11 Chapter 10 Training Part 2

Today was the third day of training with Hammer. They were back in the underground gym with wooden swords once again. Hammer had helped him create a sword style that suited the way he fought. Now all that was left was refining it through constant combat.

Hammer charged at Zero and aimed a slash at Zero's neck, but he managed to parry the attack and proceeded with a counter-attack. Hammer was forced to retreat since the attack couldn't be avoided, allowing Zero a chance to fix his crumbling stance.

Zero then decided to go on the offensive. He took an Iaido stance by placing his sword at his side; he then lunged forward and attacked Hammer's leg. Hammer was prepared for the move, using his footwork to dodge the attack and appear to the side of Zero. Zero did not stop his slash and used the momentum to turn his body and deliver a kick. Hammer acted quickly and caught the kick before it hit, but Zero simply jumped off his other leg and attempted another kick with his free leg. Hammer threw Zero across the room to avoid the attack.

Zero rolled to lessen the impact and quickly jumped to his feet. He looked to where Hammer was and found him missing. Zero jumped toward the direction he was looking at because it was currently the only safe place. As he did, a loud sound echoed through the gym. Quickly turning, he saw that Hammer had been behind him and he had nearly suffered an attack. Zero then rebuilt his stance, paying close attention to Hammer's movements.

"You've gotten better, kid," said Hammer. He was genuinely surprised at how much Zero had improved in such a short time. The word genius couldn't account for his exponential growth. On the first day, his stance was filled with faults that Hammer could exploit, but after he was taught some different stances, he quickly absorbed and combined them. Now most of his faults were gone, and the few that remained were heavily guarded. For this kid, the best offense was defense; he was closely observing all of Hammer's moves and adapting to them.

"Not good enough to beat you yet," said Zero. He was well aware that Hammer was still holding back to train him. Hammer was a very aggressive fighter; he would attack the area where Zero's defenses were lacking. He never gave Zero a chance to rest, constantly breaking his sword stances and never giving him enough time to recollect himself. Zero was creating a sword style that was mainly defensive, and it was still incomplete. With each strike from Hammer, he felt his style becoming more honed, but he also felt the sense of defeat growing larger.

Zero noticed the muscles in Hammer's body begin to tense, meaning he planned to end this in the next move. At a speed that Zero couldn't completely follow, Hammer charged at him. He knew that there was no way to block this strike, so he opted to dodge the attack, but Hammer expected this and used the same technique that Zero had used, delivering a powerful kick to Zero's stomach. Receiving the unexpected kick, Zero was rendered unconscious.

After waking up, Zero found that Hammer was still waiting for him. This was unusual because last time he left after Zero passed out. "That last move you did was foolish. If an enemy charges at you with an attack that you can't block, they will be ready for you to dodge. At that moment, you should have attacked me to break my stance. Never let your enemy dictate the flow of battle," said Hammer after analyzing the previous battle.

"I understand. I will remember that for next time," said Zero. Hammer then walked away after letting him know his mistake. Zero then went to his hotel room and prepared an ice bath for his battered and bruised body. After the bath, he laid on the bed and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

After school on the fourth day of his training from hell, he found himself in the woods outside the city. "Today is a rather simple training session. All you have to do is take this gun and hunt 10 mid-size animals. Remember you only have 18 bullets," said Hammer as he proceeded to sit under a shaded tree.

Armed with a gun, Zero went deeper into the woods, looking for prey to hunt. He moved slowly to avoid alerting any animals to his presence. Coming across a wolf, Zero calmed his breathing and fired the gun, but he missed. It was not that his aim was poor, but simply that hunting a living, moving creature created more room for error. Zero felt dejected that his prey had escaped, and he had wasted one of his 18 bullets.

"Hunting a living creature is a bit different than shooting a target. You aim where you believe the animal will be rather than where it is," yelled Hammer from his resting spot. Zero now understood why he had missed because the wolf had already moved from that location before he pulled the trigger.

After spending 30 minutes searching for new prey, Zero managed to spot a boar nearby. He took aim and calmed his breathing again. He watched and waited for the boar to relax its guard and start eating. When he felt confident that it wouldn't move, he took the shot and hit the boar in its eye. This enraged the animal, and it charged at him. Zero managed to dodge the attack, but as he was still startled, he missed his opportunity to fire another shot.

The boar readied another charge, and this one grazed Zero, and the force of the hit knocked him off his feet. Charging again towards him, Zero came to the realization that he couldn't dodge this attack, so he would either have to kill the boar now or be trampled. He took aim and fired two shots, one managed to hit the boar's side, and another hit its head. Bleeding from the forehead, the boar collapsed.

"When you shoot a gun, always aim to kill your target with the first shot, or you'll give them a chance to retaliate, which can easily lead to your death instead," said Hammer, who had approached Zero without him noticing. He had been prepared to kill the boar if Zero had failed to do so.

"I… understand," said Zero, his breathing heavy. This was the first time he had really faced the possibility of death. He had ambitions of becoming a god like his mother, but that had almost disappeared. He had almost lost his life, and not to some all-powerful creature but to a normal animal that could be found anywhere. After calming down and thinking things through, he realized that he could have used his hypnotic gaze skill to save his life.

Zero had managed to kill one boar, so he needed nine more kills, but he only had 15 bullets remaining. He needed to use his remaining bullets wisely. He left Hammer behind and continued further into the forest.

After spending 7 hours in the forest, Zero had run out of bullets. He had only managed to get 5 kills, 2 boars, and 3 wolves. He felt dejected, having failed at this lesson. He walked toward the area where he had last seen Hammer.

"Looks like you're done. You did better than I assumed you would. I expected 3 kills, but you got 5. I'll give you a B- for this," said Hammer, appearing from the woods.

"How is this a B-? I only got 5 out of 10. That means I failed," sighed Zero.

"Well, of course, you didn't get 10 kills. You're not a master marksman. This test was created to be impossible at your current level. Well, let's go grab your kills and head back. It's almost 1 a.m., and good little boys should be in bed," said Hammer, laughing at this ambitious young man.

"What will you be doing with them?" asked Zero.

"The two boars will be given to an acquaintance who runs a butcher shop. As for the wolves, your big sister will deal with that, so if you want to know what she'll do with it, ask her," said Hammer.

"That's okay; I don't really care that much to know," said Zero.

SKILL BEGINNER MARKSMANSHIP UPGRADED INTO SKILL INTERMEDIATE MARKSMANSHIP

INTERMEDIATE MARKSMANSHIP: INSTINCTIVELY IMPROVE ABILITY TO AIM GUNS BY 25%