Chapter 23

Alex and company quickly made their way to the training center. The building had a sword above the name training center that was carved into the stone wall. It was a two-story building with a set of double doors at its entrance. Alex was the first to step inside. Once inside there was a long hallway with several doors on either side. Each door had candles lighting either side of it. Alex led the group down the hallway. Once they reached the end of the hallway the group found another set of large wooden double doors. He pushed them open and there they saw a large field where the grass was removed. The grass was removed to make an empty space for combat practice. There were wooden dummies on one side along with several racks of every kind of weapon one could think of. On the other side, there were round targets for target practice. In the middle of everything stood three warriors, two men and one woman.

The first man stood slightly over 2 meters tall and he had some of the largest muscles Alex had ever seen. His head was bald and his bronze-colored skin was covered in scars and one of his eyes was covered by a patch. The second man was a little shorter than Alex, probably about 180 cm tall. His pale-skinned body was not overly muscular like a fighter. He looked more like a dancer than a warrior. His face was pretty almost too pretty. It made me want to punch him to make him look manlier. The third person, the female, had long black hair and the iciest blue eyes that Alex had ever scene. She was the only one of the three that wore armor. The armor was a simple silver breastplate, greaves, and gauntlets. Along with the armor she wore she had a large sword strapped across her back. Of the three she was the only one that made Alex feel on edge.

“Good afternoon. You lot must want to be trained as warriors”, said the large man.

Alex stepped forward and said, “Yes sir! My name is Spartan and the ladies over here are Bella, Raven, and Skye.”

“At least you have the right attitude”, said the thinner man. “Well let’s see what you can do. You two with the bows go over and stand at that white line. Once you get there shoot the targets. Once you hit a target move on to one that is farther away.”

“You, young lady look like you have never held a weapon before. You come with me and I will teach you the basics”, said the large man.

“Yes sir”, Skye said weakly.

The two walked over to one of the straw dummies that were off to the right side of the dirt area. Alex stood there feeling a little confused until he saw the woman in the armor walking towards him. As she got closer and closer, Alex could feel the energy radiating from her.

Is she going to attack me? I better get ready just in case.

Alex summoned his ki and enhanced his physical ability to twice his n normal physical ability as he brought out his sword and new nanite shield. As soon as his equipment appeared in his hands she rushed towards Alex. His mind immediately started calculating possible movement and attack patterns with the sword she was holding and the armor she was wearing. Alex's eyes moved back and forth as he saw the possibilities and movements. Suddenly, it all stopped and he was ready to attack. The first move was hers as she swung her sword horizontally towards his head. Alex raised his shield to block the attack but it was a simple feint to get him out of position. Unfortunately, Alex realized it too late. Once she saw his shield move up, the female warrior immediately followed the feint with a kick to Alex's solar plexus. Even with his enhanced durability, the kick felt like she almost broke all of his ribs. Alex fell back to the ground and rolled over back to his feet. He spit some blood from his mouth and wiped the rest from my lips. Alex saw a sinister smile cross her lips as she rushed towards me again.

I can’t let it end like this without doing at least some damage.

Alex began furiously attacking her with his shield and sword. She parried deftly with her massive sword and when she didn’t she would dodge his attacks by just a hair's breadth. Each time their blades clashed he felt something odd. Alex couldn’t put his finger on it but he had a feeling of nervousness started creeping up his spine.

Alex didn’t stop attacking though and tried to push her into his pace as they continued their battle. The female warrior mixed a few thrusts, kicks, and feints in her attacks but Alex was able to see through it after the first time. The battle seemed to be getting to a stalement. Alex couldn’t hit her but she couldn’t hit him either. Suddenly, Alex caught the faint appearance of a smile on her face. He knew something was up. She threw her sword directly at me. The speed at which it moved was too fast to dodge completely so Alex raised his shield. Alex easily blocked the attack his my shield but that was what she was aiming for.

She must have realized that when his shield came up it created a moment where Alex had a blind spot. As soon as my shield moved to block the attack, she moved and Alex lost sight of her. His hearing allowed hims to notice where she was but it was too late. She had moved behind him and grabbed Alex around his waist into an overhead German Suplex. Her strength was unreal.

