"Come," Ford said, stepping back into the vast, open space of the realm and adopting a fluid, balanced stance. "Show me your form again. Don't worry about hitting me; just move freely."
"Y-yes. *sniff* Sir Ford." Vastocean wiped the hot tears from his eyes with his sleeve, taking a deep, ragged breath.
He stepped forward, positioning his feet the way he had watched Ford do in the clearing. He sank his weight low, held his arms in guard, and delivered a swift, snapping jab toward Ford's chest.
Ford easily leaned his shoulder back, letting the strike miss by a fraction of an inch. "Good form, but your weight was tilted a bit too far onto your toes. If Edgar had swept your lead leg right there, you would have lost your footing."
Ford lightly tapped Vastocean's front knee with his boot. The touch was gentle, but the feedback was instant.
Vastocean immediately adjusted his center of gravity, shifting his hips back until his balance felt immovable.
"Like this?" Vastocean asked, executing the strike a second time.
"Good!" Ford didn't just dodge this time. He pivoted, using his forearm to deflect the blow while counter-striking with a slow, controlled palm toward Vastocean's ribs.
Instead of freezing or flinching as he usually did when faced with an attack, Vastocean's instincts flared.
' Without consciously thinking, he recognized the angle. It was the exact counter-deflection Ford had used against Ronald. Vastocean dropped his elbow, trapping Ford's forearm, and swung his opposite hand around in a fluid arch.
*Pack*
Their wrists collided in mid-air.
"W-whoa! Did I just do that? This is the same thing he did with Ronald!" Vastocean could not believe his own self.
Ford stopped, staring down at their interlocking arms, a genuine, wide smile spreading across his face.
"Incredible," Ford murmured, pushing back slightly to reset. "You didn't just copy the movement but you also understood the timing. You have an acute sense for combat, it seems being able to see where the open angle was."
"I... I could see it in my head," Vastocean admitted, looking at his own hands in disbelief. "When you moved, it was like a path laid itself out in front of me."
"Then let's push that path a bit further," Ford smirked, slipping into a faster rhythm. "Defense first!"
For the next hour, time seemed to blur inside the Cosmic God Space.
They traded blows round after round.
Ford exploded forward without warning, firing a blinding triple-jab combination. Vastocean ducked under the first strike, slipped inside the second, and raised his forearm to block the third!
But Ford seamlessly transitioned the high jab into a low, sweeping heel kick aimed to take out Vastocean's stance.
Having learned his lesson from earlier, Vastocean didn't panic. He planted his heel firm, absorbed the clip to his shin, and used the impact to pivot, thrusting a fierce shoulder-tackle directly into Ford's chest.
Ford was forced to leap backward to absorb the force, nodding in surprise as Vastocean immediately pressed the advantage, leaping forward with a flying knee strike that rattled through the open air.
"You're too open!" Ford maneuvered himself with a slightly diagonal forward step that allowed Vastocean's body to move past him. He delivered a right hook to Vastocean's body and sent him flying.
Every time Ford landed a gentle strike to highlight an opening, Vastocean absorbed the lesson immediately. He never made the same mistake twice. If Ford countered a jab with an inside leg sweep, Vastocean would catch the sweep on the next attempt and turn it into a counter-throw.
In actuality, Ford was the one in the disadvantage in strength and speed due to the fact that he was using his original body. However, he was more flexible, lighter on his feet with better range.
For every spar, Ford would always come out on top since he is able to create opportunities and capitalize on openings. But Vastocean was quickly gaining experience and absorbing all the lessons and pointers Ford raised during their spars.
'He's really aggressive and likes to take initiate attacks.' Ford then realized that Vastocean had a very aggressive way of fighting in comparison to how timid he was. He determined, 'It must be due to his hunting habits. It developed a tendency for aggression and wildness.'
Sweat poured off Vastocean's forehead, but his eyes remained sharp, glowing with an intense, joyful focus. For the first time in his memory, he wasn't being beaten because he was weak; he was being pushed because he was capable.
