"Alright Taşkın, we're starting now."

"First, let me explain the basic principles to you. Balance, breath control, and posture are crucial in martial arts."

Taşkın listened attentively to Özkan.

"So... what do I need to do first?"

"First, we need to warm up your body. Warm-up exercises prepare the muscles and prevent injuries."

"Injuries?"

"Yes, injuries. What's wrong, are you scared?"

"No."

"Haha. Good. You shouldn't be scared anyway. This place isn't for cowards or weaklings."

"Now, mimic what I do."

Özkan and Taşkın start doing warm-up exercises.

"Alright! We're warmed up enough."

Taşkın was drenched in sweat and exhausted. He was sitting with his knees bent, breathing heavily, and sweat dripping from the tip of his nose like rain.

"Get up Taşkın! Already tired so soon?"

"I told you I'd be tough on you. If you don't get up within five seconds, I'll leave the room."

Taşkın struggles to stand up with trembling legs.

"Good. Now, we'll start with the posture."

"Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Stand with one foot in front and the other behind. Bend your knees slightly and distribute your weight evenly on both feet."

(Özkan shows the correct posture. Taşkın watches carefully and tries to take the same position).

(Özkan scrutinises Taşkın's stance carefully).

"Yes. Now, keep your arms in front of your chest. Make fists with your hands, elbows slightly bent. You should feel comfortable and balanced in this position."

(Taşkın holds his arms in front of his chest, clenches his fists, and keeps his elbows bent.)

"Is... is this right? Can I do it?"

(He does exactly as Taşkın Özkan says.)

"Partially. Bring your elbows in a bit more."

Taşkın adjusts his posture as instructed.

"Yes, just like that. Now, one of the most important things during a fight is breath control. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. Exhaling with each strike will increase your power and help you endure longer."

(Taşkın maintains his posture)

"How do I control my breath?"

"Tighten your right fist and exhale as you thrust it forward. Go ahead, give it a try."

Taşkın throws his right fist and exhales.

"Now, do the same while throwing your left fist. Remember, inhale and exhale with each strike."

Taşkın throws his left fist and exhales.

Suddenly, music starts playing.

Özkan's phone was ringing.

Taşkın doesn't lose his posture and looks at Özkan.

Özkan answers the phone.

*What's up? I'm not available right now.*

(Speaks in a lowered voice)

(Unintelligible conversations)

This guy is up to something.

*Is it urgent?*

(Sighs)

*Alright.*

"Taşkın, I need to go somewhere."

Taşkın, with a surprised expression, "Wh-"

"Don't ask questions, Taşkın."

"Just learned how to throw a punch."

"Straighten your posture and throw five hundred punches while I'm gone."

"Count all the punches you throw and don't you dare lie to me."

Without giving a chance for Taşkın to respond, he swiftly exits the ring and leaves the gym in a hurry.

...

Doesn't matter to me where he went. Let's get back to work until he returns.

Are you really going to throw five hundred punches?

I don't know how many I can throw, but I'll try.

Let's get started then.

Taşkın starts throwing punches.

One

Two

Three

...

Forty-five

Fifty

...

Seventy-five

...

..

Hundred

Taşkın felt like he had been standing in a downpour for dozens of minutes.

There was no dry spot on his body.

He was on to the next four hundred. h̭̑͘a̙͂͑͢ͅh̋aͤ̍.

(Taşkın breathes heavily)

M-Milaz

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

(Breathes rapidly)

S-shut the f-ck up.

..

If I try to keep going, I'm really gonna collapse.

Maybe I should take a break for thirty seconds or a minute.

Taşkın sits down in a cross-legged position.

You were talking about symbols, Milaz, but you stopped halfway because Kerem called out.

Also, you said I determine the abilities I gain. I have questions to ask.

...

We'll talk extensively tonight.

I'll answer all your questions.

We don't have enough time now.

..

Alright.

Then I'll continue.

Taşkın stands up and continues his training.

One hundred and one

One hundred and five

..

One hundred and twenty-five

..

One hundred and fifty

..

Two hundred

(Breathing rapidly)

I-I think I need to t-take a-another b-break.

Taşkın sits back down.

What time is it, I wonder?

I thought he would be back by now, but he still hasn't returned.

The ring doesn't show the time. Let me go downstairs and check the clock.

It was nearly twelve.

