27 Training (2)

After an hour break, Lucas called Layla Palmer again and told her it's time to begin training. This time it was warrior training. Of course, Lucas was not a warrior himself so he could not teach her sword arts. But Lucas was adept in martial arts. On Earth, Lucas had done Mixed Martial Arts, he was a 3rd Dan black belt in Kickboxing. It was a class taught at the children's home by a Sensei who volunteered for free. Sensei Khali Khalid.

" As I told you a warrior is a master of CQC(1). So I will be teaching you how to fight. I will not use my fists but hit you with a flat hand. Do not think because you are a girl I will go easy on you because I won't. I will give you as much as you can handle."

After Lucas said that Lucas told her the basic fighting stances and how to jab and punch efficiently. She was still sloppy but she got the gist of it. Lucas told her to practice her punches and kicks. So for the next 4 hours, she was practising her kicks and punches. Lucas gave her breaks in the middle to recuperate.

After four hours Lucas told her that they were going to spar. Layla Palmer looked really nervous. As she stood in her fighting stance.

" Your stance is weak. You need to have equal weight distribution on both your feet. Widen your stance. Keep your hands up."

Layla Palmer did as Lucas said and as she put her hands up Lucas lunged in and hit her with a flat fist in her stomach.

" Oww, I wasn't ready."

" That's the point. Always be on guard. When you enter this ring all chivalry disappears. Expect the unexpected. Never underestimate your opponent no matter how much weaker they may seem."

Lucas and Layla Palmer resumed their position and fighting stance. This time Layla Palmer struck first with her fists towards Lucas's face. Lucas casually moved his neck to the right and dodged the punch without moving an inch.

" See I am always on guard. Plus your punch is practically useless. You need to use more of your back and your hips. Your strike speed and force isn't just determined by the strength of your arms."

Lucas and Layla Palmer continued to train like this for two hours. Where Lucas gave her tips on how to improve. He also hit her a lot. He came up with surprise scenarios to catch her off guard. Not that he couldn't take her down without it but increase her reaction speed.

By this time it was getting dark so Lucas stopped the training. Lucas then told her about a river nearby where she could wash up and clean herself of all the sweat. So Lucas and Layla Palmer both took turns washing their bodies in the water. Afterwards, Lucas killed another animal that had a taste similar to chicken. He braaied this too but with a different marinade.

Layla Palmer couldn't seem to get enough of it. She loved it. Lucas was happy to see how much she loved the food he made. After they ate they sat at the fire and gazed at the stars and talked.

" I'm sorry I haven't said it yet but thanks for saving me."

" Aah don't mention it. It's been fun having you around."

" Just one thing. Where did you come from? Because I did not see you before I just disappeared?"

" I was first in the royal library but when I felt the tremors I assumed they probably fired the s.m.a again seeing that I was a failure. I used the white light to mask the white light of my teleportation spell."

" So basically you were in the room the whole time?"

" Yes, I wa"

Pah! Layla Palmer slapped Lucas in the face.

" Oww! What was that for?"

" If you were in the room earlier you could have saved me earlier. So you deserve that much." "Plus you should totally expect the unexpected." Layla Palmer said mockingly.

" Okay, I guess I deserve that."

[ 60% and you still got some form of retribution. Your luck really is bad.]

" Ag, shut up System." Lucas thought.

" So same thing tomorrow?" Layla Palmer said.

" Yeah let's get some sleep, it's going to be tough."

Lucas and Layla went to bed and fell asleep immediately. The next morning they woke up and Lucas told Layla to go for a run. So they both went jogging around the beginner area for an hour. They both came back and Lucas cooked up the leftover meat which they then ate. Afterwards, Layla began her Mage training. She tried cycling her mana but she still couldn't perfectly control it.

After Mage training, she had a break and they started warrior practice. She reinforced her stance and practised her jab and kicks. Followed by Lucas beating on her in sparring. This same series of events continued for a week. After a week Layla Palmer had finally learnt how to control her mana to the necessary degree. She could move her mana to any part of the body at will. She could send her mana to her feet, head, arms and more at the same time.

Layla Palmer rejoiced by jumping around. She wore the biggest and toothy smile Lucas had ever seen. Lucas also felt a sense of joy but as a teacher.

" Now that you know how to control your mana. Next is to cast your first spell. Every spell is cast by first prepping your mana. You first move your mana to the required area. But for your first spell, you need to move your mana to your hand. Then you need to visualize the spell you are going to cast. Visualization is important. You need to properly imagine what the spell looks like. Afterwards, you shout the spell and then release."

Lucas explained to Layla Palmer the spell for the F Rank fireball because he wasn't sure if spells he got from the system could be used by others. Layla Palmer prepped her mana by moving her mana to her hands. She tried to visualize the spell. Afterwards, she said the spell but there was no reaction at all. No magic circle appeared. Layla Palmer was quite disappointed when this happened.

Lucas too was quite shocked but he then thought maybe he could do it so quickly because of his cheat like blessings from the God of the Multiverse.

" Don't worry. As long as you do not give up hope and keep focusing you will get it."

" I know! But thank you very much"

" Good I like to see you still have such a strong fighting spirit."

They continued to train like this until warrior training began. Afterwards, they ate and repeated the same thing the next day. Layla Palmer was showing a good response in her warrior training. Her fighting stance was getting firm and she was responding to surprises better. Lucas and Layla Palmer had been training for over a month and a half by now. By then Layla Palmer could already cast the fireball spell. It was not near the level Lucas could but that was understandable. She could cast Ice chamber, Arcane ray and invisibility too. Turns out she could cast system spells but she could never fully understand its fundamentals. So she got about 80% of the spell. Which was still far stronger than the spells she would get anywhere else.

After they had finished eating dinner which Layla Palmer had been looking forward to all day. Her favourite types were the beef and pork type meats. Lucas would always switch it up, he even started teaching her how to cook a bit. Even though she was terrible at it. Lucas hoped by the time she was done with training she could do it herself. Otherwise, she might come to him just to eat good food again. Which seemed highly plausible by how she wolfed down the food with a blissful expression when it came.

After she finished eating like always they began talking before they went to sleep.

" I'm getting so much stronger. I finally have a hold on my spells."

" Yeah, you have come a long way. I wish I could say the same about your cooking skills." Lucas teased.

" Oh Shut up. But I don't need to cook I have you."

After she said that Lucas sucked in his lips as he did not know what to say.

" Oooh, I forgot... Yeah, I should probably learn how to braai." Layla Palmer laughed with her eyes almost shut.

" So what are we doing tomorrow?"

" Same thing we do every day Layla. We try to take over the world."

" What?"

Lucas laughed a bit and then said, " Sorry that is from a cartoon I used to watch as a kid. Hunting is what we really going to do. You can hit stationary targets now. A moving target is much harder. I highly doubt anyone is just going to sit still and let you blast them with magic."

" So I have to go and kill one of these creatures in the forest?"

" Yes, but don't worry it won't be too strong plus you have me as a fail safe."

" I'm in good hands." Layla Palmer said while smiling.

" Of course," Lucas said proudly. " So go get some rest. You are going to need all the strength you can get tomorrow."

" Sure. Good night Lucas."

" Good night Layla."

They went to their sleeping place, closed their eyes and went to sleep.