"Hey, why are you hitting me? I'm sure I attacked correctly," Kai said, slightly irritated after Lieutenant Gray gave him a light tap on the head.
"You're copying my movements from yesterday's fight, aren't you?" Gray asked, crossing his arms without caring about the boy's complaint.
Kai nodded, slightly confused.
"Kai, don't do that again. Your body is completely different from mine. Your muscles aren't strong like mine, and most importantly, you're small in size.
My fighting style isn't compatible with your body. If you were older and copied the movements, that's fine, but it would still be bad because you can lose your body before you complete.
Instead of copying what I did, learn the reason for every movement and the swing of an arm. After that, you can adopt it and use it," Gray said calmly, making sure Kai understood before he acted.
Kai tilted his head slightly, closed his eyes, feeling every muscle in him. He moved with his eyes closed, increasing the grip on the wooden daggers as he swung from side to side.
He remembered Gray's movement and repeated it again. But this time, something changed. If other soldiers were watching, they wouldn't have noticed.
Even though the attack looked the same, Kai had perfectly adapted it and made the movement comfortable for him and him alone.
Gray, watching from the side, held himself back from letting the boy see how shocked he was.
'Wow, this boy is really… unique,' Gray thought. He expected it to take like three weeks before Kai would understand and repeat the moves perfectly, but the boy had gotten it on his first try.
"Like this? I think I did it right. Let's continue, I will attack again to test it over and over again," Kai said, smiling after discovering a new move.
Gray stared at the boy and laughed heavily.
After a while, noises stirred in the air as the newly qualified recruits entered the barracks.
…
Hours slowly turned into days, weeks, and months. Kai remained the fastest and the first in every run test or jogging they embarked on.
His muscles now outlined themselves on his skin, compact and defined, as a result of training more than everyone else. His strength kept increasing, but not as much as he'd wanted.
What really increased fast was his technique to copy others' fighting styles.
Kai had superhuman strength, endurance, and patience, enabling him to train morning, afternoon, and evening if not stopped by anyone.
In addition, he began to learn more about the city, the villages, the world, and the universes at large. Gray taught him everything he could.
Among all these, Kai's favorite time was actually when he had to fight against Gray.
In the starting weeks, the lieutenant held back. Though his movements were fast, he made them simple, restraining his strength.
But Kai learned quickly. His eyes saw everything, letting his body react to it with total precision as he trained his body for days, becoming aware of how to control his body.
The fights between the two became a show everyone wished for. They had started with sticks but later used countless straight objects, including iron spears.
The nickname 'monster' had already spread among all soldiers – whether new or old – and the new cleaners that had been taken from the failed recruits.
But amidst it all, Kai didn't care; he just wanted to improve more and more, letting his mother's wish come to pass.
…
Months turned to years since Kai became a rookie soldier.
Kai had grown, but not that much. His height was still short compared to everyone else. His eyes seemed even sharper.
Today was a special day for all, and in the morning of the anniversary for joining the city's military, the entrance of the barracks was crowded. Not only was the entrance crowded, different varieties and shapes of cars shimmered under the morning sun's light.
The ten recruits who had entered and passed with him, the rookie soldiers, and everyone else visited to watch only one thing.
Kai and Gray stood facing each other just like they had when they fought for the first time, but this time, the sticks and iron were actually sharp, shimmering steel.
Kai, with his love for the wooden daggers, held onto a steel dagger of the same size as the wooden one he'd used throughout his training – this was specifically crafted for him through Gray's request.
He looked at Gray with eyes fully focused, not wanting to make the slightest mistake.
'I've trained for a year… and I know I will definitely defeat him today and prove to everyone I have grown stronger like Mom wanted,' he thought, closing his eyes.
When he opened them, he truly saw Gray not as a soldier or master, but a teacher and a friend. He saw him as someone he had to surpass and wasn't ready to rest until that happened.
But even if he could not defeat him, he could not find himself strong, though no one apart from Gray could defeat him throughout the barracks.
He saw and knew all the techniques the other soldiers, both old and new, used and adapted to their skills but kept becoming shocked whenever Gray defeated him with a new technique.
"Don't hold back," Kai said to Gray, who only replied with a silent smile. He seemed extremely excited about this day.
The two stood there, staring at each other, their hands holding firmly on their weapons.
Though seats were being taken by the audience, silence still ruled after all the seats were taken.
The two breathed deeply and calmly, and then, suddenly, they moved.
Their boots crashed against the brick-stone ground with force, sending tiny dust into the air as they advanced at the same time.
Their first clash sent a strong ringing into everyone's ears from the impact's sound.
Gray's steel katana sword came down, its sharp tip whistling as if it were cutting through the wind itself.
Kai raised his daggers at the last instant, not because he was slow, but mainly because he had already seen the attack being formed in the lieutenant's arms before the katana even moved.
Kai raised his daggers at the last instant, not because he was slow, but mainly because he had already seen the attack being formed in the lieutenant's arms before the katana even moved.
Kai used as much time possible to gather strength and blocked at the last moment. The shock reverberated through his arms as if a wall were collapsing and pushing him back.
But unlike before, he was not sent flying. He retreated only two steps back, his boots sliding on the floor, but kept his balance stable.