Chapter 40 - Training Arc - Unarmed

  Another week had passed since the girls began their training regimen.

  I watched as they finished their final lap around the obstacle course, they had built a considerable amount of stamina than when they first started. Even Katherine, who had humiliated herself on day one, could run for another marathon now.

  "Alright, everyone! Gather around!" I called them out as I stood on the open field at the center of the obstacle course.

  The girls approached, breathing heavily but not collapsing as they had in those first brutal days. Good. Their foundations were finally solid enough to move forward.

  Isabella and Celestine exchanged their usual competitive glares, neither willing to show weakness in front of the other. The twins flanked the princess with their characteristic vigilance, while Moon and Night bounded over with an enthusiasm that reminded me they were still essentially teenagers despite their warrior training.

  "Today marks the beginning of a new phase in your training," I announced, rolling my shoulders to loosen them up. "From now on, we'll be focusing on unarmed combat."

  Katherine's hand shot up immediately. Of course.

  "Yes, trainee Katherine?"

  "Why do we need to train in unarmed combat when we'll be fighting with weapons most of the time? Isn't this inefficient?"

  I suppressed a smile. Always the direct one.

  "An excellent question. Let me answer it with another question: Can you guarantee you'll always have your weapon ready? What happens if you're ambushed while bathing? While sleeping? What if your weapon breaks mid-combat, or gets knocked away?"

  Katherine's expression shifted as understanding dawned. Beside her, Kimberly nodded slightly, already seeing where this was going.

  "Knowing unarmed combat reduces your vulnerabilities," I continued. "It turns your entire body into a weapon. More importantly, the theories and principles you learn in unarmed combat translate directly to armed combat. The footwork, the body mechanics, the timing… all of it carries over. So it's not wasted. Instead, it's building a foundation for you to grow further."

  "That makes sense," Celestine admitted, her competitive fire momentarily banked by genuine interest.

  "Good. Now, let me explain what martial arts actually are." I gestured for Night to join me in the center. "Night, if you would assist me with some demonstrations?"

  The wolf-eared beastgirl's tail wagged once before she controlled it, moving to stand beside me with the disciplined posture I'd drilled into all my soldiers.

  "Martial arts," I began, pacing slowly around the group, "are fundamentally about efficiency. They were developed by the weak to overcome brute strength. The entire purpose is to utilize power in the most effective way possible."

  I stopped and turned to Celestine. "Miss Celestine, would you mind helping with a demonstration? There's a training mace on the equipment rack. Please grab it and try to smash this boulder."

  I pointed to a human-sized boulder I'd just conjured with a simple earth-shaping spell, setting it a few paces away. Also, no, this is not the elemental control from before. It is just pure soil rising and mud to stone magic.

  Celestine retrieved the mace, testing its weight before approaching the boulder. Don't forget that she has some familiarity with weapons. She raised the weapon overhead and brought it down with considerable force.

  CRACK!

  The boulder fractured, deep cracks spreading across its surface, but it remained largely intact.

  "Not bad at all," I said genuinely. "That's a solid strike from someone still building their foundation. Now, watch this."

  I stepped up to the boulder, taking a deep breath as I settled into a proper martial arts stance. My feet positioned shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, weight distributed evenly. I chambered my right fist at my hip, left hand extended forward in a guard position.

  Then I moved.

  My entire body unwinds like a spring. My legs pushing, hips rotating, torso twisting, shoulder driving forward, all of it channeling into a single point as my fist connected with the boulder's surface.

  BOOM!

  The boulder exploded into rubble, fragments scattering across the training field.

  The girls stared, eyes wide.

  "Now, before anyone says 'but you're stronger,'" I held up a hand, "let me be clear. I am a tier 2 knight now, yes. But not every tier 2 knight can do what I just did. Hell, most tier 2 knights can't pulverize a boulder with a single punch. The difference isn't strength, it's the technique. It's understanding how to channel every bit of power your body can generate into a single point of impact."

  I pulled another mud-to-stone boulder.

  "Let me show you something even more interesting. This is called a one-finger-length punch."

  I stepped up to the new boulder, I touched the boulder with the tip of my finger and made a fist. No wind-up. No visible preparation.

  Then I punched.

  My fist moved perhaps a fist length in total, but the entire motion was a perfect cascade of power transfer, from my back foot pushing against the ground, through my leg, into my hip, up through my rotating torso, down my arm, and finally exploding through my knuckles.

  BOOM!

  The boulder shattered albeit not as thoroughly as the first one.

