Leon I

CHAPTER X FOCUSED CONTEST THURSDAY MARCH 28 5:00 PM

Now I'm ready. Now that I know what I'm doing I feel as if I'm on a straight path to success. But that doesn't mean I can lie back. Not anytime soon. The first step on this very long process is training today. The bad part is, I don't even know what I'm training for. Is it something physical or mental? Will I be timed? Well now is not the time for questions, now is the time that I prepare for anything that Mr.Red can throw at me.
"Hey grandma, I'm heading out today to go train with my friends. I want to make sure that I'm ready and not thrown off come tomorrow."
"Okay that's fine, but you should take some food too, just in case you kids get hungry."
"I'll grab some food on the way out."
"Okay, well make sure that you do the very best you can today and put it all in effect tomorrow." I was ready to leave, so I grabbed a box of leftovers from yesterday and also brought some boards too. I wanted to focus on physical and mental training today because I feel it will be the most likely thing to expect on our test.
"See you later grandma."
"You too." I shut the door and headed off to Beaming Grove, which actually wasn't too far from here. An estimated fifteen minute walk or seven minutes if you were running. I decided to run because I knew that there was a chance I could be late. While running, I thought about something. That Platinum Clan person. He did say something about someone might know my parents and he got all shocked when I said my last name. I know now, that it's not a matter of if he knows my parents, it's now a matter of how. How does he know my parents? Was it because they were in that clan? Or is it something else they've done? I will find out come Sunday, but for now, I have to keep my eye on the closest target, so I hurried to get to Beaming Grove. A few minutes later I arrived, just to see Ariel and Quas meditating. I wanted to tell them I was here, but that would've been rude, so I decided to lightly just tap them first Quas. And when I did he had no response, so then I lightly tapped Ariel and she didn't respond either. At this point, I started to get a little irritated. So then I whispered in both of their ears,
"Hello, it's me, Leon. I'm here and ready to train." Neither of them responded. Now I was past the respect stage. I wanted their attention and I wanted it now.
"Get up, I'm here and I'm ready to train!" They both opened their eyes almost simultaneously.
"We are training." Quas said that, but I didn't buy it.
"So now sitting on the ground with your legs closed and your hands in your lap is now training."
"It is a form of training. It trains me to be focused."
"How?"
"Remember how in just a couple seconds, you were tapping and whispering to us. I was staying focused the first time. It was nothing to me, the taps were easy for me to get through, then you whispered." Ariel continued on for him,
"And it kind of broke my focus a little because of the soft tickle in my ear, and I would have managed to get back my focus, but then you shouted at us, so I guess we both had no choice but to stop meditating."
"Oh, sorry, you guys can meditate again and I'll join in." Quas told us he didn't feel like doing that again, and suggested something else.
"Hey Lee, why'd you have those 3 wooden boards in your hand."
"I brought them here because I thought we could focus a bit on physical training and mental training as well with them." Ariel looked addled and asked,
"How do you intend on using boards to help us prepare?"
"I remember how you said this may not be any ordinary test, so I took upon myself to make sure that we could strengthen ourselves by breaking them."
"Physical check, but how mental?" Quas asked the perfect question, and to my surprise I had an off the top of my head.
"Mentally, it prepares us for the moment when we know when to strike. When you've built enough confidence and power to break the board you do it." They both looked at each other, then gave me a look of enthuse. Ariel claimed first try and I held the board up for her while she coached herself.
"I've got this in three, two, one, HAH!" I could see that she concentrated and focused a lot of force into her and punch and was able to break the board with some ease.
"Woo, great job." She received praise from Quas and I clapped. and decided that I wanted to go next. Quas held up my board. I focused and concentrated my strength into my arm. I then raised my fist into the air and brought it down, snapping the board in half.
"Great job Lee, you and Ariel did it. Now it's my turn." I had a feeling that Quas was going to succeed, but he wasn't going to try as hard. Ariel held the board for him and it looked as if he were going to attempt to chop the board. I was stunned
"You're going to try to slice it in half, that's insane."
"Not necessarily, I'm aiming for the middle spot, the part that is the most easiest to break through. Full force shouldn't be required if you play the right cards." He raised his left hand up and directed it straight down toward the middle of the board and then, with lightning speed jammed his hand down into the board and broke it. Ariel and I were shocked, it actually worked.
"And that is how you prepare yourself to break a board, not too much strength required, but accurately analyze and you can execute a near perfect strike."
"I'm impressed, but I say we take it to the next level. How about we do some full on combat training." I proposed an idea that felt appropriate to me.
"I think that's a great idea, the perfect way to see who is number 1 right now." Ariel made it sound a little more competitive than I wanted it to be and Quas was fully on board with the idea.
