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Chapter 138 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 3

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A new day came for Mathias who was together with his family at the table, eating and talking around, where afterwards at his brother's insistence he showed them some leg kicks trying his utmost best not to break anything, and afterwards shadow box, showing them some of his punches.

Yet, Cristina who glanced at how well shaped her son turned in the time she didn't see him, could only smile to herself, and remark to his boys.

"Just take them outside, you'll be able to show them more things rather than inside."

"Understood, mom. You've heard it, get into some comfortable clothes that you can sweat around, I'll show you some good things." replied Mathias with an evil smile at his brothers, who still in the frenzy of learning something new, accepted.

It was all milk and honey for the two adolescents, until they saw Mathias show some spinning high kicks, and all sorts of cool looking kicks, followed by his boxing. However it ended when Mathias guided them in practicing boxing, more like teaching them like old Vinisan, using a straightforward and if by normal standards, a bit ruthless.

"Come on if Monkey see, monkey do, doesn't work then we'll try again. Listen, you need a pure form of punching to not get yourself hurt, keeping you away from tendonitis and other bad stuff. In a sense pure punching is just you moving as how your biomechanics were intended to work, using your imaginary center line to deliver punches."

"Isn't what we did similar? What's the difference?" asked Chris, who scratched his hair confused why what he was doing was wrong, since he was imitating some boxers, they couldn't be wrong since they were professionals.

"I see that you Chris have some idea about jabbing, and punching, but you clearly just go by what you see without understanding much. You may have seen something like this?"

In an instant Mathias began jabbing, and doing all sorts of combinations with his punches, and everything he was doing was exactly similar to the videos he saw that left a mark on him.

"Yes, it was just like that."

"Haha, people of that level have the fundamentals to perfection, well at least those that don't rely on a one-punch chance, those meatheads don't count. Besides, here I'll give you an example of how the punch looks on a target, maybe you'll understand better. Follow me."

He walked to a walnut tree, and wrapped his hands in his wrapping band, followed by placing his MMA Gloves that he had stashed in his luggage, taking them from the gym like some thief.

They were old, having their material rundown, with it's foam barely functional, yet it did it's job for what Mathias was doing, starting to use that tree for a punching bag to demonstrate what was a pure punching and impure punching. Starting off by executing some slow punches in a pure form and impure form, after that he began increasing his speed which made it more clearer by how his punches looked.

"Notice the difference?"

"Yes, I can see it now." replied Chris and Alex, who watched from the sides, while cleaning themselves of the snow that dropped on them from Mathias punching the walnut tree.

"Still, big brother, why do people use this way of punching, the impure one. Most people I saw throwing on the streets go about like that."

"Hmm, since they have no clue what they are doing? On another hand, for those that might have gone to a gym, I can tell you this. From what my coach told me, most trainers you'll see around, especially those with many students, don't really put much of an effort to teach their students the correct way, and just give them a rundown about what they think is fundamental."

"Footwork, boxing stances, the jab, the hook, the cross, and the uppercut punches, mostly you'll leave with this, but the professionals who have drilled those techniques so many times their muscle memories remembers by instinct, can employ a various combination of skilled footwork and punches together in a close synchronization."

The two adolescents nodded their heads, and Alex looked with an excited face at Mathias, asking him.

"Big brother, you have to teach me those things before you leave."

"Heh, it depends on how quickly you are learning and practicing. I will show you some beginner level things, where you'll practice for about 30 minutes while I go for a run. How does it sound?"

"Sure, no problem at all."

Getting the boys hyped, he then started having them warm-up a bit to not strain their bodies by doing some bad movements, and only after that he began teaching them how to hold the stances, which took him a while to have them fixed in position, later on starting with the most basic and sacred, the jab.

It looked rather awkward especially when he told them to have their dominant hand tucked to their bodies while doing the jab, which required him again to explain to them why he was asking them to execute the jab in that manner.

"For building a stable and powerful jab. Now you guys play around with the jab as I told you, since big brother also got to sweat a bit. Don't laze while I am not watching you since I will check to see if you made progress."

"Yes, sir!" replied the two brothers in what could be said to be the courtyard of their apartment building.

