A slight breeze welcomed her when Karen left the car. The trees in front of the trainings hall waved with the wind when she looked over to the entrance.
She expected Jacob to wait there, ready to get picked up, yet he was nowhere to be seen. Warren's car that stood in another one of the parking spots and the light from the hall windows were the only sign that anyone was here.
Karen went up to the entrance, looking through the locked see-through door. She was just about to call a second time when Max came running to the door to open it.
The young boy was around the same age as Sophie and Jacob, with the only big difference being his out of shape figure. He was already sweating from the slight jog that got him to the door and moved his glasses back in place, the brown hair on his head disheveled.
"Phew… good day, Ms Miller. Coach Warren is still sparring with Jacob. I should bring you to them."
She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, hadn't she called earlier on the way here, so Jacob would be ready to get picked up?
"Hello Max. Why aren't they done yet?"
Max scratched himself nervously before turning around to lead the way.
"Training and evaluation didn't go quite as planned. The Coach seems… a little… ugh… frustrated."
A few loud noises echoed through the hallway as they walked towards the trainings hall.
"So bad?"
Karen was familiar with Warren's temper from the time that he had trained her and the other agents of her team. She had somewhat expected that working with children would be counterproductive to his patience, but that sounded like a new low.
Max stayed still before the door to the hall, hesitant to open it before the muffled tirade ebbed off, so she stepped in front of him to do it herself. Warren's frustrated voice filled the air, barely distinguishable from screaming.
"Again! You cannot be serious!"
There stood Jacob on a trainings mat, his limbs cramped and stiff, the stance he tried to take an awful reflection of Warren's example opposite of him. It relieved her he was still that loud, his heavy voice berating the young boy was still a far cry from his worst side.
"Look at my legs! Can't you see how I divide my weight between them?"
Warren moved around on his feet, showing his agility and the balance he had while doing so. Jacob tried to imitate the movement, only to stumble immediately and lose his balance.
The now kneeling boy must have recognized Karen, because his stressed face lit up with glee when he turned towards her. Only for Warren to walk over and pick him up.
"Eyes… on… the target! We talked about this. You get too easily distracted."
Karen walked up closer while looking at the struggling boy, as Warren used his own legs to kick the feet of the boy into another position. That wasn't where the corrections ended, though. Next followed a combination of multiple pushes and slight punches against Jacob's arms and back.
The procedure looked as familiar as painful, and she couldn't help herself but feel pity for the boy.
"Hold that! No wiggling, clear?"
The man left his side and stood beside Karen, deep wrinkles on his face from frustration. His thick black brows furrowed and the mouth beneath his full beard pressed together.
"Look at that. I've been trying to teach him just the simplest fighting stance, and he makes no progress whatsoever. I didn't even get to a sparring between the two."
He hid his grey eyes behind his hand as Jacob began to lose his balance again. Wiggling from one side to the other, trying to regain it.
Karen smiled, reminded of her own first day of training.
"What do you expect? He's just a child. We weren't much better on our first day, either, and we were already adults. You should turn a few gears down."
Warren looked at her with disdain in his eyes and both arms crossed in front of him, before kicking the mat under Jacob away, making him fall onto his back.
"Don't act like I don't know what I'm doing! You know me well enough to see that I'm not going all out."
Jacob stayed down, probably seeing a chance to rest during Warren's conversation with her, only to receive an angry order from Warren shortly after.
"Just look at this lazy bum. Back up in position, NOW!"
The boy rushed back onto his feet, displaying the exact same awful stance he had before Warren had corrected it. His awful display made the man beside her shake his head.
"Now tell me, how long do you think we trained like this?"
She thought for a moment. Considering his exaggeration should it be way more than the fifteen minutes it looked like.
"An hour?"
He held up four fingers and went back to correct Jacob's sloppy position again. Karen blinked multiple times consciously, trying to comprehend the fact.
"Four hours of training? You've been doing that the whole afternoon?"
Warren returned stomping to her side while massaging his temples.
