Training But For What Reason?

(Nathan POV)

Meeting a Lord Of Chaos truly helps me put events in perspective. While I know he can't watch my every move thanks to Inviolate, I know he can just follow me using a familiar like Teekl, which I still see as I train. And while I am tempted to get rid of it, I knew I was nowhere near strong enough to fight an embodiment of a multiversal force.

So, a day after the meeting, I am in the training hall practicing my techniques from both Retsu Kaioh and Isshinsai Ogata from Baki and Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple, and while both arts are radically different, they are martial by the end of the day. 

While Kenpo is focused on maintaining a fluid flow of movement while being primarily for self-defense, the arts from Ogata are meant to kill using every painful method to do so.

Attacking nerve centers like the spine and head leads to disabling an opponent by targeting vital areas like the chest and legs and using their weakness against them. The martial arts method was spelled out very well on the first page.

"What use is there in honor when not all opponents respect such a thing?" -Isshinsai Ogata

It makes sense even for a murderous criminal overlord. However, the philosophy of Chinese Kenpo is different as it is meant to use such killer intent against the opponent with the usage of grabs and various striking techniques meant to purely down the opponent. Two competing philosophies, one of self-defense and the other of proactive action.

I had been training for three hours now as the other initiates continued their own training, but even now, I could see Teekl watching me from the rafters, and while he wasn't there all the time, I could sense when he was watching me. However, I feel he has not forgiven me for the tofu thing as he continues to glare at me.

So as I strike the dummy in the chest, followed by multiple kicks and then a grab when it begins to fall to the ground, the dummy is then shattered by the impact of my throw, which brings me some attention from the others, but due to their indoctrination and orders form Ra's and Sensei they soon return to their own training. It is a bit unnerving as it feels as if I am surrounded by robots and not people.

In regards to my Mercer template, the process is slow as while the progress has increased slightly, the overall progression has slowed down as I could feel Blacklight begging me to consume and evolve while Loid and Taskmaster desire to lie, cheat, and keep living.

Grabbing a new dummy, I practice my martial arts further as I begin with a flurry of kicks leading to a barrage of strikes to the dummy center mass, which leaves a trail of smoke due to the force behind the punches with the punches leading to swift light kicks to the face which flipped over the dummy as I then slammed it down onto the ground.

My focus kept me occupied for hours as I did not even feel the time passing by, which I attributed to my mind making use of boredom immunity to make it seem like time was passing by faster than I thought they were. Never-ending improvement just seems to make the time go by faster, which, thanks to Blank, was made so much more seamless.

It was as if the essence of the Blank was like combining tissue with all of my various abilities. However, between my martial arts training and my training with Sensei, I used a weakness removal card to eliminate the possibility of mental degradation due to overusing my mimicry ability from Taskmaster. While involate may make this redundant, you can never know.

Current Template Progress:

[Loid Forger (Spy X Family): 80%]

[Taskmaster (Marvel Comics: Earth 616): 75%]

[Alex Mercer (Prototype 1&2) 20%]

Once I finish with Loid and Taskmaster, I will be putting Robot and Sheev Palpatine, and after Mercer, it will be Roku, as the martial arts-based bending will mesh well with my current skills. Also, due to the enhanced martial arts mimicry from Taskmaster, I will be able to get through the template much quicker. 

For now, though, my form has been improving rapidly both skill-wise and in terms of physique, as while I am eighteen, I have the musculature of a twenty-year-old. 

Because surprisingly, they actually do feed me, and while it is nothing special, I have made use of biomass from the food to increase the density of my blacklight cells in order to increase my strength and speed.

In all honesty, it's also kind of funny as I've heard from Talia that Lex has been trying to understand my DNA, but he can't find anything special about it, and it was driving him mad, which has won me some points from Ra's as while he abides but he Light they do not get along like a normal friend group. 

Walking through the base, I found someone I did not expect to see in the projectile training area: a woman wearing an all-green outfit and a white mask with red markings was throwing shirikens at the targets and based on her current height and weight she is most like 15 to 16 years of age so she has already left her sister and went with her Father for training for about two to three years ago.

Noticing my presence as I get the range next to her, she remains silent as a sort of competition begins as various targets are shifted up and down in and out of the range, and as I grab a bunch of shurikens, she has already readied herself.

