Owen the martial arts instructor

I arrived at the training hall where I was told to come for my martial training. Arti is already there. There is another person in the room. A big man is standing in the middle of the training hall with his arms crossed. He has short dark grey hair, a short beard, and pale blue eyes. The most noticeable thing about his appearance, however, is the scar that goes from his left cheek to the right side of his chin. A little piece of skin on the tip of his nose is also missing. His body is very muscular to the point where I can easily see the veins on his arms bulging. Overall, he looks to be in his mid-50s.

When I reach them, the man introduces himself. “My name is Owen. You may call me Instructor or Instructor Owen. I am an ex-commander of the Royal Guards. Now I am an instructor for the recruits to the Royal Guards. I will be acting as your trainer. Over the next month, I will show you the basics of combat with different types of weapons as well as your bodies. While doing that, I will help train you to build some muscle strength. Depending on the types of weapons you decide to continue training with at the end of the month, I will prepare individual training regimes for both of you. It is required for you to pick at least one weapon at the end of the month. You must be able to use some kind of weaponry to protect yourself if the situation requires. During the week, we will primarily focus on building up your muscles and strength. Then, gradually, we will start working with one type of weapon at a time. We will start with hand-to-hand combat first. Let’s begin your training.”

To say that the training was easy would be obviously lying. Over the next week, Arti and I underwent rigorous training. We ran a lot and used weights to build up our strength as Owen instructed. By the end of the week, I was feeling really good. The same couldn’t be said about Arti.

We are both walking to our next training session with Owen. Arti mumbles, “This training will be the **** of me.”

“Stop whining, Arti. You already look much healthier. You used to be as thin as a twig. Now you have some definition at least,” I shot back.

“I don’t care about having muscles. I just want to read,” he keeps complaining.

“Come on, it’s not so bad,” I say.

“Yes, it is. You just don’t feel it because you are a muscle-brain. I mean, you always looked athletic but now you are even more so. How is that even possible for such a short time of training?” he says looking at me sideways.

I look down at myself. I used to have a good definition, but now I started developing muscles. My chest, legs, and arms are bigger. I also noticed my abs becoming more toned and a six-pack slowly appearing.

I shrug and smirk. “Guess I am just that good.”

“Don’t come to me and beg to use my light magic to help you with your muscle aches again,” Arti grumbles.

I laugh and strike his back with the palm of my hand. “Don’t be like that.”

We reach the training hall and enter. Owen is already inside. “Today, we will be starting our hand-to-hand combat training. I will show you the basics of fighting with your bodies.”

The training session begins. Owen first tells us how to fight correctly. He tells us how to make a fist properly without the danger of breaking our fingers easily. He then tells us how to throw a punch. “Don’t move just your arm, but your whole body.” He then shows us the correct stances to take. The lesson goes on until he is satisfied enough that we understand his instructions.

He puts on soft protective gloves and raises his hand in front of him. “Artias, use what I told you and hit the palms of my hand with your fists.” Artias does, but he forgot to use what Owen told us. “That is not correct. You must pull your whole body into the punch, not just your arms. Zenovia, you try next.”

I take a stance and throw a punch using my whole body. My fist collides with Owen’s palm, making a loud sound. “Very good, Zenovia. You saw how he moved his body, Artias?”

The session continues until Arti is completely wiped out and I breathe heavily from straining.

“This will be all for today. I will see you tomorrow for our next session.”

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