"What, you think I'm joking? We started right after school and even while I expected some delay, I still thought we could at least end the day with a sparring between him and Max."
Seeing Jacob's lack of progress, she and Sebastian would have to talk with him later. Which probably meant that her own conversation with Sebastian would fall flat for today.
"Have you tried talking to him about it? There has to be a reason for his…"
Warren threw her another disdainful glance before interrupting her with a sarcastic remark.
"Nah! I've been looking at him, slacking off all day, and didn't think of addressing it. Look! I'm not a psychiatrist, I can't spend all week trying to understand what's going on in that empty little skull of him. There are still four other delinquents I have to train, each one of them with their own problems. But those do at least cooperate. I don't have the time to waste upon training someone who doesn't want to learn or talk."
He kicked the mat below Jacob a last time away and waved Max over who's been staying behind the entire time. Signaling both of them to leave for the locker room and get themselves ready to leave. The corpulent boy rushed to Jacob's side to help him up, and the two disappeared quickly out of Karen's sight.
Hearing Warren's lecture, it was quite clear to Karen that he had no intention of trying anymore to get through to Jacob. He needed help, even if he could not admit it.
"I can talk with Stephanie if you want and ask her if she can organize some help for you. Maybe even delay the evaluation for a week."
He waved off immediately, unsurprisingly dismissing her proposal. She might have to talk with Stephanie directly.
"Unnecessary. I talked with her already earlier and she can spare someone."
Now that, on the other hand, was a surprise. Karen's eyebrows raised involuntarily, displaying her shock.
Warren smirked sadistically, clearly enjoying that he threw her off before going to the locker rooms himself.
"What? Even an old dog can learn some new tricks. After all, there's no shame in asking for help, right? Hahaha…"
Well, perhaps she was wrong, and the work with children did change him for the better. That would be a pleasant development.
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The drive back home was eerily silent, with both of her passengers being exhausted from the harsh treatment. She brought Max home on the way and wanted to address Jacob about his problems right after Max closed the door, but the devastated expression on his face let her hesitate.
It might be better to delay that for after dinner. His father should be present during that conversation and he might be already beating himself up over it.
Jacob stayed silent until they entered the garage, and Karen removed her seat belt. His face was still expressing deep frustration when he finally spoke up.
"You don't have any Magic, right Karen?"
Not knowing what he was going for, she decided simply to answer.
"Yes. I don't have any magic."
He kept fiddling around with the seat belt he was still wearing, unable to meet her eyes.
"Why do you then work in such a dangerous job? Fighting against Demons… and stuff…"
That wasn't really what he wanted to know, was it?
"I went to the military to help and protect others. It was just coincidence that brought me here. I don't know what you mean. But Humans can be just as dangerous and you'll probably have to face more of them than Demons, anyway. Since there are barely any Demon activities anymore. So no need to be afraid."
He looked up and met her eyes with his own, showing just how much he looked like his father. His short blonde hair and the blue eyes, it was just like a younger version of the man she loved.
"That too. I don't even know if I can fight against humans. How could I then fight Demons? Warren says they are much more resilient, and use magic. Aren't you afraid of Demons?"
Well, that is certainly not the conversation she was expecting.
"Ugh… well, of course I'm afraid. Some of those are even bullet proof. But that's why we fight magic with magic. And humans…"
Karen threw a look at the watch. This might take a while and it was late already, not to forget dinner.
"Look, we can talk later with your Father about this. That and dinner is probably getting cold, we should head inside."
Jacob opened his seat belt, that conflicted expression back on his face.
"It's also because of Sophie. Dad's been telling me that she would just get herself in danger if she knew and he doesn't even want to talk about it, because she has no magic. That's why I wanted to talk with you alone, because you don't have any magic either."
So that's why he was so absentminded. She imagined he would struggle to face the harsh reality of the military, but then also that damn secrecy. Dealing with his own abilities would force him to grow up far sooner than he should.
Yet it couldn't be helped.
"Oh, we will talk about it, trust me. But now it's time to eat something."