บท 88: Intrigued
'Seems like I won't be able to speed run learning Martial arts' Alex thought as he looked at John who had brought some bright yellow cones that he put on the ground in a formation of sorts.
"The first order of business to learn movement is the side steps, they are the most fundamental part of dodging strikes as well as creating an opening so you can counterattack or launch a preemptive strike of your own," John said as he finished putting the cones on the ground.
Turning his head to Alex, John said.
"I'll show you what you're going to be doing"
John then started side-stepping in the middle of the cones but he didn't touch even one, it truly looked like masterful work, even though his speed wasn't high even someone who didn't know anything about martial arts like Alex could see just how skilled John was.
A slight grin enveloped Alex's face as he looked at John who finally stopped the sidestepping.
He had to get his breath for a few seconds until he spoke to Alex once more.
'Age really ruins everything huh?' Alex thought as he stared at the man.
"That's what you will be practicing, once you can do it for fifteen minutes at a time without ever touching a single cone while maintaining a consistent speed then come and talk to me again," John said as he patted Alex's shoulder and walked back to the counter, grabbing the newspaper he had left behind and starting to read once more.
'Right, so he really just told me what to do and left me' Alex thought for a moment and then the grin on his face grew bigger.
'That's great, I'd rather go at my own pace than have someone to carry me through the entire way, if I get stuck somewhere or don't understand something I can just ask on my own' Alex thought as he walked into the middle of the orange cones.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Alex thought back to how John had moved, this time however he wasn't trying to copy John completely as he had done for Jamal.
He was simply trying to understand his movement, why he had needed to put strength into his calves or upper legs when he had, and when he had started using strength for the next turn of the side step.
Every single minute detail had been engraved into Alex's eyes and he had been able to see it in almost low motion. His almost photographic memory allowed him to study those visuals that had been stored in his brain and finally his body.
The body of a progenitor vampire or even just a normal vampire was at a much higher level than a human.
A normal human could never have not just the strength and speed but the flexibility or reflexes of a vampire.
When you combine all three of those you arrive at this scenario.
Snapping his eyes open, Alex started doing the side steps.
At first, his speed was even slower than old John's but it quickly increased.
Arriving at a speed of side-stepping that only Olympic athletes would be able to accomplish, Alex had to stop himself.
The real training for him wasn't learning the side step anymore as he had already done that, it was to reign in and gain better control of his own strength so he could appear human to the other people in the gym.
The others who had been checking Alex sneakily had their jaws go slack as they looked at him.
John merely raised his head from the newspaper and gave Alex a glance before shaking his head and starting to read the newspaper again.
'And that bastard says he has never learned any martial arts'
Alex meanwhile was trying to slow down his speed while keeping it at a fast enough pace.
'This is harder than I thought' Alex had passed the days while using basically nothing from his physical abilities unless he was training or running somewhere, he had never tried to control his prowess so he would appear at the level of a human athlete.
This was much harder than simply limiting yourself to zero percent or using your max efficiently.
It took a few minutes and while he was regulating his speed Alex messed up a couple of times but he wasn't bothered by it and simply continued.
After about twenty minutes, however, Alex stopped and held his hands as if exhausted.
'I can't just keep doing this without appearing exhausted at all. I have to at least do the bare minimum so I look human' Alex thought but then grimaced inwardly.
'I'm huffing over here but I have no sweat on my forehead or on my clothes.'
Finally, after about five minutes of a break, Alex started sidestepping once more.
This time he was going for the fifteen minute and no mistakes mark.
'I managed to somewhat regulate my speed and the technique is already down, time to go to the next step.' Alex thought as he concentrated fully on the task.
To him, at the moment it felt like there was nothing besides this one task before him.
Finally, fifteen minutes passed and Alex hadn't hit a single cone or messed up his technique while sidestepping even once.
Stopping in place, Alex pretended to huff and then started walking toward John.
"I'm done coach, I did it for fifteen minutes without any mistakes," Alex said as he waited for the man to respond.
Lifting his head from the newspaper, John narrowed his eyes for a moment and then nodded.
"All right then let's go to the next step, also stop trying to act tired. There's no way that managed to even break a sweat out of you with that body of yours" John said as he shook his head.
'This guy really thinks he can fake being tired while having no sweat on his body at all. What is he even trying to accomplish by doing this' John thought, his mind had been intrigued, that was the only reason he had accepted Alex into the gym.
_____________________________________________________________________________
John Wick is intrigued.
I just can't stop myself from smiling when I write that name, I hope you guys are enjoying these chapters where Alex has to learn Martial arts.
This arc will be quite action-focused so I hope you will enjoy it.
If you want to read ten chapters ahead and support me check out my Patreon at:
Patreon.com/WhiteAuthor
Currently on chapter 98 on there.
Lots of Love
WhiteAuthor
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