The atmosphere in the dojo was already bustling when I arrived. As I approached, I found the students running in circles around the room. It seemed Hiroshi had decided to conduct the first training indoors. I became curious and focused my gaze on the students who had gathered for the training. There were only four people. It might seem like a small number, but it appeared that this dojo had just been built, so it was reasonable that they had only a few students. The oldest in the group was a man, seemingly in his twenties or thirties. The youngest looked only a bit older than me. The other two were twin girls, around fifteen years old. As the morning sun began to warm the room, casting a golden glow through the windows, I started to feel a mix of excitement and nervousness as I watched the students warming up.
Hiroshi, noticing my arrival, waved for me to join the group:
Hiroshi: "Hey, Kaimmy! You came to watch the training, huh? That's great! Why don't you join them? Warming up is a great way to start the day," he said energetically. "Don't forget to take off your shoes!" he added.
I looked at Hiroshi and then at the students who were still running. I hesitated for a moment as they were all unfamiliar faces to me. But then I gathered my courage and stepped forward, leaving my shoes behind. Well, why not? This was why I came, after all.
Hiroshi nodded vigorously as he made space for me in the circle. I tried to adjust my pace to match the others. At first, my body felt a bit stiff from anxiety, but I soon got used to it and began to feel more comfortable.
While we ran, Hiroshi started giving additional instructions.
Hiroshi: "Very good, everyone! Now let's change it up a bit." Grabbing a wooden staff, he positioned himself on the side of the circle. "When you pass by me, you must jump over the staff. If you think you can jump higher, shout 'higher' loudly, and I'll raise the staff a bit higher. If you think it's too high, shout 'lower,' and I'll lower it. Try to increase the height gradually until you find your limit."
The students followed Hiroshi's instructions, jumping over the staff. The older man got too excited and raised the staff too high, causing him to collide with it during his jump. But Hiroshi anticipated this and always managed the staff in a way that wouldn't hurt the students. I wasn't very confident at first. It took a few rounds before I finally mustered the courage to raise the staff a bit above my waist. I didn't dare go any higher; I didn't want to hit the staff and embarrass myself. Although I wasn't an athlete, I wasn't sedentary either. I had a habit of accompanying my father in some of his daily exercises, so I had no trouble keeping up the pace.
Hiroshi: "Good job! Now let's slow down. I want you all to walk around the room at a pace you find comfortable. Walk randomly, try to see where each person is and fill the empty spaces in the room."
After some time, Hiroshi continued with his instructions.
Hiroshi: "Very well! Now, I want you to keep your eyes closed for as long as possible while you continue walking. Try to rely less on your vision and more on your other senses." A few more seconds passed, and he continued. "Okay, now gradually increase the speed until you're all running again. Remember, fill the empty spaces, and don't bump into other students."
After a short while, Hiroshi's voice echoed again:
Hiroshi: "Great, now you can only use the right half of the room." To increase the challenge, he reduced the available space twice more, making it progressively more difficult. It was an interesting experience. Several times, I found myself almost colliding with other students, narrowly avoiding them at the last moment. I struggled to keep my eyes closed for as long as possible, but there were moments when I couldn't resist and opened them to confirm the positions of others. Finally, Hiroshi continued:
Hiroshi: "Great job! Now let's take a break. Spread out, find a comfortable position, and focus on your breathing. You all did very well; there were only a few collisions today!"
The apprentices scattered around the room, catching their breath and relaxing. Ayako used this moment to approach me again.
Ayako: "How's it going so far?"
Kaimmy: "It's different from what I've seen my father do, but it was cool. I've never participated in a warm-up like this before."
Ayako: "Hahaha, you haven't seen anything yet. My husband likes to innovate and come up with new challenges to make the training unique and less monotonous. This last exercise was one of his innovations, but there's a hidden purpose to these exercises that you'll only discover as you progress in your training. Wait and see what I mean."
