章節 40: Training and Mission

"Mr. Killswitch, welcome to the Continental."

"""Yeeeaahhhh!!!"""

After hearing Marlo's announcement, everyone cheers for Edward's victory. Nobody expected that the Mini Blue Ranger could defeat the famous John Wick in a mock battle. And also, the fight was so tense that it could draw them into suspense.

"He won! He won!" yelled, Sammy while hopping around. Then she proceeded to hug Dean and kissed him passionately. Dean was caught off-guard and paralyzed by the unexpected kiss.

Dean that was still in a daze asked while rubbing his wet lips. "Uhh... Did it mean, we're dating again?"

"Nahh... But, I'm free tonight," answered Sammy while tracing her fingers on Dean's six-packs.

"Sounds good to me, " said Dean, smiling. He started to make a list of 'positions' to take later.

Some of the members that were watching the fight in their own room also celebrated Edward's victory in their own way. A woman jumped up and down on her bed while laughing joyously. A guy in the shower danced until he tripped himself on the bathtub. The hotel staff that was watching secretly hugged each other and toast for Edward's victory.

Even Emma Farlene, the branch owner, opened a bottle of wine for herself. She also poured another glass, but no one knows who it was for.

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"I... I won..." I couldn't believe what was happening. I released my lock on John Wick and stood. I fixed the loosening mask and yelled out of excitement, "I WIN!"

[Congratulations, Sir. You've done well.] praised, Regina.

John also rose himself up and cleaned the dust on his clothes. He then touched the wet part of his head. It was colored with yellow paints.

"Uhh... I'm sorry Mr. Wick. I shouldn't have aimed at your head." I said, feeling bad, but I have no choice either. Everything was too fast that I didn't have the moment to think and just shoot whatever it was in front of the muzzle.

"No. You did the right thing. If it was a real battle, aiming the fatal spot of your opponent was the right thing to do." said John. He patted my shoulder while smiling, "Congratulations, to finally join the Continental. It will be rough from now on."

"Thank you, I will keep it in my mind, " I couldn't express how happy I was. Although my main purpose was just to take advantage of the Continental's facility and connections, clearing the hard second test was so exhilarating and fulfilling.

"After you cleaned yourself, find me at the cafeteria. We're going to talk about your training. You lacked everything except power." said John, suddenly. He clearly meant to take me under his wings.

I was still taken aback by his word. Me? Trained by John Wick? it was the best outcome I could ever ask for. I couldn't say anything and just nodded. He then smiled and walked out of the arena to clean himself.

After watching John walked away, the other spectator suddenly ran toward me. They bombarded me with questions. Mainly about my power and how I did the trickshot to mark John. They would've bought me drinks if I was older.

They then proceed to introduce themselves one by one. The scrawny cowboy's name was Jack Daniels. He has been in the Continentals for 4 years. He planned to move next year toward a bigger city, bragging that he will marry his High School sweetheart that was working outside Raccoon City at the moment.

The old man with a cigar between his finger was William "Bill" Overbeck, A Vietnam War Veteran. He couldn't outlive his days as a soldier and just started to work as a mercenary. Sometimes he would have nightmares about his experience in the war.

Next would be the Latino man, which was actually worked at Continental Hotel in Mexico before moving with his wife to Raccoon City. He was called El Mariachi. I wondered if it was his real name or just an alias. Anyway, we will meet often, so it's not bad to know each other this early.

The last two were Sammy and Dean. They had a complicated relationship, breaking and makeup once a year. Anyway, it wasn't my business. They were good at Intel gathering and heist. I could ask them a thing or two about it. There were a lot of places that I need to broke into later on in the future. Well, it was still a plan, though.

After saying goodbyes, Marlo escorts me to a vacant room to shower and clean myself. Since my equipment could be cleaned or repaired just by using Reinforcement, I only had to wash my face.

