Lagency

Chapter 4

ZeusThe sound of a bell rang though my ears.

“Wakeup! Training starts at 8!”

I rolled over and snoozed my alarm. Just 5 more minutes. Dozing off, I was awakened by a tough ringing again. Jumping out of bed, I put on the shirt and chose a pair of trackies. Gulping down the last bits of milk, I sprinted into the training studio.

“Wow.” Darko muttered as we stretched. The training studio was a gym, probably with anything you can imagine.

“So… it’s time for a run.” A groan echoed between us.

“Well go on a treadmill and your job is to stay on.” I wanted to laugh at that thought- staying was our hardest job.

I approached the nearest treadmill, it wasn’t the normal ones where you press a button and it starts, as I stepped on, a glass like box surrounded me. It was equipped with settings to increase friction, create inclines, mimic terrains… Asher approached me and dialled in some stuff and a robot- like voice spoke. The air thinned as lights lit up around me, my bones immediately felt heavier, and my breathing became irregular.

“Hello, what music would you want?”

“Um, just workout music.”

“Workout music.” Some energetic music pumped up my veins as I slowly started quickening my pace. I felt the surface below me starting to accelerate, forcing me into a jog, then a stride, a run, then to something like a sprint.

“I want you to stay on, don’t stop until I tell you to! They are connected to a setting- if anyone DARES to lower it, I will personally kick you out this goddamn door. DO YOU UNDERSTAND” Elene yelled from behind. There was a murmur of short yeses.

Minutes crawled by as my legs ached to the pain, muscles stung to keep up with the pace. Forcing my limbs along, my heart punched against my chest with my lungs whining for oxygen. I could hear myself gasping, trying to keep a regular pattern within my breaths. If anyone knew, I knew that if I screwed up now, it would be a waste. Clenching hard on the rails, I wondered if this thing would ever slow. I felt a rush of adrenaline pump through my veins- I was not going to screw up. Pushing my eyes shut, only one thought ran past my mind. “Don’t think, just do it.” Every second passing piled more and more pressure on my legs, they were numb. My lungs screeched out for air.

A thud landed across the room. Theo had just simply given up, he lied on the ground, gasping for air.

“Who’s next! I want you to PROVE to me that you are not a failure!” Asher barked from behind.

Dragging my legs along, I could feel the agonizing pain within, it felt as though I was running with dumbbells strapped to me. On my right, I spotted Axel being flung off the machine.

“If you do not have the gut to be here, leave- if you don’t have what it takes, train! But without the guts you sure as hell won’t make it through to the real world!” Elene’s voice screeched through me, pushing me faster, further. I was not going to drop.

‘Just a few more minutes…’ I convinced myself. Blinking away a drop of sweat, I gritted my teeth and tried to focus. At this point, I knew that every step I made, would eventually result in me falling. I stumbled, hurling air past my lungs, gasping for every last breath, I felt as though it would be my last.

 I felt the surface slowing beneath me. Fading into a steady jog, I realized that I was the last standing still. A smile crossed my face.

“Come on Zeus we don’t have all day.”

I stood still, taking a minute to register my victory. I had staggered off the treadmill. Choking on the rich air, I rest my hands on my knees, trying to keep myself upright. I could feel Venus’s eyes landing on mine. Wiping a film of sweat, we went to do our laundry and rest.

~

The next three hours were brutal.

“I want your blocks to be natural- an automatic defence mechanism. You need to block at any time, any direction, in any situation. This month of training is developing your basics and your OWN fighting style.” Asher and Hunter faced each other. Hunter threw punches, left, right, front and centre. Asher blocked all like it was normal- as if he was a robot.

“Learning how to block is ESSENTIAL! It’s simple, but a necessity.” Asher patted his outer forearm. “Here is where you absorb most impact. If you throw it out correctly- it can effectively deflect a blow, now, I want you to try. Start slow and easy, at the end of the day, I want perfect reflexes from muscle memory. Zeus, why not come up and try?”

“Me?”

“Am I looking at Theo?”

Jaw clenched, I moved forward, approaching the soft padded mat. I dropped into a soft stance, placing the pressure on my back leg. Arms up, knees bent.

“Keep your elbows tucked in. It gives a smaller target area.” I nodded. “Now, I want to start slow, I throw a swing, and you block the blow. Just jerk your arm out to meet the blow. That way, you absorb more.” Without giving me time to think, he threw a blunt, but soft blow at me, snapping my left hand up, my forearm collided with his, absorbing the impact. As a result, his hand bounced back.

