Combat Training

"Let's see what you got!"

Yuki doesn't hesitate to initiate combat by mindlessly charging towards the assigned teacher.

Bob clearly became immediately aggravated by the senseless motion, so much so that he swiftly erupted without hesitation.

"Stop!!"

Yuki stopped in his tracks, similar to the brakes being pulled on a train.

Yuki, still a bit confused by the sudden command that contradicted the very purpose of this training, didn't have much time to think about what his response would be.

"Huh?"

Bob immediately flicks Yuki right in the forehead, disciplining him for whatever he may have done wrong.

"What was that for?!"

"You don't even have a battle stance, do you have any experience?!"

"Um… no, not really."

Bob's thoughts didn't escape, as they may have been regretful had speech accompanied them.

He couldn't quite understand how someone is capable of gaining membership within the youth program and have little to no experience in combat, it was unfathomable that this child was able to get this far.

"Step aside for now. You there, come up and show me how it's done." Bob was aiming his words at Paul, who seemed disinterested in this to begin with, which explains his very bland aura that is less interesting than a single shaded wallpaper.

Paul slowly walks forward and stands across from Bob while Yuki watches from the side.

It almost seems as if he'd rather be anywhere else but here, but he eventually does as ordered, by squatting a bit, and getting himself into a stance that would be common within mixed martial arts.

It looked very similar to a self-defense stance, something that wasn't taught by a proper teacher either, something that was most likely taught through experience.

"Excellent, you see, Yuki, that is a fighting stance!—you can sit now, Paul." Paul didn't hesitate to get back to the comfortable position he was in prior to being dragged into this.

"What do I have to do to get my own?" Yuki replied, curious and eager, and somewhat impatient for lessons, as if he thought this was going to be a one day process.

Not even cliche workout exercises are completed on such short spans.

"Don't overthink it, just implement a basic stance that can help you defend and attack."

Yuki, as impatient as possible, did exactly what Bob instructed, but more bluntly than needed, without thinking at all, he positioned himself into a stance that even an elementary student could gain an advantage from.

He completely closed off his vision by placing his forearms squarely in front of it.

"You have to be able to see at least!!"

"Oh… my bad…"

"How about this—use a simple stance, put your dominant hand in a closed fist and your other hand in an open palm. You use your dominant for attack and your opposite for defense."

"Ok—" Yuki didn't hesitate to mimic the stance that was portrayed to him by his teacher for the day, eager to get this training over with, he perfectly mimics it without any issue "—like this?".

"Good, now that you each have that, we'll move on to the next step——I want the three of you to come at me with everything you got!" The announcement from Bob was met with surprise to say the least, although it was quickly dissolved by some with confidence.

Ultimately, the chemistry between the newly formed team 3 has left the glass half empty.

"C'mon now, don't keep me waiting!"

Sofia, possibly the most experienced here out of the three that Bob has deducted from their stances, initiates first with Bob's battle cry.

Her classical stance barrages forth into Bob's vintage stance that resembled old karate movies, each of her swings were easily anticipated with passive dodges that led to nothing more than banter.

"You're good, but not that good."

Paul, surprisingly initiated in a more complex way, by attempting to catch his teacher off guard, but this wasn't as effective as he thought.

Bob���s awareness was not something that should be taken lightly, as a simple deflection of the sneak attack didn't even need Bob's full attention, it was obvious he was more focused on the most experienced fighter in the room.

Yuki, not nearly as confident as he was before this began, half-heartedly goes in for a formal strike of his own, which was met with a catch that made Bob look like an All-Star outfielder.

Bob didn't hesitate to implement his own dominance, even though he was never truly going more than 30%.

He grappled Yuki, and placed him in a simple hold that pinned his arm against his back, displaying the large gap in experience between the two in the process.

He made it look as easy as tying his shoes, something he didn't wear often to begin with.

"You see, the lesson is: defense is more important than attack! You must be able to actively defend and counter one's attacks in order to have success in hand to hand! You'll have to try better to get through my defense."

Sofia, possibly recognized the gap before the bout even began, signaled to Paul, grabbing his attention.

"We'll have to come up with an actual plan."

"You have nothing in mind?" Paul responded, somehow seeming as engaged as he was before.

