29 Training Part 1

(A/N: I'm not one of those authors who takes up 20 or more chapters just for a mini training arc. After the fifth fight, I will speed through the different areas, I'll just give the specifics of what Dan learns during his training montage, as well as focus on the more interesting opponents in more detail.)

Dan quickly dodged to the left, but knew that he'd been lucky, and immediately capitalised on this, aiming a kick at the other man's stomach. The kick was blocked, and Dan quickly retreated, and as the man hurtled towards him once more, he feigned another kick which the man went to block. As he did so, Dan delivered a nasty uppercut with his right arm to the man's chin. The man staggered backwards and fell to the floor. Dan knew he'd been lucky, and knew he couldn't rely on that luck.

"Well, you got me, I shouldn't have underestimated you, but do keep in mind that your next opponents will know to not underestimate you from now on. Good luck with taking on the challenges in the next 4 rooms, I'm still a new recruit here after all. Those guys have been with us for a little while now, Andrei already told you what you need to know."

Dan nodded his thanks, "honestly, that was more luck than skill, I haven't been learning how to fight for long."

They waved their goodbyes, Dan and Andrei exited the room and headed for the 2nd room. Once they opened the door, and entered it, and realised the room was much smaller. Their opponent was seated in the middle of the floor, he seemed a lot more confident than the first man had. "The rules have changed slightly, both of you come at me at once, it'll save time."

He's arrogant too, he probably has a reason to be arrogant though. I'm getting Martial Arts vibes this time. Hearing this, Andrei took the initiative to rush forwards, aiming a kick towards the man's head. Both of our opponents have been bald, will this be a pattern for the first floor. The man rolled to the side in one fluid motion, sticking his leg out, tripping Andrei, sending him tumbling to the ground. Just as he was about to follow-up on this, he received a roundhouse kick to the side of the face.

He crashed against the floor, and he quickly rolled to the side to avoid Dan's punch. Dan knew that simply landing a hit wasn't enough anymore. The other man was already on his feet, a large bruise had formed on his cheek, and he shook his head as if to clear it. My strength is definitely approaching the Enhanced Strength boundary now, the same goes for my speed. "Not bad, hitting me when I was distracted, but you'll have to do better than that. You're strong, I'll give you that much."

Dan noticed Andrei quietly getting to his feet behind the man, not taking his eyes off him for a moment, and he slowly creeped up behind him. The man wasn't unaware of this however and sent a back kick towards Andrei, which was caught, and he held onto the man's foot. This time, Dan was more successful with his attack, he leapt forwards, and twisted his hips sending a straight punch into the man's Solar Plexus. The man doubled over, gasping for breath, and started coughing.

Andrei used this opportunity to trip the man up, and Dan sent another powerful kick into the man's stomach as he tried to stand up. The man didn't try so sit up this time, it seemed that he'd lost consciousness for a bit when his head hit the stone floor. This only lasted a few seconds, and the man slowly sat up. "Well done you two, that was some good teamwork, whether it was intentional or not. Dan, are you sure you haven't been practicing for long?

Those punches and kicks hurt like hell, you capitalised on the situation very well." Andrei was also staring at Dan, a stunned expression on his face. "What? I did practice with Angela every time I went to her gym."

Andrei nodded, still speechless, but the man looked confused. "Who is Angela? Did she teach you how to fight or something?"

Andrei cleared up the man's confusion with a 2 word answer. "White Tiger!"

The man's eyes widened, he stared at Andrei,, and then at Dan. "Your fighting instructor was White Tiger? That explains a lot I guess! You really didn't let up for a moment."

Dan took a swig of water from his bottle, and sighed. "I had the feeling that you were a Martial Artist, and thought it wouldn't be a good idea to let you land any attacks. Andrei, please try not to tell our opponents any more about us from now on."

Andrei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry Dan, you're right, I forgot that these walls had ears."

Both Dan and the other man chuckled at this, the man's expression turned serious at that moment. "Your third opponent won't be much better than me, but watch out for 4 and 5, those two are on a different level."

Dan groaned when he heard this, "that's not encouraging to hear when I'm still on this floor."

The other man smiled, "don't worry, the challenge level will follow the same pattern until the end of the 21st floor, the top floor focuses on unarmed combat. That doesn't mean your opponents will be unarmed however."

