"Are you ready?" Anna asked Jake.
"Do I have a choice?"
"No you don't. We are going to be improving your martial arts skills tonight. I don't know if you saw how skilled that Veer person was but let me tell you, he was very skilled and in a fight against someone like him, magic and power isn't everything. He might not be as strong as the person he's fighting but his skills can give him the bigger advantage in most fights."
"Okay, so what's first?" Jake asked, getting on his feet.
"Learning how to throw a proper punch is the first thing we are going to do today. When you throw a punch you just randomly throw your arm out and that's stupid. You should time yourself and know the right angle to aim for when you throw a punch."
Walking over to the large doll in the training room, Anna pushed some buttons on its back. "Come over here."
Going to meet Anna, Jake was actually happy he had asked Miss Anna to be his mentor. This private training will always keep him a couple of steps ahead of the others and he'll be ready for the duel against Duke in a few days.
When Jake got to her, Anna said to him "This doll isn't only for measuring strength, one of its many features is helping students become better than they were in their martial skills. But first, I want you to hit this doll again."
"Why?" Jake asked.
"Because I know when you hit it the last time, you didn't use your full strength. I don't know why, but this time I want you to hit it using all your strength."
"How do you know if I use my full strength, it won't blast the head of the doll away?"
Laughing, Anna asked "Are you kidding me? This thing can take up to half of my full strength, and I'm very sure your full strength isn't near half of my full strength. So give it your best shot."
Thinking about what Anna said, Jake knew she wasn't joking but he still decided to hide a little out of his full strength.
A condition Anna had stated when Jake asked her to be his mentor was there would be no secrets between them but who was he kidding, secrets were inevitable. He could not tell her about the system and the knowledge that someone out there wanted him dead or alive did not make matters simpler.
Punching the doll but not with his full strength, Jake looked up at the electric board which shows the number the doll rates his strength.
"20.4" Anna said. "Not bad, I knew you were holding out a lot."
'And a little bit more.' Jake thought. 'So I can say the method the system and the doll rates strength are almost the same, I can't be sure. My strength stat is 23 and the doll rated me 20.4, but I didn't hit it with all my strength so it could be right.'
"Now let's improve your fighting skills. I'm sure you hit like a girl right now." Anna said.
"I hit like a girl?" Jake scoffed. "You want a piece of me?"
Smiling and touching her chest, Anna said "Yeah, give it to me right here."
"Can we just get this over with? I want to go home and hit the sack."
Moving closer to Jake, Anna asked "You don't want to spend more alone-time with your favourite person?"
"I do, that's why I want to get this done quickly, she might be sleeping already."
"What? I was referring to myself." Anna said.
"That's too bad, my favourite person is currently in her house probably sleeping. Are we going to improve my fighting skills or what?"
Folding her arms, Anna told Jake "No. Until you tell me I'm your favourite person, you're not learning anything."
"Are you serious right now? You're really going to do this? I want to get some sleep."
"If you want to go home quickly, tell me I'm your favourite person." Anna said.
Giving in, Jake said "Fine, you're my favourite person. Now are you going to train me or are you going to keep acting like a little girl?"
"I think I'll keep acting like a little girl."
"Come on, I already said you're my favourite person."
"Yes you did, so you should act like I'm you're favourite person. Let's get back to training and stop slacking around."
Jake only looked at her blankly and said nothing.
"We'll start with your punches, they are lacking in so many areas. To throw a powerful straight punch, you have to use every part of your body. After establishing a strong fighting stance, use your legs to initiate the movement, turn your hips to continue the motion and build momentum, and finally engage your core, shoulders, and arms for the follow-through."
After hearing what Anna said, Jake spoke up. "That sounds like too much work."
"Too much work you'll have to learn and be able to do offhand. Let me show you how to do what I just said."
Facing the doll, Anna did as she said. She took a strong fighting stance, used her legs to start the motion of the punch, continued building momentum with her hips, then she followed-through with her arms and shoulders.
When her fist made impact on the head of the doll, the electric board showed the number 46.
"You see what I'm saying, I used the same force as last time to hit the doll and it showed a different number." Anna said to Jake. "When I hit the doll the first time it showed 43.2 but now it's showing 46. Can you tell me why?"
