Elder's Training (2)

A heavy blow threw Luck into the air and shortly after another one came from his back which he just managed to dodge. The force though was enough to change his trajectory once more.

Luck tensed his muscles getting ready for a counter attack but Elder was no longer in front of him.

Boom!

A kick from his back sent him back a few meters.

"Your reaction time is not quite there yet."

Just as Luck was about to recover another kick found it's way to his back, sending him face first into the earth.

"You can't hope to beat someone faster than you simply by trying to match his speed."

Luck slowly got up, exhaustion eating its way at his muscles, he didn't even bother to dust the dirt off his sweat soaked shirt, he simply set his focus back on Elder.

They had been training for sometime now although by training Luck meant that he was actually being tossed around repeatedly while Elder explained everything he did wrong.

It wasn't exactly a bad method, it was just a rather painful one.

Elder then continued:

"If you want to beat someone faster or stronger than you you have to learn how to predict their attacks and then decide on your move seconds before he does his."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"It's like a game of ping pong, when you know a smash is inevitable you predict where the ball is going to land and move your bat to that location before the ball even gets there."

Luck stretched his sore hands.

"Well that sounds easy enough."

Elder nodded as he took his stance.

"First we'll work on your reaction time, then your overall fighting technique."

He moved again, but this time Luck trying to predict where he would attack from, threw a kick towards that direction. Before his leg could even go far he was knocked to the side again.

He had predicted the wrong attack and he suffered for it.

"Let the pain be a constant reminder of what would happen each time you fail to make the right move."

Elder spoke from somewhere within the forest while Luck turned around slowly trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

His leg was kicked from behind his knee and he instantly fell, scrambling to get up only to get chopped in the shoulder.

Hot pain seared through him but pushing through it he delivered a kick which caught nothing but plain air.

Elder was now right in front of him and the two of them engaged in a flurry of blows, Luck threw blow upon blow and a few kicks with practiced precision hoping that through the help of his feints a few blows would cut through.

But Elder saw right through all of them, he managed to block every single blow and then he retaliated.

A punch came straight for Luck's face and he raised his hands to block it, the fist managed to snake its way past his defences and catch him in the shoulder.

Another blow came from the side and Luck, expecting it to be aimed at his face, raised an arm to block but he had done it too early. His side was fully exposed.

Just as Elders blow connected Luck felt his ribs rattle but he managed to remain standing.

"Don't just fight with your arms." Elder narrowly dodged a punch from Luck.

"Use your full body to enhance the potency of your blows, when you are throwing a punch your legs can help you hit harder."

He jumped backwards evading a wide arc kick.

"And when you are kicking, the way you swing your hands can help you increase your speed."

Elder was right in front of him again, his leg came charging towards Luck, but this time…

Luck managed to catch the leg mid air, a smile appeared on his face although briefly because Elder, using Luck's hand as support flung himself into the air and used his free leg to blast Luck right into a tree by the side.

"Don't celebrate too early."

The two of them met once again, two bodies dancing to the crazed tune of battle. Luck was slowly adapting to Elder's brutal battle style and was now able to dodge or sometimes block some of his hits but he knew that Elder was purposely slowing himself down to give him the chance to actually learn something.

The battle style Elder used and was teaching Luck was very direct, the type of technique that was aimed at overwhelming your opponent with sheer brutality.

Luck, who was a violent fighter as well, found it a little easier to grasp the core concept of the fighting style. Although on the outside it looked like pure unadulterated violence, in truth it was actually far more complex with a lot of thought behind every blow.

Fighting Elder was like fighting a beast in a frenzy but this time the beast was not so mindless and knew where to direct its violence.

His punches sped forward like a machine gun, his kicks were powerful and precise, his speed was breathtaking, all while having a defence that was like trying to go through a field of barbed wires.

He was a fighting machine that Luck was trying to mirror, a well seasoned pot of stew having both perfect offense and shocking defense as well.

Luck's plan was to take every aspect of Elders fighting techniques, mix it with his own as well as add one final ingredient… the more tactical type of fighting Chari practiced in order to form his own style.

Every now and then Elder would slow down to give Luck a chance to go on the offensive, it was a way for him to see if Luck had made any improvements.

Now was one of these moments, Luck noticed Elder's movements slow as he took a more defensive stance.

Luck did not fail to capitalize on this moment.

Aggressive plus tactical, let's see how this goes.

With heavy breaths and a rapidly beating heart, he lunged forward, straight at Elder.