"Damnit," Lucas's voice roared out as he landed on his ass again. He's been trying to hit Elizabeth's hand for almost a week, but he could never touch her hand without it being an afterimage. He felt himself getting tired after so many tries, yet he was able to hold his aura a lot more without it badly draining him.
"I will say you are getting better, sweetheart." Elizabeth acknowledged her son getting closer and able to last a lot longer than when they started this. Yet, he was not meeting her standards. She had noticed that he wasn't thinking or trying to predict where she was going to be but was focused on her movements at that moment. "Lucas, what are you trying to hit?"
"Your hands. Right?" Lucas replied, but confused about what she was getting at. He started to pick himself up as he took another breath and tried to hit her while she was off guard.
"You are correct, but-" Elizabeth told him. She saw what he was trying to do from a mile away, and her image faded out just like every other time. She then continued her conversation with him but placed two fingers on the back of his head. "What are you focusing on?"
Lucas felt her fingers on the back of his head as he was exhaling heavily. He then swings his right arm backward, trying to catch her off guard again. However, Lucas didn't expect her to grab his arm and flip him onto his back. He was in complete shock at how quick and precise she did it. His mind was trying to catch up as he looked into his mom's now yellowish-orange eyes and flowing silver hair. He then listened to his mother's ice-cold words.
"I could have killed you, and you wouldn't even know it if you tried it again." Elizabeth's voice spoke with no emotion nor a shred of mercy to her own son. Her eyes then reverted to their normal brown color as Elizabeth let out a sigh.
"You need to start thinking outside of the box. Instead of just trying to just hit my hands, you need to read where my hands are going." Elizabeth said in a much sweeter and kind voice. It was as if she had hit a switch in herself that went from kind and almost ignorant to very composed and deadly and back in a mere second. "Don't you learn that from your cartoons or whatever they are called?"
"O-Oh," Lucas answered, almost terrified as her sudden switch made him to question which voice she always used with him was the real one or an act. He swallowed hard as he watched his mom back off of him, then extended a helping hand. He hesitated to take it but did so to get to his feet. "So, what do you mean?"
Before Elizabeth could explain, Amay approached them both and spoke.
"She means you need to stop thinking of her hands, but where her hands are going to be."
Elizabeth gently tapped her nose at Amay.
"Instead of looking and aiming for her hands, you need to figure out where her hands are going to at when she moves." Amay continued as she folded her own arms. She's been keeping an eye out on his training and picked up on the same thing Elizabeth was thinking.
"How do I do that?" Lucas asked. He wasn't too sure how he would do it.
Amay then let out a sigh as she shook her head.
"There's no right way to do it. I use my enchanted senses to pick up on things. The mutt does the exact same thing, but she does it with her training experiences. And does it better. Elizabeth is naturally talented but had to learn as well. You need to find your own way of doing it." She explained.
"Oh," Lucas said as his mind began to race. He then looked up at his mom. "Wait, why did you train Martha instead of me."
"She's a little more special." She casually answered without giving it a second thought. "Plus, we were in no place where any of us could take it easy like with you." She finished with a shrug.
"Oh," Lucas said as he didn't know exactly how to feel about how she answered it. Part of him felt jealous, while another part understood why. He then took a deep breath as he tried to figure out exactly how he would understand how exactly he was going to hit his mom's hand without aiming for her hands.
"Right. Let's try it again." Lucas said, tightening his fist.
"Alrighty then," Elizabeth said, taking a step back and holding out her hands. She turned her head, looking at Amay. Amay knew immediately to backup to give them enough room as she didn't know how this would play out.
"Okay. Let's try this again." Lucas thought to himself as his aura came around him. He closed his eyes for a moment as he focused on his breathing. "Try to picture her hands moving from their original spot. Try to predict where she's going to move to. Just focus and go for it." Lucas told himself one more time.
With a final exhale, Lucas opened his eyes and charged at his mom. He tried to hit her with his left hand, but she moved again. He tried to hit her with his right hand, but she made another afterimage and moved to his left. Lucas then stopped and spun to his left with his right hand. Yet again, Elizabeth created another afterimage and was behind him.