How did her small body pick me up with such ease and smash me down with so much velocity?

Alex's shoulders and the back of his head crashed into the ground with so much force that he thought she might have broken or dislocated his shoulder. Alex's vision went erratic and he knew he had a concussion. She moved her arms and legs from around Alex me putting him into some kind of submission hold. Her right leg had his right arm restrained and her arms were around his throat in a rear naked choke. He could not escape.

“Do you concede victory?”, she said.

I knew I had no chance in getting out of this. I may have been going at about 20% of my total power. She probably was even using 5% of her strength. It wasn’t a matter of power or ability. It was all skill. I had no hope of beating this woman as I was now.

“I concede”, Alex said in a low voice.

She let go of him and stood up. She lowered her hand down to Alex and helped him up. Once on his feet, she looked Alex in the eyes.

“You did well young warrior. Your technique is very refined. Each strike you made had a purpose and a lesser warrior would have been taken apart by you.”

“Thank you but I’m sensing there is more you want to say.”

“Yes there is more. Your skills are too basic. Your fighting style is too straightforward. It makes you predictable. You have a good grasp of judging an opponent because I saw that you raised your energy level when you felt threatened. You are far and away better and more skilled than your comrades which is why I tested you the way that I did”, said the woman.

“Ummm…. Thank you I guess. Can we back up a minute and at least tell me your name?”

“My apologies, my name is Amirah and what is your name?”

“My name is Spartan. What you are saying is that crazy fight we just had was simply a test?”

“Yes, Spartan”, she said with a laugh. “You are not my equal in any way. If I wanted you dead you would be dead.”

“Spartan, I have scanned this woman and I was unable to find any data. It is as if she has some type of shielding around her”, said Alice through our mental link.

“You what? What do you mean I am not your equal in any way? That can’t be.”

“Poor, little man, did I hurt your ego by telling you that you are weaker than a mere woman? I guess you need a demonstration.”

She grabbed her sword and I felt a light wind blow past me. The handle of her sword had some kind of cloth around it. The cloth started to unravel itself and then it wrapped around her arm. Energy began pouring out of her body.

“HHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”, screamed as her body erupted.

Alex felt fear grip his entire body. He couldn’t move. Alex could barely breathe. He looked up at Amirah and her body was shrouded by a white light with wind pulsating around her.

“Now I will show you why you that you are not my equal. The difference between you and I is like the heavens and the earth! Ready yourself Spartan!”, she said in a booming voice as energy exploded all around her.

Alex summoned his ki to the maximum that he could control and activated his hypercognition as well as his divided mind. One mind was using accelerated probability and the other was using hypercognition and analyzing the movements of his enemy. It was all for nothing though. Even with time slowing down she was still too fast for me to follow her moves. Her speed was incredible.

This energy is unreal. If mine increases maybe five or six times my strength hers must be twenty times or more. How am I supposed to fight her?

By the time Alex came up with an answer, her sword was at his throat. Alex couldn’t do a single thing.

It was just as she said if she wanted me dead there was really no way I could have fought her. If there are others out there with her strength or even stronger I have to really get stronger fast!

She smiled and dismissed the enormous amount of energy she was using and lowered her sword.

“You are stronger than I thought. You were hiding a lot more power than I believed you had. This is good to know”, said Amirah.

I was struggling to catch my breath.

“How did you move so fast?”

“Ah, you saw me move?”

“Not really.”

“You have good eyes and a very high level of perception. These are both good things. I will tell you more about my technique in time. First, I must teach you to fight with creativity and not so…like a textbook. You can do all the moves but you don’t know how to mix them up. Fighting you is like reading the training manual on sword fighting. You must make your moves flow together like water.”

“If you can teach me to be a strong as you then I will listen to and learn whatever you have to teach.”

“Good. Now for today all I want you to do is simply follow my movements.”, said Amirah as she placed her massive sword on the rack and the grabbed a shorter sword and a round shield similar to Alex's. “I will demonstrate then you will do the same movements while I critique.”

“I understand.”