"Because last time you didn't use the method you just told me. Last time you only punched the doll by throwing out your fist but this time you punched it the right way."
"That is correct. Did you see the difference between the way I moved when throwing out both punches?"
"Yes I did. I have to admit, the way you punched the doll this time looks cooler than the last time."
Pretending to blush, Anna told Jake "Awww, an actual compliment. Thank you Jake. Your turn to try hitting the doll the right way."
Stepping towards to the doll, Jake replicated what he had seen Anna do. He tried his best to hit the doll exactly how she had done it, the fighting stance, the motion, the building of momentum and the follow-through.
Hitting the doll and looking up, Jake saw 17 on the electric board.
"What happened?" Jake asked. "I used all my strength." He hadn't actually used all his strength, he hit the doll with the same amount of strength he used earlier.
Anna answered him, "The number on the board reduced because the strength in your punch isn't there. There was no oomph behind that punch you just threw."
"But I used all my strength."
"You might have used all your strength but in the process of doing the steps correctly and trying to replicate what I did, when you hit the doll all the power you had built up vanished."
"Why?"
"Because you were putting too much thought into the steps. In a fight against an opponent like Veer, using a split second to think could be very disastrous. All it takes for him to turn the fight in his favour is just that split second you were distracted. You need to learn how to use the steps together with your strength, that way you can put more power into your punches. Try again but this time, don't think about it too much."
Taking a stance again, Jake did what Anna said. He put his thoughts on the steps for the punch but not as much before. Throwing out his fist, it landed on the doll and he saw 18.4 on the electric board.
"That punch was better than the last, try it again. With constant practice you will be able to throw hits without giving much thought to the steps. It will become a part of you."
Trying again, the electric board showed 19.
"We will be through with today's training when you can hit the doll and what shows on the board is the number 23."
After trying repeatedly for up to an hour, the electric board finally showed 22.8.
"Can't... we... stop here?" Jake asked with his hands on his knees, taking in very deep breaths. "22.8 is approximately 23."
"No, I said it must show 23 not a number approximately equal to 23. Stop being lazy and continue hitting the doll."
Standing straight, Jake did the steps but after doing it dozens of times in the past hour, he had next to no problem doing it right.
Hitting the doll, he saw the number 23 appear on the board. Smiling with felicity, Jake fell on the floor with sweat covering his entire torso. "I did it."
"Yes you did." Anna said as she laid down on him while he was on the floor.
Too tired to try pushing her off or struggle to move away, Jake let her lie on him. "You know I'm covered in sweat right?"
"Yes, it makes you look more attractive." Anna said, now resting her chin on his chest. "Besides, I'm not bothered about it. We're going to take a shower before we leave."
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"I mean you and me."
"There's no way I'm going to take a shower with you."
"Why not? I don't bite." Anna said smiling.
"That's what you think. Please get off me now, I want to leave."
"We haven't taken out shower yet."
"We are not taking any shower, I'll have my bath when I get home."
"Fine, see you tomorrow then." Anna said sadly.
"Unfortunately." Jake mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing. You're still on my body."
"Give me a kiss first." Anna said to him with her hands locked in his.
"Or I can push you off."
"You and I both know unless I let you, you can't push me off."
"Should I try it?" Jake asked.
"Why not?"
"I need my hands."
"You can try it only if you try pushing me from my chest." Anna said.
"What!"
"That's the deal. If you want me off so badly you're going to have to push me off from my chest."
"What if I try and you still don't leave?"
Anna put her right hand to her heart and said "I promise you I'll leave if you try pushing me from my chest."
Jake thought about it for a while before making a decision. 'She could probably stay here all night long waiting for me to agree and I don't have that kind of time to waste.'
"Okay I accept."
"Yay."
"Leave my hands alone before I change my mind."
With his hands now free, Jake tried pushing her away from her shoulders but she didn't move.
Shaking her head at him, Anna said to Jake "Wrong choice Jake, you lied to me."
Still trying to push her, Jake replied "I didn't lie, I accepted your condition but I changed my mind."
"Alright go home, or else you will be late for school again tomorrow." Getting off his body, Anna stood to her feet.
"Thank you." Jake said as he got up quickly. "Thank you very much." he yelled at her as he ran out of the training room.
Shaking her head and smiling, Anna switched off the lights in the training room and left.