"I like that idea and here is how we should do it, first it should be me against Lee, then Lee against Ariel, and finally me vs Ariel. The rules, simple, no headshots, first to land 3 clean strikes win. And if there is a 1-1 tie between all of us, then we leave it at that."
"Okay, Let's go. Me and you first" I got excited I could feel my blood boiling with the sun still up. I also felt my heart beating rapidly, then Ariel said began, and I went straight for Quas. I tried to get with a bycicle kike, be he ducked and quickly responded with a palm strike to the back. That was his first point. I got up and dusted myself off. Ariel called for the start and I waited for him this time, but he kept pacing around keeping a distance. I could tell he was waiting for me to strike so I did. I went in and tried to sweep him down, but he reacted quickly and jumped and came back at me with a straight fist. Luckily I was able to dodge by a hair, but then he charged at me and I was not ready and he landed another palm strike, this time to my chest and I went down. Why was I doing so bad. I was calculating each and everyone of my shots with enough time to react, but he was so much quicker. The sun was going to begin going down in about an hour. It was 2 Quas to 0 for me.
"Come on Lee, you can do better than this."
"You know, you're right, I can, and I will." Ariel called for the start and instead of charging straight at him, I faked around, and he wasn't expecting it, this was my chance to strike and I took it, but I missed and he rolled back, I went back in for a strike, but he caught my punch in his hand. I charged him at a fast speed and he caught my fist, but how? He leaned into my ear and whispered,
"Don't rely on the unexpected as your plan or the expected, but go for the unpredictable." And as he said that, I punched him in the chest. An unpredictable, fast, strike. He expected me to stand there and listen. But then the unexpected option was for me to interrupt him while he was talking. I had to go for the unpredictable option, which was to let him finish, and as soon as he did, go for the fast strike.
"2 points Quas, 1 point Lee."
"Hey, Lee that was quite the shot there, I won't let you land another one of those." He got up, and I could tell he intended on ending it right now, but I was still alive and had some fight left in me. Ariel raised her hand and brought it down, calling for the start. Instead of me charging, Quas came at me and went for my mid-section. I was able to swing to the side and try to punch but he dodge, I kept throwing punches and he kept dodging. The thing was I wasn't leaving myself open and the second he went for a counter attack, that's when my hit would land, and he couldn't dodge forever.
"You're on the ropes, all you can do is dodge."
"You're right, all I can do is dodge!" I threw the right hook and he swung to the over to the right after dodging and immediately saw an opening, but like I said all he could do was dodge, he went for a palm, but I ducked and elbowed him in the stomach. He went down, and like that it was 2 to 2 between me and him. He didn't even look phased, and he didn't look phased the first time either. Whatever the "other side" is, it isn't raising weaklings.
"Pretty neat technique that time there, throwing a flurry of punches waiting for me to dodge."
"Trust me I'm just making this stuff up as I go along, the way you are fighting, I have no other choice. Believe it or not this is the first time I've sparred with someone else. Other than that, I just punched into the wind."
"Back where I came from, sparring was a part of our regular school program." Ariel added in
"Yes, it was very competitive too, boys competing with girls, 9 year olds fighting 14 year olds, I think I speak for me and Quas, we got our fair share of experience from those days, learning new techniques like how to tire out your opponent."
"So that's what you were doing, you wanted me to get tired, well I don't get tired so easily, you see for years I have been out of my house just to come outside and for hours dig with my bare hands just to find nothing, that is what built my endurance and my tireless spirit in situations like these. And even if I do run out of stamina, my blood will start to boil and my heart will beat faster than 2x it's regular speed and that is what will keep me going." Ariel raised her hand, and this time Quas took a stance, a fighting stance to be exact. I stood staring just waiting. Then Ariel brought her hand down, and he began walking toward me and I followed. We did this until we stood inches apart, then out of nowhere he swept me, and went for a punch that I was able to dodge, he then followed up by going for a flurry of punches and he was going way faster than I did when I tried this with him. I was able to catch his arm and dodge his left hook, then I pulled him in for a stomach punch and it almost connected if I hadn't let go, he caught my punch and went around me and with no time to react, I relied on instincts and it failed, as I turned around he swept me and quickly got in a clean elbow to my stomach.
"Game match. Quas winner 3-2."
"Hey, let me help you up. For a person who's never sparred with anyone else, you did pretty good."
"Thanks, but now isn't the time for me to rest, I've got another match with Ariel." That was tough. When it comes to fighting one thing is for sure I don't want to be on Quas bad side. But what would have happened if we actually fought seriously. Can't think about that now, because I have to fight Ariel, and I know that she isn't going to be an easy opponent. If anything she may dominate me.