  "How...?" Isabella breathed, her rivalry with Celestine momentarily forgotten in the face of genuine awe.

  "You used your whole body," Kimberly observed quietly, her sharp eyes having caught the essential truth. "Even though your fist only moved a tiny distance, I could see your entire body participate in that punch. Your back foot pushed, your hip twisted, your shoulder drove forward. Everything moved in sequence, each part transferring power to the next until it all concentrated in your fist."

  "Excellent observation, trainee Kimberly!" I praised her, genuinely impressed. "That's exactly right. Martial arts aren't about raw strength. They're about mechanics. About understanding your body as a kinetic chain where power flows from one link to the next."

  I began pacing again, falling into lecture mode.

  "Martial arts can be broadly divided into two main categories: hard and soft. Hard styles focus on offense with strikes like punching, kicking, and other hitting techniques meant to overwhelm your opponent. What I just demonstrated with the boulder before? That's the hard style. Direct, aggressive, focused on dealing damage."

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  I gestured to Night again. "Now, let me show you the soft style. Night, I want you to attack me. Punch me, kick me, come at me with intent. Don't hold back."

  Night's eyes gleamed with barely suppressed excitement. "Yes, Master!"

  She launched herself forward with a straight punch aimed at my face. I didn't block it. Instead, I stepped to the side, redirecting her arm past me while simultaneously moving into her guard. Before she could recover, I had her arm locked and her balance compromised. I hold her down for a few seconds before letting her go and she immediately jumps back putting some distance for re-engaging.

  She tried a knee strike. I absorbed it by shifting my hip, then swept her supporting leg while controlling her upper body. She went down in a controlled fall.

  She rolled and came up with a kick. I caught her leg, using her own momentum to spin her around and dump her onto the ground again.

  Each time she attacked, I defended not with strength but with positioning, leverage, and timing. After a dozen exchanges, Night was breathing hard while I looked barely winded.

  "Soft style," I explained as Night caught her breath, "focuses on defense and counter-attacks. It's about using your opponent's strength against them. Redirecting rather than blocking. Exploiting openings rather than creating them through force."

  I helped Night to her feet, then turned back to the group.

  "Martial arts can also be categorized by their primary offensive methods: striking, grappling, and throwing. Striking is what you saw with the boulder demonstrations. It can be punches, kicks, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and many more. Grappling is about controlling your opponent's body through joint locks, holds, and pins. And throwing is about using leverage and momentum to send your opponent to the ground."

  “And all of that is the active concept of martial arts.”

  "Night, one more demonstration? Show them your hip throw."

  Night nodded eagerly. This time when she attacked, I allowed her to get a proper grip on me. She turned her hip, hooked my leg, and used the leverage to flip me over her shoulder.

  I went with the momentum, turning the fall into a controlled descent. Just before impact, I slapped the ground hard with my palm, dispersing the impact force safely across my arm and shoulder rather than letting it concentrate in my spine or head.

  SLAP!

  I rolled smoothly back to my feet.

  "That slapping motion," I said, noting how everyone's eyes had widened at the sound, "is called breakfall technique. It's one of the fundamental passive concepts in martial arts. How to fall safely, how to receive attacks while minimizing damage, how to turn defense into advantage."

  I looked directly at Kimberly. "Did you notice anything?"

  She nodded slowly. "When you fell, you didn't resist the throw. You went with it, controlled it. The moment you hit the ground, that slap distributed the impact. If you had tensed up and tried to stop the fall, you probably would have broken something."

  "Exactly!" I clapped my hands together. "That's the essence of passive concepts which is not resisting force directly, but managing it, redirecting it, absorbing it safely. It's just as important as learning to deliver force."

  I moved to stand in the center of the group.

  "So, to summarize: Hard and soft. Striking, grappling, and throwing. The active art of the attack, and the passive art of the fall. These are the fundamental concepts of all martial arts. Master these concepts, and you can adapt to any fighting style."

  "Now, for your training, we'll be building on three foundational styles," I announced. "First: Fist Style. The art of punching, footwork, and direct striking. Second: Leg Style. The art of kicks, balance, and controlling distance."

  I paused, anticipating the question. "And third: Break-Dance Style."

  A few confused looks bounced between them. Right. The name meant nothing here. But "Capoeira" would mean even less, and there’s no way I can explain its origins, can I? Also, my emphasis on capoeira is more on its unique ground movement that looks similar to break dance.

  "Break-Dance Style," I clarified, "focuses on ground movement, rolling, and unconventional mobility. It will teach you the passive concepts especially on how to fall, how to recover, how to fight from any position. Though it has its active applications as well."