A small number of old neighbors went to their windows and saw the rascals start punching aimlessly in the air, which made some question if they started developing some mental problems. Nonetheless, this was the life in the apartment block, you might have such neighbors that act like surveillance cameras, Babushka style.

On another hand, Mathias placed his earbuds in his ears and tied down his long hair, placing his running hat, to protect his ears from the wind, then with the music accompanying him, he began running at a stable rate, going around the main boulevard and moving in a straight line since this part of the city had its snow cleared out and there wasn't much risk of stepping on some ice and injure himself.

His plan was to run for about 8-9 kilometers to keep his heart rate relatively high, at about 150-160bpm and so far it was a pleasant jog, where a lot of people were still doing their final Christmas groceries before Santa Claus started doing his rounding of the bad and good.

It was rare sight seeing athletes in his small town, jogging around the main boulevard, and he did get some stares from the people, which he didn't even observe as he was moving forward, wanting to reach a good place to later start his sprints, the city central park. Still, until he got there, he was starting sweating around while also checking on his pulse, that was a constant 150-152 bpm, and passing by the shops at the street filled with people holding in their hands such groceries, while he was passing by a group of three girls, he suddenly heard a familiar voice in the moments he was changing the song playing in his ears.

"Matei? Is that you?"

Turning his head still not passing them, he saw a young woman with black hair, a winter coat, and wearing some black jeans with high boots. She was quite beautiful in her own ways, with the make-up on her face doing its wonders. The girls next to the black-haired girl had dyed blonde hair, and too were wearing their good clothes, seeming to try to impress the boys in the town.

"Who's that Alex? Do you know this guy?" asked the girls, who looked at Mathias' simple training clothes.

He had tight jogging pants that he downed with another pair that reached to his knees. Why was he doing this? Wasn't it cold for him? No, not really, the pants were built specifically for that, to keep his body temperature warm. While his upper body also had something looking slimmer, everything was thought to his comfort while running and training.

They could see that while his clothes looked weird, like one of the meatheads they saw on YT videos, he had a slim build where his leg muscles were for the delight of the ladies, with his upper body too.

The one who stopped Mathias looked at him with a calm look that turned a bit emotional, but responded to her friend's question.

"It's Matei. You know who, the one."

"I see."

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Mathias who stopped walked toward the group of girls holding in their hands the groceries bag, seeming a bit expensive by the brands, but that didn't stop him from greeting his former lover. He moved past that break-up, for a long time, and once he was in front of them, they could gauge how fit he was.

Later, the black-haired girl heard Mathias remark in a calm, almost serene tone.

"Hello, Alexandra. How have you been doing recently?"

"Looking for some gifts for my friends and family. What about you, since when have you returned home?"

"Yesterday night, it was when I returned. Hmm, how are your parents doing, aunt Angela especially."

He could see that the way she was looking at him was different when he was asking about her family, and with her telling him in shortly about her family, Mathias who checked his phone for the clock, started having some talk with this girl, until one of her friends asked him a question out of orders of expectations.

"Are you by chance available tomorrow for a Christmas Party? Since you are old friends with Alex, you can also come along. Give me your number so we can tell you the location."

"..."

He turned silent and watched this woman with his deep green eyes, and he shook his head at her offer.

"I don't have time for such things. Yet I hope you girls have fun. Now, if you excuse me, I have to return back to my training."

"Training? At this time when people celebrate Christmas?" asked the second friend, looking at Mathias weirdly.

"Problems? You might have problems by wasting your life on empty and useless parties. Bah, why have I ever bothered to talk with you blondy? Mind your business, since I just stopped to greet Alex.

Not to waste my time on some chat about parties and what's trendy next year. Take care of yourself Alex, and bye." saying that, he turned to depart, but the black-haired girl reached her hand to seem to grab Mathias, but missed the target when Mathias dodged her grab.

"Wait, Mat!"

"Hmm? Is there something wrong?"

