Training

Night rapidly approached and everyone went off to sleep…

Except for one person.

Sora got off his bed and sneaked out of the house and into his family's backyard.

It wasn't a large space, but it was enough for Sora to do his jogging since he was still small in size.

However, what he was going to be doing now isn't jogging, but training in his martial arts.

"Okay… I will have to train directly from the very basics."

Sora sighed and got into a horse stance and went as low as he could before he suddenly fell. His legs weren't weak, but they were still untrained and unaccustomed to these simple movements of his.

Which is why he was commencing his training early at only 5 years of age.

"Again!"

Getting up on his feet, Sora spread then and lowered his body down as he resumed a horse stance.

A horse stance was very helpful, not only does it serve to strengthen his legs, but it helps with balance and stability. It also helps build a strong footing which proves immensely beneficial in martial arts when performing various moves.

It also helps in understanding the strength that comes from the 'core' and the earth.

Dun!

"Again!"

…

As Sora trained and trained under the moonlight, a figure was quietly watching him from her bedroom.

"My cute baby is working hard. As his mother, I need to help him as best as I can."

Akira pulled up a chair next to the window and kept a close eye on her son as he trained into the night.

***

Training this way for the next couple of months, Sora managed to finally strengthen his legs and core. Which not only helped his jogging, but will prove helpful in the future with his martial arts.

Now, after four months, Sora was prepared to increase the difficulty of his training.

"Let's add some weights and rubber bands," Sora muttered as he looked at the items his mother bought for him.

The weights weren't too heavy since he was still a child, but it was a beginning.

Putting on the weighted ankle and wrist bracelets, Sora wore the weighted vest last.

After wearing the weights, Sora grabbed a single resistance band and tied it around his legs before taking a deep breath.

"This is a bit much… but it's better this way. I have my Regeneration Quirk to help me heal if I hurt myself," Sora thought as he began to move with difficulty.

With the resistance band on his legs, Sora found it hard to separate his legs. Even maintaining his balance and stability was hard due to the weights on his legs, arms and body.

Still, Sora pushed on!

"Ugh… come on!"

Sora took a step forward, struggling hard to lengthen the distance from one foot and the other.

Ta!

"Finally!"

Sora yelled triumphantly, but as he lifted his other foot, the resistance band suddenly pulled his leg and made him fall.

"Ha… this is good…" Sora muttered as he got back on his feet.

"Again!"

***

One Year Later

Increased Weight + Resistance!

Horse Stance Training!

Punch Training!

***

Another Year Later

Increased Weight + Resistance!

Horse Stance Training!

Punch Training!

***

Another Year…

***

Another…

***

10 Years Old

…

Pa-thud!

Pa-thud!

In the middle of the night, Sora was punching straight at a tree. His knuckles were bleeding, but they were healing at a visible pace.

Compared to six years ago when he first awakened his Quirk, Sora's Regeneration Quirk was much stronger now than before by about five times.

Thanks to that, Sora can be more harsh on himself as he trained.

If he broke a bone, it would be healed in just two days!

Taking advantage of this, Sora trained his fists hard.

"This is all going well… but I need to start training my martial arts soon. If not, I won't be able to land a single punch when I fight against real people," muttered Sora as he stopped punching the tree that now had a visible dent in it.

Standing up, Sora got out of his horse stance and removed the weights from his legs and feet.

Thud!

Thud!

The weights were very heavy, each one being 25 pounds, adding up to 100 pounds for the ones in both his legs and arms. Sora's weighted vest was at 50 pounds.

150 pounds of weight in total.

If it wasn't for his Regeneration Quirk, Sora would have never thought of pushing his body to such hellish limits.

Reach down to his legs, Sora removed the black band on his legs that was also equally quite terrifying.

TA!

The resistance band snapped into it's original form and remained still as if it was a solid piece like metal or wood.

…

"Haa… that's a whole load off me…" muttered Sora as he felt his body become really light.

He stretched his body and made sure to loosen up his muscles and joints.

After making sure he was all loosened up and flexible, Sora walked into his family home.

"Sora…"

Hearing his name being called, Sora turned his head to look at his mother, Akira.

She still looked as young and beautiful as always. Her eyes were bright and her face was still emotionless, but it carried a sort of tenderness towards her family.

"What is it, mom?" Sora asked curiously.

"Your mommy has helped you enter a dojo," Akira said as she walked up to Sora and hugged him. "I've seen how much my baby has been training hard and how you constantly hit that tree in every way possible. From your fists, to palms, fingers, elbows… your genius ingenuity is astounding, baby."

Sora smiled at his mother's words and said nothing of it.

He's been aware of his mother keeping an eye on him, and it made him very thankful towards her.

"Thank you, mom," Sora said with a smile as he hugged Akira.

Akira smiled, "Hug me correctly, Sora."

Pulling Sora into a proper embrace, Akira pressed Sora's face into her breasts.

