It has been a month since the incident. Rayla lost her fever and she got better, she was no longer sick. She needed some antibiotics because her immune system was really weak. She was in bad shape but she managed to come out ok.
She spent most of her time on the verandah, She never walked around a lot, or she chose not to. She instead read books about human anatomy which she seemed content with. Joey asked her to forgive him a lot of times and she did easily which made him feel more guilty.
Joey's days consisted of his training. Its training was hellish as Mila promised him, It punishment all month long.
It began to weigh on Joey, He felt it was unecesseary for it to be drawn out this long.
Joey didn't know Mila was really upset with him but she forgave him, the training was for his benefit.
Mila's mood changed a lot, she always seemed to be mad one moment but then overly kind and funny. She couldn't seem to find a balance between the two.
It was almost like she was fighting something. "Mila, can you make our smoothies and snacks? They are too good". Joey learned to slide her a compliment and she would reluctantly do something.
She went and made some strawberry smoothies and got into a nice mood when she saw everyone drinking and eating. Joey didn't understand some of the moves she was teaching him and asked her to explain them to him. After they finished talking Joey asked "Wait, Do you really think I will be able to learn this? All the techniques seem to advance. Especially the movement skills. I will never complete them in time."
"This is why you need to train harder and stop whining, and stop thinking about death". She paused and then said "How about this? After you complete these moves, I will teach you my secret move".
"Secret move?" Joey was interested, but sarcastically said "The one where you blow up everything?".
"You still look ugly when you cry". Mila sneered. Joey was annoyed but he kept quiet. Then Mila continued, "I'm talking about the one that split the earth, remember that one?". Joey thought a little then replied "Yes, but isn't that just a normal slash what so good about it?"
"No Joey, A normal strike can't do that, It's a Power move I thought to myself, It's all about hitting the earth in the right place. If you aim it perfectly enough you could be like Moses parting the red sea" She added. "So If it's just about the way I hit it, It should be easy".
"Stop being a fool, If it was that easy everyone would be doing it, It also involves making an energy blade. Your energy is thick enough to leave your body on command, so you should be able to use it with your weapon and achieve the same result." Mila continued to say with a cheeky smile "Imagine if that power and preciseness hit someone's head".
Joey thought about it and he could only imagine them peeling like a banana. "It's good to imagine, It makes you work harder. It reminds you of your goals." Mila knocked his head playfully.
"I don't want to train if you're gonna be that harsh on me for no reason, I already said sorry a million times about what happened". Jacob confessed. He felt she was still upset.
Mila looked at him with a weird expression "You think I'm doing all this as punishment? Your punishment finished on the first day, why would I go through so much trouble"
"Then why do you?"
Mila held his cheek firmly and looked at him and said seriously "It's because I love you".
Joey's heart wasn't ready for that, but Mila continued "If I saw you go on stage and get killed I doubt I could live with myself anymore, I would have too little to live for at that point. I would give up on life. It's because I imagine that is why I train you so hard, but the short answer is I love you. I think of you as my son, and it is the same with your sister. I love you both"
Mila gave him a hug but he was too embarrassed to do anything about it, so he accepted his fate between her bosoms. "I want a hug too, I love you too Mila!" Rayla squeezed and entered the group hug. He felt the moment was too beautiful to mess up, he was glad to know that Mila just cared about him enough was why she was willing to play the villain.
He respected her even more, he loved that about her.
"Now let's get back to work, We have some more oil to burn '' Mila was teaching Joey a little of every Martial Arts book she owned. SHe mostly expressed the importance of precision, speed and consistency.
She believed those to be the foundation of the spear. Everything like power moves came after. She taught him from his real-life experiences, Even from the Afterlife Bout he had.
(AN: Changing Afterlife battle into Afterlife Bout)
"Remember when you said that you always miss the first attack?". Joey nodded his head then she said: "That's normal for you, but you can't keep missing those, the first strike is always the best time to inflict damage, the longer a fight goes on the worse it is for you."
She took a tree as a dummy and stood in front of it. "When you hold the spear, you should always seem natural. It can make your opponent lose his guard. He might underestimate you because of you stance as well. Use those to your advantage.
Make him think you don't know what you're doing. Don't talk nonsense with him either. If you hold your spear at an angle, you can try to make the length of the spear seem shorter. You can tell in their eyes if they underestimate you or not on you spot arrogance or fear... You lash out and pierce them in one single blow". As she finished her sentence she demonstrated a move and pierce a hole in the tree.