Chapter 74: All Day Long

After the break for lunch, with both Rita and Alice eating in tense silence at his table and scaring the other students away, it was time to go to the Mixed Martial Arts class for his physical training. Tank was back again, ready to continue his lesson, while Daniel, Alice's partner, was sitting on a blanket at the edge of the training ground, waiting for the others to arrive. "Come on over and get comfortable. Good to see you again, Rita." He greeted them, then waved at Karl and gestured for him to join the class as usual. Karl wasn't the only one who could tell that Rita was annoyed at this point, but there wasn't much that she could do. There was no rule stating that the people from the government couldn't come sit and watch the class, and they weren't interfering with anything but Rita's development plans, which was within their operational authority, Karl assumed. "Karl, you will be training with Tank today while everyone else trains what they learned. Sorry about your luck, but you're the odd one out, and Sergeant Rita is busy at the moment." The professor informed him with a smirk. Sergeant Rita would much rather be training than 'busy,' Karl was sure. But, Tank turned out to be an excellent combat instructor with a profound understanding of both martial arts and armed combat. Today, the big man had a wooden training sword in his hands, while Karl wore the training gauntlets that he had obtained from the train. "Those should be good enough to block, but be aware that my strength is far above yours, so you don't want to try to overpower my attacks. Just deflect them so you can counterattack. If you can do it with your abilities, that's even better. Just keep the power level down so that you don't chop through the training weapon. After some time, you will be used to the sparring limitations, but it is best to err on the side of caution for now." Tank explained. "Alright. Are we having Hawk rest for the afternoon"? Karl asked. "For today, yes. He got his training in the morning, and a growing beast needs a lot of food and sleep. But he will be watching, so you can consider this a theory lesson for him. For now, the two of you can fight together, but once his power level goes up, it is unlikely that your body will be able to keep up. Not many classes can claim the physique of even the more fragile Magical Beasts." He explained. "So my job in the future is what? To train the beasts about combat and let them go at it?" Karl asked as they exchanged blows. "I don't know; that's above my pay grade. But I would assume that for a class that focuses on monsters, making them stronger and teaching them all the things that they wouldn't naturally know will be a big part of your job. How many Windspeed Hawks are familiar with Martial Arts? How many of them even understand the intricacies of various magic spells? It might not seem like much, but your Hawk already has a massive advantage over other beasts." Tank emphasized the word 'beasts' with a chop of his sword that Karl barely deflected as he spun out of the way. It was easier to start an attack from the side or the back of the Berserker, as he would be facing Karl before it was finished, and the extra time would allow Karl to prepare a defense that would allow him to keep moving. Hawk was impressed with the huge man's understanding of animals. As a Windspeed Hawk, there were numerous things that he didn't know at birth. Normal Hawks would have to survive their first learning experience to begin to understand things like mage attacks, but he had gotten to practice dealing with them every morning. Plus, the Berserker Man advocated for naps and food, so he was wise. By the time they finished, Karl was exhausted, and even Tank had broken a sweat, which impressed the other students far more than Karl thought that it should. Sure, he was a monster in combat, but he was also still vaguely human, so a three-hour training session of that intensity was sure to work him at least a little. Karl might not be as powerful, but he was fast enough to keep the Berserker moving, a technique that Tank advocated for, as most of the berserker-type opponents would have a time limit. Enraged magical beasts usually burned through their energy reserves at an incredible rate, so if you could hold out for five or ten minutes, they would exhaust themselves. Even most of the drug-induced berserker states wouldn't last more than half an hour before the user would crash and be left in a far worse state than when they started. For that reason, they would go all out while they could. They knew that they had to win within the time limit, and they would get desperate as it got close. So, the agility-type fighters could string them along and wear them out, then finish them off once they crashed. Cardio was incredibly important for agility fighters, who couldn't always finish a fight with a single strike. "Alright, that's it for the day. See you all tomorrow." The instructor called, and the group began to disperse back to the showers or to their rooms to shower and change there. Karl was one who preferred to shower and change immediately, which left Rita and the pair from the Bureau of Elite Development waiting for him to come back out of the crowded locker room in the small building beside the training field. "Do they always hold this class outdoors?" Daniel asked. Rita nodded. "Unless the weather is bad. The grass is softer than the gym floor, and the mats aren't a realistic footing scenario. Most of their fights will be outdoors, so it's better to train in the field than on the hardwood." "Understandable. Alright, I think that we learned what we needed to today. I will see you both tomorrow." Daniel agreed, then waved as he left, with Rita glowering at his back.