Progress

"What do I have to learn first?" Ashton asked, standing up from the grass and cleaning the dirt that had stuck on him away from his cloth.

A foreign smile crept on Marcus' lips as he turned around to face Ashton.

"You know…you can be annoying and frustrating to deal with."

"Is that a compliment?" Ashton chuckled, readying himself by doing some quick stretches.

"No, it's not!"

Ashton snarled at Marcus' remark. "So, what do we start with? A battle with you?"

"That is some fancy way to ask for death Ashton. You cannot compete with me yet." Marcus chuckled, his voice filled with amusement as he said those words.

"Let's try it out then!" Ashton shouted charging earnestly towards Marcus to attack him. "Arrrr!!!"

The latter was quick to grasp Ashton's flawed moves as he swiftly shifted the direction of his foot and took a single step backwards making Ashton fall into the ground with his single punch.

"Ouww!" Ashton groaned but that was the least pain he could handle well. He quickly got up to his feet and turned at Marcus again attempting to attack.

"One thing about attacking in a fight Ashton," Marcus began catching the fisted punch Ashton had launched at him with his left hand. "You have to calculate each and every move your opponent makes."

Ashton freed his hand from Marcus' grip and tried to send another punch but before he reached, Marcus had kicked his leg making him fall on a kneel and Marcus stepped away, his back turned against Ashton.

"Learning fighting techniques is the same as learning how to use a chopstick for the first time. You have to calculate the balancing of the two sticks between your fingers first…" He turned abruptly, throwing a fist into the air and it almost smashed into Ashton' s face as he had planned a sneak attack on Marcus.

"...you have to calculate ever variable within a short period of time." He grabbed Ashton's right shoulder with his left hand and Ashton tried to shrug out of his grip but it seemed impossible as his shoulder pad was fast glued to Marcus' touch. "You are too slow Ashton, if I had used some magic to amplify this attack on your shoulder, your arm is gone already."

Ashton's breath was ragged at his continuous fail to send a single blow at Marcus. He tried to set himself free from his grip and continue in with his attacking attempt but Marcus summoned his magical creed and a small flame light emanated from his palm. He sent the magic into Ashton and the poor boy crashed into the field carelessly, his back grazing the ground as he fell back.

"Argh!" Ashton wailed slamming his hand on the ground angrily. "This is impossible!"

Marcus walked up to Ashton and offered him a hand in an attempt to help him get back to his feet. He said, " It is only impossible in your head Ashton."

Ashton glared at him and rolled his eyes before slamming Marcus' hand away in rejection of his help. He got up on his own.

"Does that make any sense to you huh? I cannot beat you only because it's what I am thinking in my head."

"Yes!"

"All these attempts to send one single punch at you are all failing because I think I cannot make it towards you- in my head? Well, you better explain to me well so I can at least understand what you're trying to get at." Ashton shrugged, panting heavily.

Marcus smiled before he began to say, "One thing you need to master first is how you manage your reflexes and to attain that, you have to be quick and calculating. Everything happens in your head, your eyes are only there to send signals to your brain. That is where everything works, pre-planning and advancing even stopping an attack right in time." Marcus explained.

"Still a bit far fetched."

"Did you not go to a preschool or something while growing up?" Marcus asked, holding his waist.

Ashton scratched his hair. "Those words are a bit too extreme, Marcus. I never went to school as I lived in the slum my whole life. I did not get any fancy life like you did and besides my level of comprehending stuff is average."

A sly cat ripped Marcus' tongue and swallowed it earnestly. His eyes tried to convey his words to Ashton but the latter wasn't feeling it.

"Hmm…" Marcus mumbled thinking about what to say next to concede the salt burn question he had asked. "Where did we stop?" He asked, his voice laden with extreme awkwardness.

"Whatever." Ashton said to himself. "Tell me how to calculate the moves of my opponent so I can manage my quick reflexes."

"Oh that, first you have to look into their eyes, try not to show any emotions and watch them subtly you can add a small smirk to get them more angry and they would charge first definitely."

"And does that thesis only work on first charge? I mean calculating their moves?"

Marcus nodded. "There's a ninety nine point nine percent chance you will get ahead of them with this thesis and so their immediate move is what you watch out for next. When they make their first charge you should be able to calculate the proximity of their attack and how fast they would get to you within three seconds." Marcus explained.

He continued while working in circles around Ashton.

"Within that three seconds, you have to calculate their speed, dexterity, sudden movements and where their weak points are. If you can manage to pull this off within three seconds, you will be a step ahead of them and know how to manage your quick reflexes and swerve away from their attacking force and target their weak point as they falter to the ground."

Ashton shrugged, a thought seeping into his mind. "What if it is an unaware attack? Like I am blindfolded or something and I want to manage my reflexes?"

"That is when your sixth sense comes into action. You have to be self aware of what is to come in a situation like this. You have to picture yourself in a dark room,..."

Ashton subtly closed his eyes without being told to and he imagined himself in a room as dark as a Vantablack. There was no single ray of light in the room and the only thing that broke through the dark fog was Marcus' voice.

"...you are all alone but the enemies seeped in as a dark entity. How do you differentiate the darkness and the darkness you are in a battle with?"

"Instincts?" Ashton asked, his eyes still firmly shut.

"Correct! Your sense of hearing also comes into action and you have to grasp every sound that exists in a prolonged silence. Unconsciously, an enemy lurch his hand forwards towards your face and…"

Ashton lurched his hand forward, grabbing the incoming fisted punch that had almost sent a sickening crush into his face. His eyes darted open to see why he had held his hand out abruptly and why he had caught something out of his imagination.

But, it was Marcus putting him to a small test and Ashton had passed by catching the blow he was about to send into his face.

"Not so bad for a start." Marcus said with a smile that showed how proud he was of how quick Ashton had learned this new instinctical move.

Ashton returned the smile, his eyes shining like the stars at what he had accomplished.

"Come, let me teach you how to control basic elemental magic."