Training Begins

Lucas pushed forwards a contract agreement to be signed. Which Johnson promptly received in his hands.

"Haven't we already discussed the contract?" Lee added, but Johnson quickly flicked through the file.

Lucas replied with a flat smile, "We have, but I take safety very seriously." 

"An NDA, you're very thorough." Johnson flipped the file close and put it back on the table.

"Of course, quirks are private information after all." Lucas answered. It was one thing to let someone teach his son, but that man would also understand the inner workings of the quirk itself. 

His eyes narrowed, "I prefer to tie all loose ends. You've been in the business long enough to know."

Johnson leaned back into the couch resting his chin on his knuckles, contemplating, "We understand, but an NDA is too risky. If any information does leak out, we're liable."

Diana immediately quipped with a sharp retort, "I hope you're not taking this matter lightly. It's a matter of life and death for our boy. A secret no one else should know."

Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, Johnson felt compelled, "I agree madam, but this is still-"

Lee caught Felix's eyes again with a glance. A brilliant gaze, dead set on pushing forwards.

He smirked, grabbing the pen, "I will sign it."

Johnson glanced sideways but Lee nodded, prompting him to stay quiet.

Lucas raised a brow as Lee didn't hesitate to sign, "You must be confident in your network."

Lee shook his head, "The risk of the agreement didn't mean much. It's only been a brief meeting, but your son is an enigma. A man I'd like to train myself."

He replied. Truthfully, Lee found Felix to be like himself. Cursed with a quirk he had to tame. But unlike him, Felix had bright hopes, a fire within him that he caught at a glance. 

Felix was but a boy now, but if he lived longer, Lee wondered what kind of a man he would become. 

Lee abruptly stood up, shuffling to leave, he waved back "I hope there's nothing more to discuss, I am not a man of many words." 

Lucas simply looked to Johnson, as the agent bowed politely, following behind his partner.

The family still remain seated, as Diana picked up the agreement, passing it to Lucas, "I hope we've made the right choice."

He looked to her, "Don't worry, I am sure we have." Lucas replied, glancing at Felix with a smile.

Felix immediately got to his feet, "I would like to be excused." He politely chimed in.

Lucas and Diana nodded, prompting Felix to swiftly run out to the front gate.

------------------------------------------

Lee strolled towards the guest house with Johnson in tow. He glanced back, his gaze lingering.

"You go ahead, I will take a walk." Lee waved Johnson off and ambled along the cobble pathway.

"Huh, what are you-" 

Before Johnson could get another word in, Lee's figure slipped away without a sound.

"Hhaa" Johnson clicked his tongue and tapped his forehead, "still as impatient as ever." 

But instead of staying to complain, at this point he had learned to just walk away. Without waiting a second longer, he walked off to the guest house.

Lee flickered towards the garden, his footsteps were almost deceiving. With a single stride he was but a blur. Yet it still seemed akin to a leisure stroll.

A sly smile rested on his lips as he kept up the pace. Not an instant later, sensing his energy, Felix bolted to the garden at top speed.

Felix saw a puzzling sight as Lee darted from one place to the other, a slight wind picked up between his steps as the bushes rustled. The blurry specter eventually encircled Felix.

With his hawk eyes he could spot Lee mischievously dashing around, but with no way to stop him he simply followed the next course of action. 

His eyes locked on to the flickering figure, immediately he struggled to keep up. His eyes shifted from side to side as Lee took a step, following him as best he could.

"Impressive" Lee spoke up, coming to a sudden stop. Taking a step forward, he eyed the boy.

"I read your file, but experiencing the quirk first hand is quite unbelievable." 

Felix raised a brow, "How'd you experience it?"

Lee gestured to the tread marks on the grass from the previous bursts of speed, "Your vision is remarkable. An untrained individual couldn't have comprehended reactions at that speed. But you, you almost locked eyes with me."

Felix's gaze lingered  to the missing left arm while Lee explained. 

"Curious?" He chuckled.

Felix was relieved that the Hero didn't take offense, so he meekly nodded.

"It's a long story. But just like you are about me, I am also curious." Lee patted his left shoulder.