"Damnit. I don't understand why it's not working." Lucas thought to himself as he continued to try and miss. He was becoming frustrated with this and was very close to saying he gives up. "Why is this so hard? What am I doing wrong?"
"You're not listening to yourself. " Elizabeth answered him as if she could read his mind. She was watching his movements and knew he was becoming frustrated. "You're listening to your eyes and not your body."
"Easier said than done." Lucas thought to himself as he tried to hit where she was again. Yet to no one, surprise he missed. However, a jolt of electricity jumped from his right arm and forced him to turn around and punch in that direction. To his and everyone's surprise, Elizabeth was only a few inches from that spot. If his reach were a little longer, he would have hit her.
"He almost hit me."
"He almost hit her."
"I almost hit her."
All three of them thought in unison as their eyes went wide with awe and surprise. A smile came across their face as they were not sure if it was a fluke or him actually starting to get it. Yet, it was something.
"Again!" Elizabeth told him in a mixture of joy and seriousness.
"Right," Lucas said as he charged at his mom. He could feel his body jitter with excitement as he launched his right first at her. He watched as her body began to fade from being another afterimage, yet he felt that jolt hit his left arm.
"Left." Lucas thought as his eyes quickly looked left. His eyes went wide as he realized she was appearing there. He could feel his left arm tense as he swung it, trying to hit. He was only a few inches off from hitting her arm. A smirk came across his face as he realized it wasn't a fluke after all.
"Impressive." Elizabeth complimented her son. "Now hit my hands." She told him as a smile grew across her.
Lucas didn't say anything but took up her challenge. He clenched his right hand and tried to hit his mom right there. As she faded away, he felt another jolt to his left, and his eyes moved with the feeling. She was on his left again. His arm moved back and barely touched her before she faded again.
"She's on my right," Lucas told himself as he clenched his left arm and moved it right. He could see his mom actually stepping back as he got closer. She then faded once again.
"Behind me," Lucas told himself again as he kicked his leg out, missing only so close.
As they continued, Elizabeth realized that he was getting closer and closer. She was going easy on him, but she could feel her heart began to pump as he was actually catching on fast as he was listening to his body more. She even noticed that his aura was rising, and electricity began to dance off of him.
"He's learning."
Before she knew it, she got caught up in her son's achievement that she honestly made a mistake and caught her son's fist. The field went silent as all three of them realized what just happened. Elizabeth's eyes went wide before she started to giggle at her own mistake.
"You did it." Elizabeth proudly said, trying to hold back her joy and kicking her own butt for making such a rookie mistake. "You're a quick learner, but it still needs some more work. I guess you get that from your father.
"Whoa," Lucas said, realizing it and surprised. A random thought did cross his mind. "Wait. Who would win a fight between you and dad?"
"Obviously me. That fucker might be able to take me now, but I used to beat his punk ass all the time." Elizabeth said, putting her hands on her hips, bragging. "He might outrank me now, but my skills are still surpassed his."
Lucas was left speechless as he didn't know if she was bragging or very serious. "I have to remember to ask him in person next time he comes around." He made a mental note to himself for things to ask his dad.
"So...what happens now?" Lucas asked, trying to move on to another topic before his mom started bragging more.
Elizabeth came back down from her own thoughts as she placed a finger on her lip. "Oh, dear. What is next?" She asked herself as she repeatedly began to tap her lip. With a snap of her fingers, she knew immediately what came next.
"I remember." Elizabeth cheered a little.
Before Lucas could ask what she meant, a massive jolt went through his body. He couldn't process what happened to him as he saw a flash of silver hair right before his eyes. He then felt a sense of pain hit his face before his body started to go limp.
Lucas watched as his body began to fall. His eyes saw a hand had reached out and was connected to his mother's arm. She had hit him and knocked him out in one go. As his vision became blurry, he could hear one word leave her cruel smile as he passed out.
"Dodge," Elizabeth said, straightening back up as her favorite part of the training was finally starting after almost a month of preparing and warming up.