15

My heart was beating faster than a mile a minute. Sweat flowed down my back like a waterfall, eyes blurry as I tried to keep my head in the game.

Tilting my head sideward, I felt something fast move past my ear, the whooshing of the air causing the hair on my skin to stand on end. With a grunt, I let loose a right hook forward while making sure that my foot was always supporting my weight.

I hit nothing but air and then felt something clamp down my arm. The next thing I knew, I was flying up into the air, before gravity made itself known and I slammed onto the ground with my back.

Air exited my lungs as I struggled to keep them in, but I had no time to rest. Scrambling up to get my footing back, I felt a tug on my ankle, causing me to kiss the ground once more.

I heard a holler, but paid it no heed, fully focusing on the thing grabbing my ankle. Giving the offending object a kick with my other free leg, I felt it retract before I was back to my own two feet.

A smirk graced my lips before it turned into a frown when I smelled something foul. It was enough of a distraction for a fist to come flying at me, my eyes widening and teeth gritting when it impacted my face.

I flew for a moment before crashing to the ground once more, a groan leaving my lips as I tried to get up again. My legs refused to budge, and my whole body was screaming at me so I just laid there to get my breath back.

"Good…. Fight… Whooo…" My chest heaved up and down, a pool of sweat gathering underneath my prone body. A figure stepped in front of me and I squinted my eyes. If the man was a stranger, it would've been hard to see him because his back was facing the sun and its rays were assaulting my retinas.

But he wasn't, and he was all too recognizable, what with him being my sparring partner for the day.

"You're not kidding when you said you have a lot of stamina." Taiyang grinned, a bead of sweat dripping down his face as he laughed. "Not a lot of people could spar with for an hour straight."

"Oh shut… up… You held back… Like… a lot…" The air seemed to escape me, which was both a good sign and a bad sign. Good meaning that I do still have limits, bad because this isn't nearly enough to match them.

Taiyang may be a minor character in the series, but in his one appearance, he was able to beat Yang without a sweat, knocking her down with just a single punch. In the whole series, only a handful of people could do that.

"Comes with the job." Taiyang offered his hand and I accepted. He helped me up and patted me on the back with a good-natured grin. "Out there in the fields, the Grimm won't care if you're tired. You've just started training for a few months, and I can tell, you're going places, and that's a lot of praise coming from me."

"Haha… Thanks for the… compliment." I accepted the praise thrown my way. It was good for my ego, sue me. It was gratifying, knowing that this man, this minor character that could tango with probably some of the most dangerous people in the world of Remnant, acknowledged me for having potential.

If only he wasn't depressed. I'm sure he's still in his prime, so he's still as strong as he was back in his STRQ days.

That reminds me, slap the living shit out of Raven. Abandoning her man is one thing. Abandoning her daughter? Now that's bullshit.

Hmm… Maybe dismantle her own tribe? Now I know contemplating genocide against a single group is a bit much, even from me… But could you blame me? They're nothing but pests to the hard-working people of Mistral.

They're assholes, thieves, and murderers. Let's also add in kidnapping and rape. Got to increase the numbers of the tribe somehow.

"So, you think you ready to fight against my little dragon?" He wiggled his eyebrows and I was sure I blanched just from the implications.

"Bruh, what the fuck? Why are you shipping me with your daughter?" I glared at him, only to get another pat on the back.

"Because I know you'll treat her right. Can't have her date a deadbeat kid like the one she had last time." His voice nearly growled at the end there. It nearly made me shit my pants.

"Sheesh, protective much?" I pat his back bat, before my mood grew somber. "You really don't want them to experience what you had, don't you?"

"Never." Taiyang made a frown and sighed. "They're the only ones keeping me right in the head, save for Qrow, the bastard."

Taiyang chuckled and took a seat. "It only took them nearly losing their lives to get my shit back together. So, I try my best… To give them everything they ever need."

I winced. Yeah, that also happened in the past, didn't it? Yang placed Ruby in a cart and they went into Grimm infested places because she wanted to see her biological mom. If Qrow wasn't there to save them… Then…

It was a no-brainer, it would've broken Taiyang. Got dumped by Raven, lost Summer, and then if his kids died as well…? Well, he would've been on a suicide prevention list.

It's heartwarming to see this man do everything for his kids. Whether it be their wants or needs, he'll struggle just to make them happy. My respect to this man. Give this man a fucking applause, people!

"Anyway, I think that's enough sappy stuff for now." Taiyang got up from the seat, and I only noticed that the patio was silent when he started talking about his daughters. "So, what'd you say to using your other… abilities in a spar?"

"You kidding? Let's do this!" Now this… This was what I want to do. Time to see I if can change my theories to facts and action.

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The two of us had to find a secluded spot in the forest to spar with my other abilities, namely, the perks the System gave me. To be honest, I was kind of excited. This will be the first time I'll be using my perks in a real life fight. Well, spar, but semantics.

The only time I used my perks freely was when I was too parched and too lazy to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. So, I went behind a tree and used my water dispenser perk and glugged down the oh so tantalizing liquid.

Note to self, pure water is fucking delicious. It's also healthier. I can also tweak the temperature of the water, so I can go for ice-cold or boiling hot.

