Neal awoken in his room, sitting up on his bed soon after. His head for some reason was throbbing in pain. Just then, the scene of Maya landing a solid punch on his face ran through his head like a video tape.
"That explains a lot.."
Rubbing his head, he attempted to force himself off the bed. The way he saw it, the longer he stayed resting, the longer it would take before he became stronger.
"Hey, hey, take it easy. Maya's punch shook you pretty badly. I told her to hold back, but she got too riled up in the fight," Evans who was sitting on a chair by the side explained.
Not realizing he was even their, Neal jolted backwards in surprise. Soon after though, he gritted his teeth as he tried to walk off the pain he felt. What hurt him the most was the fact that he was sure she held back her punch.
'So that is how it feels to be punch drunk. It was not a pleasant feeling at all.'
Evans noticing that Neal was lost in thought used the opportunity to get his thoughts across. "I think it would be best if you took a break today."
"What!? But I can still keep on going!" Neal voiced out before holding his aching head once more.
"Have you already forgotten you tried fighting like that once? Didn't work so well, did it?," Evans words colded him down. "You need to be in your best shape to grow stronger."
After this, Evans walked out of the room, leaving him with his thoughts. Neal knew more than anything that he was right. Because he had pushed himself so much the last time, he could not move his body the way he wanted to. Having the same experience again would surely hinder his progress.
Laying on his bed, Neal stared at his room's ceiling. Signs of aging identified itself in the form of cracks and moss which grew on it. Since he had nothing to do, he continually played the clip of his fight against Maya in his mind.
At the part were he got knocked out, Neal chuckled. "Who would have guessed she would use a feint to get the better of me?"
Just that fight alone had taught him a lot about the Combat class, Monk. Knowledge that he intended to use the next time he fought Maya.
His eyes brimming with excitement, Neal could not contain the smile creeping unto his face. He couldn't wait for when he would surpass his current self and prove Xavier wrong.
Eventually his thoughts exhausted him, ultimately causing him to fall asleep once again.
*****
Knocks from the other side of the door awoke Neal from his slumber yet again. The feeling that he had fallen asleep some seconds ago clouded his mind. This was due to the soreness that still plagued his body.
On the bright side, the pain that once erupted from his head had vanished. He couldn't help but wonder why it did not take the soreness with it.
"Wake up sleepy head!" Someone from the other side called out in a loud voice.
'That voice..,' Neal could not help but feel it was a familiar one as he stood up to open the door.
By the other side was Marcus who had a wide smile on his face. For some reason, he could not help but develop butterflies in his stomach.
"Hey Neal, gear up. It's my turn to train you," Marcus expressed with a rather comical face.
After an audible sigh, he proceeded to do as he was told. Besides, he was already told he would train with members of the group. That obviously applied to Marcus as well.
A quick in and out from his room to prepare left Neal jogging after Marcus, who had walked a considerable distance away.
Upon catching up, the two dived into a conversation to know each other better. This was mostly one sided as Marcus already knew a good deal about him.
"When Evans walked up to me about training with you, I was ecstatic. We didn't talk too much before I accepted to do so."
"Huh?"
"Yep. I have a strange admiration for teaching people. It is possible that in my previous life I was a teacher or something. I can tell because I am awfully good at it," Marcus explained.
"Am I not the first person you are training? How do you know this?" Neal questioned.
"Well before your arrival, I had already trained three people in the tower. Luke included."
"Wait, you trained Luke!?"
"Yes. And look how good he is now. I will whip you into shape just like I did him."
Just then, a bad feeling rushed over Neal. One could even tell from the worried expression on his face.
"Well enough of that, it about time we begin training," Marcus stated as he came to a stop.
"This place.." Neal spoke inaudibly as he surveyed the area.
The lake and the sand around the place, there was no way he would ever mistaken it.
"I believe this is were you and Evans faced off. A fight that he obviously won," Marcus voiced out.
Neal in response could not help but be slightly embarrassed. That alone was not what he acknowledged the lake for though. He saw it as a place to let out steam and think straight.
The first time he came here was when Xavier had called him useless. He also came to the lake occasionally when he was in his isolated state. Each time, he sat down staring at it, amazed at how it looked like a body of glass under the crystal light.
To him, that was the only good part he could remember, out of all the suffering he had gone through.
"You know the drill. Come at me," Marcus said with a smile as he pulled two blades from the sheaths behind his back.
Neal didn't know too much about the Combat class, Dual wielder, apart from the fact that they used two blades. It was obvious he would have to discover the rest in the battle.
From Marcus statement earlier, he could tell the rules of the fight. The one to pin the other first won. Neal did not like the idea of fighting with weapons as one could actually get hurt. However, since he was told to do so, he did not hesitate.
Grabbing hold of his daggers, he dashed towards Marcus with his usual footwork. This naturally caused issues for his opponent, but the smile on his face did not waver once.
As Marcus swung his blade from side to side, he evaded them easily, waiting for an opening. This would come sooner than expected, when his opponent got in the stance for a cross slash.
Coming up close to attack, Neal was astonished by a sudden change in stance. This naturally caught him off guard, causing him to retreat backwards.
A slash to the cheek from one of the dual blades revealed he did not react fast enough. The cocky smile on Marcus face at that moment twitched a nerve; however, he did not dare react.
Getting ready to charge once again, Neal could feel the injury on his face being tended to by red practices in the air.
"Seems I was right after all," Marcus spoke all of a sudden.
Not understanding what he meant, Neal gave off a perplexed expression as he looked on.
"You have amazing footwork no doubt about that; however, none of that matters if you keep on waiting for an opportunity to strike everytime. If you were up against a skilled opponent, they would just draw you in with a feint like I did. If you want to make the most of your footwork, you have to learn how to pave way for opportunities yourself."
Just then, he caught on to what his weird teacher was trying to show him. There was no way he would miss it. Besides, that was the same reason he lost to Maya and even Evans in the past.
"You can create these opportunities by using feints like I did earlier, and even causing your opponents to lose their footing with your footwork," Marcus gave an indepth explanation. "Now that you know all of this, let's try that again."
An unconscious smile crept unto Neal's face as he got into position to attack once again. He was nothing more than excited to put what he had learnt into action.