This should be easy with my adaptive muscle memory. Each move she makes I will be able to perfectly recreate.

Alex followed her to one of the straw dummies on the edge of the training center. Amirah stood in front of the dummy and began in a stance similar to my own with the shield facing front. Her eyes were level with the top of the shield and her sword was held in her right hand horizontally half way up the outer edge of the shield. Alex watched as she battered the dummy with blows from the shield and sword. Each attack protected her body from any deadly attack while putting her body in the most advantageous position to attack. It was amazing to watch.

She is this good with a weapon that configuration that she does not normally even use. I wonder how powerful she really is? I know she didn’t go all out when threatening me earlier.

Alex continued to watch as she landed numerous blows against the dummy. Alex's mind took in each and every muscle movement, every shift in her center of gravity, and every time she shifted her weight from one foot to the next.

This is amazing! How can I see so much now? Was I unable to do it when I was fighting her because of the massive pressure she was exerting on me?

The last attack she threw was a jumping attack that bashed the dummy across the face with her shield followed by a thrust that pierced through its chest and then the coup de grace was a double kick to the dummy’s head while she flipped backwards and back into her stance. She took a deep breath and then stood up before returning the sword and shield to the weapons rack.

“So now it’s your turn”, said Amirah. “Do your best.”

Alex grabbed his sword and shield and began just as she did. His stance was identical to hers.

“Not bad that stance is really good!”

Alex began attacking the dummy the same way she did but the sound the sword and shield made when Alex hit his target it did not sound like it did when she hit the dummy.

Is it that I don’t possess the same power as her? How could that be I’m putting my weight behind these shots and now that I weigh 300 kilos I should be putting out way more power than her. Something is wrong but I don’t know what. How am I not able to do exactly what she did?

Alex continued attacking the dummy just as he saw her attack it. Each of his attacks was a perfect copy of hers. Finally, he reached the end of the attacks. Alex performed the same jumping face bash with the shield followed up by a stab to the chest. I ended it all with a double kick to the face and pushed off into a backward flip landing gently and back into my stance.

“Good job!”, said Amirah. “You did well emulating my moves but there are some things that you missed.”

I don’t understand. What can I be missing? My ability said that I can copy anything I see.

“Really?! How are there missing pieces?”, Alex asked

“How closely did you watch my moves?”

“Very. I was looking for anything and everything.”

“Hmmm... You have excellent eyes. I noticed that you had the weight shifting down well. Your center of gravity stayed at your navel allowing you to keep perfect balance throughout all of the movements.”

“Then Amirah, what did I miss?”

“Your eyes may be good but your energy sensing ability is subpar. You completely missed each time that I injected my ki into my movements. That energy is invisible to the untrained eye. In each move I increased my speed and power by using my energy in specific place at key portions of each attack and defensive maneuver. This creates increased damaged capability and increased damage. This was the second of the tests that I have given you today so that I can get a good analysis of your skills.”

Hmmmm…. So how can I watch two different things at the….. That’s it! I need to use my divided mind skill in conjunction with adaptive muscle memory. Each part of my mind can focus on one part of her fighting skill.

“Amirah, could you please demonstrate once more. After hearing what you said I would like to try to emulate your movements once again.”

“I’m surprised at your request but I can oblige you. Just know that I will change my movements and the speed at which I do them this time to increase the difficulty.”

Alex nodded in my acknowledgement of her statement then he activated his divided mind skill to analyze her movements.

“Alright here I go.”

Just as a precaution Alex decided to enhance his chances of catching everything by using his hypercognition ability as well. As she began moving her movements slowed down to a crawl. He was able to see it. Her energy moved to her feet as she moved forward then to her shoulder and right arm as she swung her sword. Once the sword swing was complete the energy traveled to her shield arm and then back to her legs as she shifted her weight toward her right and sidestepped to the dummy’s flank and attacked. Alex was in awe of how much he missed when he was not using my divided mind

Fighting her might be a little easier as her energy shows me where she is going to attack. Looking for those fluctuations I may improve my accelerated probability by showing more possible ways and calculating the outcome with the highest chance of occurring.