"About what?" he immediately replied.

"Many things. Your quirk, your abilities, your future." Lee answered, his face seemed to dim down as he did.

"Can I ask you a question?" Felix prompted.

Amused by the boy's intense curiosity, Lee turned back towards the guest house, but not before leaving him with a few words as an answer.

"Sure, but take your time to think about it, I will only answer once. Tomorrow." He raised his hand as farewell and swiftly walked away.

Felix fell into deep thought, 'Only once?'

"But there's a lot I want to ask." He whispered to himself as Lee's figure departed.

Suffice to say, Felix spent many restless hours to think of the perfect question for the hero's he idolized. 

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[The Next Day]

Unlike other mundane mornings, Felix felt oddly pumped and raring to go. His emotional control was far more refined, hence he didn't find it hard to suppress the emotion.

Soon, he was on to start his day, tirelessly working in the gym, improving his linguistics and sitting through counselling sessions. 

But once that was all taken care off, Felix headed towards the gymnasium once more. Expecting something completely different.

He slowly walked up to the door, as he pressed it open, Lee stood alone in the massive complex. What seemed to be training dummies and a few machines stacked next to him.

Felix eyed them for a simple second, but then walked to his new teacher, greeting the man with a respectful nod.

"How are you feeling." Lee started off with a simple question.

"Alright." Felix replied stoically.

"Good, let's get into it straight." Lee wasn't much of a talker, and since Felix was still trying to suppress his emotions, the two didn't feel the need to spark up a conversation.

"Your previous training was quite basic. Simply movements, isometric strength. But a quirk like yours favours dynamic movements better."

Felix nodded, taking into account all that he heard.

"Dashing, punching, kicking, any sort of movement involving the entire frame of the body is far more stimulating than just training."

"Our goal is simple, to let your nerves and joints withstand the resistive force that pushes back on you when you exert strength. It'll stimulate the brain to understand your limits, control them and eventually break through."

"Once you're familiar enough, we'll move towards working tendons to be more resilient and flexible, and to withstand load. This will train fast twitching muscle fibers. Allowing you to exercise control at faster speeds."

Lee imparted all the scientific explanations he could relate with the techniques he taught. It was important for Felix to understand what and why he needed to do certain things. 

This was necessary to let him develop a life-long learning ability. 

Seeing as Lee went quiet, Felix stepped up to one of the punching bags. Lee joined him at the side, as he took a stance, prompting Felix to trace his movements.

Planting his feet into the ground, Lee struck the bag with a swift right hook, snapping his legs to exert maximum force.

"Three hundred repetitions." 

Felix quietly nodded, trying his best to mimic the stance as he landed a punch. Though his technique wasn't as refined. 

The training went on, as Lee corrected Felix's stance, hours passed as Felix executed the repetitions, trying his best to do so with a perfect form.

It wasn't long before the punching bag wore out, it's leather cracked and shriveled up. Felix switched over to another one set up at the side and kept going.

Whereas Lee simply observed. Unlike others who started martial arts, Felix's endurance was already nearing the peak of human level. 

Despite hundreds of punches, his hands looked smooth to the touch. His knuckles seemed a reddish at best.

"That's enough." Lee signaled for a stop, as he brought a plyometric set. A compounded set of movements with jumping jacks, squats, long jumps and explosive bursts of speed.

With state of the art equipment available, a track was readily laid using automated robots. Once finished, Lee showed one trial run, and tasked Felix to repeat it.

Naturally, it was timed. The explosive movements strained the tendons. But Felix's recovery was frightening. It only took him thirty odd seconds to go from being completely exhausted to ready and raring to go.

The rest of the training was lined with similar exercises. Aimed to chip at Felix's muscles and tendons, bit by bit. Forcing the body to recover and strengthen them over time. 

Yet a faster recover didn't mean no pain was involved. It was quite the opposite. Felix felt that the training was frighteningly painful. There was no external pain, yet internally, he was being torn apart. 

Felix felt his heart race slightly, a suffocating heat rising from his chest. He clenched his hand, and rested it on his chest. Taking deep breaths. This wasn't where he would give up.

There was a long way to go.