Chapter 144: I will not give up! (1/2)

On the emerald green lawn, in the back yard of Granny's cozy little hut, two figures could be seen standing just a few steps away from each other.

One of them was a female woman seemingly in her thirties, dressed in a simple white linen shirt with khaki-colored linen pants. Her shoulder-length silver fluttered in the wind. She had a small, friendly smile on her face as she looked at her eager opponent.

”Are you ready, Aiden?” She asked the boy in front of him. ”Remember, your goal is to successfully land a hit on me. If you do so before I can successfully tire you out, then you can be considered the victor.”

”If I win, will you allow what I asked?” The boy asked with a questioning stare. ”You promised to us before!”

Hearing his question and retort, Number 3 chuckled a bit before answering.

”Yes, of course, Aiden. I will stay true to my word. If you can win, then you have my and Granny's permission to get back to the city. Although I have to tell you, I have no idea what is so interesting in that place...”

”I want to see more of the world, Master.” He answered, after a moment of thought. ”I don't want to stay inside and train all the time… The Guild Hall that Lily talked about sounds really fun, I want to experience that life a bit.”

He gave an honest sounding answer. While it was true that he wanted to see more of the world, the real reason behind his push to let them go out was to gather more information about the location he needed to find and visit for his main quest. There was a timer on that quest after all, and he had already spent a full week with this training.

Even if this week of training wasn't a waste and that he benefited a lot from it, he still made zero progress on the matter. His first idea, to gather information about it in the Goblin Village was a dead end too. The new leader had even less of an idea of what was going on. Their whole tribe was used merely as pawns in a big chess game.

While Aiden got into his starting poise, Number 3 stood calm and collected, without any apprehension at all. With the same smile, she reminded Aiden.

”Remember, no transforming this time. Try to rely on yourself and reflect on your gains from your meditation! Otherwise, there's no point to our little bout!”

Nodding, Aiden agreed to his Master's words. Then, just as how Number 3 taught him, he cupped his fists and bowed slightly towards her as a show of respect.

Number 3 repeated the motion with a smile. Smilingly, she gave the order.

”Come Aiden, show me what you got!”

A momentary golden light zapped through Aiden's eyes, as he smiled in anticipation. He planted his foot in the ground, contorting, stretching the muscles in his calves.

In the next moment, with incredible speed and momentum, he launched himself forward, kicking off a handful of dust and greenery in the air. As his figure vanished from his starting spot, Number 3 made a simple upside swing with her hand in the air. Her hand left several afterimages in its arc. As her open palm reached the peak of her movement in a fraction of a second, it made contact with something solid. She gently pushed back on the solid matter, revealing Aiden's fist as it revealed itself. He had to take a few steps back in response to her simple parry. While it seemed harmless, it still carried a tremendous amount of force.

Both movements were incredibly fast to the naked, untrained eye. Lily only saw as his brother vanished and then at the same moment got thrown back by a simple movement from her Master.

”Wooaaah! Look at that boys! Brother and Master are fighting again!” She exclaimed with sparkling eyes, plopping down to the ground. Sam and Biggy took their spots on her sides, lying down and silently enjoying the battle of these titans.

Although his first attack failed, Aiden immediately jumped into action once again, vanishing from his spot and kicking off another handful of dirt and grass.

Number 3 swung her left palm sideways around her hip. Once again, the movement looked incredibly simple, yet, it seemed to distort space, leaving behind several afterimages along the curve it took. Upon reaching the end of the momentum, it once again hit solid matter that just took shape in the form of Aiden's right shin flying towards her with great speeds.