When she finished her attacks Alex clapped his hands showing his approval of Amirah’s skills. She bowed her head and then waved to Alex to try his best to copy her attacks. He took a deep breath and focused one of his minds on moving his ki around his body and the other to attack the dummy using her movements. Alex exploded forward and began. This time his movements were way off. Each time he activated his ki his movements went too far or his swing was thrown off by adding the extra power. Even his shield bashes were throwing his movements off.

“This time your copy was better but worse at the same time.”

“I know. I felt the difference when I put my ki into each movement. My balance was really off.”

“Yes, that was a very good analysis of your problem. You have all of the tools to be a very good warrior. You good strength, speed, but even better is you have a high level of visual acuity. Your ability to see so much of your opponent is outstanding. Now we will just improve your ability to sense energy and to freely use it.”

“I understand.”

“Now, follow me.”

Alex followed Amirah back inside the building. She opened one of the doors inside of the room. The room was completely dark. It was weird. Even the light from the hallway didn’t seem to penetrate the darkness in the room.

“What is up with this room?”, I asked.

“It is simple, your eyes are very good but your ability to sense energy is poor. In this room you won’t be able to use your physical senses. You will have to sense any movement I make by sensing the ki I use to make each movement”, said Amirah. "As you get better I will use less and less energy to make it more difficult."

“Won’t I be able to hear you or smell the movements you make?”

“No, this room inhibits all of your senses. You won’t be able to see, hear, or smell anything. You will be feeling something though because I will be coming to hit you with this cane.”

“What do you mean you are going to hit me?”

“There is an old saying my master told me. He said success come through pain. Now enter so that we can begin your education.”

Alex swallowed hard as he looked at the stick in her hands. He took a deep breath and walked into the room. As soon as Alex walked into the room, he went blind and deaf. Alex couldn’t even hear his own voice when he tried to talk.

“Alice can you hear me?”, he asked her through his neural link.

“Yes, Spartan I am here”, replied Alice.

“Can you sense anything?”

“No, for some reason none of my sensors are working.

Hmmm…. I can hear her but she can’t sense anything either.

Alex began trying to sense any energy in the room. he tried to focus as much as he could but there was nothing.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Alex tried to scream but nothing came out. Three blows landed on him one to his knee, his ribs on the right side, and one to the middle of his forehead. Alex turned around trying to find her but there was nothing there. He tried to focus again and again and again but nothing changed. No matter what he did, Alex couldn’t find her. After who knows how many blows and who knows how much time, she grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

“So how was it?”, asked Amirah.

“Painful”, Alex said smiling.

“It will come it just takes time. This may be a painful lesson though.”

“Yeah, but I will be fine by tomorrow.”

“Good, then that is enough for your first day. Tomorrow we will spar, work on your using your energy in the movements, then return to this room.”

“I understand but before I go can you tell me how I’m supposed to sense the energy.”

“Oh, I see you want me to give you a hint. The best way for you to learn this is to practice sensing your own energy. Once you feel it you should look for the same feeling outside of you.”

“I did that before but I can’t seem to sense yours.”

“Well keep trying. The feeling will come to you. Besides, you sensed it when you were watching me attack the dummy. Just do whatever you were doing then.”

“Ok, I will try. Thank you for the lesson today. I thought I had gotten strong after defeating those goblins and hobgoblins but I see now that I am nowhere near as powerful as I thought.”

Alex turned to go to the front of the building. There he found Skye, Raven, and Bella.

“Damn! She kicked the crap out of you”, said Bella.

“What are you talking about?”, Alex said.

“Your black and blue from head to toe”, said Raven.

Alex scratched the back of his head and said, “She was teaching me something about sensing energy and it didn’t go so well for me. I think I’m done for the day. How long were we in there?”

“Well the sun is already moving towards the horizon so we’ve been there for the better part of the day”, said Bella.

“I’m going to head home and get something to eat then I’m going to shower and get to bed early.”

“I can definitely eat”, said Raven.

“Us too”, said Skye and Bella.

They went back to the house and there the group found Bentley waiting at the door and Eve in the sitting room meditating. Alex decided not to disturb her as I walked up the stairs.

