章 14: Jack

The following morning, I drove to school and parked my car in the usual spot.

As I sat next to Ashley, scanning the classroom before the lecture started, my eyes fell on Ruby sitting alone at the top. Without much thought, I stood up and approached him, extending an invitation to join us.

Ruby looked up at me with timid, light-blue eyes and nodded hesitantly, accepting the offer.

We settled into our seats together, and Ashley's curious gaze soon fell upon Ruby.

"Hey Ruby," Ashley said, her tone questioning as she glanced back at me. "How did you get to know her? I haven't seen you speak with anyone other than me."

'Wait... her?' My heart skipped a beat as I realized my mistake.

Summoning all my composure, I turned to Ruby. Her short brown hair and delicate features now seemed unmistakably feminine. I mentally kicked myself for my assumption.

Yesterday she had a hat on and looking at her body I thought that she was a boy.

I smiled awkwardly and replied to Ashley, "Ruby and I met yesterday. Just struck up a conversation, you know."

I glanced at Ruby, hoping she hadn't caught on to my initial confusion. She simply nodded. It was impossible to read her face.

She turned to Ashley and spoke up, "He actually helped me yesterday. There were some dickheads bothering me, and he helped me out."

Ashley's eyebrows rose in surprise as she glanced between Ruby and me. "Really?"

As the lecture started, I made a mental note to be more observant in the future. I felt a bit stupid.

As classes ended, I made my way to pick up Emily.

She was already dressed in her training clothes. She was wearing a white T-shirt, probably with a sports bra underneath, and skin-tight, grey yoga pants. The pants revealed her amazing bubble butt and I could see the panty lines.

"Where are you looking?" Emily's voice interrupted my admiring gaze as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Oh! Sorry," I stammered, feeling my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "You really stole my attention." She looked incredibly hot.

Emily chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."

I shared with Emily that I mistook a girl in my class for a boy yesterday, and she found it funny.

She said she was having a hard time with chemistry. She could not believe how much she had to remember. Reaction mechanisms, organic chemistry reactions, periodic table trends, and other things.

We got to the Maxwell Mafia base and went straight to the training facility.

I left Emily to train with a woman called Olivia and saw her start training right away, kicking and punching the bags.

Benjamin was nowhere in sight, so I approached Rick to ask about my training for the day.

He gestured towards the sparring ring, where an athletic man, maybe 2 or 3 years older than me, was shadowboxing. He had dark hair with green highlights.

"That's Jack. He'll be your sparring partner for the next few days," Rick informed me, his tone serious.

I stepped up to the ring. From up there, it seemed even bigger. It resembled more of a theater stage than a traditional boxing ring.

Jack paused his training, looking at me as I came up to him.

I extended my hand, "Graham. Nice to meet you."

He returned the handshake, offering a slight bow. "Jack Moviestar. It's nice to meet the Young Master of the Maxwell family," he replied with a touch of formality.

"No need for the formalities. I'll need a moment to warm up before we spar."

"Alright. Take your time." Jack nodded understandingly.

After stepping down from the ring for a moment, I stretched my muscles, feeling the tension at ease. Next, I focused on the heavy bags and pounded them while preserving as much energy as I could.

Returning to the ring, I faced Jack once more, ready to spar.

"Just so you know, I'm still a beginner," I said.

Jack took a defensive stance of some kind. He did small jumps in place, and looked very light on his feet.

'I will just do what has worked before.'

I lowered my center of gravity, and I shot at him. My intention was to grab his knee, wrap my arms around it, and then push on his body to take him down. But Jack was faster; he evaded by leaping to the side.

He spun around quickly, lifting his feet off the ground. His leg arced through the air, gaining momentum before descending rapidly towards my back. The impact was jarring. Jack's strike landed squarely on my back, driving me downward with force. My legs gave out beneath me as I was pressed into the ground.

As I struggled to rise from the ground, Jack moved away from me with a casual ease.

"In a real fight, this would be the end of you," he remarked, his tone matter-of-fact. "The one-leg takedown you tried is only going to work if your opponent is much slower than you or very tired, and you are fighting close up. You need to learn how to kick and punch properly."

I nodded, absorbing his advice. If I was going to survive in this world, I needed to adapt and improve my skills.

'Punching and kicking? I will try and imitate him.'

I took a few slow steps, planting my feet firmly on the ground. I stayed alert and ready to respond to any possible attack.

As Jack moved in, I prepared to execute a roundhouse kick. With a swift spin, I swung my right leg upward, aiming for the level of his waist. Pouring all my strength into the kick, I launched it at him.

But Jack was one step ahead. He raised his knee to a 90-degree angle with his hips. My leg connected with his thigh, and the force of my blow was canceled out.

As Jack's foot touched down, he pivoted smoothly. In an instant, his arm whipped forward, aiming a wide right-hand swing at my jaw. I reacted swiftly, my body already in motion. I shifted my weight back, my head ducking backwards just in time to evade his fist by mere inches.

I launched forward, my knee driving upward as my leg swung from the right, aiming just above his waist.

Jack was already on the move; he leaped back, evading my attack, leaving me grasping at air. He countered with lightning speed. His left leg lashed out, striking my right thigh. Before I could recover, he lunged with his right leg and struck my left shin.

The attacks kept coming, each strike landing with stinging force, leaving me reeling.

I retaliated, throwing punches in rapid succession. But Jack danced around my blows. With every feint and sidestep, he kept me off balance.

I managed to land a firm kick on his shin, which made him grunt in surprise. But his assault only intensified. He was getting faster and faster.

I found myself struggling to keep pace. My legs started protesting, throbbing in pain. But I refused to yield. I clenched my teeth and dug deeper.

I launched myself back at him, but his next move caught me completely off guard. He reached down and grabbed the inside of my thigh, his other hand wrapping tightly around my arm. In that instant, his strength was overwhelming. He effortlessly lifted me off the ground.

'There was no way he was this strong just a second ago. He was holding back.'

I could only watch helplessly as he leaned forward and with a sudden burst of momentum, he propelled me over his head and shoulders and then slammed me down.

"BOOM!" My body crashed against the wooden floor, every muscle protesting against the force of the impact.

The sound was so loud that everyone in the room turned to look at us.

I caught sight of Emily running up to the ring.

"Are you alright, Gray!?" she called out anxiously.

With a pained grimace, I managed to lift my hand and weakly flash her a thumbs-up.

Then I heard Jack speak, "Rick! Are you sure he's only trained for two days? He seems better than some of the seniors at the academy."

"Did you use Kainen on him?" Rick responded.

Jack's reply was swift and apologetic. "Sorry. I couldn't hold back."

As they talked, I felt something strange; a chill crept into my bones even as the room sweltered with heat.

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