before. What did she an by hesitated? He was doing it as he thought it was. Raising an eyebrow, he took a stance and tried again.
Yet, she said the sa thing.
"Try again."
*Swish*
"Try again."
*Swish*
"Again."
She kept telling him to try again and again and again. From a few tis to dozens of tis, and each ti, she seed completely dissatisfied. As if Elio had a glaring mistake. Yet, from what he can see, he was doing it better and better each ti, and he was even noticing that improvent in real ti.
His fist was delivering better strikes, and his movent was far more comfortable and elegant. Yet, it didn’t satisfy Fiona at all. This was the very first ti Elio had seen her clearly criticizing his work.
’Hmm... What am I doing wrong?’ He eventually started asking himself that question. There was clearly a glaring flaw, so obvious that Fiona wasn’t explaining anything to him and clearly wanted him to figure it out himself.
One attempt after the other, and Elio was only getting more and more lost. ’Hesitating? What is it about that makes her say that? Am I really hesitating?’
Elio was naturally a very hesitant person, so he didn’t feel like it was a completely unfounded criticism, but he still didn’t know why this specific action made her say that. He was delivering a strike in the air; he wasn’t harming anyone or taking a major decision to hesitate.
Or that was what he thought. That was when Elio realized sothing subtle. He was doing sothing precisely wrong... Or to be more precise, he was looking at it all through the wrong lenses.
’I’m not delivering a strike in the air, and this isn’t just another small decision to make.’ He frowned. That was the problem! He should look at this training as him actually fighting.
He wasn’t punching the air; he was punching a potential target that wanted him dead. He was taking it lightly without even realizing it. Fiona wasn’t teaching him so fun tricks; she was teaching him how to survive and how to fight for his life in this cruel world.
That was the hesitation. That he didn’t put his all into each attack, like his life truly depended on that.
"Hm?"
Fiona noticed that Elio stopped and was thinking for a second. She watched him curiously, waiting for what he was going to do next. That was when she noticed it... A shift in his eyes.
Earlier, he was focused, but he didn’t seem... dangerous. He didn’t show that cold, nacing look.
Now, out of nowhere, his eyes changed. His dangerous aura leaked out slowly as he took a fighting stance again. This ti, his entire presence was different. It was heavier and stronger.
"..." Fiona’s eyes flashed with a curious glint. ’Did he figure it out?’
Waiting anxiously, she watched as he took the stance. It wasn’t perfect but it was good enough. Then, he put his fist forward; it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough.
Then, he suddenly moved.
*Swish*
His fist lashed out powerfully, delivering a precise strike with a gush of air following it. His attack wasn’t that much different than earlier technique-wise... But its weight was far heavier. It felt like it was a strike to kill and not rely a simple movent.
Fiona stared at Elio silently, her eyes quite surprised. Then, that surprise turned into a look of pride. As she expected of Elio, he was going to learn it on his own without her uttering a single word.
A sense of satisfaction filled her heart as she started clapping her hands.
"That is what I wanted to see." She said calmly. "Did you figure it out, Elio?"
"Mhm... I felt that. It was a lot different from what I was doing earlier."
"And what did you imagine to solve it?"
"I didn’t... I didn’t treat it as seriously as I should’ve. This strike is my weapon, and I’m learning it so I can kill. So, I need to put all my killing intent into every single one of these strikes." He said as he looked at Fiona with a blank expression. His words sounded way scarier than they should’ve.
Sothing about seeing the timid and shy Elio talk about killing so... devoid of emotions. It surprised Fiona a but but she shook her head quickly.
"That is precisely what it is. Hesitation is your inability to be rciless with your strike. To make sure you deliver a strong hit that would devastate your enemy. You cannot hesitate, and you cannot take it lightly. This is a life-or-death situation. Your intent should be focused within each strike you deliver." She said.
"I see..."
As cruel as it sounded, that was the truth. If he wanted to survive, then he had to be ruthless. The vampires and other beasts won’t hesitate to do the sa and try to kill him.
"Now, let’s start again." She said. "This ti, you will be honing the technique into perfection, understood?"
"Understood!"
With that new mindset, Elio began training again, and his approach was far different this ti. He was going to perfect this technique.
***
Several hours passed rather quickly. During which, Elio continued to train relentlessly. Doing the sa technique again and again and again, hundreds or even thousands of tis. Each attempt reduced the flaws and increased the mastery.
Elio’s sponge-like mind absorbed the changes rapidly and implented them. With Fiona’s help, he was able to boost that learning speed even more as she kept pointing him in the right direction so he could learn.
Soon enough, his strikes started looking more and more dangerous. His fists that were rely weak a week ago were now as strong as steel, punching with enough force to knock a normal person out with ease.
Elio felt so euphoric seeing how he was improving. Fiona’s complints and good guidance only increased that feeling. He was learning fast, and he knew it.
Eventually, however, the training ca to an end as Elio dropped to the ground completely spent. Even though this wasn’t a particularly intense training, it still required imnse focus and technique, sothing that exhausts the body in a different way.
"That was good," Fiona said. "You were able to improve a lot on the first day. There is still a lot of ti before the test, so your goal is to master all the movents within that period of ti."
"Y-Yes ma’am..."
"You can go rest now. I will be the one making dinner this ti."
Elio nodded as he finally stood up and dragged his exhausted body out of the gym. Fiona watched him silently.
’His learning speed is perhaps the most ridiculous part about his talent, not even the amount of Blood Energy he possesses. He is able to understand almost all concepts at an alarming rate without much guidance.’
Her mind slowly wandered back to the conversation she had with his grandmother a while ago.
Elio’s origin was still very much a mystery, and perhaps learning who his parents were would unravel that mystery. What was certain for Fiona was that Elio’s talent wasn’t a coincidence. Sothing about him told her that she should expect sothing far, far deeper.
A rabbit hole that she was willingly ready to dive into.
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