I started my day with an early visit from Druoag. He even brought some food. on a massive plate, covered by a silver lid - which I found quite funny.
- It's better to start training early - he said, as soon as I opened the door.
Then he just moved forward, forcing me to step back and make some space. He practically had to crawl through the door, but somehow he made it inside. Because the ceiling was not placed high enough, he couldn't even stand up.
- Maybe this wasn't the best idea - he confessed. - I wanted to eat together, and talk about what we will be doing, but maybe you should eat by yourself, and then come to the arena. We will talk there.
- Y-yeah...
He then gave me the plate and crawled back. The three Atri saw the whole scene and barely could hold their laughs. Since there was plenty of food, I just placed everything on the closest table and invited them with a gesture to join me.
I wanted to start training as soon as possible since the presence of another Calludin whom I had to fight was bugging me a bit, so I just started shoving the food into my mouth. After filling my stomach, I rushed out and went straight to the stadium.
Sadly my trainer was not present yet, and I was forced to wait for him a bit. I utilized the time by doing some stretching, and a short warmup.
- Warming up? Good - said Druoag as he finally joined me.
His words made me stop, and I jogged towards him.
- Let's first discuss what we will be doing - he continued. - I know that you humans are usually weak, and your strength is an effect of a special technology, which means we might not be able to make you progress further in the physical aspects, but there are definitely a few things we can work on.
- Yeah - I agreed. - We might not be able to make me stronger in the usual means. So, what other things do you have n mind?
- Tactic, and elimination of the mistakes you make. First of all, you need to tell me something. Did you use some kind of weapon previously? Using only your bare hands puts you at a disadvantage.
- I did. I used a pudao - I said, and then began explaining how does the weapon look like.
He nodded after hearing it all.
- It might take a day or two, but I'll get you something like that. One just for training, and also a much better one. Energy blade. For now, let's focus on eliminating the mistakes you have in your movement, and also make sure you are in your top condition. I believe you don't need my help with physical training, but I'll be your sparring partner, to watch you and help you fix your moves, just as we did before. When the weapons will be ready, we will focus on the tactic. Does that sound good?
- Yep - I agreed.
We immediately went into it and spent a straight few hours making sure I would stop fighting like I always had 'Shadow walk' on my disposal and could reposition whenever I wanted to. It was definitely not something that could be fixed in one day, but I needed to really focus on this, so I could quickly eliminate it, and then polish my moves.
Then Druoag left me, and I spent the rest of the day running laps around. Even when the night approached I didn't go to bed, but instead swung by the gym, to work on my muscles somewhat. I felt like I can squeeze more out of my body, and this little bit of training only improved this feeling.
Days spent fighting weaklings made me rusty, and the latest break due to my idiocy during the sparing with Druoag didn't help.
The next day was almost the same. I ate breakfast in the mansion and then trained with the former champion. Even Bashan joined us, to offer his keen eyes, while we were trying to do some exchanges of punches and kicks. Obviously, the monstrous alien was holding back, a lot. This made me think that somebody more at my level would be better to train with.
Anyway, by the end of the day, I got more confident in myself, since I was doing a lot of progress with my moves, although I had to constantly be focused on myself to not make any mistakes. The first step was made, now I only needed to make it all become more subconscious by practice, practice, practice, and some more practice.
The next day was also very good because Druoag joined me in the arena with good news.
- The training weapon will be here this evening, so tomorrow we can properly start making preparations - he informed. - I also placed an order of energy weapons, but this will take some time since nobody on this planet can make something this advanced.
- Good - I said with a smile.
And then we both focused on the sparring.
Again I felt a lot of progress. The rust was coming off me, and my moves were getting sharper, still far from perfect, since I had to be very focused on what I was doing, which was tempering my speed and reaction a lot, but it seemed to be on a good path to getting me prepared.
Bashan later appeared again and kept observing, adding some insight from time to time. His experience was really showing, and the good advice only accelerated the speed of my recovery. It was not gonna be the same when I had all the different skills at my disposal, but I was at least feeling a bit more like myself, compared to how I felt before.
This was very reassuring, but also quite sad. the good days when I could blast everything on my way with fire magic were gone. Only the physical power remained, but it was always something....
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