The forest is a marvel of nature, managing to avoid being lost thanks to the minimal intervention of human hands. Venturing into its depths, we find our young woman with light brown hair, dressed in a kind of black karategi with light brown lines on the edges. Emily is sitting down, finishing putting on a pair of black, laceless Chinese-style shoes. She ties up her hair, jumps to her feet, grabs her wooden sword, and heads towards a small wooden cabin.
As she approaches the cabin, she finds her master performing movements as if he were dancing. He moves his arms as if passing through great gusts of air, extending them in a relaxed manner with his palms open, fingers together and thumbs tucked inside the palm. Emily watches him, hidden behind the tree closest to the dwelling, completely captivated by those strange techniques, her cheeks flushed. To her misfortune, as he performs the final movement of his training, the warrior jumps and forms an 'X' in the air at high speed, cutting down the tree that was hiding the girl, causing her to fall flat on her back.
She sank deep into her thoughts: "How did he do that?! I can hardly believe he's supposedly human." She quickly had to return to reality when her master approached her, hitting her on the head and leaving her sprawled on the ground as she clutched the spot where he had struck her.
Master: "Tell me, do you think you learn by watching? Don't waste my time. Follow me."
Emily: "Sorry, I won't do it again. I'm coming..." Walking behind him. "...Tell me, what are we doing today?"
Master: "Good. Get in here."
He pointed to a kind of machine with several iron circles containing perfectly round rocks, all mounted on a log with small notches where the iron circles fit.
Emily: Inside the machine. "Okay, now what?"
Master: "I'm not going to bother detailing what this training is supposed to achieve. After all, you just need to understand that the test you did prepared your body to withstand this level. Now you will begin to develop the technique."
Emily: "I understand." She got into a position like a soccer goalie, waiting for any of the spheres to move.
Master: "Are you serious? Look, you must understand—you are not going to hit the rocks. Your muscles must learn the correct way to block, because that is what your training will be based on: defense."
Emily: "Oh, come on, Master! Don't you know that the best defense is a good offense?"
Master: "Yes, but that's when you have the speed to execute it. You have strength, and since you possess great analytical capacity, your abilities will adapt better to this style of training. Good, get ready. Assume this position."
He stretched his right leg back, slightly bent his left leg, and positioned both arms forward at the level of his abdomen with his hands open.
The girl, imitating the indicated position as best she could, nodded her head. At that moment, the adult reduced the diameter of the circles, giving her some final clarifications: "The goal is to develop the necessary reflexes. You must block using the palms of your hands, the soles of your feet, the forearms, the elbows, the legs, and the knees. Using fingers, fists, shoulders, the tops of the hands, or the tops of the feet is forbidden." Concluding these words, he set the circles spinning. The rocks propelled the movement, getting closer and closer to her body, the speed increasing dramatically.
It wasn't long before a rock exceeded her reaction time and hit her, stopping the training instantly. The young woman, still in pain, quickly got up and begged her master to restart the practice. This went on all afternoon. Despite having movements that were too predictable and clumsy, the girl had managed to increase her reaction time, even if it was only to stay inside that machine for fifteen seconds.
It was a bright and warm Monday. Our protagonist, still sore from the weekend training, was sitting placidly, listening to her teacher's explanations. When the teacher asked a question to the whole class, the young woman did something she had never done before: she immediately raised her hand. This reaction surprised her, embarrassing her a second later. She tried to avoid the gaze of her classmates, as she never even raised her hand to answer questions in elementary school. The teacher said happily, "Oh, my, Miss Forcer! It's wonderful that you've decided to respond." Faced with this, Emily was forced to answer. As expected, even though it was a complex subject like Chemistry, she managed to answer excellently, achieving the desired compound. She sat back down while her classmates were interested in how she had done it. Perhaps it was the first time she could feel a little pride in her abilities.
The day passed as usual without many changes. When school ended, this time more people asked for her help. She continued her training without many problems, although she still couldn't surpass her record of fifteen seconds of blocking.
It was the middle of the night after having slept a few hours. Feeling quite bored, she contemplated the night sky from her window. Suddenly, she remembered that small thrill she felt after saving her classmate from that thief. Looking towards her closet, she saw the same sweatshirt from that night. Noticing she couldn't fall asleep, she left her home wearing the same clothes as the other night. She ran, jumping from small building to rooftop and so on, enjoying the tranquility brought by the darkness. She stopped between two buildings, realizing where she was: that place where the monster had cornered her. Her guts demanded she vomit. Unable to deny the fears that place produced in her, she began to retreat, ready to return home, when a small cry caught her attention.
The sound came from the alley. Although doubt lingered in her mind, she didn't let fear convince her and dared to take a look. She saw a fairly large shadow moving away from the spot, and a woman lying among some trash bins. She approached her as quickly as possible, noticing she was half-naked, her breasts and vagina exposed. Observing her carefully, she noticed white stains on her clothes and a cut on the woman's neck, which was the cause of her death.
The girl was frightened, thinking her attacker might still be alive and free. In an instant, she fled the place, fearing he would return and do the same to her.