Actually, it's better for him not to come back. Because I still need to throw three hundred punches.

Anyway, let's get back to the ring and continue.

As soon as he stepped into the ring, Özkan entered.

"Taşkın!"

(Walking quickly)

"Did you manage to throw five hundred punches as I said?"

He enters the ring.

There were red marks on him. It was obvious that it was blood.

I didn't want to inspect the marks further to avoid arousing suspicion.

"Where did you go so suddenly?"

Taşkın is flustered.

"Y-yes! I m-mean no. I couldn't do five hundred. I managed to do two hundred punches."

Sometimes you act really stupid.

Shut up, Milaz.

..

"I've done my best if you look at the dried sweat on me."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, Taşkın. Well done. You have great potential."

"That's enough for today. You can leave now."

"I'll leave in a bit."

"Why aren't you leaving immediately?"

Özkan glares at Taşkın angrily.

"Good evening, sir. I'm leaving."

Taşkın leaves the gym quickly.

I'm really tired. All my muscles ache as if I've been through a lot.

I said I'd find Kerem's house, but I always returned with him. I didn't pay much attention to the roads. I hope I can find his house.

If you can't find it, I'll help you.

Don't worry, I'll find the way.

Yeah, I'm sure you will.

Do you even remember the way?

Unlike you, I'm not careless.

..

Can't resist making a snide remark, can you?

h̭̑͘a̙͂͑͢ͅh̋aͤ

After dozens of minutes

I think we entered from here... but no, we were going straight to the house without entering the side streets. This is the wrong way.

There are some people. What are they doing there?

Idle riffraff.

"Get out of this side street. You're too tired right now. You can't handle them."

"..Okay"

"Alright, now I remember, I think I know the way to the house."

"Yeah. You must have remembered it for sure."

Forty minutes later...

I've never seen this street in my life.

Taşkın, you can ask for my help. I'll gladly assist you.

No need. I'll find the right way now. It's just that I'm confused.

..Okay. As you say.

Thirty minutes later...

I have no idea where I am right now.

Okay.. fine, damn it.

Milaz, show me the right way.

What? I can't hear you. Speak a bit louder.

Forget it. I didn't ask. Never mind.

h̭̑͘a̙͂͑͢ͅh̋aͤ. Okay okay. I'll help. Otherwise, you'll never find the house.

Milaz describes the way to Taşkın reluctantly, and Taşkın follows it, albeit reluctantly, and finds the house.

I finally made it home.

I rang the doorbell. After ringing it, there was some hustle inside.

The door opened without me having to ring it a second time.

Ahmet and Cengiz opened the door. Both of them yelled at me, asking where I'd been.

"I'm sorry. I got lost, but I managed to find the right way."

Cengiz spoke anxiously.

"Didn't you run into Kerem on the way?"

I was stunned by this statement.

"Kerem?"

Ahmet turns to Cengiz.

"How could they meet, Cengiz? He says he got lost. It means they came from different directions. It's normal that they didn't meet."

I got curious.

"Where's Kerem? Isn't he at home?"

"When you were late, he went to the gym to look for you."

"How long has it been since he left home?"

"It's been about half an hour, I guess."

..

"So, what time is it now?"

"It's almost two."

Ahmet asks Taşkın with curious eyes.

"Taşkın, what time did you leave the gym?"

"It was around twelve."

..

Ahmet looked pensive.

Cengiz asked, "Why did you leave the gym so late?"

"I usually leave earlier, but Özkan had to go somewhere during the training."

"Where did he go-"

Ahmet interrupted Cengiz.

"Forget about Özkan for now."

"Something's not right. Kerem should have been back home by now."

"Taşkın, you said you left the gym around twelve. If we say Kerem left to look for you at one, it takes at most fifteen minutes to get to the gym. So, he should have already gone and come back by now, but it's almost two, and he's still not here."

As we were talking at the door, Cengiz shouted, "Look over there!"

When Ahmet and I looked in the direction Cengiz was pointing, we saw Kerem.

He was staggering and most of his clothes were torn.

We immediately went over, and Ahmet and I helped Kerem to his feet and took him home.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Kerem had been beaten. His face was covered in blood, and his clothes were bloodstained.

Ahmet cleaned the wounds on Kerem's face while Cengiz and I asked questions.

"Wait a moment. I'll explain everything. Let me catch my breath."