The three of them gave their farewells, and Dan made his way to the 3rd room, followed by Andrei. He looked back at Andrei before saying anything. "Please don't rush in next time, our next opponent will be more skilled, we'll attack him together."

Andrei nodded, he was expecting to be the one giving Dan advice, not the other way around. Once they entered, their opponent was already going on the offense, Dan dodged to the right, and Andrei attempted to dodge to the left. He wasn't so lucky however and caught a kick to the chest which sent him staggering backwards. Dan attempted to use an uppercut but the man blocked it, pushing him to the floor in the process, attempting to stomp on him.

Dan rolled to the side, and he caught sight of Andrei who had successfully landed a punch flush on the other man's nose. The man attempted to deliver an elbow to Andrei's chin but it only reached his throat, causing him to choke for a few seconds. Dan made use of his roundhouse kick, this time aimed just below the man's armpit, and it connected, the man howled in pain. He staggered backwards, almost falling. "Your adaption speed is way too fast!"

The man looked almost scared, and Dan was surprised, this was his first opponent to realise that Dan was very quickly adapting to the situation. Just because him and Andrei weren't trying to give it away, that didn't mean that their opponents wouldn't share their findings. Dan didn't say anything however, and continued on the offensive, and him and Andrei both attacked at the same time. It seemed that the man couldn't keep up anymore.

Dan delivered a left-hook straight at the man's face, and his head rocked backwards, and he started to stumble around. Dan then jumped through the air, kneeing the man in face. The man fell down, fully unconscious this time. Both men were breathing heavily now, but Dan recovered very quickly. "Not much tougher he says, we weren't this tired after the 2nd room. Still, the other guy told us that the real challenge starts in the next 2 rooms."

Once Andrei caught his breath, they both headed towards the 4th room, both of them mentally preparing themselves for whatever challenge they might face. They were both surprised when they entered, and a middle-aged woman greeted them instead. She was holding what looked to be a staff in one hand, and a shield with the other. "Hello boys, I'm not quite as impulsive as Stefano is, please take all the time you need to plan."

The two of them hadn't worn any of their gear so far, but this time they noticed additional equipment in the room. Dan approached the equipment which consisted of Shin-guards and elbow pads, along with 2 other staffs. The woman made no move to stop him, and he picked up the bundle, and took it over to their side of the room. Dan was the first to put his equipment on, followed by Andrei, they also adorned their Kevlar vests and protective headgear.

"Very wise decision, although I may not be as strong as your final opponent on this floor, I'm far stronger and more skilled than the other 3 you've faced."

As if to demonstrate this, she began to spin the staff until it became a blur. Andrei looked like he might start sweating bullets at this point. "You see, Andrei's already familiar with me, also, are you sure that you boys aren't forgetting something?"

Dan suddenly realised what he was getting at and turned to Andrei. "We can't use these staffs, unarmed combat remember."

The woman smiled at Dan, "very good! I hear that you've been trained by White Tiger, I had a run-in with her once, I never stood a chance. Of course, I'm a lot better now than I was all those years ago. I still couldn't beat her now though, well, that's enough rambling, it's time to start now!"

With that, she dashed forwards with grace that belied her apparent age, swinging the staff, and smashing it into Andrei's chest. It was a good thing he was wearing his vest, but he was still sent staggering backwards into the wall behind him. He suddenly looked a lot more wary, he knew not to underestimate this woman, but it seemed that she had indeed become a lot stronger. Dan's shock had barely registered before he felt the staff impact with his headgear.

Despite the protection is gave him, his head still rang slightly upon impact and he fell to the floor. Andrei was quick to charge forward, and attempted to grab the staff but she smashed his hand with it and he quickly gave up on that idea. Dan realised that Andrei was trying to buy time since he knew about Dan's incredibly fast recovery speed. He was already on his feet, and although the 200x boost didn't apply to his healing speed, his increased vitality was bearing its fruit already.

Dan was about to go on the offensive when he suddenly had an idea, "Andrei, can you buy me some more time, I want to try something!"

Andrei looked a little dismayed at the idea, but he nodded his agreement. Dan then closed his eyes, and tried to visualise his opponent. He'd found that his mind was very quickly evolving towards becoming more like a computer. He could visualise many different scenarios at once, and he applied this to the fight. To his surprise it worked, he could now see all of the different scenarios playing out in his head based on what the middle-aged woman had demonstrated.

Continue on to Part 2!