A/N: Hey fellas! In this part of the training, I'm still gonna call him Faust. But subsequent events I will call him in his new name.
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"Your training officially starts now!"
Faust walked to the center of the field before turning around to face him. Of course he knows him, he was that 'Stick', the one who trained Elektra and Daredevil how to fight.
"Okay, what do I do?"
"Place your things in that basket over there, uh-uhhh-uhh including that glasses you are holding. Yes the one on your left hand, don't try to change hands, I can feel it."
"What the heck, are you really blind? How are you doing that?"
"Yes, I am! Stop wasting time because we're going to have a long day."
"Fine!"
"Say kid, do you know how to fight?"
"Of course, didn't you see it err-- nevermind. But yes I can fight."
"Then let's start, c'mon. Hit me with all you've got."
"Then I won't be polite and I'm not gonna underestimate you either."
"Good, don't hold back. Use any means necessary to defeat me and when I say any, it includes all the dirty tactics you can think of."
"Are you sure?"
"Just do it and don't be a pussy."
"Okay!"
Faust was pretty confident at himself. At least, when it comes to fighting, he already have an experience and he expected that he can last for a couple of minutes before he was defeated. That's right. He anticipated that he would be defeated not because he wasn't confident in himself rather because of the opponent's identity. It would be strange if he can defeat him in their first meeting since his goal was to learn from him.
He charge forward as silent as he could and he launched a kick aiming his neck. However, Stick easily deflected his kick by diverting the force of impact.
"Come on, kid. Is that it?"
Hearing that, Faust only reply were his attacks getting vicious. He around swinging his elbow targeting Stick's head but the old man just crouch down a little to dodge before delivering a punch in his gut. This made Faust stumble backward coughing violently.
"That it? You are full of openings. Though you have good foundation. You certainly know how to swing. Stand up and start again. I can sense that's not the full extent of your ability."
Faust stood up and poised to attack. This time he will use his hidden ability. He charged once again and used a feint kick while activating his overdrive. He saw Stick's shoulder move intending to block but he change his attack halfway striking a jab towards old man's throat. What he didn't was Stick also used a feint block so he was able it grab Faust's wrist that was targeting his throat. However, Faust's chain attack wasn't over yet. He clench Stick's collar preparing for a headbutt, but it was also a feint and a cover for his knee heading towards the groin area.
He thought he would succeed as it was a great tactic but he was disappointed soon cause Stick manage to block his knee with a push of his hand. Not only that, Stick butted his head directly which caught off guard while staggering backward once again.
Bang!
"Aw"
He wasn't able to see it or even dodge it because their were too close.
"Fuck! That hurts like hell! I think my nose broke. Ahhh hiss aw" Faust shook his head and touched his nose wincing in pain.
"Okay, that's enough for now. I've already gauged your combat ability. Boy you're quite viscous with your attacks, huh? And you know how to feint as well adding some chain combo in your attacks."
"I got a good teacher, unfortunately I don't know where she is right now or if she's even alive."
"She certainly is a good teacher for teaching you how to target the vital points but you are still lacking. You rely too much on your eye sight."
"Well, duh! How can I see your attacks if don't use my ey--... Ohhh nevermind tch forget I didn't say anything." Faust cut off his own protest when he saw Stick smirking. It isn't right saying it to a blind man that can still whoop his ass easily.
"Soo.. What to do?"
"Quite simple, I'll take a way your sense of sight."
"Whoo whoa whoaaaa!! Daddy Chill! Seeking martial guidance from you doesn't mean I want to be blind like you. If that's the requirement, I'm sorry I don't plan to avail a PWD discount just yet."
"You are really a moron, are you? What I mean is you just have to wear a blindfold you dumb piece of shit."
"Ohhhh that! I see...tch you should've said so from the very beginning! That's one way of avoiding some misunderstandings here instead of playing mysterious."
Hearing that, Stick couldn't help but have bulges of veins in his forehead and his mouth twitch in annoyance.
"To fight in the dark is to fight blind. So you'll have to be blind." Then Stick threw him a black cloth to cover his eyes
"Listen carefully, kid. From this moment on, you will have to put on this blind fold and never take it off unless I said so. This means that one hundred percent of your time in our training and seventy percent of the day, you gonna do it blindfolded. Are we clear punk?"
"I'm starting to think that this is a mistake. And I have a name!" Faust said while rubbing his cheek.
"We all pay for the choices we make. Hmmm wait a minute, so you don't hate the name Noah, huh. Whatever, kid. Then I will call you that from now on."
Faust didn't even realized it as he himself began to accept the name Noah.
A/N: From this moment on, I'm gonna address the MC as Noah instead of Faust.
MC: Finally a decent name, huh. It took you 43 Chapters before you gave a good name for fuck sake. Yay, let's celebrate for Einstein here.
A/N: Says the one who doesn't even have any substantial powers. You can't even touch Stick's balls. Heh, now that's what I call burying you twice (mic drop with smirk)
--
Without any choice, Noah took the blindfold from the old man and tied around his head completely covering his eyes. At this time, he literally can't see anything.
Then the old man started his lesson "Like I said, the reason why you can't avoid my counter attack is because you rely too much on your sense of sight. The goal of this training is to strengthen your other senses so you could use them instinctively."