As the targets began to move, I had already anticipated the pathing of two and had two headshots and two hits enter mass as she also did the same. Then, four more targets appeared at the same time and began shifting left and right diagonally, to which I had made three headshots and a neck shot on the fourth while she was able to land all her hits, and as we continued, I was getting better as I was able to copy her movements and improve on them using my natural skill.

The way in which I threw them became smoother and more fluid as multiple shurikens dotted the training areas, but after we had hit all the targets, I still lost by a very slight margin.

"You did good. I almost lost to a newbie, which, thankfully, no one recorded as Sportsmaster would not let me hear the end of it." The girl said as I picked up the shurikens.

"You are well trained. It is to be expected, but I do appreciate the chance to improve." My statement made her do a faux yawn as she picked her shurikens herself.

"Truly, you are a master at making interesting comebacks. Although try not to be too passive here, it could kill you in the long run. Individuality is a rare commodity amongst these people, and you either stand out or fall in line. I choose to be a former." Her answer rings true for a girl that has been entrenched in this life for years now.

"I heard you killed two corrupt cops. There a story on that?" She asked as I shook my head and propped to go to the next area for my one-on-one training with Sensei.

"It was simple: they were going to end up taking me to either the compound owned by the Joker gang or the fifty other gangs in the city, so I took the initiative and waited until we passed over a bridge, and I took the wheel and forced us into the water but not before breaking the window." she nods in a modicum of respect.

"Well, that is somewhat impressive. I'm surprised you didn't wear a seatbelt. Isn't that rule number one when driving in a car?" That joke almost made me chuckle as I finished picking up the shurikens off the ground.

"I made it look like I had it on just in case anything went wrong, as while I was definitely distracted that day, I always try to have an out. Well, most of the time." My response elicits no visible reaction as she then leaves.

"I do hope we can do this again, as it's a rare thing to have someone talk back in this place." I nodded in agreement as she left, to which I continued my training using the skills I copied during our impromptu competition. The shurikens leave my hands with enough speed to hit the target and the control to not fly in a straight line all the time.

Thankfully, the Taskmaster's experience with projectile weaponry has been helping me here, as Whispers of memory from my previous life show that I could barely even throw a frisbee correctly. Memories of more innocent times. 

If my previous self knew what was going to happen to him or if we ever met, would he view us as the same or different people or just something that could be? I would lean towards the latter, but I will never know.

However, thanks to that loss, I increased my templates again by a decent margin as I neared 100% completion for both.

To actually reach that percentage includes not only absorbing their skills and powers but also their perspective, as there is some bleed in the cards. I can refuse it thanks to Involate, but I am tempted to allow it as both men are seasoned killers and spies in their own right.

So many choices and so little time. Threats like Darkseid, Klarion, The Anti Monitor, and Perpetua will not wait for me to be ready. 

The addition of the Light makes things both simpler and more difficult in a way that if I could infect all the members, I could have an organization that I could use to evolve the world on a cosmic scale or just pursue my own survival.

Currently, I saw a missing person for myself appear on the database as since my body wasn't found in the wreckage, they assumed I escaped, which, while true, was also untrue in a way. 

But I took my mind off that and focused on the moment, and thankfully, the arts from Retsu had a variety of meditation techniques to focus the mind, body, and, eventually, the soul.

Infinite willpower and control of said willpower have been a much-needed boon, as while I do fear the coming storms, I find myself truly unafraid. 

While it may just be misplaced confidence, I had essences that, with one person, can be a multiversal threat. I had the potential to gain more with the gacha, but my luck was not that good.

Maybe I will be able to get some luck-increasing abilities from the gacha, which will allow me to get better rewards. It's something to think about later. 

For now, I entered Sensei's dojo to begin my training with him for the day. But as I entered, I saw that same woman standing in the corner with her eyes closed, but even now, I could feel her intent to kill from here.

It was like being dipped in ice-cold water with a shark circling around you and waiting for the first sign of weakness or the sight of blood to attack. 

Yet I walked in and sat down right in front of her and closed my eyes with her stare boring into me, and for ten full minutes, this went on as I was unafraid as while she was a seasoned warrior, she was not me.

But after twenty full minutes, she kneeled down and looked into my eyes, and understanding her desire, I got up and bowed while taking a stance as she did the same. We both said nothing as we charged one another.