44 Forms (2/2)

It was quite a sight, seeing this old robed man do that much damage to Father. After everything he had shown me, there was no way I could see Crow as anything but a monster.

Disregarding Father's pain, Crow explained what had happened, ”With the combined momentum of their charge and the rotational force in your kick, you can deal serious damage to anyone brave enough to come close.”

”Thanks for that,” Father chimed in sarcastically, stretching his back and wincing in pain.

Crow's explanation made a lot of sense. Even without much kicking technique or power, it was easy to land a counter kick to such a linear charge. An idea formed in my head.

”Crow, could you use that technique to bait someone in?”

”Hm,” he thought for a second, ”I suppose you could. Your legs and core do need to be strong enough to resist the impact though. But after some training, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.”

With this, I now had a tactic against Tai. With his temperament, he was sure to charge in. The possibility of knocking down Tai with a kick fired me up, and I clenched my fists in excitement.

”Crow, can you show me the next form?”

”Of course. This next form is Tiger's Prowl, and it's much more advanced. It's going to take you a lot of time to learn this one, but it's worth it.”

Crow brought his chain to a gentle spin, then did a stutter step forwards while spinning the chain once overhead.

In one smooth motion, he assumed a side-on stance, then flipped in a cartwheel fashion, simultaneously bringing down the chain and sweeping it twice underneath himself.

Landing back on his feet, he brought the chain up from underneath him and continued spinning. It looked effortless and elegant when he did it, but I knew this would be hell to replicate.

”This technique can be chained into itself, and it's an excellent all-round technique. It's the more important one to learn out of the two.

”Because it sweeps both low and high, it's damn difficult for your opponent to push into you. Only someone with fantastic reflexes, or considerable experience against this technique, has a chance. It's a fantastic way to pressure your opponent. So, any questions?”

Compared to the last technique, there was a different kind of problem with this one.

”Crow, do you think I can learn it in a week?”

Crow went silent for a second, before grimly replying, ”No, that's impossible. You'll be hard-pressed to even learn a few of the basic techniques in just a week.”

”How long did it take you to learn it?”

”That's a long time ago you're asking about, Oscar. I would say… under a year?”

His words sunk my heart. My prospects didn't look bright. To get to a fighting stage in just a week… this was going to be my harshest week yet.

Seeing my glum face, Crow showed a bit of compassion, ”Don't worry too much Oscar. All you've got to do is hit the bastard you're fighting once, and they're done. You don't need to be an expert.”

Crow had a point, but there was more to it than that. If hunting season was as intense as I was told, then I couldn't just win, I had to win without getting injured.

In the time it took me to control someone, there was a large window for punishment. If I couldn't fend off an attacker during that time, I wouldn't last long.

There was also the imminent pressure of Tai. While I doubted that he would do anything right away, there was always the chance, and I needed to be able to fend for myself in the worst-case scenario.

Trying not to let my worries drag me down, I picked myself up.

”Thank you, Crow. Really, thank you so much for doing all this.”

”It was my pleasure, and it's been a long time since I put your father in his place.”

”Hey, I let you kick me!” father protested.

”Yes, yes. Now, your father and I have some things to discuss, and you've got techniques to read.”

I took Crow's suggestion and said my last words of thanks, before heading to my room. This week was going to be intense and had to be fully optimised. It was time to plan.