"Do you have time for some coffee, just the two of us? Also, we should get in touch again since you are staying in town, but you changed your number…"

"I don't drink coffee, remember? I can't meet up. I am occupied with my family. Why don't you go on a coffee with that guy?" asked Mathias still looking at her calmly, while on another hand the girl was getting a bit panicked, saying with a bit of remorse.

"It was some stupid game I got caught into, and it ended not long after you departed from the city."

"I see, I still have my own things now. What can I say, I hope you find a better person in the future. Also, another reminder for you Alex, you have to tell between friends and those who are "fakes"."

"I didn't tell you this back-then, but I am doing it now, seeing you like this, all ready for the club. Life isn't all about those short enjoyments, and the next time you go to one, to ask yourself "Do I belong here?".

That's all. This is all I wanted to tell you."

After saying that and dismissing her attempts at getting his phone number, or even entertaining the thought of making up with her, after an entire year, he left the girls. After one year? To him it was simply fantasies of a sick man who didn't know how important and sacred the feelings of a man were, until stepped on.

The black-haired woman bit her red lips, as she tried not to tear up while looking at Mathias departing, continuing his jog, without looking back at her, moving on. Yet the memories of their relationship still haunted her, with Mathias treating her with his entire attention since they were in highschool.

There was no incident when he wasn't beside her when she was having a hard time, and she also had no reason to complain about him in bed since she lost her virginity to him.

A good person that she thought was simply becoming boring, not wanting to go to the parties her friends were building, which constrained her to miss them out, in her young adolescentine mind, it was a turn off which pushed her toward a guy in their friends circle that she began getting closer, which culminated into her cheating.

"Why are you consuming yourself over that boring guy? A coward who doesn't have the guts to talk with his former girlfriend properly." commented one of her girls while giving a hateful look to Mathias who was running, becoming smaller by the minute.

"No, you don't get it. I am the one to blame for how our relationship ended."

"Didn't you say he cheated on you with that slut from his class?"

"... I was giving myself an excuse to do what I did to him. I hurt him so much, I am stupid. For some stupid parties, I give up on him."

"It's okay girl, breath. Don't start crying, you'll ruin your make-up. We still have places to go. Calm down, it isn't the end of day, there's so many good looking guys at our doorsteps, we just have to open the door to whoever is more handsome and interesting."

"Those guys who are only interested in how I look? I don't care about those guys."

The black-haired girl after calming herself, sighed, and mentioned to her friends in a confident way.

"There was a change in how he looked at me, when we broke up he was cold, almost like a ghost, as I never saw him before, but now he showed me some of his playfulness, meaning he forgave what happened in the past. I just have to approach little Chris and tell him my story, he might help me."

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Since Mathias resumed, he had a small smile on his face, and on his way to the central park, he thought to himself, about the entire meeting he had with his former lover.

'She must have felt the world drifting underneath her feet when that shithead cheated on her and broke-up with her. You thought I was boring for thinking about the future, and actually working from the end of highschool to get money to afford a vacation for the two of us. That I thought those parties you kept asking me to attend were stupid and a waste of my time.'

'To this day, I stand by the same idea. A bunch of drunk spoiled little sluts and shitheads.'

'And now? I have already found someone for myself, and if I ever find someone outside to make a family, you'll not even enter my mind. Adolescence love, this was our story, nothing more, nothing less.'

'Haha, I kind of miss old Haycien in those moments, he always has my back in those types of situations, motivating me to be a bigger jerk.'

Getting safely without breaking his neck on the ice, thankfully the administration of the city was doing its job of clearing out the snow, and even the park was cleared out which surprised him.

"I'll do 5 sprints, since I lengthened the journey with that talk. I don't want those two rascals to nag me about leaving them in the cold, even though they should be warm if they keep practicing.

Saying that, he looked again at his phone to check his clock, and after making in his mind the distance he would sprint, he instantly started off with a 100m sprint, that he repeated 5 times, and later on returning home he finished his proposed distance of 8-9 km of running where he no longer encountered any familiar person on the streets, getting to his younger brothers who to this point were doing what he asked them to.

"Ohhh, you are still here. I thought you went home by now? It took me about one hour, my bad, had some bad luck on the way."