"That's better."

…

"Where is the dojo?" Sora asked as he walked alongside his mother.

Akira looked at Sora and plainly said.

"For my amazing son, I had to find the best place for you. I was surprised that the best dojo isn't too far away from your school either. You can head there every day after school to get your training done before coming home stronger."

Sora chuckled at his mother's words.

He was already used to his mother's lavish praises and he always loved the way his mother said them. It was something he looked forward to every time he conversated with her.

"That's great mom," Sora said as he smiled at her.

Turning a corner, Akira looked to a certain place and said, "Look, that's the place."

Looking over, Sora saw a large building.

Saku Dojo

'Blooming…' Sora thought after seeing the name of the dojo.

Heading in with his mom, Sora saw many people inside the dojo training.

There were many students of various ages and strengths sparring against each other.

As soon as Sora and his mother entered, a middle aged man seemed to have recognized Akira. He approached her calmly and with a serious look on his face.

He seemed to be looking at Akira, but Sora could feel how the middle aged man was actually studying.

"Mr. Kendo, I hope you teach this hardworking baby of mine well," Akira said, no shred of embarrassment of calling her 10 year old son a baby.

"Hm."

Kendo turned to look at Sora and looked at him for a heavy second before speaking.

"I am Kendo Katashi," Kendo, or rather Katashi, began. "Call me Master or Master Kendo. I will teach you how to wield your fists and the sword. I could care less for why you want to learn martial arts, but if you harm the innocent, I will find you and beat some sense into you."

Looking up at Katashi, Sora felt like chuckling after hearing his threat. However, he also understood where he came from.

Nodding, Sora decided to take advantage of the dojo his mom placed him in.

Now, with access to people, Sora can finally train in martial arts and fight against others. This will help him improve faster compared to training alone. Especially for someone like him who refuses to lose and lower his head.

Every fight will be a challenge!

…

"Train my baby well," Akira told Katashi before turning to look at Sora and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you at home, my cute baby."

"I'll see you later, mom," Sora said as he smiled at Akira as she left.

"Hm…"

Katashi stood there awkwardly after seeing the way Akira treated Sora.

"Ahem… come with me," Katashi said as he turned and walked over to an empty area in the dojo.

"Yes!"

Sora nodded and removed his shoes before joining Katashi up on the mats.

"What do you know?"

Standing in front of Katashi, Sora heard Katashi's question and answered instantly.

"Fist, Palm, Finger, Elbow…"

Hearing Sora mention many moves, one after the other, Katashi began to furrow his eyebrows.

"... and Dragon Claw."

"Hm… You've trained in too many moves. This will slow you down in the future when you try to improve your mastery in martial arts," Katashi explained as he looked at Sora seriously.

Sora listened to Katashi, but didn't really take it to heart.

He had already had close to 100 years of experience in training and using martial arts. Sora himself was not just any Master Martial Artist, but a supreme one. He had gone beyond the peak of martial arts and transcended them into a terrifying realm.

Even if Sora has to train once more from the beginning, Sora is confident he can reach that realm once more. With the experience and knowledge, Sora already had everything planned and ready.

…

Seeing Sora stand motionlessly before him, Katashi decided to instead show Sora firsthand as to why it's bad to be too broad in learning something.

'He needs to narrow down his goal,' thought Katashi as he turned his body sideways and extended a hand forward.

"Come. Throw the strongest punch you can muster at my hand," Katashi said.

Nodding, Sora took a step forward.

Ta!

In an instant, Sora's whole demeanor seemed to change as his eyes turned serious and narrowed. His muscles were relaxed but ready for anything.

Shh!

With a swift turn of his waist and his fist shooting out like a bullet, Sora's fist tore through the air. Sora borrowed the strength of the earth, strengthening his core and strength of his body.

Then, the instant Sora's fist was about to land on Katashi's fist, Sora's muscles tensed and explosive force surged from his body and out of his fist.

Pa!

"Hm."

Katashi frowned as he felt the immense force behind Sora's fist. His wrist began to feel weak and he began to regret asking Sora to use all his strength.

'He's very impressive. His stance is incredibly stable and he draws strength from the earth… and that burst of strength at the end is also terrifying. It's a shame that he is very rigid. If I moved even the slightest bit, he would have missed.'

Pulling back his hand and placing it behind his back, Katashi quietly massaged it and took care of it.

"Hmm… a good punch but it looks like there is still a lot to improve on," Katashi said, seeing what Sora needs.

"Yes."

Meanwhile, Sora was feeling rather surprised himself.

Drawing strength from the Earth was something he hadn't been able to pull off in the past couple of years no matter how hard he tried. Even the last burst of strength was even more difficult than drawing strength from the ground since it required to tense the muscles at the instant one makes contact with the punching target to produce a stronger punching force.

That punch from earlier only showed how great his luck was today.

He might not be able to replicate that move again if he was asked to.