  Albeit still unable to fully comprehend my explanation, the girls are filled with eagerness and curiosity for the lesson. That’s good.

  "Once you've grasped these foundations well," I continued, "you'll be able to branch into other styles that suit your individual strengths best. Like Kimberly and Katherine, for instance. You both could potentially learn the styles related to elemental control arts that match your affinities."

  I saw interest spark in their eyes.

  "For the rest of you," I admitted with some regret, "the elemental control arts are still under research. We have some theories for the basic four elements, but for other affinities are still a mystery. You might have to develop your own approaches based on the foundations I teach you."

  "Master Milo?"

  I turned to see Night's hand raised, her expression unusually serious.

  "Yes, Night?"

  "Could I learn Justice Style?" she asked. "The earth control art, I mean."

  I blinked, surprised. "You want to learn earth element control? Why? You can’t cast magic, right?"

  "But it’s human technique" Night refutes, then winces as if expecting punishment for the interruption. When I simply gestured for her to continue, she relaxed slightly. "Master, beastfolk magic is different. When we're cubs, the witch doctors perform a ritual. They determine which totem guides us."

  She placed a fist over her heart. "My totem is the Mountain. I have the affinity for strength, endurance, and resilience like a mountain. I didn’t know any shamanistic magic similar to human magic as we only have curses, hexes, and blessings of the totem. But when I watched Rocky training his earth control… I feel that I might be able to do something similar."

  I felt my face heat with embarrassment and frustration at myself.

  Damn it, Emilio. You did it again.

  I'd tested them all for magical affinity using the human method, never even considering that other races might have completely different magical systems. How many times had I stumbled over my own preconceptions these past few weeks? I stumbled my times on the elemental control arts discovery and now this?

  I was supposed to be the reincarnator with knowledge from another world. I should know better than to assume my way is the only way.

  "You're absolutely right, Night," I said, forcing myself to meet her eyes. "I apologize. I should have asked about beast folk magical traditions from the beginning instead of assuming the human system applied to everyone."

  I turned to address the whole group, but my gaze lingered on Moon as well.

  "This is an important lesson for all of us, myself included. Never assume your way is the universal way. Different cultures, different races, different backgrounds hold different truths. Stay open-minded, or you'll miss opportunities and make foolish mistakes."

  I looked back at Night. "Of course you can learn Justice Style. In fact, I'm very interested in seeing how your Mountain totem interacts with earth control arts. This could lead to some fascinating discoveries."

  Night's tail betrayed her with a single, stiff wag before she controlled it. "Thank you, Master!"

  "Moon," I called to the tiger-eared girl, "What about you? What is your totem and what are your affinities?"

  Moon's ears twitched as she thought. "The witch doctor said I'm connected to the moon totem. It grants affinities for stealth, ambush, heightened senses, and…" She frowned, searching for the word. "Deception? Trickery. Like leading someone's eyes astray?"

  Fascinating. So she is the best material for a ninja? If I understand it right, she is the epitome of an assassin character. But that was speculation for later.

  "We'll explore that together," I promised. "For now, focus on the basic foundation training with everyone else. Once you've mastered Fist Style, Leg Style, and Break-Dance Style, we'll work on discovering what your totem can do."

  Her face lit up with a brilliant smile.

  I clapped my hands together. "Alright! Enough talking. Time to start sweating. Everyone, form a line. We're going to begin with the most basic strike in Fist Style: the straight punch. Watch closely."

  I settled into my stance, demonstrating the technique slowly while explaining each component. Foot position. Weight distribution. Hip rotation. Shoulder drive. Fist alignment.

  The training arc continued on to the next stage.

  And despite my frustration with my own blind spots, I couldn't help but feel a spark of excitement.

  Every mistake I made, every assumption I challenged, every new discovery, those are not something embarrassing. They are all pieces of a puzzle I was slowly solving. This world was teaching me just as much as I was teaching these girls.

  After all, people said that failure is the mother of learning.

  They say the teacher learns twice. Maybe that was the real lesson here.

  Being a teacher wasn't just about passing down knowledge. It was about learning to see the world through others' eyes, to recognize the limits of your own understanding, and to grow taller alongside your students.

  "Emilio?" Isabella called me out of my reverie. She was mirroring the stance, her form already showing subtle refinement. "Like this?"

  "Close! Rotate your hip through the strike.. Think of it like you're trying to-"

  I caught her focused expression, the determined set of her jaw, and smiled.

  Yeah. This was going to be fun.