Welp, My previous assumption of this perk being useless in battle was moot now. Imagine spraying boiling water at an enemy's face? Yeah, that didn't sound pretty. For the target at least, for me, it was all rainbows and sunshine.

Taking the spot opposite to Taiyang, I crack my neck and knuckles, a habit I formed whenever I was going to do something intense.

"Alright, some ground rules first." Taiyang took a stance similar to that of a kick boxer and flashed me a grin. "No going out of the area I marked, and everything goes."

Oh, so that's what he was doing earlier, drawing lines with his feet across the dirt. Looking around, it formed some sort of polygon, with each line starting from one tree and ending in another.

It wasn't a perfect shape by all means, but it did serve its purpose well.

"So… all out?" I flashed him my own smirk and took a stance of my own. Something very similar to his because, let's face it, I've been learning under him. It will take a few more years to develop my own fighting style incorporating the rest of my perks.

"All out." Taiyang motioned a come hither gesture at me, that smug smirk still locked in place. "Don't worry, I can take 'em."

"Well, if you're so inclined!" My smirk turned savage and I rushed towards him. For each step I took, I put the pedal on the metal on my Earthen Channeling perk. It was surreal, feeling the earth shift with my every footfall.

I tried to sense the earth beneath Taiyang's feet, and my smirk grew even more savage when I felt it. Shifting it slightly to mess up his footwork, I launched a punch at his face at the same time his eyes widened when he nearly tripped.

Keyword being nearly.

Not long after, I felt my punch hit nothing but air and a forceful impact just around my back. Coughing out some spittle, I grit my teeth and formed a finger gun, aiming it a grinning Taiyang with his leg outstretched.

A moment later, water came gushing out of my fingertips, Taiyang's eyes widening once more as he took the brunt of the scalding hot water against his face.

His aura held true, none of coming into contact with his skin, but the heat was enough to make him make a hasty retreat away from me. I landed on the ground and rolled for a bit, before I managed to control my body and position myself upright.

My chest heaved up and down and I cracked a smug smile at him, before wincing at the flashing pain on my back. Even with aura, he hits like a goddamned truck, holy… Even my Indomitable Endurance isn't enough to tank his kicks.

"Damn, didn't think you had those kinds of abilities. Kind of scary, to be honest." Taiyang laughed and took another stance. "Still not good enough though."

And then he was the one rushing at me. Analyzing his gait, I quickly shifted the earth on his next step to make him tumble. To my surprise, he managed to turn it into a full-blown flip with his heel coming at my head with ridiculous speed.

I tried to step to the side but I was too slow. Taking a last minute gamble, I used Basic Reinforcement on my right arm that was destined to take a huge hit from that heel kick from the heavens.

The blow connected and I had to clamp my mouth shut to not utter a single scream, because holy fuckity-fucking shit! This fucking hurts!!!

Swallowing the urge to scream, I used Earthen Channeling again, but instead of shifting the earth, I pulled up the sand and sprayed it across Taiyang's face. With his position, it wasn't hard to hit, causing him to sputter with closed eyes, creating a moment of opportunity for me.

Cocking back my left fist, I used reinforced my left arm and let it loose against Taiyang's gut. I felt my fist hit flesh and he Taiyang was blown a few meters away as my blow connected.

Even with my huge blow, he still managed to perform a recovery and take a stance like he wasn't even winded from my blow.

"Good shot, I'd say that took about 15% of my aura?" Taiyang mused with his thumb and index finger on his chin. "Gotta say, you're taking that hit like a champ. You're one sturdy bastard."

"Thanks… My arm feels like falling off, by the way." I joked back and the two of us shared a laugh, before we rushed at each other once more.

I threw up dust with my ability, making Taiyang dodge to the side, not wanting to get caught in the dust cloud, but a face full of scalding water awaited him right at the end of his strafe.

He managed to duck just in time to dodge the fistful of water, and it was now time to shake his footing a little. He stumbled back when his balance went kapoot with the earth shifting around him, creating a nice opportunity for me to deal a large blow.

Extending my claws, I raked my hand down against his chest, but Taiyang, being the badass that he was, grabbed my arm before I could make contact and tossed me to the ground next to him, his arm forcing me into a submission hold.

My neck felt the pressure and I was ill-equipped to deal with Taiyang's grapples, what with me having no training to escape them. I tapped him on the arm to let him know I submit, and he let me go not a second later, my chest heaving up and down as I tried to collect as much air as I could.

Ain't no way I'm gonna try and escape that, I'd probably hurt myself more.

"Good fight." Taiyang chuckled and he helped me up to my feet. "Seriously kid, the more experience and training you get under your belt, the more terrifying you're gonna be."

"… Haha… I'll just settle to… having my ass kicked by you for… the time being…" I smiled sheepishly and I got a pat on the back as a reward.

The two of us continued laughing for a good while, the man known as Taiyang gaining even more respect from me for being a total badass. Everything I did, he countered. Even when surprised, he was still able to get the upper hand with his skills.

I still have a long way to go to match-up against him. A few more months and canon will start. I don't have enough time to be sitting on my ass.

If I want to be ready when shit hits the fan, I need to train more.

But first things first, I need to demolish Yang. She isn't as good as her father and is quicker to anger. And when in fights, anger means sloppy fighting. I think I know what I need to do.

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