As she exhaled, she made a simple straight punch with her right hand.

 "So, did you see it well? That's the thing that would help you in most of your fights, the thing that would let you build your strategy around." she returned into her stance.

 "Wait, what the hell is that?" I was bewildered by the sudden revelation.

 Her cheeks were slightly tinted with rosy color. "Look, I know that my striking isn't as good as some other professionals but it's still not so bad."

 "No, I'm not talking about that." I couldn't help but hold the side of my face. What the fuck? What kind of strategy or intellect of a warrior she was talking about if she simply punched. "Isn't it a simple straight punch?"

 She crossed her arms in front of her. "What do you mean by that?"

 "I mean, a crucial technique should be something more…" I didn't know what to say.

 "Mooore...what?" she tilted her head.

 "More special?" looking at her eyes that had no traces of fun or mocking, I started involuntarily doubting myself.

 "The foundations are special enough," she sighed, "How can I explain it to you?" and started tapping with her foot.

 I looked at how her face was changing until it finally brightened up.

 "Alright, let me show you with an example," she went closer to me, "Look, stand like that."

 She showed me her stance once again. Legs as wide as the shoulders, with the right one slightly forward while the left, was behind. My arms up, with my hands close to my chin, the right hand being put slightly forward.

 "Good," she nodded as I stood like that. "I'm not as good at teaching others, but I think you will understand everything if I show it to you."

 "Okay." I started feeling slightly nervous.

 "Don’t worry, I won't actually hit you." seeing this, she encouraged me, "Now look," she stood in front of me, "If I do this," she slowly extended her arm like in the punch she showed earlier, "What changed from before?"

 I didn't know why she was asking this. What changed?

 "My vision is slightly obstructed?" I somehow guessed it right.

 "You are right. And what do you think I will do right now?" I couldn't see her face properly, as it was obstructed by her fist.

 "I don't know."

 "Then here's a tip."

 She returned her fist and just like before, slowly made a punching motion two more times before suddenly hugging me. Her movements weren't fast, but they were unpredictable for me.

 "Now, let's return to the starting position." Before I could react to her words or actions, she once again made a slow punch. Jessie stopped before actually landing it. She suddenly crouched down and hugged my waist, with her face being dangerously close to my crotch.

 "Wait." I wanted to stop Jessie, so I tried to grab her, but she swiftly slid to my back while still holding my waist. I heard the sound of something sliding on a mat.

 "Back into your position!" Her powerful voice made me stand up. She came around and once again faced me. "Now come right at me, but do it slowly."

 I obeyed. I nervously went forward, trying to hold my hands and legs in the stance. And after the first few steps, I was met by a fist once again. As I continued walking forward, she kept throwing these punches. It was uncomfortable as it hindered me from advancing.

 "Stop!"

 I stood still. I felt how my elbows were driving into my own ribs as I tried to keep my hands up. And as I stood, I saw Jessie doing the same punch, but her fist disappeared in a second, just like all of her body.

 "Huh? Where did you go?" I looked left and right before I felt something enveloping my legs.

 "I'm here." her voice was coming from below. As I looked down, I saw Jessie on her back with her legs tangling up with mine. "So now you understand what is the meaning of foundation technique?" She slowly stood up.

 I gulped and nodded.

 "I thought of teaching you the boxing jab, but you made me realize something." she dusted off her butt.

 "What?" I was nervous. Maybe she would say that she realized I wasn't as good as she thought.

 "I now understand that I'm not as good of a teacher as I initially thought. I guess that's why we got all those trainers." she probably felt embarrassed judging by the way she scratched the back of her head and started mumbling.

 "I think I would ask Patrice to train you, at least in the beginning."

 "Ugh, is it alright?"

 "Yeah, after all, he is the one who teaches us striking. And I don't excel in it, so it would be better for you to study with him."

 "But isn't he busy?" Actually, I was feigning concern. I simply didn't want to learn how to fight from some random dude, who would probably be a hardass.

 "No, right now, he has some spare time." She went towards her bag and took a bottle of water.

 Like a baby duckling, I went along with her. "Ugh, then if it's alright with you." I was looking at her neck as she drank the water in small gulps. Her neck was beautiful, long, and slender. "By the way, what do you mean that you don't excel in striking?" I tried to change the course of dialogue to distract my thoughts from her body.

 "That means the thing that it implies, I'm better at other things." she raised her eyebrow as she put the bottle down.

 "Like what?"

 "Wrestling."

 "Wrestling?"

 "Uh-huh." she again crossed her arms. "Our team specializes in wrestling. Remember how you asked why Reid didn't bother with picking a fight with me?"

 I racked my brains and remembered something like that.

 "It's because he is a striker, while I'm mostly a wrestler, a grappler. Many strikers find it a bother to fight with us," she smirked, "Cowards."

 "Why?"

 "Why? That's a good question. I think mostly because wrestling isn't as flashy, and some may say that it has a slight advantage over striking."