15 minutes later, I met with John at the elevator. He said that the Branch's Owner wanted to meet me, so we canceled the meeting at the cafeteria and moved to the top floor to meet her, Emma Farlene.

When I get into her room, I was astonished by the interior of the room. Everything was pure white with golden streaks of flower patterns carved on the ceiling. With a big chandelier hanging in the middle of the room, it feels like walking into a dance hall. This room by itself took almost half of the Continental's floor. Since it was on the seventh floor, I also could see the landscape of Raccoon City.

While I was still amazed by the view, Emma walked out of a black and gold double door. It seemed to be her bedroom. Her brunette hair was tied high forming a bun. She also wore a black dress, it looked like Ada's Chinese red dress from Resident Evil 4, but instead of butterflies, Emma had flower patterns sown on it.

"You might already be notified of it, but as the owner of this Branch, I, Emma Farlene, welcomed you to the Continentals," said Emma. She walked to me and crouched to meet my eyes. She proceeds to inform me, "I know your mother, Edward."

I was perplexed, not knowing what to say. I didn't expect to find a trace of my mother's here of all places. "H... How?"

"Your mother and I was a best friend, Edward. We are not just a Boss and Subordinate," said Emma, giving an obvious clue.

"Subordinate? Do you mean she worked in your hotel?"

"No, Edward. She was a mercenary and one of the best members the Continental ever have," said Emma while moving to the sofa in the middle of the room.

'My mom... was a mercenary'

Suddenly, everything seemed to click in my head. I recalled what Claire and Chris said about my mom. Since their parents' death, Mom was the only one who dropped out of school and worked to pay for their educations. Mom had to move to Raccoon City at an early age and worked from Monday to Friday, only coming back on weekends.

But wasn't Mom always had a weak body? Since I was born she would always spend her days reading books and watching me play. I never expected the delicate and harmless lady that I knew, was actually a professional mercenary.

As she sat, Emma continued, "Don't worry. Your identity is safe with me. Only John and I knew about it. Now come here, we need to talk a bit more."

Since there were only a long sofa and a chair, I sat next to her and John took the chair. I didn't ask anything more about Mom, this alone was enough for me. There's nothing good in delving further into my mother's past. If she hides it for me all these years, it meant it wasn't something she was proud of or it was for my own good.

"You really look a lot like her, don't you?" said, Emma, as she started stroking my hair, gently. She then continued before I could say anything, "I'm calling you here for a reason. Mainly because of John Wick's proposal for training you."

I looked at John and he nodded after our eyes met.

"All that I'm going to say is, I'm supporting his decision. Until you were strong enough, he will teach you about professionalism in our world. You can use all of the facilities here without paying anything, I will take care of it." Emma made a sign toward John with her chin. He wanted him to explain about the training.

"Except for raw power, you're lacking in a lot of things. I could have ended the fight earlier under 5 seconds from the moment you began your attack, but I wanted you to improve your way of thinking and abilities in observing your opponent. Surprisingly, you could adapt to circumstances faster than I expected. I was expecting you to fail several times."

I nodded at his words. All he said was true. Except for my ability in shooting and my strong body, I didn't have anything to be proud of. If Regina didn't warn me about John's power. It should have been impossible to win over him.

"So what do you have in your mind?" I asked John for his plan.

"I will teach you everything that I knew. But since you have proper skill in firearms, I will teach you all of the basics for now, like Close Quarter Combat (CQC) or Battle Tactics before moving on to the next subject," said John. He emphasized that knowing my fighting style rather than copying others was what I have to strive for. "But I have to warn you, my training will be rigorous and demanding. I want you to focus all of your attention. Just give me a week."

I gulped at his determination. He was even more eager than me.

We talked a bit more about the training, such as schedules and place. Emma would assign me a mission only if John agreed to it. He would also monitor my progress and gave me advice on how to complete them later on. For now, all I need to do was focus on the training.

Three days passed just like that. I would spend most of my days in the Continental's facility, training with John. When he said rigorous and demanding, it was not a joke, even after being pushed by my stats, I haven't won a single mock battle against him afterward.

