Nightfall

Chapter 9: The Tournament

When I got home that night, I grabbed a couple of pillows off of Ruby, who was completely passed out in her bed, laid on the ground next to her, and followed her example with great pleasure.

The next day was a nice relaxing break from training. Ruby went into the city for the majority of it, so I was left alone to fend for myself; my only task being to wash the clothes that were currently piled in the hall. Since I wasn't required to do anything of great importance, I did what any teenager would do and slept through the majority of the day. I woke up only to eat and wash my clothes because, after all, I would most likely be running in them for the duration of the next day.

The following day my training began once more, however, now it was focused more on combat and less on exercise. Before the mission Ruby had allegedly filled my days with as much exercise as they could fit. So I had been deemed sufficiently in shape, and since there wasn't much more physical improvement I could do they figured it was time for me to focus on defending myself.

To start the day Ruby woke me up with one of her mouthwatering breakfasts while she explained the changes to me, and then sent me across the hall to James, who was going to be training me. Which was unfortunate because that meant the first day back was going to be a brutal one. Ruby was a tough teacher, but James's training regimen was just him beating me up all day; and he could hit really hard.

When I knocked on his door he answered it before I actually had finished knocking. I found him shirtless with his knuckles already wrapped. The sight made me cringe, and the thought of the punishment I was doomed to endure sent chills down my spine. But instead of inviting me in like he normally did, he looked me up and down then told me to take off my armored gear. He said to put on something that I could move freely in and sent me back to Ruby. I was going to start learning some long overdue technique to add into my fighting.

I obeyed with pleasure and changed into athletic shorts before coming back to find he had cleared out his apartment. All of his furniture had been pushed against the walls and since his apartment was just like Ruby's this meant that there was a large open area now in the middle of the space. He had rolled out a padded mat of some kind, and when I asked what it was for he explained that it was a sparring mat.

He led me onto it and told me to start by taking my favored fighting stance. On his command I put my left foot forward, extended my left arm, and brought my right hand up near my right shoulder. When I'd taken position, he walked over to me and adjusted it, making me lower my left arm to almost waist high and bringing my right hand up toward my right cheek. Then a second after he'd adjusted me, he told me to relax and retake my stance. I obeyed and once again he adjusted me to have proper form. We did this for almost an hour before I got my stance up to his standards. Then we advanced on to basic attacks.

The first attack he taught me was how to punch, and once again he made sure my form was impeccable as he taught. We didn't stay on that one very long because I had exceptional natural talent at throwing a good punch, but when we moved to kicks the story changed. In all the fights I'd ever been in I had never been much for kicks and it showed in James's training. We ended up having to work on my basic kicks for the rest of the time I had with him.

My training with James ended at one or two and I was sent back to Ruby, who was waiting for me with a sack of concrete in her apartment. When I saw it alarms went off in my head and I asked her to explain my agenda for the rest of the day.

"well stone," she smiled as if this was somehow a pleasant topic, "I realized last night you had never had the opportunity to run while weighted down. So, I thought a little practice was in order. Plus, its wonderful exercise! It will definitely help your endurance."