Finally, after a fierce exchange of five rapid blocks that ended with both of them halting their knuckles an inch from each other's faces, Ford lowered his hands and let out a breathless laugh.
"That's enough for today, it seems that the body is about to wake up. I still have a few hours for my shift." Ford said, catching his breath and nodding in deep approval.
"Wow, Sir Ford. You really are amazing! This is my first time training with someone! It's so fun!" Vastocean lowered his guard, his chest heaving, his body covered in phantom sweat. He looked down at his trembling hands as he felt the joy of training with someone for the first time.
He never received any proper training from anyone and only ever trained alone. He was too afraid to ask guidance from anyone. After all, who would ever want to train a cripple?
"It's also been a pleasure teaching you. You're progressing quite fast! It seems like you already have a particular preference for combat. We can build upon that as we train more." Ford said softly, his voice firm and absolute. "You never were a cripple. You just never had the chance to discover your talent and prove yourself. They just judged you by a scale that couldn't measure what you actually had."
Vastocean bowed deeply to Ford, his voice steady and filled with a quiet, unshakeable resolve. "Thank you, Master Ford. I won't let this talent go to waste."
....
Dylan Ford still had time before his day ends so naturally he was the one who still adopted the body.
When he opened his eyes, he was in his room and saw that Victoria and Scarlet was looking at him with worry.
'I think it should only be a bit over thirty minutes has passed here.' Dylan thought as he sat on his bed.
"Dylan!" Victoria's eyes lit up the moment she saw Dylan woke up.
"Big Bro!" Scarlet threw herself over and hugged Dylan. "Thank god, you're alive. I was so worried! Waaah!"
"Hahaha, don't go killing me right off the bat." Dylan joked and then he looked at Victoria, "Thank you."
"Why are you thanking me?" Victoria asked.
"Lady Benefactor must have used some expensive medicine on me for me to recover this quickly. You also tended to me and made sure I was properly taken care of considering how I'm bandaged right now. I am once again in your debt." Dylan smelled a potent medicinal fragrance all over his body and wounds. He looked that his entire body was covered in white bandages as well.
"Do not mention it." Victoria looked a way upon hearing his words, her face looking flushed. She closed her eyes as she remembered the firm and well-developed muscles that Dylan had as she applied the ointment.
"Huh?" Dylan was a bit confused but he had an inkling of what it might be about.
Scarlet had teasing grin and giggled, "Hehe, Big Sister Ria had to undr-"
"S-scarlet!" Victoria swiftly covered her mouth out of embarrassment.
Scarlet managed to free herself from Victoria's palm as she continued teasing Victoria, "Pah! She kept on closing her eyes while applying-"
"Scarlet!" Victoria's eyes sharpened and locked down on her lips, watching should it ever move. Sword energy was being mildly emanated from he. Her teary eyes made her appearance quite comical. She really was too embarrassed about this.
"Err, I was just kidding, Big Sis. Hehe" Scarlet nervously pouted and said.
*Pluck*
Dylan lightly flicked Scarlet's forehead and said, "Apologize."
"Ouch." Scarlet held her forehead as she cutely asked for forgiveness. "I'm sorry, Big Sis Ria."
"It's alright." Victoria's face softened as she looked at Dylan.
Dylan then raised another topic, "How about the three carpenter brothers?"
Scarlet answered, "They said that they have to report back to the workshop since it was already late. But they will definitely come by tomorrow."
"I see." Dylan nodded.
Victoria interjected, slightly impatient to know what happened, "So, can you now tell us what happened to you?"
"Yeah, Big bro tell us!"
"Well, it was kind of convoluted. Once I reached the Northern Gate, I went in line so I could enter the city. But once it was my turn for inspection, I was stopped by these two former colleagues that I had..." Dylan proceeded to tell Victoria everything that happened in the city gate.
Hearing the injustice that happened, Scarlet was unhappy, "What bullies!"
