"Teacher, please step back a little." He continued.
After Mai stepped back, Aiden, now with enough space to move, began to play out a full, standard set of Enemy-Seizing Fist.
'Ear strike!'
'Wrist grab, elbow smash!'
'Arm block…'
'Straight, swing, hook…'
'Swing hook, charging knee!'
'End!'
When the sixteen-move set of Enemy-Seizing Fist was finished, Aiden let out a long breath, turned his head, and looked at Mai on the side.
"Teacher Mai, I didn't do too badly, right?"
But Mai first blinked her eyes a few times, then smacked her lips, and only after that came back to herself and nodded, "Very nice, the moves have a lot of strength."
Then she added a sentence, "It's more than enough to deal with ordinary people."
Of course, this was originally meant for armed police to use against criminals…
It's nothing like some supreme martial art. In reality you can even search it online and find the entire set.
So Aiden said, "I only practiced it to exercise my body and for self-defense anyway."
"That's why just this much is far from enough. To become a qualified fighter, you have to learn more powerful techniques."
Mai walked up to Aiden, circled around him once again, and then said, "Your fundamentals are very solid, and your physique is also quite good."
"So we can skip some of the basics. But before learning our Shiranui-style ancient martial arts, I still want to test your actual combat experience. Aiden, do you have that?"
"Of course I do!" Aiden said with a blank expression. More than just experience, in fact, he had killed more people than most King of Fighters combined.
"Good, then let's spar a bit first." Mai nodded, slowly stepping back a few steps, then posed in her classic fighting stance.
One hand holding the Flower Butterfly Fan, the other hand in a sword-finger raised beside her temple, her body trembling in small movements, ready to spring at any moment.
But without the kimono's cover, dressed only in her light and revealing battle outfit, when her body trembled, the round, bouncy white rabbits also trembled along with her, far more than the rest of her body's movement, clearly full of elasticity.
This made Aiden completely unable to concentrate; his eyes kept unconsciously sliding down from Mai's face.
"Aiden, where are your eyes looking!" Noticing his gaze, Mai scolded sweetly.
"We're fighting right now. Even if it's just sparring, you still have to treat it like real combat."
"Alright, Teacher Mai."
Aiden took a deep breath, forcing his eyes not to wander to that attention-grabbing spot, then pulled himself back into stance.
"Very good, Aiden, you attack first!" As the teacher, Mai said it as a matter of course.
"Then… forgive me, Teacher!"
As soon as Aiden spoke, he truly entered a combat state. His gaze became as sharp as a blade, stabbing so that the space between Mai's brows actually ached.
Then, lifting his left foot, he stepped forward. With his toes gripping the ground, he instantly crossed four to five meters, appearing right in front of Mai.
And the moment his right foot landed, he twisted, swinging his body into a side whip kick.
Even without switching into his profession state, just relying on his raw physique, Aiden was already like a superhuman.
"Not bad!"
Faced with Aiden's move, Mai nodded in satisfaction, but for her, it was still far from enough.
Mai only lightly raised her hand, and easily blocked Aiden's kick, a kick that could have smashed a car, she even shook Aiden and sent him flying back.
But this was because she used natural energy, though not much. If she hadn't, she really would have been kicked flying.
While handling it effortlessly, Mai's mouth kept moving, "Aiden, if you knew how to use natural energy, you'd be much stronger."
'Of course! If I switched into profession mode, and had let natural energy flow into that kick, that would have been the Martial God Kick!'
Thinking this, Aiden abandoned big, sweeping moves. After landing, he sprinted quickly on both feet, rushing right up to Mai, starting close-quarters combat.
To be honest, back in the army, close-quarters fighting wasn't Aiden's strong point. Guns were far more useful than fists and kicks.
But as his physical qualities grew stronger, unless he switched into a shooting-based profession, his fists were actually more useful than guns.
So, ever since his body had been enhanced, Aiden paid even more attention to fist-and-kick skills. Normally he didn't need them, but now, finally, he could put them to use…
Because the physique of fighters in this world was ridiculously strong, and since he wasn't planning to use his profession skills, Aiden had no intention of clashing head-on with Mai. The instant he got close, both his hands were already pressing down on her shoulders.