“Ladies, I’m going to get in a well-deserved bath. I’ll see you at dinner and Bentley do you mind serving everyone dinner wherever they are tonight. I will have mine in my room.”

“Very good sir”, said Bentley.

Alex waved to the girls and went into his room. Alex walked through his room and threw his clothes on the floor on his way to the bathroom. When he entered the bathroom, Alex got a good look at his body in the mirror.

The girls were right my body has marks all over it from that cane Amirah was hitting me with. It didn’t really hurt too bad right away with my enhanced durability. After the first few hundred hits, it did really start to hurt. I’ve got to get this down or my nanites are going to be working overtime.

Alex turned the shower on and rinsed off all dirt, sweat, and blood from some of the wounds he suffered during training. They were already closed up but the surface level bruising of his skin had not yet finished healing. The hot water relaxed his sore muscles and joints. Alex clenched his fists thinking about the training and how he was beaten so easily by Amirah.

My skills are great but they can’t overcome someone or something that much stronger than me. I have to grow more. I have to increase my stats but is that even possible without gaining more levels?

Alex turned off the shower and then went to go sit in the tub. The water was so hot but it felt so good. He put a towel behind his head and laid back as the hot water relieved the rest of his soreness and tension. Alex closed his eyes and let his mind begin to wander. Alex didn’t know how much time passed before he heard the door open. He turned around and looked to see Bella and Eve. They had nothing on but towels. Both had their hair pulled back. Eve’s was in braids and Bella’s was in a ponytail.

“What are you two doing here?”, Alex asked.

“Well, you are such a prude that I knew you wouldn’t make the first move. So I’m here to finish what I started last time when you were too hurt to participate”, said Eve as she walked closer to the edge of the top.

“I didn’t think I wanted to but after thinking about how you always come back half dead just to make sure that we come back without a scratch I realized that you actually do really care about us”, said Bella as she walked to the edge of the tub and sat on the side placing her legs in the water.

“I’m…. ummm… not…umm…”

“Why are you so timid around us? You can kill monsters and chop up animals spilling blood and guts everywhere but the sight of us naked makes you shy”, said Eve.

“I can do that because I was a soldier. I completed multiple deployments in Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan. I saw friends blown to bits by Improvised Explosive Devices and had to carry them back in pieces. I learned to kill and how to survive by any means necessary.”

“So soldier boy, that doesn’t answer my whole question. I saw you looking at us when we were naked. What is the matter you don’t like us? We aren’t your type or something?”, Eve started yelling as she sat in front of me.

“I um… well… my wife and I were high school sweethearts. I loved her since I met her at 15 years old. I have been married to her for 15 years. Don’t laugh but she was the only woman I have ever been with. So I don’t really know how to handle this situation”, Alex said weakly.

“So you’ve only been with one woman your whole life?”, asked Bella.

“Yes.”

“Damn, I slept with more men than that since I’ve been in prison”, said Bella.

“What?!”, Alex asked.

“What she means is the number of women you have slept with is about to go up to 3”, Eve said as she dropped her towel and started to walk down into the water.

Alex could see her body now without worrying about whether or not she caught him staring. It was amazing. Her body was lithe with no imperfections. She was shaped like an hourglass with soft caramel-colored skin. Her lips were soft and supple. He wanted to kiss them. She walked towards Alex in the water and then reached out to softly caress the back of his neck. Goosebumps instantly formed all over his body. Her hands felt like magic. Bella, not to be outdone, had already dropped her towel and entered the water as well. She walked up behind Alex and placed her massive mounds on his back as she reached around with her hands and rubbed his chest. Alex could feel her breath on his back. His mind was going out of control but at this point, Alex no longer needed to think.

Alex turned sideways and grabbed both of them around their waists and lifted them out of the tub. Once out of the water Eve grabbed his hard member as she dropped to her knees. She stroked it a few times as Alex began sucking on Bella’s pink nipples. She began moaning softly as my tongue moved around like a serpent across her breasts. Then Alex felt Eve take him into her mouth. It was so soft like her throat was made of velvet. She stroked and sucked and sucked and stroked. Alex was in heaven but he wanted more.

