Chapter 235 - A Versatile Fighting Style (1/2)
”Welcome back,” Mitchnew greeted and Zero groaned. The sun was simply too bright.
Wait, sun?
Zero bolted up quickly and took a quick glance at his surrounding. he was tucked into his straw mattress with a moth-eaten blanket draped over him. It didn't take long for the apprentice know where he was.
”Wait, what? How?” Zero blurted out, confused as a fish.
The dark elf smiled. Hua Tuo did say that desperate times called for desperate measures and while she was happy that the village head wasn't holding a grudge against his teacher, she didn't feel happy about the methods Hua Tuo employed.
”It's alright, Zero. You're safe now.”
The young doctor blinked. Safe? He didn't exactly feel like he was in any danger even though Hua Tuo did shove him into the lake. Still, the apprentice felt as if he'd slept for a very long time. The dream was so vivid that Zero had difficulty telling when it all started. Strangely, after the dream, Zero's heart felt lighter. It was as if the dream was pointing him towards a clearer direction in life. Perhaps this was what the blessing in disguise was. Hua Tuo might be secretly trying to help him grow just like how lions push their cubs off the cliff*.
Mitchnew raised a brow when Zero made a thoughtful expression. She wasn't sure what Zero was thinking about but she was still angry at Hua Tuo's decision. The doctor shouldn't butt into the combat lessons without asking them for their opinions. Who knows what sort of impact the doctor's interference would have on Zero's progress now?
Ruth was on the roof of the hut, listening in to Zero's side of the conversation. He was relieved when the brunet seemed normal. Hua Tuo's 'experiment' didn't seem to have any lasting side effects apart from that horrible episode of Zero's constant crying and screaming from his nightmares that nobody could wake him from.
The vampire wasn't too pleased to know that Hua Tuo took Zero to Sleepy Cave to 'breakthrough his barriers' without consulting Mitchnew or himself beforehand. If something had gone wrong in that breakthrough, Ruth had no doubts that Zero would be mentally scarred forever in a bad way. Forget about combat, he might even stray from the medical path. Where Hua Tuo gained the confidence that Zero would win against the odds, the vampire didn't know. However, as Zero's combat teacher, he was terrified for the kind-hearted teenager.
Zero's stomach protested loudly and Mitchnew rushed to prepare something for him quickly. Ruth wasn't very surprised that Zero's stomach was the first thing to make itself known. The teenager had been sleeping for two full days. Hua Tuo didn't worry too much and told them that Zero would return to them soon as he overcame himself. The vampire just couldn't believe that the weak-willed brat would be able to conquer his inner demons. Neither Ruth or Mitchnew had the confidence to look into the mirror of their inner minds and fight them head-on. In fact, few could overcome the trials set by Gods to walk the righteous path. Often, only heroes did that to prove themselves worthy of God's blessings.
Zero could still feel the humming of excitement for change in his blood even after the dream had ended. Although his body was slightly weakened from hunger, the teenager couldn't wait to test out his new knowledge. He knew some basic moves that Ruth and Mitchnew had pounded into his brain. For close-ranged combat, there were techniques to restraining a person that often became too complicated for Zero. However, if there was one thing Zero was a master at, it was the ability to flow with the movements.
The teenager knew he had been scolded countless of times for ignoring the threats lingering behind an attack and was always down with his guard. However, Zero countered this logic by thinking of a way to quickly put distance between him and the attacker when he sensed something amiss. For a close-range combatant to design a trap, the trap had to be either close-ranged or mid-ranged where the attacker could still control the situation. However, that gave Zero who had the advantage of instant distance travelling to run away outside of the radius of control.
Zero didn't know Hua Tuo's philosophy of being like water. Tai Ji was a fighting style that proved to be very flexible in movements as it was able to overcome just about any situation that would normally prove disadvantageous to even veteran fighters. However, they were often complicated and Zero didn't know how to apply those moves fast enough in a given scenario.
Mitchnew has a personal fighting style that involves a hit and run technique. Often she would hit the target with a good accurate shot that culled their numbers or weaken them before she went into hiding again. The element of surprise played a big part in Mitchnew's strategy. Zero just never did have patience or judgement as good as Mitchnew's to put her fighting style to good use. The dark elf had years of experience on the battlefield that Zero lacked and the teenager decided that he would use the hit and run technique on his enemies as a preemptive strike, not for an actual confrontation.
Zero also became familiar with Ruth's personal combat style. While the vampire did his best to use Tai Ji when he fought, Zero could still see a pattern. The Roth vampire has a relentless attack pattern which was true to the art of using offence as a defence. Zero never had time to think or catch his breath went Ruth closed in on him. His moves were sharp and precise, always aiming to incapacitate and following up with another move to maim something. There was never a wasted move and each strike had a follow-up move that backed it up in a never-ending loop combination.
Zero had the most trouble with Ruth's style of fighting as the vampire slowly worn out Zero's stamina, motivation and focus. The Tai Ji philosophy of being flexible like water really was suited for the vampire. Zero thought that instead of learning it, he should let Ruth learn it instead.
Still, Zero knew that he couldn't back down from the challenges after making a promise to himself to stay true to who he was. Identity wasn't easily forged and to lose something so precious would be a shame. So what if Zero wasn't good at combat, reactions and Math? being bad at them simply made up part of who Zero was. In fact, when the young doctor weighed his strength and weaknesses, he realised that there were many things he was good at that could help to cover his weaknesses.
While Zero was bad at Math, he had a good judge of character and could use the Intuition gift to predict a result. Zero knew that his reactions towards unfamiliar situations can often land him into greater trouble. However, the teenager believed that so far, all his meetings had been nothing but blessings in disguise. Zero made many friends and thought that it was a talent in itself. He had naturally powerful charisma even if half of that came from the passive Blessing from Freya. As for Zero's lack of innate talent for combat, the brunet knew that he was a very resourceful individual brimming with creativity. As long as there was a will, there would be a path.
Mitchnew came back with fifteen sandwiches that made Zero drool. It didn't take the growing teen long to wolf down all fifteen sandwiches and Zero let out a loud burp at the end of it, blushing when he caught Mitchnew staring at him. The young doctor apologised and asked if the dark elf knew where Ruth was.
”I would like to arrange a sparring session to try again. This time, I will not hold back and will use all the tricks in my bag to win. I might not be able to correct all the mistakes that you mentioned but I will try not to get myself into any potentially dangerous situation.”
His combat instructors were surprised by Zero's declaration but they were happy. It looks like all their worries were unfounded. Zero still had the fire left in him, he wasn't broken. Hua Tuo who overheard it smiled to himself. Perhaps it was time to consider expanding his medical knowledge into the psychology field too. mental health was still health-related after all.
Ruth offered to be Zero's sparring partner first. The vampire studied Zero and was satisfied that there was nothing wrong with Zero. He didn't want to push Zero too hard this time although he wanted to know what kind of tricks Zero had up his sleeves that he has yet to see.
”Remember, this is a pure combat fight. No funny magic tricks and spells. Only buffs, defensive barriers and heals allowed.”