Despite Raze not having a core of Qi to work with, he was still invited to the next part of the class training. The students were lined up in the courtyard with a few meters of space all around them.
“A good foundation for one’s body is important, and you should build that by enforcing your body with Qi, breaking down the muscles inside your body allowing it to repair and create a stronger body, as well as a mix of physical activity as well. Does anyone know what the next important step is?” Kron asked.
Simyon and a few others had raised their hands, and Kron nodded toward him. 𝑂𝐯ℯ𝑙xt.𝗇𝓔t
“Fighting techniques!” Simyon threw out a fist hitting the air. It sounded relatively powerful as some wind was seen flowing around his arm from the impact.
“The number of techniques you have is important in order to be diverse when fighting against your opponent, but what I am looking for is something that would enhance even that.”
Gren then raised his hand straight up, and Kron selected him this time.
“Footwork sir. Without footwork, the appropriate power cannot be put into one’s techniques. Not only that, but the basics of any battle is to hit without being hit.”
A smile appeared on Kron’s face, pleased with the answer.
“Correct, this is why I have been teaching all of you the basic two-step shift. It is the most simple of footwork techniques but can be added to any technique to make it more powerful.”
Raze, watching everyone, was starting to figure it out. Gren was one of those that were a bit two-faced. The perfect student in front of the teacher, but then when his back was turned he treated everyone else as if they were below him.
“Allow me to demonstrate.”
Kron took a deep breath through his nostrils, and then with the Qi channeling inside him, he threw out a punch in the air. A loud bang went off right in front of their eyes. Although it only had hit the air, Raze’s heart was starting to beat faster.
‘That’s it… that attack is the same power as Sonny had. The power to crush boulders with just one’s fist!’
“Now, I want you to watch carefully as I add the two-step shift,” Kron said.
He got in the same fighting stance again, but his legs were spread further apart. After that, he moved forward, his front foot first, it landed on the ground perfectly, and then the back foot followed.
There was a shift forward and with the perfect timing, the fist was thrown out. Each of the movements used had Qi utilized in them including the two steps. When the arm was fully extended and the fist hit the air, a louder bang nearly four times as loud was heard.
Wind currents were created moving furiously in the air.
“Now do you see, the two-step shift is a technique on its own, and the spiral punch is another. When using these moves, I used the same amount of Qi, yet the power was amplified. Even if you don’t have strong Qi, if you are able to perfect your footwork and add it to your techniques, you will be able to create a powerful hit.”
Kron went on to demonstrate just the footwork a few times, and each of them repeated the steps over slowly, again and again. Kron would then walk around and give each person pointers.
Once he was satisfied with the basic movements, one was able to speed up the two-step shift, but that was where people made mistakes and he would correct them again. Finally, he would allow them to add on a punch at the end. It was just throwing out one’s arm, not a special technique like he had demonstrated earlier.
Everyone was doing relatively well, although it was hard for the students to evaluate each other. They weren’t at the skill level to be able to tell if one’s technique was off. For a while, he paused as he watched Safa.
“You are very good at taking instructions and copying, aren’t you.” Kron complimented.
Safa turned her head, her cheeks turning a shade redder.
Then it came to Raze once more. He was copying the steps, and although it didn’t seem sloppy it felt like there was no energy in any of his movements. Not only that, but he was already tired, and more exhausted than anyone else.
‘This could be the result of him having little Qi in his body, or his body being full of impurities. It’s a shame because he seems to follow instructions well.’ Kron thought.
Raze managed to catch the look that the teacher had given him before moving on.
‘I’ve seen that look before… I’ve seen it many times. Back then, they thought the same thing, they said I would never accomplish anything, I would never change anything, and then I became the most wanted man in the world.’ Raze clenched his fists and continued the steps again and again until his body couldn’t take it anymore.
“Alright!” Kron clapped. “As usual, we will proceed with the final part of our exercise.”
Walking over to another part of the courtyard there was what looked like a giant pillar. However, immediately Raze could tell that it was no ordinary pillar, he could see that energy was being pulled from the air and was being absorbed by the pillar itself.
‘That’s interesting, I wonder what material that is made of. If there are things like this, then maybe there are ingredients similar to it on Alteiran. If that’s the case, I might even be able to create elixirs to improve this body’s condition.’ Raze thought.
Kron gave the pillar a light tap, and the energy from his fist was almost absorbed. On the pillar itself, a number started to faintly appear as if it was engraved into the stone, and it had perfectly stopped at 50.
“I hope each of you remembers what your numbers were last time,” Kron smiled.
The students, one by one, prepared themselves as they used the two-step along with the punch to perform the technique, hitting the pillar. The number on the pillar would change. It was interesting as the pillar seemed to absorb the power of the hit, making no noise and then registering the hit. The first to try to hit the pillar had achieved a number of 12, and they were an eight-year-old child, but they had performed the technique well.
It also went to show the difference between the hits since Kron had given it a light tap, how much power must have been in the tap.
‘Ah, now I see, it’s a measuring device. The students take their scores down and see if they have improved or not.’
Most of the students were jumping for joy as they saw their numbers higher than they were the time before. The numbers ranged from 10, going up to around 20 was the highest he had seen.
Soon, it was Simyon’s turn next. His hands were shaking and he looked a bit nervous. He followed the steps and hit the machine with a loud bang, waiting for the number to appear.
“14…” Simyon said. “That’s the same as last time… why have I been stuck on this number for so long.”
Next up with a large grin on his face was Gren. It was the polar opposite of Simyon, who was confident in each of his steps and when he finally let out a fist hitting the pillar, the score appeared.
[22]
“Yes, I finally did it, I finally surpassed the twenties!”
As annoying as a person might be, one had to admit when one was skillful and talented.
“Alright, last up, Safa and Raze, the newcomers!” Kron shouted.
—-
At the large Red Brigade base, Sonny had entered one of the large meeting rooms, where a single man wearing a red helmet with a large point on top of his head sat. He was sitting on a chair looking away from Sonny.
“How are the children?” The man asked.
“They are doing well, with Mr Kron we will not have to worry about them for now. The only ones that know his location are us.” Sonny stated.
“That makes me feel a little at ease.” The man replied. “We have to protect them, those two are the only ones that have ever survived an attack. I’m sure there will be those that will do anything they can to make sure they are dead.”