Training

Waking up from a fulfilling sleep, I strech my hands and crack my joints.

As it was already the next day, I make my way to the third floor according to the instructions given to me by Selena.

When I got there, the training hall was still empty, so knowing that I'm going to need to use my body for the upcoming battle, I do a set of basic martial arts to activate my body.

A lot of time passes by without another soul in the training hall. Apparently I'm quite early, or quite eager to experience the following events, and thus made the crucial mistake of early rising.

Sometimes it's better to get up late rather than early.

A few moments later, the first person to enter turned out to be Selana, the conveyor of the training hall.

I then waited awkwardly for others to join us, unable to talk to the cold faced lady, and unable to do my sets in peace.

Selena too seemed to feel the awkwardness as she tried to start a conversation, only to realise that she didn't know what a good conversation starter was.

"The sun is rising as usual." She finnally said.

I nod. Indeed the sun was rising as usual. Bruh.

"The moon will rise as usual." I joke around.

Selena looked at me, who was maintaining a serious face.

"No. Aquarain's moon doesn't rise, it moves on a horizontal orbit. Thus, unable to rise or set."

At this moment, the other pairs started entering the training hall, relieving us from our awkward conversation.

This is the first time in my life that I'm left without words.

Now that everyone was here, the fighting would follow, but there was a issue.

Yesterday, when I entered, everyone had their own pairs to fight against, but now that I'm here, I obviously don't have a partner.

As I'm brooding over this issue, I see others form their pairs to start their battles.

Soon, I too find myself against an opponent.

It was Selena.

Ok, I guess she is my opponent. Though, as the conveyer, and a citizen of a Grade 1 world, she obviously is stronger than someone like me, I am not disheartened.

Atleast it's better than talking with her!

Taking a forward stance, I accumulate strength and throw a swirling kick with my left foot, aiming Selena's chest.

As I see my leg move forward, I realise that the world was spinning, and thus my body.

Slam!

I'm surprised to find myself on the ground. The baffling thing was, I couldn't even see Selena move.

I stay on the ground and look up to see her, who remained in the same position as I last remember.

I guess, she's good.

Without getting up, I use the strength accumulated in my spine to throw the front of my foot at her face, but in actuality, it was a fake action.

Without waiting for Selena to move, I withdraw my fake and twist my body to get up, throwing a twirling punch at her face.

This time, I could bareley see Selena move. She first moved her palm and slammed the underside of my outstretched punching hand, making it change direction from her face to above her head.

She then continued moving her palm, and forced her way to my chest, where she gave a little push.

I stumble due to two contrasting momentums and twirl to fall on the ground.

I ger up soon, and no longer hold back as I throw a series of punches as fast as I can.

This time, I didn't allow her to get to the underside of my palm, and thus saw her blocking my jabs with her palms.

Selena sure loved using her palms for everything. This must be her foundation. A master of Palm arts.

Not giving up, I tried a variety of punches, kicks, movement patterns, fakes, hidden arts, but I'm at a overwhelming disadvantage when it came to our speed.

When I finally had a chance to land a hit on Selena, she simply moved out of my range at speed that left afterimages in my eyes.

Overall, this was an opponent that could easily take out the fun in fighting, but I'm don't need to have fun to fight.

While we continued our fight, Selena often forced me to move around as she knocked out couples that lost their rationality.

While I'm frustrated at being unable to stop her from advancing, I'm more eager to learn her movements and learn how to defeat her.

The practice went over four hours, when the final pair fainted. I and Selena were still going at it, but she suddenly retreated and relaxed her stance.

"That will be all today." She said, leaving me, and the unconscious bunch for the servants to carry away.

After a few seconds I realise something important.

I have yet again forgotten to ask Selena about my stay.

Guess, the training hall is my home today.