On the other hand, Victoria was much calmer and commented, "You handled the situation well once again."
"After finishing my business in the library, I exited the city. However, upon arriving at the forest, I..." Dylan hesitated to tell them the truth and decided to tell them a more believable story. "I was ambushed by those two which was how I got my wounds. But thanks to my speed and familiarity of the forest, I was able to lose their tracking and escape."
"..." Victoria was a bit silent as she looked at Dylan.
"I hate those two! Watch me Big Bro! I'll cultivate and make sure that they will get punished for bullying you!" Scarlet was furious and promised to take revenge for his big brother.
"Thank you, lil sis. I'll be relying on you then! A strong cultivator needs to get enough sleep to be strong." Dylan humored Scarlet. He got up and gestured, "Let's get you to bed."
"Hehe, you should! I guess I should do just that." Scarlet pointed her noise upwards as she followed Dylan to her bedroom.
Once Dylan got tucked in her bed, Scarlet said as she drifted into her sleep, "Once I grow strong, I will protect you Big Bro..."
Dylan felt touched and warm from Scarlet's intentions as he caressed her hair, "I know you will..."
Dylan then exited her room carefully and shut the door. "She's finally asleep."
Victoria was standing there waiting for him and softly uttered, "So what truly happened?"
"Yes, lady benefactor?" Dylan tried to act clueless.
But Victoria did not let him hide in his act, she pointed out, "You have four different types of wounds all over your body. They also left some form of sword energy, axe energy, saber energy and dagger energy on your wounds. So you cannot lie from me."
Dylan could only sigh, "I guess I can't hide it from a cultivator's Spiritual Sense. But, let's continue this conversation downstairs. I don't want to wake up Scarlet."
"I understand." Victoria nodded.
....
After going downstairs, they sat on the dining table as Dylan broke the silence.
"It is as you suspected. I was ambushed by four people." Dylan confessed.
"How strong were they?" Victoria already suspected this but she was still surprised.
"Based on their own words, they should be at the Peak of the Spirit Core Realm?" Dylan recounted Ronald's words.
"Four Peak Stage Spirit Core Realm experts? H-how are you still alive?" Victoria could not believe her ears as she unintentionally blurted out.
"It might be a little hard to believe but I killed all four of them." Dylan curtly responded.
"You killed them? How is that even possible?" Victoria really found it hard to believe that cultivators lost to a non-cultivator. That did not conform to the common sense of this world at all!
"I have a somewhat special physique that I built over the years thanks to eating Mystical Beast meat. It allowed me to be toe to toe with them at the least. The biggest reason is that they were inexperienced in combat and uncoordinated." Dylan succinctly explained the circumstances.
"..." Victoria was silent as she observed Dylan. It did not seem like he was lying at all.
'A special physique...' Just to make sure, she used her Spiritual Sense to inspect Dylan's muscles. As she inspected, she remembered Dylan's muscles which made her face heat up, 'It really is special... NO! What am I thinking?!'
Dylan noticed this and asked, "Are you alright? You're looking a bit flushed."
"It's nothing. I'm just feeling slightly off today." Victoria denied and tried her best to act normal.
'Did she just blush because she inspected my body? I always remember her as a Mortal Well, she is an adolescent. I'm too old to play along with this high-school romance.' Dylan could only sigh in his heart seeing Victoria's pure reaction.
"In a different note, I have been meaning to ask you something, Lady Benefactor." Dylan immediately changed the subject to avoid any developments there.
"Please do call me, Victoria." Victoria had a stern gaze when she said that.
"Uh..." Dylan was sightly hesitant to comply but he saw Victoria's pure eyes looking at him with expectation, "Victoria, may I know when your plan for departure is?"
"Oh," Visible disappointment was shown in Victoria's face seeing how formal Dylan was to him, but she still answered, "I have already contacted my clan. I was told to remain here as they will endeavor to journey here as fast as possible. The estimate is at least two weeks time, considering the distance of the two states."