Soon, the fight was over, and both Zane and Lionel were drenched in sweat. They shook hands and discussed something.
Zane gave pointers and told about the mistakes Lionel made during the match. He listened closely to his master, and after he finished, he gave a mannerly bow.
"You have grown stronger." Zane patted his shoulder, "But, remember, never use your strength to start a conflict."
Lionel snickered and said, "I never do."
Zane sighed, "Why do I feel like you always do?"
Lionel shrugged his shoulders. Then, he saw his junior, Ava, standing alongside Isaac.
"Master, this is Isaac. Marvin's little brother." He introduced his master and his future pupil.
Zane rubbed his beard and nodded, "Interesting…"
Isaac bowed and said, "Nice to meet you."
"I am gonna teach him a few things." Lionel's words shocked both Zane and Ava. It was widely known that he wouldn't even teach his friends.
"Hmm…" Zane began circling around Isaac and murmured, "His body isn't very strong…"
"Good thing that your style doesn't need a strong body, instead a strong mind," Lionel said with a chuckle and motioned for Isaac to follow him.
Isaac said farewells to both Zane and Ava, then followed after Lionel. They entered a separate room for their training.
It was another room with wooden floors, striking pads, boxes full of bo-staffs, and wooden frames with a tough, translucent white paper surrounding the room.
"Grab two of the bo-staffs," Lionel said and grabbed a towel from a nearby desk that he used to wipe his sweat.
Isaac did as he was told and took two thick wooden bo-staffs into his arms. He threw one for Lionel and held another in his hand.
Lionel grabbed the staff and spun it around in his hand, "This staff, does it remind you of your sniper rifle?"
Isaac looked at it and shrugged, "Maybe a little bit."
Then, Lionel grinned and said, "Well then, let's test that out!"
With incredible speed, he moved across the room and sent a downward slash toward Isaac.
Isaac quickly moved the staff above him. He used it like he had used his sniper rifle countless times.
Thump!
Lionel's staff collided with Isaac's staff.
"Good!" He said after Isaac managed to block the first strike. Then, he pushed Isaac's staff away and did a quick thrust forward.
Isaac spun the staff around and sent a sideway slash that deflected Lionel's attack.
Then, Lionel jumped up and struck down with his staff. Isaac gritted his teeth, quickly moved his staff above him, and felt the brute strength of Lionel's rattling his bones and causing him to bend down
After Lionel landed on the ground, he swept Isaac's legs from under him and watched as he crashed with a loud thud.
Isaac quickly rolled in the ground and heard the staff smashing his previous spot.
"You haven't trained at all, right?" Lionel asked while spinning the staff around him.
Isaac nodded after standing up while the staff was in front of him in a protective manner.
"It seems that it's true that White Online can actually improve your fighting abilities." Lionel nonchalantly mentioned.
"I never thought about it before…" Isaac murmured.
"But…" Lionel began running and shouted, "You are still clumsy and weak!"
He slashed at Isaac's legs with enough strength to make a significant injury. Isaac's eyes shook, and he made the first move that came to his mind.
He bent his knees slightly and jumped up. But then, he saw that the height of his jump was mediocre, very mediocre!
Now, he understood his mistake. While his physique in White Online was good enough to jump meters into the air, he couldn't even one meter in real life!
The staff struck his abdomen, which sent him crashing down to the floor.
Thud!
"Ahh!" Isaac let out a cry of pain.
"You can't trust your White Online physique." Lionel said, "In real-life, your body is weak, and you have to learn to counter that."
Isaac shakily nodded and grabbed Lionel's hand, who helped him stand up.
For the next several hours, they trained together. Then, they ended it after Isaac's body couldn't handle any more punishment.
After he left the building, he could barely keep standing. His whole body was aching and shaking.
However, there was something uncommon strapped on his back in a cloth. It was the bo-staff that he received from Lionel. He gave it to him, so he could train back home.
Isaac began walking back home with slow movements. His limbs felt unnatural like they weren't his.
After walking for some time, Isaac stopped with the shade of his face changing rapidly. From the nearby convenience store, Oliver left with a group of his friends.
Their laughter entered Isaac's ears, which forced him to hide in the nearby alleyway. The laughter was identical to the laughter of the men with ski masks.
He covered his ears, trying to subdue the sound of laughter, but it felt like they were getting louder. Soon, Oliver and a group of ten young men walked past the alleyway.
They were full of laughter.
After they left, Isaac sighed and stopped covering his ears. He saw his trembling body and felt embarrassed.
'Even after all this time… I don't have enough guts to face them…'
He shook his head and was about to leave the alleyway. However, then, a dark-gloved hand touched his shoulder, and a cold-blooded voice rang in his ears.
"Give me your money, or die!"
Isaac reacted to the demands immediately and kicked behind him. He felt his foot colliding with something feeble and weak.
After turning around, he saw a man with dirtied face clutching his stomach with pain-filling looks.
"Graaah!" Out of nowhere, he pulled out a pocket knife and shouted, "Not so tough anymore, hah?!"
Isaac frowned and was about to grab his bo-staff. However, at that moment, a shadowy figure brushed past him and punched the face of the robber.
The robber was sent flying several meters before he fell to the ground with an unconscious look.
"Michael?" Isaac sighed and scratched the back of his head. He thought he could sense if he was being followed, but guess not.
Michael broke the pocket knife in half and asked, "Young master, are you alright?"
Isaac rolled his eyes and stepped out of the alleyway, "Take the robber to the police station before he hurts anyone else."
"But, it's my job to take you back home!" Michael tried to reason with him, "I can call my colleague to take him!"
"I will be fine." Isaac looked him in the eye and showed his radiant gray eyes before looking away and continuing his walk home.