"Did you slip on ice or something?" asked Chris, who stopped practicing the jab, seeming to have his arm turn a bit sore from the constant punching.

"My luck isn't too bad to slip, I met Alexandra while I was doing my running. From what I noticed she changed a bit in this one year. But, nothing significant, she is just an acquaintance to me at this point."

"Did she ask you to meet her or something like that?"

"Around those lines, but this beats the point. Rest for a bit, and show me what you got."

Mathias didn't go into details about this subject, having it case-closed, without even entertaining those thoughts, and now since he returned after his running, giving the two youngsters a breather, after that he asserted their progress, which left him with a pleased expression.

"With only this jab, you'll be able to blast the faces of idiots that pick on you. Just be sure you aren't taken to the ground since it is a danger zone for amateurs. Ahh, and I don't know if I should tell you, but if you face someone with a weapon do you know what to do?"

"Run?" responded both brothers around the same time.

"Mhm, that is right, you run. But what if you face 2 or more guys?"

"If I can run, I'll run, or if I can get a weapon, a stick or anything of that shape, I'll stand my ground."

"No, you still run. You aren't Bruce Lee or Chuck Noris to fight multiple guys, as if you are in a movie. We are not superhumans, and both examples I give would get their ass handed by such a scenario if real. The final answer?"

"We run."

"Bravo, now do you still have the mod to learn and see something else?"

"If the Grandmaster is willing to teach us, we can only comply."

"Meh, Chris, don't be a smartass with me. What's next is some basic jiu jitsu holds. Do you know about jiu-jitsu or should I first explain it to you?"

"A bit. Is when you choke people or make them tap while holding their arms and legs." responded Alex to Mathias.

"Indeed, basically speaking it's a sport for self-defense created by Grandmaster Helio Gracie to defend and defeat stronger and larger opponents. It's about the story of David and Goliath, on how one can use their frame and body, by applying various holds to submit the strongest foe."

"Big brother, before we start, can I ask you something? Can someone get good inside Satisfy if they learn all those things?"

"No, not necessarily … I guess, there can be some situation, but it depends also on what path you take inside the world. You could be a karate master, a black-belt BJJ, a professional fighter, and if you pick the wrong class for example, all that muscle memory you've built over the years, let's say, unfortunately will be for the vast majority useless."

"What about you? Can you implement the things you've learned?"

"Yes and no, my path allows me such fluidity, but it is very unlikely you'll be able to wrestle with a gargantuan monster that can take your head off in an instant, or choke out some powerful person in that world. However this depends also on your power, level, and how masterful and ingenious you can be."

Then after some other questions Mathias began teaching the boys some BJJ techniques that they could use to defend themselves, and things started once again fun for the boys, but once Mathias found a good spot to roll around, they began doing the things they used to do when younger, fool around in the snow, only that this time out both younger brothers were tapping like tap machines.

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Meanwhile the same thing was experienced by a young lady with raven-black hair that was lying on the ground, breathing hard with her hair unveiled.

Before her stood a creature with dragon features that held two daggers in its hands, breathing normally on his crocodile like snout, while his extended wings began flapping around.

His health gauge this time was at 56% and only had some scars that immediately healed up once the young woman from where she was standing called tired.

"I lost. You little beast, you no longer give me time to play around, instead fully go into that transformation of yours. I will remember this."

"Sorry Mistress, I got a bit excited since I got a new quest that has been handed to me by the Guild."

"A quest? Can you tell me more about it?"

"Sure, it involves hunting down some beasts that began disturbing the neighboring villages of Toulmount Duchy. They have been said to come from Silverpine Forest, descending on the villages searching for food."

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

"... Mistress, it will be dangerous. Are you sure?"

"I am sure, this is for my growth and future. I have to also experience such adventures early."

"Well, if you promise to not tell the Lord, I can bring you with me. If he finds out that I put you in danger, he will skin me alive."

"Don't worry, he will not do that."

"... I don't know Mistress, when Lord turns angry he is really scary. I don't want to mess with him."

"It will be fine."

"Understood, we will depart tomorrow."

[Ding!] [You have gained the quest Attack on the Silverpine Forest Villages.']

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