I wasn't sure if I should feel intimidated or curious about her comment, and in the end, I decided to just follow Hiroshi's instructions, who was now leading the students in a series of stretches. Out of all the exercises, stretches were my favorite part of training with my father, and unlike the other exercises, I never skipped the stretching part. It always felt calming to me. As we performed the exercises, Ayako approached me again and said:
Ayako: "Well, well, it seems you're not as much of a beginner as I thought. Come on, let me help you. I want to see your limits up close." The expression on her face was both threatening and excited, like a child who had found a new favorite toy. "Here, try this," she said as she sat on the floor with her legs stretched forward, bending her body forward until her head was between her knees. "This position is called the caterpillar position; try to imitate me!"
Kaimmy: "Y-yes...!" Overcome by shyness and feeling an unexpected embarrassment, I tried to imitate Ayako. I couldn't get as far as she did, but I felt like I did well enough, which boosted my confidence a bit. Unexpectedly, Ayako stood up and came to my back without me noticing. I then felt a gentle but steady push on my back, along with Ayako's excited voice:
Ayako: "I'll help you a little. Let me know if it's too much for you." Feeling my face burn with increasing embarrassment, I tried to swallow my shyness and allowed Ayako to push me gradually until I reached the same position she had demonstrated earlier, even though I only managed to get that far with her help. Ayako: "Hee... interesting! I'll have to borrow you from Hiroshi later; I want to explore this a bit more." While maintaining light pressure on my back, she continued, "Your ears are red. Do you not like this?"
Kaimmy: "I-it's not that I don't like it; it's just that I'm embarrassed to do it in front of other people," I said softly. "Actually, I sometimes do some basic stretches to relax, but I never do them near anyone else."
Ayako: "I see. Next time, I'll take you to a more private place. For now, let me return you to Hiroshi. Look, he's starting the next exercise." She said with an unusually intense glint in her eyes.
Hiroshi: "All right, everyone! Now that we're warmed up, let's split into pairs. Each pair will work on light hand-to-hand combat exercises. Remember, the goal is not to hurt but to learn to read your opponent's movements and refine your techniques."
At this moment, I froze for a few seconds. Hiroshi's instructions were for us to form pairs, but I didn't know anyone there. After looking around, I realized that the boy closest to my age was nearby. After hesitating for a few moments, I approached him.
Kaimmy: "H-hello. My name is Kaimmy. I'll be here for a while. Do you already have a partner?"
Yuki: "Ah, hello. My name is Yuki. You arrived a bit later, didn't you? And no, I don't have a partner yet. Would you like to be my partner for this exercise?" the boy said, looking slightly surprised by my sudden approach.
Kaimmy: "Please!" I said, trying to look into the boy's eyes as I spoke but feeling my face redden every time I did. 'This isn't good; my mother always said that not making eye contact while speaking is impolite,' I thought, but contrary to my reason, I unconsciously averted my gaze several times while scratching my left cheek with my index finger.
Yuki was almost the same height as me. With his messy dark red hair and yellow-gold eyes that clearly reflected my own image, he stared at me, the girl who had approached him suddenly. I noticed that he, too, blushed slightly at that moment, making a gesture as if he had seen a cute little animal. While Ayako formed a pair with one of the twins, Hiroshi continued:
Hiroshi: "Come on, I see that everyone has formed their pairs. First, assume your defensive stance. In case you haven't found a position you prefer, just copy mine," he said as he assumed a standard fighting stance, with his hands in front of his body, the left slightly ahead of the right, and his feet spaced in the same direction as his hands. Imitating Hiroshi's position, I turned to face Yuki. "All right. Now, one of you will perform a slow-motion attack, as if you were submerged in a dense liquid. It can be any move you can imagine. The other should analyze the opponent's movements and think of a way to counter. After the first strike, switch roles, and the attacker becomes the defender. When you feel comfortable, gradually increase the speed. Repeat the cycle until I tell you to stop."
Feeling a slight tension and a sense of excitement, I looked at Yuki, our eyes meeting briefly. I nodded timidly, indicating that I was ready to begin. Yuki smiled back, an encouraging gesture that brought a bit more color to my face. Yuki was the first to attack, extending his right arm slowly and deliberately, simulating a punch. I kept my eyes fixed on his movements, trying to figure out the best way to defend. As Yuki made his move, I tried to use my left hand to deflect his punch while simultaneously simulating a strike to his shoulder with my other hand, equally slowly. He responded by blocking my strike with his forearm and then counterattacked with a kick at my hip. Initially, our movements were somewhat robotic and not very fluid, but as we exchanged more blows, our actions became smoother and more synchronized.
