Chapter 60: How to Punch
Gray opened his eyes.
Franz rose from his meditative stance.
"Good evening."
"…Did I pass the test…?"
Franz smiled warmly.
"You figured it out."
He stretched, doing small hops.
"…Unfortunately no, you did not pass the test. But don't worry about it—nobody expected you to."
Gray punched the floor.
"Damn it."
"Your powers are powerful, but hard to activate. In the cases where Genesis works in conjunction with your Second Mercurial Fragment—although Onironauts themselves do not have impurities within their Root—we can consider these limitations as a kind of Impurity."
"Yet, since we cannot properly observe Him, we have no way of properly detailing and counting His Impurities, not allowing us to quantify whether it's a Heavenly Root or an Earthly etc…"
"Franz."
Gray, still on the floor, called out, his long bangs covering his dark eyes.
"Were you holding back?"
"Naturally."
Gray's expression was dejected.
"Don't feel down. Your talent in dodging is incredible." Franz commented.
It was natural to think that the incident had marked Gray deeply, heightening his instincts to formidable degrees.
"Compared to your moves, mine weren't much."
Franz pointed at his bandages.
"My sight was active, don't forget. If you had Udjat, my ability, you could see every single movement in someone's body—their muscles contracting, their ligaments tightening—allowing you to predict everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
"Gray, what are the things where you should focus your utmost attention as you fight?"
"To your enemy?" he asked.
"Excellent—but what else?"
Gray thought for a brief moment.
"…Maybe your surroundings?"
"Plausible, but not entirely correct. The answer is time."
The more time passed, the more his movements and reflexes would turn rusty, and the more his body wouldn't act as he wished.
"Thus, you must end your fights early."
When Gray didn't use his ability, his dodges were harsh, mostly instinctual, causing him to expend his energies more.
"You must calculate the attack's range in your head and then use the smallest amount of movement to avoid it."
"And instead of doing impulsive attacks to profit off your dodges, remember that the momentum embedded in the strength of the enemy's attack may cause their center of gravity to shift, rendering them vulnerable for proper attacks."
"The rate of shifting, however, depends heavily on how the enemy performs their attack."
If the enemy was trained and performed a simple move like a jab, their foundation would be more stable, causing them to not receive the full effect.
"By dodging to the side, you can slightly unbalance them, though."
All in all, Gray's impulsiveness may have worked on human opponents, but for experienced Nephilim, it wouldn't.
"Now stand up, allow me to teach you how to punch properly."
Gray stood up.
"Instead of punching only with your arm like this…"
Franz did the slow motion of a punch.
"You should do it like this."
Franz raised his guard as he hunched his shoulders slightly.
He took a deep breath.
He pushed against the ground with his feet, twisted his hips and torso, rolled his shoulders and with a quick movement, he extended his arm forward, his punch cutting through the air, doing a whip-like crackle!
"Understood?"
"You must put your entire body in the action. But remember, the punch should be controlled, allowing your foundation to remain stable. You saw what happened before—by using your momentum, I could use it against yourself, causing you to trip and so on."
Franz's lips curved upwards.
"Now try it yourself."
And so, Gray slowly followed Franz's movements.
He raised his guard, resembling that of a boxer.
He slowly pushed against the ground with his feet, then carefully twisted his hips and torso, feeling the energy rise to his upper body. He drove his shoulder forward and extended his arm and fist.
"Like this?"
"You're close."
Franz corrected the slight mistakes he made, using his hands to fix Gray's posture and alignment, explaining the motives behind his correction.
Gray continued to punch the air as Franz silently watched, answering Gray's question when needed.
…
One hour later.
Gray was starting to get a feel for every movement's purposes, motions and rhythm, but could not produce them as smoothly as Franz's.
"For Nephilim like us two, people who cannot enhance their bodies with much quintessence, learning how to dodge and attack properly is fundamental." Franz explained.
"…What?"
Gray's hair stood up.
"…You cannot enhance your body with much quintessence? I thought you belonged to the Root of Virtue! How did you split that metal bar in half, then?"
