Training

After going to Stark Industries twice and receiving checks for one hundred thousand dollars each time, Blake finally received a call from Pepper.

Tony had finally remembered his martial arts coach.

In fact, although Tony was quite arrogant, he still respected others when he wanted to learn something from them.

He specifically sent Happy to pick Blake up and bring him to Tony's house.

Perhaps Blake's powerful punch that broke the sandbag last time deeply impressed Happy.

As Tony Stark's personal bodyguard, Happy felt that he needed to improve his professional skills.

On the way, he asked Blake if he could also learn Martial Arts.

Blake didn't mind and said, "As long as your boss agrees, I have no objections."

Compared to the clifftop mansion he had seen in the movies, seeing it in real life was even more impressive.

It was almost as big as a medium-sized shopping mall.

What's more annoying was that despite having such a big house, Tony didn't hire any servants and usually stayed in the basement working on inventions, only coming out to his bedroom.

You wonder what the point is of having such a big house.

Compared to the house, the early-stage artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. didn't impress Blake as much.

After all, seeing J.A.R.V.I.S. in the movies gave a similar impression to seeing it now.

Thus, with a sense of revenge against the evil capitalist and Tony's previous arrogance, Blake began Tony's first lesson.

A basic starting move in Martial Arts that every Martial Artist knows: the Horse Stance!

"Lower a bit more, make a 90-degree angle with your thighs and calves, lower your butt, don't stick it out, oh! Damn! Happy, are you trying to seduce me with your big butt? Lower it more!"

Tony Stark wasn't that familiar with Blake yet, so he didn't let him into his underground lab.

Instead, he brought Blake to the large balcony outside.

"I'm here to learn martial arts and how to fight people, not to practice this weird stance."

Happy struggled to lower his butt, grumbling in dissatisfaction.

"This is a basic skill in Martial Arts. I practiced something similar, and it will make your lower body stronger and less likely to be knocked down by enemies!"

To Blake's surprise, Tony had practiced Wing Chun for a while.

He even apprenticed under a Wing Chun master.

(In fact, the actor Robert Downey Jr. practiced Wing Chun, not Tony Stark, but let's use it here.)

At this moment, Tony was not only at ease with Happy's misunderstanding but also took time to explain to him.

With the boss speaking, Happy had no choice but to squat down again, vigorously adjusting his posture until he got it right.

"But I have a question?"

Having practiced the horse stance before, Tony found the first few minutes quite easy and had time to chat with Blake.

"Go ahead."

Blake, who had found a chair from somewhere, lay half-reclined on it and said.

"My previous Wing Chun master was a famous martial artist. Why doesn't he seem as formidable as you?"

"Real Martial Arts is a killing technique, and there's very little of it passed down. Most of the Martial Arts seen nowadays are showy performances with no real substance."

"In simple terms, it's like the difference between Hogwarts and outside magicians, understand? Muggle!"

Blake's words weren't entirely baseless. In the Marvel universe, there are characters like Shang-Chi, who are skilled in Martial Arts.

Even in his past life, true martial arts had indeed declined in this era, and ordinary people couldn't find real masters.

All the famous martial arts schools and so-called masters outside were just putting on flashy performances without real substance.

Recently, perhaps because Tony was idle, he had Happy bring Blake over for training almost every day.

This made Blake have to take the matter seriously.

Although Blake didn't actually know real martial arts, he could still manage to fool Tony and Happy, who were complete novices.

Every day, he made them practice the horse stance, followed by an hour of physical training.

Finally, he had them spar with each other, providing guidance on the side.

After nearly a month, their combat skills had indeed improved rapidly.

Blake's greatest gain was becoming more familiar with Tony Stark.

After spending a month together, Blake was surprised to find that they had many similarities.

They both hated formalities, disliked overly serious people, and found them hypocritical, among other things.

In fact, many people shared these sentiments, but most people had their edges smoothed out by life's hardships.

For example, Blake in his past life.

Tony Stark was lucky; his status and talent allowed him to maintain his attitude and persistence in this world.

But after crossing over and gaining the system, Blake's carefree and unruly nature also began to emerge.

The most important point was that they both had the same dark sense of humor.

For instance, Happy had recently been given several new nicknames by the two of them.

"Fat Butt Butter," "Graceful Big Butt Dancer," and others.

Now, Happy didn't even dare to train with them anymore.

Mainly because Tony Stark was indeed quite talented. With continuous physical training and Blake's guidance, Happy was gradually no longer a match for Tony.

For a bodyguard, this was a huge insult.

Rumor had it that he was already considering transferring to the security department at Stark Industries.

While Blake was busy training Tony and slowly building a friendship with him, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Director Nick Fury's office.

The bald-headed man was keeping his usual style, standing by the window, coldly watching the scenery outside.

Behind him stood Black Widow, dressed in a black bodysuit.

Compared to when Blake had seen her at the bar last time, Black Widow in her combat suit looked even more heroic.

"Almost all the agents committed suicide. The only two left clammed up during interrogation and refused to speak despite any torture."

Black Widow spoke calmly.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, we've already eliminated all the dark lines in the U.S. They can't do anything now, whether we know or not is irrelevant. How do you feel about dealing with former colleagues, Agent Romanoff?"

Nick Fury turned and asked.

"I've made too many mistakes in the past. I'm happy to use my knowledge of them to disrupt their activities. For me, it's a way to make up for past errors."

Black Widow's expression was calm, as if she had completely moved past her old shadows.

"Oh? If you really feel that way, that's great. This matter is over, and we don't need to discuss it anymore. As for those two agents, give them a peaceful departure. I'm more interested in the Asian guy you encountered last time."

Nick Fury pointed to a file on his desk.

The first page of the file had Blake's name and photo, and beneath it was the Avengers Initiative file.

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