Hiroshi walked slowly among the students, offering instructions and occasional tips as he observed us. Then, after some time had passed, his voice echoed through the courtyard once more:
Hiroshi: "Okay, now, switch partners."
That caught me by surprise again, but I tried to compose myself and quickly looked around for a new partner. I attempted to repeat what I had done with Yuki, approaching the next student, and introducing myself briefly. The process repeated a few more times until everyone had partnered with everyone else, including Hiroshi and Ayako. When it was my turn to face Hiroshi, I felt a bit intimidated; after all, he was much taller than me, like facing a mountain. Every strike I attempted against him was deflected in a way that made me lose my balance, and I had to take a few steps back to avoid falling. When I faced Ayako, it was like dealing with an eel, elusive and slippery. Her movements were unpredictable, attacking me from angles and in ways I didn't expect. Her fighting stance was also quite different, keeping her torso farther away, concentrating her body's weight on one foot, and keeping the other slightly forward and raised. I was surprised that she oly attacked me with kicks and used her hands only to deflect some of my strikes. After more exercises and demonstrations of different types of strikes, Hiroshi finally announced the end of the morning training.
Hiroshi: "Well done, everyone! Remember, if you want to become masters someday, you must practice constantly. Now, relax and take a deep breath. For those interested in studying aura manipulation, you can come back in the afternoon. Otherwise, you're free to go."
Kaimmy: "What? Already?" I murmured softly. I hadn't realized that it was approaching lunchtime; time seemed to have passed so quickly. Did I enjoy this so much that I didn't even notice the time passing? Nevertheless, my murmur didn't go unnoticed, and Ayako approached me again.
Ayako: "See? I told you that you'd like it, didn't I? After all, time flies when you're doing something you enjoy. I bet you didn't even notice that the sun is already high up." She said triumphantly. "What did you think?"
I was still in disbelief that so much time had passed. I spent a few seconds looking around, as if to confirm with my own eyes that it was true.
Kaimmy: "Well, I think I really enjoyed it. It's so different from the training I did with my father... it's much more dynamic," I said, placing a hand on my chin and watching the other students saying their goodbyes.
Ayako: "I knew you'd say that. But this was just the first part of the training. Look, we plan to do physical training in the mornings, alternating between days with gentler and more technical exercises like today, and days with training focused on muscle development. Tomorrow you can expect slightly more strenuous and physically demanding exercises than today.
Kaimmy: "Ah, so that's how it is... I've never been very good with those more strenuous exercises," I said, feeling a bit apprehensive.
When the training became too intense, I usually came up with some excuse to avoid the overly strenuous workouts that my father insisted on including me in. I never liked the feeling of exhaustion after a strenuous physical training session or the sore muscles that lasted for days afterward.
Ayako: Hahaha, don't worry. I'll borrow you from Hiroshi tomorrow morning; I'll make your training more interesting than just frying your muscles. I will have... I mean, we'll have a lot of fun," she said with a suspicious smile. "But, in my opinion, the afternoon training will be much more interesting than the morning training. That's where we'll teach aura manipulation. Your father is a master at it. I assume you're already somewhat familiar with the concept, aren't you? Anyway, all the students here are beginners; today was our first class, after all. We'll need to give a comprehensive explanation to everyone later." She said, gesturing grandly with her hands, the gleam in her eyes even more intense when she mentioned borrowing me in the morning.
Kaimmy: "Yes, my father tried to teach me a bit, but my mother always said I should focus more on magic, so I made hardly any progress." I felt a little relieved since I would be spared the strenuous training of the next day, but I became alarmed again when I noticed the intensity of the gleam in her eyes.
Ayako: "Hmm, so she did that. Don't worry; we'll help you understand more about your aura. Come on, we still need to prepare lunch, okay?"
Kaimmy: "Okay~."