"Maybe we should attack now that he has one hand on the late kid."

"What?! You're not gonna try to get me out of this?!" Yuki shouted in frustration.

"Sounds good to me!" the response from Paul was swiftly responded with Paul and Sofia launching simultaneously at Bob, both parallel to him from both angles.

This wasn't a bad plan, but it simply wasn't enough to place a single exhale onto the skin of the dojo master.

His reaction was pristine, by disabling one of the attackers, Paul, with a prop that was Yuki, and fully engaging with the most threatening challenge in the room.

Sofia welcomed the attention with another barrage of hooks, in which the first two were met with simple side steps. The next two were deflected as if he knew this was nothing more than a carefree spar, while this was much more than that for his students. Lastly, her advances were halted with a shove, distancing them as it once was before the failed assault.

"Is that really the best you can do?"

"His defense is impeccable…" Sofia softly said.

"How do we even touch this guy—I didn't think he'd be this good…"

"We should try again, but this time, all three of us attack…" Paul suggested.

"Good idea…" Yuki gasped, he was far behind the other two in terms of endurance.

Paul didn't hesitate to finally show effort, initiating combat with Bob, and swinging his leg through the wind, slashing through as quick as a trained samurai.

Bob's heightened reflexes were just enough to dodge the experienced kick from Paul, but Sofia came up on his rear swiftly, already swinging straight for the knockout.

Bob is forced to use his hands in order to outmaneuver Sofia's aggressive assault, he doesn't hesitate to gain the upper hand within the small window available for that opportunity.

Bob squeezes onto Sofia's bicep and doesn't take long to regain the highest step, by slamming her onto the mat below him.

This quick action left Bob's rear wide open, open enough that even Yuki couldn't fail to realize what must be done.

Yuki swiftly grabbed Bob from the rear and held him into a very simple lock, which took Bob by surprise that Yuki even knew how to do that, which says a lot about how he views Yuki's current standpoint on combat experience.

"You actually think this can hold me?!"

Bob immediately squats, boosting a small separation between him and Yuki, but clearly not enough to break free from the lock.

Bob then leaped up while Yuki remained locked on him stronger than a pitbull, which no longer seemed like a good idea, but since both of them were now airborne, there was no going back, there was no eject button, just gravity.

All of Bob's weight slammed Yuki straight onto the mat near Sofia, who still didn't fully recover from Bob's counterattack.

Yuki had taken a critical hit and was nearly passed out from the weight, Bob was nowhere near what one would consider average weight, but he didn't appear to be obese either, just overweight.

Bob gets up off of Yuki as if he didn't just launch himself into the air, as if this was nothing more than another day of work for him, it was actually surprising that he still hadn't broken a single sweat since the start of this trial.

"You all are doing well, but how much longer can this last?"

Paul was barely holding himself up, clearly worn out, this was probably just as intense as some portions of the recommendation process.

Sofia still hasn't completely gotten up off the mat, she also seemed as if she would prefer this trial end by now.

Yuki is fully laid out onto the mat, still dealing with the weight of the heavens being brought down onto him, it's possible that Bob's last words still haven't reached him yet.

"Hmph… I think that is enough, all of you showed me promise. I think you three are ready for your simulation now."

"Really… we didn't even land a single hit on you…" Sofia replied, still gassed from the trial that just halted itself.

"The simulation should help you better your skills. Don't take this as a break though, this simulation will be much more challenging than what we just did."

"When do we do this simulation?" Paul asked.

"We'll start first thing tomorrow, since I drained all of your energy today. You'll need all your energy for tomorrow because… It will be hell!" Bob shouted, signifying that this was the end of the day for team 3.

How can they possibly accomplish a simulation that should be more difficult than the trial they just went through, they couldn't even land a single hit onto Bob, he just tired them out without breaking a sweat.

Bob had continuous doubts about this group, were they even ready for this program let alone even capable of becoming agents of the IJA, these are doubts any teacher would have if their class didn't show much potential beyond the barebone knowledge they brought to the table.

He still remained optimistic for his three temporary students though, hopeful that somehow they were able to complete the simulation that awaited them, that they were also able to find better symmetry within the group as well.

How long will that optimism last until the thread begins to rip, only time can answer that question.