The last few days have been difficult, but quite rewarding. I managed to do ten push-ups in a row without fainting from lack of air. I consider that a victory.
It's four in the morning, and I started the day exercising. Ten push-ups, eleven sit-ups, and a run to my master's house, which is about eleven kilometers.
I had finished exercising in my room. It wasn't the most ideal place for it, but beggars can't be choosers, and I never had either. But now I don't cry about it anymore, I'll start the hunt alone.
Today marks five days since I "died." At least that's what Bruno's group probably thinks, and I prefer they think that.
I decided I should stay in the shadows for now. Until I get strong, I can't be seen.
I remember what Bruno's leader—his name is Yuri—said that day. He attacked the weaker ones because he didn't find fighting against the stronger ones advantageous. He took the easy way out, but I won't be like that!
Unlike him, I'm ready to go up against the strongest, I don't care if it takes a long time to reach their level, or that there's no guarantee of my victory.
This time I'm really going to fight, crying and playing the victim won't change anything, so I'm going to do what successful people do, I'm going to improve myself.
I ran twelve kilometers non-stop to get here, I'm dead tired. Even though I was almost vomiting, I was still full of energy, I didn't care about my physical exhaustion.
I was in front of my master's property, a small two-story house with a very large yard. The house was surrounded by an iron fence, the only entrance facing the sidewalk.
My master was one of the workers on this property, his job in Santa Guerra was to do everything. But he only serves the business owners.
I had to get used to his routine. Since he's helping me, I have to adapt to what's most comfortable for him. And that means waking up at four in the morning.
Entering his backyard, I could see his automatic irrigation system working.
The backyard was large, but I still wanted to understand how he managed to have so many machines and a vegetable garden in that space.
I approached, and he quickly detected my presence. Sometimes I believe my master had some kind of super sense or something; he seemed to see the world differently.
"Good morning, master, I'm ready to begin today's training!" I say seriously and sincerely. He looks at me, nodding his head.
"My name is Dionysus, you don't need to call me master… but it doesn't matter, today will be an important moment for your training, so pay close attention."
He guided me to a wooden platform, and we stood facing each other.
It seems that today I will finally learn real fighting techniques. For the past five days, I've only been training my body with some calisthenics exercises, but finally I'll learn strikes.
"Okay, you've practiced enough to pass on the basics of my own particular fighting style. When I was a student, there was no one to teach me, so I developed my own style."
""It wasn't easy, I took a lot of hits while trying to get stronger, but after a while I understood where I was most wrong, so this style is created using all my flaws as a foundation. An expert is someone who has already made every possible mistake, and that's what made me strong."He begins to get into position, his body following the instructions as he speaks.
"To begin with, posture is the most important thing of all. To be able to attack, defend, and fight in general, you must have a strong posture." His body adhered to the posture he was trying to teach me, his limbs moving from side to side following a logical direction.
"In my style, the back must be completely straight, the knees firm and only slightly bent. The head is always aligned with your enemy, all your attention must be focused on him, just as your whole body must point towards him."
"The less used arm will be our shield; it is kept with the elbow bent, the palm open, with the fingers fully extended, and aligned with your forehead." "With it, you should focus on directing enemy strikes, don't block them, just change their direction."
"Com ele, você deve se concentrar em direcionar os golpes do inimigo, não bloqueá-los, apenas mudar a direção deles."
"Furthermore, we also use it for grabs, pulls, or pushes. These will be used to gain control of the enemy's field of play, so this is for moving the enemy. The dominant arm, on the other hand, will be your attack arm. It will be further back and retracted in the stance, your hand closed in a fist, with the middle finger slightly raised. This arm should be close to your body. In my style, there is no wasted strike. It should always be used in the most strategic way possible, without mistakes, without desperate attacks, just a cold and focused calculation."
"Your targets will be the enemy's weak points. First, you identify the enemy's stance, then break it, and only then do you attack. Generally attack the main points of the stances, hitting joints, sensitive areas, especially the head; the chin is an excellent target to quickly knock out the enemy." The throat and stomach are also great places to attack, but don't forget to study the enemy's posture to know the best place to strike.
"A garganta e o estômago também são ótimos lugares para atacar, mas não se esqueça de estudar a postura do inimigo para saber o melhor lugar para golpear."
"Always keep your feet firmly on the ground. Even in our style focused on quick arm movements, your legs and feet are very important. Besides solidifying our posture, they also serve to destabilize the enemy. We use them to perform surprise sweeps, but like everything in this style, sweeps must be well-planned and executed."
"Furthermore, we use knee strikes to break posture, and high kicks to completely collapse them. Keep your eyes fixed on the enemy, look away, and that's like accepting defeat. Did you understand everything?!"
I nod and shout yes. It was quite a lot at once; it seemed like he just wanted to teach me as much as possible without any patience. To tell the truth, it seemed like he wanted to get rid of me quickly.
But I didn't care much about that; I was going to evolve, and how much my master was willing to teach me made no difference. If it were my five-day-old self, I would be complaining about the lack of interest a stranger has in doing me a favor.
But now I'm not like that anymore, I appreciate the time he's dedicating to teaching me.
"Great, get into position, now you're going to learn in practice."I did as he said, the position was simple, it wasn't difficult to do. But I believe I wasn't doing it right. He walked around me, analyzing every part of my posture. Being watched by him was strange, almost like being watched by a wild animal.
"It's not bad, but it could be much better. With time you'll naturally get the hang of it, then getting into position will be easy. Now we'll have a simulated battle, I'll be your enemy. But don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
Half an hour after he said that, I was literally buried upside down in a patch of dirt in his garden.
He didn't go easy on me at all! My whole body was red from being beaten so much.
And it seems he finally got interested in training, but what really motivated this madman was beating up a minor with dermatographism.
But I can't complain, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. But still…
"Didn't you say I'd go easy on you?!" I quickly got up from the ground, my face was covered in dirt, even my clothes were dirty, since I had been buried up to my chest.
He was just eating a popsicle sitting in a beach chair. Don't ask where those things came from, I was only buried for twelve seconds, how did he have time to grab that?!
Without getting up or looking at me, he just laughed at the situation, as if it were something very funny.
"And why would I do that? Your enemies won't go easy on you, so why would I? Don't think I'm just being sadistic with you. Pain is an excellent learning tool, and I'm using it in your training. Absorb this pain, use it to get stronger, then evolve. That's how I did it, if you don't want to get used to pain, then it's better not to have a life."
Out of nowhere this disheveled guy decided to become a philosopher. But he's not wrong, I need to get used to it, I've suffered a lot of pain, but I never learned anything from it.But now I will, it's time to get used to it.
I stood up, ready for another round. I felt a lot of pain, but my determination kept my body numb to that sensation.
I was already in position, 100% ready to continue this training. I have a clear goal to follow, and this time, I'm going all the way.
"Come on, master, I'm ready to continue. Don't think you can get rid of me so easily."
I say this with a big smile on my face. And he seemed to smile too, even though I know he would never admit it.
"Shut up, kid, you're getting too cocky." He lifts his chair and comes at me, ready to fight. The training was difficult, but I really didn't want to give up. I didn't want to… give up…