After Ahmet finished cleaning Kerem's wounds and applying bandages, he joined us.

Kerem finally began to speak.

"I left here around one o'clock."

He looked at me while he spoke.

"When I got to the gym, it was closed. I thought you might have gotten lost, so I started looking for you in the side streets."

"Then, while I was looking for you, I saw them in one of the side streets."

"Who?" I asked with curious eyes.

"Taşkın, remember the kids I told you about who bullied me at school? It was them."

Ahmet shouted angrily.

"Those bastards!"

"I'm going to fuck them up!"

Ahmet quickly headed towards the door, and Cengiz and I stopped him.

Kerem also tried to calm Ahmet down.

"Stop, Ahmet! Calm down! Even if you go, you can't do anything. There were too many of them."

"O-okay, I'm calm. Let me go."

As soon as we let go of Ahmet, he grabbed my collar.

"Taşkın! It's all your fault! Kerem got beaten up because of you! If you had found the house, this wouldn't have happened!"

Look at this bastard. He's crossing the line.

Milaz, shut up.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

Kerem got up.

"Let go of Taşkın, Ahmet. It's not his fault."

Cengiz sided with Ahmet.

"Isn't Ahmet a bit right, Kerem?"

This is the second bastard.

Milaz, shut up!

Kerem paused for a moment.

"Ahmet, I said let go of Taşkın."

Ahmet let go of my collar.

Kerem said, "No one is to blame. What's done is done. There's nothing we can do about it."

No one spoke after that.

Ahmet asked, "What were they doing there at this hour anyway?"

Kerem was lying down and spoke with a strained voice, "I don't know either. I knew they hung around the school, but I never thought they would be around here."

"Don't worry, Kerem. I'll get your revenge. They'll pay for this."

Kerem's voice became stern and sharp.

"Taşkın, Ahmet, stop it. Now you too? No one will do anything. Besides, I didn't get completely beaten."

Ahmet laughed, trying to stifle his laughter.

"So, this is you not getting beaten, huh?"

Cengiz and I chuckled lightly.

A smile appeared on Kerem's face, but his muscles were tense from the pain of the beating, and he was holding his stomach with both hands.

"Guys, I'm in pain here, and you're laughing. That's not fair."

He was smiling as he said this.

"What I mean is, I got beaten because they outnumbered me. As you know, I've been taking fight training for a while. I know how to defend myself somewhat. I just couldn't defend myself because there were too many of them."

Cengiz asked curiously, "How many were there?"

"There were five or six of them."

Ahmet chuckled, "I guess you couldn't count them properly while you were getting beaten?"

Kerem's face showed irritation, but there was a hidden amusement in his eyes. He was trying not to laugh.

"Ahmet, you were about to leave the house to fight the guys who did this to me, and we barely stopped you. Now you're laughing at me. You've become quite unstable."

Ahmet stopped chuckling. "I'm still angry. I'm just upset. As Taşkın said, we can't let them get away with this. We need to get your revenge somehow."

"We'll think about that later. My whole body hurts. I just want to sleep now. Although, with this pain, I don't know how I'll sleep."

"Wait, I think we have some painkillers. I'll get you one. It might ease your pain a bit," Cengiz said.

"Thanks, Cengiz. That would be great."

"Taşkın, let's make the beds now. It's really late. We'll have to get up early in the morning," Ahmet said.

"Alright, Ahmet."

While we made the beds, Kerem took the painkiller Cengiz brought him.

Ahmet turned off the lights in the room. "Good night, guys."

We all lay down.

I was lying on the far right, and Kerem was to my left.

After some time, I decided to talk to Kerem. I felt guilty.

I whispered to Kerem.

"Kerem, are you in a lot of pain?"

"No, Taşkın, don't worry. I'm fine."

"I'm really sorry, Kerem. If I hadn't gotten lost, we would have gotten home earlier. None of this would have happened."

"Don't blame yourself, Taşkın. It's not your fault. Actually, it's my fault. I could have waited for you at the gym, and we could have come home together."

"Let's not think about it anymore. What's done is done. Let's sleep now, Taşkın. We have to get up early in the morning."

"Okay."

I closed my eyes to fall asleep.

...

Taşkın, you told me you had questions today.

What are those questions?

I guess we can talk now, right?

Milaz, you always pick the worst times.

If you remember, you wanted to talk.

...

Yes, I know. Let's talk then.