After Bell went to her room, Eragon spoke in his roar.
"What do you have planned for your date with Bell?"
Ryan felt a pit form in his stomach.
"It is not a date. She asked me to teach her some fighting moves."
Eragon chuckled.
"True, but that doesn't mean it has to stay that way."
The pit grew.
"How would I even start? She doesn't look at me in that way."
Eragon sat down next to Ryan on his bed.
"What way?"
Ryan swallowed back his embarrassment.
"The way Eena looks at Grizzly."
Eragon laughed out loud.
"Dude, that doesn't happen overnight."
Ryan frowned at Eragon.
The Draconian continued, "Eena and Grizzly knew each other for years before they started dating."
Ryan stayed quiet as he listened.
"When I asked Grizzly how they started dating, he said," Eragon pretended to smoke and blew some smoke.
"We just spent time together, and the next thing I knew, I wanted her close."
Scratching his head, Ryan asked, "What does that even mean?"
Eragon slapped Ryan on the back and got up.
"It means that you shouldn't force it, just spend time together and hopefully something clicks."
Ryan found very little sleep that night.
The next morning, Bell woke up feeling less than refreshed.
She had played games with the boys all night, and she needed to get ready.
As she brushed her teeth, she thought back to the trial.
When she first met Ryan, he felt like a caged animal.
He was dangerous, but not out of malice.
The way he stood up for her at the dock and for Eragon in the trial made her smile as she brushed her teeth.
Grizzly and Eena never went into specifics about his past, but she could see that it had to be horrific.
The last of her preparations was tying her unruly hair into a ponytail.
She was ready.
As she opened the door, she saw Grizzly sitting on the opposite hut's porch.
He was smoking as usual and had a large, full ashtray next to him.
As he saw her, he gave her a nod and a small smile.
To her surprise, the stab in her chest was much less painful than normal.
She smiled and waved as she walked to the training hall.
Maybe he was right; it was just a childish crush, and it was fading.
People went about their lives as they usually do.
Some were working, and children were on their way to school.
If these people didn't treat non-humans the way they did, she might have enjoyed it here.
She made her way to meet with Ryan and saw the massive training hall.
It was a massive stone building with wide wooden doors.
There were two guards outside.
When they saw her, they opened the door for her without a word.
The old door creaked very loudly as it opened.
The hall had areas with weights and large sparring areas.
It was so quiet except for a thunking sound.
She followed the noise and saw Ryan throwing knives at a large wooden target.
He stood about twenty feet away and hit them all in the bullseye.
The almost lazy way he did it impressed her.
Without looking back, he spoke.
"Good morning, Isabelle."
She froze for a second.
After a deep breath, she answered, "Good morning."
She felt awkward as he turned to meet her.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I heard the door open."
She smiled as the blush worked its way up her neck.
He put the knives on a nearby table as he approached.
"Isabelle, I have never trained anyone before. I apologise if I don't do a good job."
She smiled and answered, "It's fine, I trust you."
At those words, Ryan gave her a small smile.
"Let us proceed. Do you have any hand-to-hand experience?"
She nodded.
"My dad was a boxer, and he taught me."
Ryan then asked, "Could you show me some of your combinations?"
She raised her arms, just as her father had taught her.
Left hand forward and chin tucked into the shoulder.
She did a left jab, a right straight, and after a short step, she then executed a left uppercut.
She then started bouncing.
She started weaving side to side and ducked low.
From the duck, she did a low left hook and a right straight.
"That is enough, thank you."
He walked up to her; he had a blank look on his face.
She felt very self-conscious at that moment.
"Your fundamentals are good, and that is helpful. It will be almost useless in real combat."
Her embarrassment turned into annoyance.
She spoke before she could stop herself.
"Why is it useless?"
He took a deep breath.
"Boxing is a legitimate martial art, but it was created as a sport, and you are trained to fight other boxers."
She nodded; he did make sense.
"Boxing is based on the principle that your opponent will follow the rules. You can not expect that in a real fight."
She looked down.
He then placed a hand on her shoulder and looked directly into her eyes.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend, but this is the only way I can help you."
She smiled at him; he had a way of sounding like a young and an old man at the same time.
"How would that work?"
He rubbed his chin for a moment and answered.
"Do you remember at the dock, I used a very simple attack pattern. Defence then attack a weak point."
She thought back to the fight and nodded in agreement.
He continued.
"There are three modes of defence. I will explain the level of importance and difficulty."
,
He took a stance similar to hers, but he kept himself lower.
"First is the dodge, you take no damage, and your opponent is off balance."
He moved in all directions, his eyes never left her.
"For the second one, I will need your assistance. Please do your first combination slower."
She then tried her jab, straight and uppercut combo.
She only succeeded with the first punch.
He deflected her arm and dove in with an elbow.
He stopped right before he struck her face.
"The problem with this approach is that a stronger opponent can get the better of you if you are not careful."
He took a step back.
"The third defence is blocking. You do take damage, but much less than a direct hit. You, with your experience with boxing, means you have been trained in dodging and blocking."
She nodded.
"I don't want you to forget your training, but I will teach you some extra attacks. Remember that you must defend and immediately attack."
"Ryan, what if they defend a weak point?"
He gave her a small smile.
"Not all weak spots are well defended."
He then held out his hand, "Give me your hand for a moment."
She held out her hand, but a spark ran up her arm as he took it.
He ran his finger up her hand and wrist as he spoke.
"Your fingers are small, delicate, and have plenty of joints. Your wrist and elbow are also very weak."
He let go of her hand and pointed to her lower leg.
"The same can be said about feet, ankles and knees."
She felt slightly afraid as he explained the weakness of people, but she knew she was safe.
"You point out those weaknesses, but what am I supposed to do if I can exploit one?"
He nodded when she finished.
"The pain they feel will stop or at least dull their will to fight. That is why you defend and attack a weak point; that way you can capitalise and end the fight quickly."
All this information felt overwhelming.
Could she learn all the new moves Ryan was going to teach her?
Ryan smiled.
"I think I will only teach you one new move."
She was surprised by this.
"What move is that?"
He motioned for her to follow him to the heavy bag.
He took some chalk and marked the bottom of the bag.
"I want you to kick this mark on with each leg, focus on hitting it with your shin. You already have a base of fighting, and the calf kick can help you open up your enemy."
She nodded.
He spent the rest of the day helping her with her form.
He wasn't the best teacher, but he was patient, and he didn't divert his attention once.
This made her happy.
She wasn't used to being on the receiving end of undivided attention.
At the end of the lesson, she hugged Ryan.
"Thank you for today, you are a pretty good teacher."
He started stuttering, but after a moment, he stopped.
She felt his arms circle her waist.
"You are welcome, Isabelle. I hope my lesson will help you."
His voice in her ear made her blush very deeply.
She held on for a few more seconds so that he couldn't see her.
When the burning subsided, she left with a wave.
"Good luck with tomorrow."
As she left, there was a slight fluttering in her stomach.