But the girl was dressed lightly to begin with. When Aiden pressed down on her shoulders, that skin, smooth and warm like jade, combined with the springy feel beneath his palms, made his heart sway. If only he could…
But only for a moment. Aiden instantly cast aside his improper thoughts. In battle, even sparring, he couldn't afford distraction.
Then, with force in his ten fingers, he clamped the joints of Mai's shoulders. The strength he used even made her frown slightly. At the same time, he lifted his knee and smashed it toward her abdomen.
Smack!
Sure enough, this charging knee was easily blocked by Mai with both hands. Aiden even felt like his knee had slammed into a wall, showing just how tough this world's fighters really were.
But the charging knee was only Aiden's opening move. He had already expected it to be neutralized.
Immediately he released his right hand, lifting it up with the inside angle tight, and taking advantage of her hands being occupied at her abdomen, he turned it into an elbow strike, aimed at her chin.
Normally, hitting the temple would be even more effective. But this was sparring, not life-or-death. And the opponent was his Teacher Mai.
At this moment, if there was no time to block with the hands, the best way was to step back. Elbows were powerful, but with such short range, even half a step back would make it miss.
But Mai couldn't retreat. Aiden's other hand was still gripping her shoulder tight. Even though her physique overall was stronger than his, if she retreated, she'd drag Aiden with her, and the elbow would still land.
However, Mai wasn't some ornamental vase who trained martial arts for show. She had rich battle experience.
Her mind flashed, and she knew she couldn't step back. So, while reacting with the instinct of someone long trained, she spread her arms and pressed Aiden's waist.
Don't forget, her hands were already at her abdomen. She only had to lift them to do it.
And once she pressed his waist, she had a way to use leverage. With both hands, her legs suddenly sprang up, wrapping around Aiden's waist in an extremely ambiguous posture, while her body naturally arched backward.
At the same time, Aiden's body was dragged forward, turning what should have been an elbow strike to her chin into a mis-angled blow that only landed on her shoulder.
Then, Mai's back touched the ground.
If time had paused here, the scene would look as ambiguous as it gets, Mai lying on the ground, her long legs clamped tightly around Aiden's waist, while Aiden, bent forward, pressed down on her body.
Even just puckering his lips forward, it seemed like he could touch Mai's softest place.
But time could not stop. Because in the very next instant, Aiden was thrown out by Mai's throw technique, Windmill Slam…
All of this happened in a flash.
And the outcome was already decided.
Although Aiden had held back, Mai hadn't even used much strength either.
Bang!
Aiden slammed heavily onto the dirt ground, thrown right out of the semi-open dojo.
"Ow!"
The instant his back hit the ground, Aiden cried out. But in truth, with his physique now, it didn't hurt at all. And he wasn't someone afraid of pain.
Still, pretending to be weak had its benefits.
As soon as he cried out, Mai rushed out of the dojo, scooping his upper body into her arms, one hand frantically patting and searching him.
"Aiden, I'm sorry, I used too much strength. Are you hurt?"
"Teacher Mai, I feel like I'll be bedridden for ten days, half a month…" Aiden forced a pained expression on his face.
But actually he was perfectly comfortable. Because of the position, he felt like his head was resting on something softer than cotton.
In his heart he thought, "I actually played this trick too!"
But Mai wasn't some silly, clueless girl. She had fought many fighters. Very quickly, from the expression on Aiden's face, she could tell he was pretending. Even if it hurt, no one would pull such an ugly expression.
Immediately, she let go of him, dropping Aiden back to the ground, puffing her cheeks angrily, "Aiden, you liar!"
"Aiya, Teacher Mai saw through me!"
Since he was exposed, Aiden stopped pretending. With a roll he got back up, scratching his head sheepishly.
"Just kidding with Teacher Mai."
Then smack, Mai tapped his head with her fan. She didn't dare use too much strength, but said unhappily, "You nearly scared your teacher to death. From now on you're not allowed to joke with teacher like this."
"Mm, mm, mm… I won't anymore." Aiden nodded hard.
He felt like he was already being influenced by the girl's cute personality.
"Come back inside with me."
Though they hadn't known each other long, Mai already cared deeply for her student Aiden. She rose on tiptoe, touched the spot on his head where she'd struck, then pulled him back into the dojo.
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