 "I've never thought about this." Whenever I read manga or watched anime about fighting, it was always about who got the biggest fists.

 "There is one more reason," she rubbed her chin, "With wrestling, you can submit your opponent, you don't need to take unnecessary damage, you don't need to trade blows." her eyes were glistening when she talked about wrestling.

 "Then why don't we start with this if it's so good. You are great at wrestling, perhaps this will help you teach me?" It was a logical question.

 "Because there are things we should solve first, before doing this."

 She suddenly made a fast movement with her hand. The world turned dark for less than a second, and I felt a flick on my forehead.

 "You should stop closing your eyes when someone hits you. It's one of the most crucial things." she nodded to reaffirm her own words. "We should also teach you how to move because what you show right now can't be called footwork."

 "Is it so important?"

 "Of course, it's all the basics. Without the basics, you won't be able to do a thing, but if you learn it, you will be able to win against amateurs and normal people with ease."

 Suddenly a question popped into my head. "Will you be able to win against Reid?"

 She furrowed her nose slightly. "Perhaps, I don't know, and I don't want to boast, but I'm not afraid of accepting a fight with him."

 "And will I be able to win against Reid?" it's probably was wishful thinking, but that was my reason to train in the first place.

 "Win against Reid?" she hummed, "I guess you don't understand something. What do you mean by win? With the basics learned, you will be able to stand your ground if you meet him on the streets." she smiled gently.

 "Great." That was the point.

 "But if you want to actually fight him, he will beat the hell out of you." her face returned to being serious. While my face probably looked like I ate a whole lemon in one sitting. "Do you know who he is?"

 I could only shake my head left and right. "I've never learned or heard anything about him."

 "Then listen well." She sat down on the bench while leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "He is a premier athlete, son of the mayor of this city, son of an influential businesswoman, fed from the silver spoon since he was in diapers. He started training at the age of six. At the age of sixteen, he started participating in various junior championships."

 I felt how my jaw started clenching by itself.

 "When he turned seventeen, he already broke various records. With the best training camp his parents could give him, he started his transition. From the junior to the actual adult competitions. He set a precedent, and younger fighters started flooding adult competitions. He paved the road for them."

 My fists were trembling.

 "And right now, he is eighteen. Although he slowed down a little bit, he is already a bonafide star. He is still ranked third in Birchland High, and I mean the whole institution, not only first years." She leaned back. "With the achievements he made, he is basically untouchable in the school, and the only reason he is number third, because he didn't fight in the Birchland High's promotion tournaments."

 "What's that?" When I asked her, I noticed that my voice was hoarse.

 "Basically, it's the tournament for the staff to look closely at who they should promote. And whom they should pump up with trainers, gym, managers, and so on. I heard there is something similar in other sport courses, but we are talking about those who fight. It's done two times, at the beginning of the year and the end. And guess what?"

 I moved my head up to show her that I wanted the answer right now.

 "This guy won the fights against the established top ten, except those two above him. And it wasn't because he couldn't win. Rather he didn't want to fight with them. Most of the guys were those in the third or fourth year."

 My Adam's apple moved.

 "You should check his fights. Even an amateur like you can understand what he does in the cage." Jessie suddenly took her phone and started looking for something. Soon she handed me her phone with a video on it.

"A blinding light of the Supernova." was the name of the video. It had a hundred million views. A highlight video of Reid beating the shit out of everyone. I couldn't believe what I saw. I never thought I would be faced with something like this. The way he beat up almost everyone one-sidedly. And it wasn't solely teenagers whom he beat up. There were a lot of adult competitors who didn't stand a chance against him. And such a guy picked a fight with me?

 As she started to talk again, I looked up from the phone. Her eyes looked entranced. "His first fight in the tournament looked like a murder, that's the level of how dominant he is." she shook her head and smirked. "And as much as I dislike him as a person, I must admit. That he is one of the best fighters I've ever seen. They call him "The Supernova"." her eyes then peered at me. I felt an inexplicable feeling from her eyes and shuddered.

 "If you want to fight him and win, it will take a little bit more than learning the basics. If you want to beat the monster, you should become the monster yourself." I felt that the very next second, I would fall down into the depth of her eyes.

 Then she suddenly stood up, "But don't take me wrong. I'm not here to scare you. As I said to you before, you are a rare specimen yourself." and from the abyss her eyes were, I saw how they started shining. "And I would do everything in my power to let you release your potential."

 With a great struggle, I tore my gaze away from her eyes. I looked back at the video that was already over. Next was my fist, which was clenched so tightly that the veins were bulging, crawling like the centipedes.

 But the thing that was swirling in my mind right now was one thought. The thought of me deciding to change. The strange dream that I saw on the night of my failed attempt to jump down. After that night, I wasn't the same. And as much as I was scared from all the talk, the burning sensation I already felt. The thing, at the depth of my stomach, felt like a scream of my soul.

 "If you want to beat him, you should work hard, harder than anybody, Erlig." I felt a tap on my shoulder.

 "I will."