The CQC that John taught me, for now, was a mix between Vale Tudo and Russian Systema. While I knew a lot about martial arts from my past life, it was the first time I trained them, especially Systema and Vale Tudo. It Vale Tudo was leaning toward a full-contact fight without a weapon, Systema includes hand-to-hand combat, grappling, knife fighting, and firearms training which suited me so well. I even wondered if it was specially created for my use.

My knowledge Mastery keeps improving added a lot of Basic Mastery.

<Knowledge Mastery:

Basic Firearms Mastery,

Basic Japanese Linguistic,

Basic French Linguistic,

Basic Systema Mastery,

Basic Vale Tudo Mastery,

Basic Breathing Mastery,

Basic Movement Mastery,

Basic Self-Defense Mastery,

Basic Battle Tactics Mastery.>

In only three days, I had already gained over six different courses of Masteries. Basic Systema and Vale Tudo came from my CQC training with John. Basic Breathing and Movement were also taught by him. It was one of the most important requirements in mastering martial arts. With this, I could save more stamina and body control, and decrease my chance of slipping in the middle of battles.

The Self-Defense mastery explained itself just like the name. However, when I got it, I was quite surprised. I never knew that the Self-Defense had its own branch.

The Battle Tactics was the main course of this training. From John, I somewhat know hundreds if not thousands of his knowledge about it. He also warned to not stop thinking when fighting your enemies.

Relying on body reflexes and memory would just spell doom for you, as it could be taken advantage by your enemies and easier to read. Just like how there's no such a thing as lack of option in defeating your enemies, there's no such a thing as no time to think, just a brainless people.

Gaining Basic Masteries were easy, but upgrading it to the next level was what makes it hard. Not only that I have to use it repeatedly either from training or real combat, but I also have to further improve my knowledge on the subject. Having a lot of points in Dexterity and Intelligent proved to be helpful in this case.

Claire didn't know that I've been going out a lot lately, she was too focused on having fun, since, in a month, she needs to get back to New York to attend her College. Chris was indifferent about me, he knew that I know what is the best for my own. So he just turned a blind eye whenever I went out, but he would check up on me once in a while. No matter what it was, I'm still a kid in his eyes, which I could understand as well.

Just like that, Monday came. Tonight I will finally have a chance to do my mission. However, John would observe me from far away. But first, I have to do something about today's schedule.

"Edward. C'mon, wake up. I already made breakfast for you." said, Claire opening the door.

I pull up the blanket covering my body over my head.

"Can I just sleep for today? It's only the first day, there's only an introduction. The proper class would start next week." I replied, being persistent to continue my paused dream.

"Where did you learn that? C'mon wash your face," said Claire while having a tug of war using the blanket.

"Uuuugh... I hate school."

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Rewinding back at the time when Edward left the Continental after his discussion about the training with John Wick and Emma Farlene.

Emma was watching the scenery of the setting sun while drinking a glass of wine on her hand. Suddenly, she asked a question to John, "So whose is it?"

John that was going to leave the room paused, he was completely caught off-guard. "What do you mean?"

"That boy, he clearly looked a lot like you. I'm not like you, John. I know a lot about Vanessa, she was like a little sister to me." said Emma, with a teasing smile. "When will you tell him?"

John sighed a tired breath. There was really no such a thing as secret under this cunning fox. "I can't, Emma."

"Oh ho? Is this really THE John Wick that I knew?" said, Emma, emphasizing the matter.

"Whatever the fact is, I can't be his father. He already had one, and he was perfect," said John Wick with a downed head. He walked out of the door while muttering, "No matter how great people called my name, I don't deserve to stand next to him."

The door closed, hiding the downcast figure. Emma that was looking at the scenery turned around and stared at the door. "Reputation might have been made with years of compiled efforts and achievement, John. But a father needs only one day and it was the day their child born."