Chapter thirteen

Meanwhile, at the other side of the class, a cadet was exchanging barrages of punches with the puppet, her red hair stood out as she weaved in and out of the puppets attack, her yellow eyes following every moves the puppet was making, she swiftly moved her head backwards and delivered a striking kick to the puppets face, not relenting, she followed up with a series of punches to the puppets face and chest.

The puppet tried to use its hand to block the attacks, but her strikes just found a way of bypassing the puppets defence, dented fist marks could be seen around the puppets body, especially around the chest area.

She threw a feint punch at the puppets abdomen, causing it to draw back one of its hand, leaving its face open for the taking, she didn't miss this opportunity and delivered a swift uppercut to the puppets jaw.

The puppets body jerked backwards from the force of the strike, the puppet remained that way for a few seconds before it stood up again, taking the same battle stance as the others, the cadet looked at the puppet and smirked, "I can do this all day." her sonorous voice uttered.

Most of the cadets where going toe to toe with the puppets, skillfully attacking, dodging and defending their vitals, while a few of them where having a hard time.

Instructor Odie observed the cadets with his hands folded, 'Impressive, at least they can throw a punch, hmm, although some of them are from prestigious families and would have been taught a thing or two, but their determination is present, good.'

PAHH!

A loud clap echoed throughout the class, causing the puppets to stop moving, "I've seen enough, turns out you lot weren't bad after all, I'll be demonstrating basic stance and hand to hand combat technique next, watch closely." he moved to the center of the class after speaking, the puppets moved to the side of the classroom and stood silently.

Adrian bent over slightly as he tried to catch his breath, throbbing waves of pain passed through his body with each movement he made. He observed the instructor executing a series of moves.

"Pay attention to my foot work, balance is key in hand to hand combat."

Instructor Odie's movement were fluid and deliberate, his body shifting seamlessly between stances. He began in a wide, stable stance, his feet, shoulder width apart and his knees slightly bent. As he spoke, he shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, his body coiling into a spring-like tension.

After repeating the movements, he instructed the cadets to follow along, Adrian slowly followed his instructions, his body ached with each gesture, but he didn't mind and just continued.

"Slowly push your aether towards your forearm as you retract your hands, twist your waist and punch out..." instructor Odie guided the cadets.

***

A few hours later.

The combat class ended, Adrian checked his watch and noticed that they had a 2hrs break before the next class, he left the class, his shoulders slumped as he slowly limped through the archivium, he might have twisted his ankle while sparring with the puppet, or it was when he was executing the combat technique.

Adrian's thoughts wandered back to when he was sparring with the puppet, he noticed that most of the cadets weren't having a hard time dealing with the puppet like he was, that's when it occurred to him, not all of them were like him, heck some of them might even come from wealthy backgrounds.

As he walked, Adrian's mind began to wander to the past.

All he's known in his life is pain, and struggles, he didn't leave the orphanage of his own choice but was kicked out.

His stay in the orphanage wasn't a pleasant one, the patrons hated him to the bone for reasons he was unaware of, due to the way they treated him, the other kids there also abused him, knowing full well that even if he reported to the patrons, they wouldn't even blink an eye.

He tried to do his chores during the day, even with the bullies trying to make it hard, at night, he was abused by the patrons that got drunk while playing card games. They would flog, kick, punch, spit, bite and urinate on him whenever they see fit, and all he did was curl into a ball and received everything that came his way, till the day the anger and frustration took ahold of him.

It happened when he was having his lunch, dried bread and leftover soup, the bullies approached him with a mocking gaze, pouring their warm soup over his head, he was already used to this type of treatment, so just put his head down and continued eating. Seeing the lack of response from him, one of the bullies held his head and smashed it on his plate, covering his face in the cold pepperish soup.

He didn't remember what happened, because he blacked out after that, when he came back to his senses, the patrons were already kicking him out, his eyes darted inside the compound, and lying on a blood pool was the boy that attacked him, a fork plunged deep within his neck.

Fear overcame him, he took the opportunity to run, not wanting to find out what would happen to him if he tried to stay-

"Adrian!" Dave's voice woke him up from his reverie, Adrian raised his head to see Dave standing beside the archivium large gate, he could see another person standing by his side. Adrian approached him with a small smile on his face.

"What the hell happened to you?" Dave questioned after seeing Adrian's bruised face and the way he was limping.

"Ah, nothing much, just a spar at the combat class, it was fun!" Adrian replied waving his hand in the air.

"Oh, this is Johnny, we've known each other since college, Johnny, this is Adrian, I met him at the candidates assessment." Dave pointed towards a boy standing beside him, the boy was a foot taller than Adrian, his brown shoulder length hair tied up to a bun, his striking blue eyes looked at Adrian.

"Nice to meet you Adrian." Johnny said, his voice had a hint of excitement to it.

Adrian's smile grew wider as he shook his hand, "Same, same, how come Dave didn't see you at the candidates assessment?" Adrian poised a question.

"Oh yeah, I went to visit my mum and decided to take the test there, the city turned out to be more lively than Plankton city, ohh, I think the girls there were the main reason it was lively, dude, the food was soo good too, I didn't want to leave, hahaha."

"..."

Adrian looked at Johnny with a bewildered expression, Dave chuckled,"Come on let's go, before he starts telling you about the food."

They made their way towards the cafeteria, Adrian wanted to take the usual free food when Johnny chimed in, "Don't worry dude, lunchs on me, you look like you need a very nutritious meal!" Adrian raised his eyebrows, he wanted to open his mouth and refuse, but Johnny was already placing orders.

And he would be a fool to refuse free meal, growing up in the street taught him that much. Adrian stared at the tray of food on the table, just the aroma made him salivate as he looked at a plate with rice and steaming hot stew, he could also see a tender oval shaped meat at the side, many other ingredients he didn't recognize garnished the plate, the meal was also accompanied by a cold beverage and two bottle waters.

"What are you waiting for? Dig in!" Johnny said in a muffled voice, some of the food in his mouth jumping out to freedom.

Adrian nodded and picked up the spoon, fetching a spoon full of rice and stew, he opened his mouth and took a bite, ahh, Adrian shoulder relaxed as he enjoyed the meal that that was melting in his mouth, the stew had a slightly pepperush taste and the rice just made it feel better.

Dave chugged a full bottle water and looked at Adrian eating the food with vigor while thanking Johnny at the same time, "I'm glad to see someone appreciating a good meal! hahaha." Dave said as he continued eating his food.

Munching sounds filled the place as three cadets enjoyed a hearty meal.