“Great, now all of you, I want blocks like that, just much faster. Pair up!”

Me and Theo paired up, a punch, a block… It was like a repetition. No stopping. Our arms collided, defected and blocked. The morning session proceeded as we got constant feedback on how our hands were at the wrong angle, or how our legs weren’t bent. We worked non- stop on the blocks. Left and right, everyone and everything had to be perfect.

“No mistakes can be tolerated!” Elene barked as she threw a hard hook across my hip, lowering my hand to defend it, I felt the strong impact vibrating down my arm. “Clench your fist, keep it sturdy.” She swept another on across my jaw. Slamming me straight onto the mat. Pushing myself to stand up, she threw a clean sweep across, forcing me to back up, and block. Over and over, my arms were blocking, twisting, and punching. I felt the wind from her hand landing on my arm, my blocks had to be quick, accurate, and precise. Every time I failed, it would land in a punishing hit from her, stronger and stronger. “Keep you hands tucked!” Her elbow flew my way, leaving me just a second to deflect it. Another punch came through, forcing my hand to bounce out to block, more came, every time, her speed increased, mine had to match up. By the time it was lunch, it could feel my forearms aching from the bruises I obtained.  

~Exhausted, I sat down with a thud, gulping down the spaghetti and some meatballs. There was some soft chattering within the dining room, but at this point, none of us had the energy to really do anything.

“That was t*****e!”

“Sure as hell I can’t stand a week doing that without collapsing!”

“Oh my god, you do not get the right to complain- my partner was ASHER!”

“Seriously, I literally got so many blows.”

“Umm, at least it is private training later.”

“I guess… Do you know who we are training with?”

“I am defo praying not Asher…”

“Or Elene”

“Well, well,” all of us fell silent. “We were thinking about announcing the coaches for your privates… but I guess you beat us to it. Sooo... I am with Theo and Zeus,” there was a silent wave of murmurs that spread between us. “Luna you’re with Gwen and Lyla; Elene, you’re with Ziara and Venus, lastly Axel and Darko, you’re with Hunter.” I could feel the tension tightening between us- I was with Asher?

~“So, we will be starting with some basics. Stances, blocks, punches, kicks…” Asher started. “I want every single movement to be controlled and precise. Let’s start with stances.” He lowered himself into a hard, tough stance, gaining height. “You might prefer softer stances, or harder stances. Zeus you already have a nice relaxing stance, but Theo, you need to find one. Theo your height is a good advantage, I would suggest you stay low.” With that, our training went off to a start. Constant correction in movements, different ways to deliver punches and kicks…

“Zeus come over here,” I lowered myself into my fighting stance, prepping for any incoming swings. “I will be attacking, you need to defend then attack, they need to be connected, swift and hard.” Without any further instructions, Asher threw his fist forward, forcing me to duck down, throwing a kick at his knees, another punch came through, aiming on my waist, without thinking, I lowered a block as I let out a hooking punch to his head. He swept at my feet, forcing me to back up, pushing me to the corner, in a vain attempt to twist, he caught my arm and flung me to the side.

“Never get caught by the wall, never be cornered.” He hissed as I pushed myself up, catching my breath, I jerked my knee up, forcing Asher to bend back, swiftly going into a bend, he threw his leg at my jaw, leaving me a split second to duck as his attacks quickened, punches flying from left and right, leaving me no choice but to block over and over, waiting for a chance to leap and hit. Throwing a punch at his jaw, he trapped my wrist, forcing me to the ground. “Never get caught up in attacking.” Jumping to my feet, I lowered myself into a tight stance, settling myself to pounce up at him, but that moment never came. As I settled onto the stance, his fist collided with my hip, flinging me to the other end of the studio. “I said never get caught up with attacking!” I sat breathless on the mat as he paired up with Theo.

Asher was off to a start, throwing out well planned punches at Theo, who tried desperately blocking movement after movement, Theo remained calm, waiting for his chance. He played smart, not tough. Watching, I noticed one thing, Asher never lowered his stance any lower than his knee hight, he always kept his left arm over his head. Fading off in my thoughts, I heard a thud in the distance.

“Boys, I think you need a rest, go grab a drink and come back in 10!”

~

As we sat in the study, Hunter started talking about how tactical attacks worked.

“Play conservative, anticipate attacks before they come, be straight and direct. Never play in a sequence or fall for a sequence. Observe before you play, never take things personally and always aim to walk out alive no matter what.”

He then went forward to explain all the boring junk about how to anticipate attacks and the combinations of swift attacks.