XIII. Strike To Kill

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***

First night of Irina's combat training with Lucian.

At the back of the manor was an old barn house. It used to house some chickens. By the time it was all gone, Mang Raul renovated it to a training area so it's well maintained. It had regular gym equipments and a ring. More than that, there were wooden weapons for armed sports like swordfighting.

In the morning, students living in the dorm were free to use it. By 7 in the evening, it's strictly closed for Lucian's use only. He always wanted to train alone as his training wasn't exactly "normal".

She looked around the barn. It was simple. Not too technological with its equipment but it did have the things they needed. The gym was located on the right side while the other half was for martial and arms training. Just outside the window was a target dummy that looked new. As if reading her impression, he spoke up.

"I just put that dummy for you to shoot."

"Right."

"How did your spirit training with Eve go?", Lucian asked.

"Good.", she answered plainly. Eve noted that she was doing excellent for someone who just had awareness of spirit energy for her age. She just wasn't comfortable with small talk now.

"Spirit awareness is an innate aptitude. The moment a person is born, she is already exposed to this truth. A person outgrows this truth as she matures, that's why a child has keener senses to spirits.", Irina thought, recalling how Eve explained it.

It was like learning a language. A child would inherently learn any language it was exposed too, but an adult learning a new one would struggle. But why would most people outgrow spirit awareness?

Self harm. With the evolution of humans, the brain developed a self restraining device that would limit a person's own strength and ability from harming herself. Sometimes this limiter would be removed through an adrenaline surge in a flight or fight situations. Running at maximum speed for miles, jumping over roofs, lifting cars. Things that the body couldn't naturally do and would cause it harm, if not restricted by the brain.

Eventually, the human brain learned to categorize that spirit awareness was also harmful to oneself, particularly with mental and psychological health, thus its existence is rejected and forgotten at the earliest signs of consciousness.

"When you pass the Trials", Lucian said looking at her, intentionally using the word when instead of if, "you'll start as a Hunter or a Watcher, where you're expected to deal with level 4 threats. These Nightmares have barely enough spirit to assimilate and even if they could, there's a good chance they will destroy the physical body when they use the Nightmare powers."

Lucian stepped inside the ring and gestured for her to come up. There's a headgear on her corner. He helped her put the gloves on and wear the gear.

"However, it's best that we prepare you in case unusual things would happen", he said while wearing his own gloves.

***

BLAG!

The sound of her back hitting the mats echoed in the barn. If not for the soft landing, Irina would have broken bones by now. How many take downs were that? She stopped counting when it reached double digits. They took a break while she remained lying on the floor. Two hours had passed and she's exhausted.

Taking on five inhumans barehanded in the last fight. In order to prepare, she certainly put that into account to estimate Lucian's strength. It was even obvious he had more under his sleeves.

That's absurd. Lucian was strong, she always knew that, but neither was she flimsy. Both archery and her only contact sports, fencing, relied on precision and not on strength. Still, she did work out regularly to be physically fit enough to land a blow or two, so why couldn't she? What was she doing wrong?

He was ridiculously overpowering her.

"Two mistakes.", he pointed out.

"Excuse me?"

"You've been making two mistakes over and over again."

What in the world was he saying? She was taken down, swept, and thrown dozens of times. All in different manners. And the only lesson he could offer was she had been committing two mistakes?

Quite flustered, she slowly sat up and looked at him straight in the eyes. This was what she signed up to, she shouldn't lose her temper easily. However, there were many ways Lucian could be more instructive. She wanted to hit him for real.

As if fate was on her side, Lucian spread his arms with a welcoming gesture. "Hit me on my gut, I won't dodge.", he said. He was serious.

He wouldn't ask me that if he wasn't confident of his durability, she thought which annoyed her more. "All right, I'll make you regret it."

With one foot forward and lowered hips, she rotated her body altogether to deliver a swing, hitting Lucian's abdomen. It was hard as rock. The impact of her punch coursed from her fist to her elbow, shoulder, and unto the body. Which was why she's sure it's a perfect hit.

She looked up, only to see Lucian's unflinching face. Was he not hurt? Now that she thought about it, while the hit was solid, he remained steady like a wall. That's just not possible, she thought.

"It's possible", he said, responding to her thoughts.

"But I had lower center of gravity and timely rotation of my body to hit you. I essentially punched you with my whole body!", she said, making her case.

"You're stuck in the laws of Terra.", he said.

A realization suddenly came to her. She wasn't wrong, it was physically impossible to remain unmoved when your body was hit with that force. But it didn't have to be physical only.

She closed her eyes, remembering her training with Eve earlier.

Step one. "Think an image of your soul. Most accomplish this step by picturing their soul like fire or water. Doing so would also help discover your natural affinity."

Step two. "Imagine your soul overflowing, channeling the spirit to your body. Like when you eat and your body converts it to energy. Feel this energy on every fiber of your being."

Step three. "Concentrate the spirit to a part of your body to increase your offensive power. Like a paper that gets tougher every time you fold it."

Step four.

Irina dashed forward. In an instant, she saw Lucian with a grin, welcoming her strike. It was a side kick, hitting the center of his abdomen. The kick was powerful enough to push him to the corner of the ring, hitting the pole.

She did it! She made him move from where he stood. Lucian held to the ropes and steadied himself.

"That's a start, but a half-hearted kick wouldn't hurt me.", he said. It was true, he wasn't hurt, and she did it half-hearted.

"You knew what to do, so why didn't you?", he asked.

She sighed. "I don't know. But the point is, I now know how to infuse my spirit to my strike, so mission accomplished, right?", she said, trying to convince Lucian. And maybe herself too.

"I think I can agree to that. Come with me", as he stepped out of the ring and she followed.

He opened a chest. Inside was a bow and a quiver of arrows for modern archery, though the model seemed to be quite old. She had mixed feelings seeing it, but she was certainly happy and appreciated Lucian's effort.

"Thank you. You could've just bought a new one with my card. Looks like you went through the trouble of getting this.", she said. While the bow was in good condition, one look and you would know the dust accumulated in 10 years.

"It was my old man's", he said, removing the arrowhead. "Part of your training is discipline. Infuse your shots with just enough spirit to pierce through, and do not break it. Please."

She laughed at that last part.

"From here on, practice with this. It will help you get in sync with your spirit artifact once you learned to call it at will.", he concluded.

Lucian moved to the opposite end of the room. It looked like things were still not fine between them, personally. Their last conversations hadn't been that good. She acted like a child throwing its tantrums, twice. As much as it bothered her, she couldn't do anything about it. Maybe she's the only one who had a problem with it, and how embarrassing that would be if she confronted him.

"Well, it was my fault after all.", she muttered and took a deep breath.

She held the first arrow and aimed but didn't release yet. Another seed of doubt sprouted in her chest. If she was that worried about the possibility of having hurt him, then how could she actually hurt him? Even in training.

Step 4. Strike with the intent to harm, cripple and kill.

The arrow flew outside the window, piercing the bull's eye on the dummy Lucian made outside.