“How is that Spartan? Does it feel good?!”, She said in between deep throating his dick.

“It is.. oohhh…oohhhh…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”, Alex screamed as I came.

She continued sucking as his body began to spasm. It had been years since Alex had a blowjob and he didn’t think his wife was this good at it.. She kept going making sure that she got every single drop and even then she didn’t stop.

“I hope you can keep going”, said Eve as she looked up at him and licked the last bit of cum off of her lip.

Alex grabbed Eve by the hand and lifted Eve from the floor. Then he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Don’t worry I’ve got more bullets in the chamber!”, Alex said.

He placed her back against the wall and began stroking her in and out.

She moaned sweetly then put her head next to his saying, “Don’t stop! Go faster!”

It excited him even more. Alex went faster and faster until she squeezed so hard that her nails dug into his back as her legs began to shake. He placed her down and then turned to Bella. He turned her around and she placed her hands on the wall. Alex bent down on his knees and began licking her lower lips. She began screaming and scraping her nails against the wall.

“Don’t stop I’m about to aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh”, she screamed as her juices began to flow into his mouth.

Alex stood up and rubbed his cock back and forth across her pussy so that he could slide all the way in. He pushed in and the feeling of her insides made his knees weak. Alex began pounding her from the back while the soft flesh of her ass was pounding against him as she pushed back.

“I like it rough! Come on soldier boy give it to me!”, she screamed.

Alex grabbed her ponytail with one hand and pulled back while smacking her on the ass with the other. He sped up pounding her harder and faster.

“Yes! YES! YEEEEEES! That’s it just like that!”

Alex kept going slapping her ass and pulling her hair over and over again.

“I going to AAAAAAHHHHH!”, she screamed as Alex felt the warm liquid slide down his cock.

Her body went limp and picked both of them up around their waists. He carried them into his room and placed them on the bed. Alex placed Eve on her back spread Eagle and began pounding her pussy again and again. She screamed and screamed as she came hard.

“I want you to lay back”, said Bella softly in my ear.

Alex pulled out of Eve and laid back on the bed. Bella came over and straddled him. He felt her wet pussy slide on his dick as she slipped him inside her pussy letting out a soft moan as she did. Alex grabbed her soft hips as she slowly began to ride him. Her large breasts moved up and down softly touching his face. Then she began speeding up. You could hear their skin smacking against each other.

“Give me that shit!”, she screamed.

She paused for a moment and got off of her knees. Just as he wanted to keep watching her she smiled and he felt a set of hands on his shoulders. Eve was pushing him back down on the bed and then she sat her pussy on his face. Alex opened his mouth and began licking her as she rode her perfectly round ass on his face. Bella had already begun riding Alex like he was a prized bucking bronco. His body was in ecstasy. All of three of them screamed and moaned. Bella came on his dick and Eve came on his face.

Both of them got off of me and then Eve Bella said, “Now it’s your turn.”

She opened her mouth and placed Alex's member inside. Then she took both of her hands and began jerking it while she sucked like she was a porn star. Alex's body couldn’t take it. It felt too good!

“I’m about to…”

“Come on give it to me! Give it all to me. I want to swallow some too!”, said Bella as she kept sucking me off.

“AAAAHHHHHH!”, Alex screamed as he erupted into her mouth.

She kept on sucking as he grabbed the covers and his toes curled. When she finished, Eve licked the rest that came out of her mouth off.

“Not bad at all soldier boy! I wasn’t expecting this”, said Bella as she moved up and laid her head on his chest.

“Me either”, said Bella as she laid on the other side of his chest.

“Well, I said only had sex with one woman not that I had sex only one time”, Alex said smiling.

They all laughed loudly for a few moments then the exhaustion from their vigorous sexual activities caught up to them. The women fell asleep first then he began to drift off. This was the first time that Alex had truly relaxed since he had been in prison maybe since before his wife died. Alex just had every man’s fantasy and it didn’t look like there was going to be any problem with it happening again. Life wasn’t too shabby right now for him.

End of Arc I