Franz laughed.
"It's true. I do belong to the Root of Virtue. Unfortunately, I have a continuous influx of quintessence coming inside my eyes, mostly preventing me from bringing quintessence to other parts in my body."
He pointed at his bandages.
"Thanks to these special bandages, however, I can control the amount of quintessence they receive. This allows me to briefly enhance my body."
"So that's the reason why you wear them…"
Franz gave a brief smile.
"It's not the only reason."
"Udjat allows me to perceive everything; even what isn't meant to be seen. If I removed my bandages at the wrong period of time, I could accidentally gaze upon the creatures who meddle in the dimensions behind ours."
"As you can see…"
Franz chuckled.
"My ability brings me more problems than anything. Now that you have the basics of striking down, let me teach you how to dodge without relying on your powers."
"Since you don't have Udjat, you won't see their heart rate flaring up, their adrenal glands releasing adrenaline and many other signals, but don't worry—there are many, tiny movements people do before they strike—allow me to teach you a bunch of them."
"Before a fight, they may change their position abruptly, changing the way they stand, preparing themselves to be in the most comfortable position to begin the fight. Their eyes may lock on you completely, scanning your movements. Right before a punch, their body might twitch slightly, their fists will clench tightly, and they will emit a slight inhale before the attack."
"Remember to pay attention especially to their breathing—it gives away many things. It tells you whether they're about to attack, whether they're tired, whether they're in pain and so on."
"I understand…"
Franz looked around.
"You don't seem to have your weapon here."
Gray scratched the back of his neck.
"…I'm hiding it under the bed. I didn't want my sister to find it."
"What a shame, I wanted to teach you something about sword fighting…"
"…Sorry."
"Haha, it's all good."
"How are things going with Mnemosyne's Antiques' restoration project?" Gray asked.
"We are making progress. Oh and by the way, we also found your sword's sheath among the rubble. I can give it to you the next time you come there."
"Thanks, but…the children are Nephilim as I expected, right?"
"Precisely."
"They weren't born as ones, right?"
"They weren't born Nephilim, but they became Nephilim at a younger age, making them to not be familiar with their abilities."
"What about their parents?"
"…"
Franz spoke after a brief moment with a saddened expression.
"…They don't have them; the kids are orphans. We decided to shelter them, teaching them how to live as humans and how to hide their powers from them."
Gray didn't expect such an outcome.
"Poor children."
"Come to think of it," Franz changed subject. "Inside Mnemosyne's Antiques there's a section where us Nephilim train our abilities and spar against each other when needed. I can teach you how to fight inside it."
"Casanova asked you to do this?"
"Precisely. After making you go through such a dangerous event, he wants you to be prepared for everything. He wants you to improve your powers and gain experience from someone like me, one who is a Nephilim based upon combat arts."
Casanova would've done this on his own, but since his mission had gone through some unfortunate changes, he was unable to return inside Rosano for an unknown amount of time.
"…Also."
"He wants you to go on missions."
"…Missions?" Gray pointed at himself. "Me?"
"We, Nephilim who belong to Mnemosyne's Antiques, go on missions around our city, investigating supernatural events and phenomena, fixing them when necessary."
"Gaining experience in the field is the real deal, believe me."
"Reading books about our world is nice and all—but some things are better to be seen with your own eyes. Also, since you're too weak, you're always going to be accompanied by the more experienced Nephilim—so don't worry about facing any danger on your own."
Although he wondered about the perils he would face, he felt they were a necessity! How could he expect to become a stronger Nephilim if all he did was be sheltered?
"Thanks for the opportunity!"
"Haha, it's nothing. Now, Gray, would you mind telling your sister that you will return late today? There's a place I need you to visit."
"Uh, sure. Let me grab my phone…"
Gray walked to his backpack. He opened the zipper, grabbed his phone, and quickly informed Kathy.
As he placed his phone back, a shadow suddenly loomed behind him.
Before he noticed it, a talisman was placed on his back.
Instantly, he fell in a deep sleep.