"Sit down on your legs."
Noah sat on his leg like a japanese samurai waiting for instructions. He tried to extend his senses to the surroundings but it was only limit to the sounds.
Suddenly, Stick move towards him quietly.
When he did this, Noah started to feel something.
"You feel that, kid? Quite a fast learner, eh? That's right, when you lose your sight, other senses becomes stronger."
"I will change my position in the next moment and while I do so, point out the direction of my location. Let's start."
Stick move towards his back silently but Noah was able to point out his position if he concentrate hard.
"You feel that right? What you feel is the presence of someone in your vicinity. It's just harder for your senses to convince your brain that what you feel is a hundred percent right that's why most of the time we are unable to decide, confused or can't navigate in the dark since the brain relies too much on your eyesight."
"Concentrate and harness that feeling and try to connect to your surrounding through your hearing, smell, feeling the vibrations in the air."
As he followed the instructions from the Stick, the feeling gets stronger and stronger.
'What a wonderful feeling. Wait something's coming at two o'clock'
Smack!
Noah tried to lean to the side to dodge but he was still too late.
"Ouch! It hurts goddamit!" Noah winced in pain.
"Listen, kid. The state were you're in moments ago is called 'One with nature' and the steps on how you get into that state is called 'Meditation'. Take a deep breath and breath out without any hurry. The more you do it, the more you'll feel the presence of everything around you. Later on it'll become a habit and you won't need to enter meditation to be in that state."
"I feel something!" Noah said suddenly.
"Really? Describe to me that feeling."
"It feels like you are enjoying this."
Smack!!
"Awww! Why does it sting so much?"
Stick snickered and said, "Heh, I guess we'll have to work on your reflexes too."
"And how are we going to do that?"
Smack!
"By taking a beating, punk. You first have to take a beating if you wanted to beat somebody."
Smack!
"Ouch!"
"Again!!! Feel it kid. Try to avoid it"
Smack!!!
"Aghhh"
"Again.."
"Againn!!!"
"Remember the vibration in the air!!"
Smack!!
Noah gritted his teeth in determination as endured the pain. If he wanted to survive in this world and protect his own interests, he gotta persevere to the end.
"Very good, kid I can feel your determination. But that doesn't change the fact that you can still get hit by a stick."
"Focus!!! What rules the body is your mind and your strongest weapon is your body."
Smack!!
Noah was getting the hang of it. He slowy started to adapt and think of himself to be really blind. The two of them spend all their morning doing this kind of training.
After lunch, the old man changed his training a little. Still in blindfold, Noah stood in the middle of the field.
The old man on the other hand move like a whirlwind around him. Stick told him the mechanics of this new training. What he have to do is just dodge what was thrown at him.
"Hey old man, can you tell me when are you going to teach me martial arts?"
"When you know how to dodge"
Thud!
"Argh!!"
Noah was hit in the shoulder. He tried to endure and concentrate sensing his presence.
Woooooooooosh!
As he calm his nerves and focuses in sensing presence, he suddenly knew where the stone was coming. Instinctively, he rolled over and was able to dodge the flying stone.
"Very Good!! You might be a complete noob right now but I can tell that your enemies should be praying for their lives right now. However, you made such a large movement just for dodging a piece of stone. You will easily exhaust yourself if this goes on. Minimize your movements to the extreme and act what only requires."
"Get up, remove your blindfold for now. I'll show you how it's done. Pick up the stones, it's your turn to throw."
"Whoa we're like playing a game."
"Yeah, kid. We're like playing a game. When you successfully dodge a stone it'll be your turn to throw. The more you get hit, the more you'll stay as a target."
"I can constantly change my position right?"
"Yes, just throw that damn stone punk!"
Noah ran around the old man trying to find the perfect angle to throw.
tap tap tap tap wooooooooosh!!
The stone flew a perfect arc heading to the back spine of Stick. As it was about to hit, the old man leans a little to his side and the stone flew past him instead.
Noah was dumbfounded. Compared to the old man, he looked like shit when he move.
"Wow, what a cool way of posing, I mean dodging." Noah complimented.
Stick on the other hand ignored his compliment and said, "It's your turn, wear your blindfold."
"How can you know where the stone is coming from?"
"That's easy to answer. It's because you are too damn loud! Your footsteps, your breathing and your weight, I can sense them all. Try to hide your presence, minimize your sounds you make to the extreme. You are fighting in the dark and darkness is your advantage."
"This is like Batman's training." Noah muttered to himself.
"Bat what?!! Enough chitchat! Let's continue."
Woooooooosh Bang! Argh!
This scenario continued for a while as the both of them made exchanges with their throws.
Once again, Stick changed the rules a little bit. This time, the attacker is now blindedfolded when he throws. Noah tried his best but he missed everytime so he kept being the target for the old man. They kept moving around the field like they are playing tag.
Noah even tried to hide under a the table keeping quiet but he was still hit.
Time pass by and it was already afternoon.
Noah was on the ground breathing heavily. He was lying down spreading his legs and arms not caring about the dirt.
"Congratulations on surviving day one, kid."
Noah was too tired to respond. He got bruises everywhere but nothing was serious.
"You have to come here everyday to do this kind of training, any problem with that?"
"No... haaah..haaaah can't...move...my...body".