Nathaniel POV

Acinonyx rose to his feet, stretching, bending over as if to try and get rid of a kink in his spine.

"Come on Nathaniel, stand up. It is time we stop talking about your poor decisions and get some fruitful training done."

"Training??? What do you mean, I thought that this all was just in my mind. Not that I have anything wrong with training, just asking."

"True, technically you are right, as everything here happening now at this instant is all in your head, or rather a better way of saying it would be your mind. However, by knowing exactly what you need to do in your head, which we will ingrain deeply into you through training, you can do yourself a great favor when you regain full control over your body. Then, having regain controll over your comatosed body, you can repeat everything we will do here from memory and convert that into muscle memory. If you are to be fighting demons in the future, we have a lot of work to do to get you ready to fight, survive, and win."

"Okay, So what are we doing first? Want me to do a flip? I know it might sound a little lame, but I can do a flip."

Acinonyx chuckled, "That is nice and all and I am glad to see you so excited about training, but I think we will start of with something more basic, like punching."

"Punching? I can punch." I said, curling my fist and punching outward.

"Well . . . I would not call that a punch. It was more of a sloppy and sporadic thrusting of your arm forward. You need to have strong foundations. Strong foundations can save your life in a difficult or chaotic situation when you do not have much time to think. If you have weak foundations, not only will you not likely survive these kind of situations, you definitely would not survive long in a fight with any sort of demon. Basically, a good way to put it is that practicing punching is like sharping your sword."

"When you punch, first off, make sure that your thumb is on the outside of your fist, located somewhere between your first and second knuckles on your index and middle finger. It is very important that you do not, and I repeat, do not, wrap your fingers around your thumb. That is a very efficient way to dislocate or even break your thumb, which is incredibly painful. And will pose a serious problem when you are in the middle of a fight. Especially when you are fighting demons."

"Also, when you’re getting ready to throw a punch, your forearms should always stay nearly vertical to your body, with your elbows tucked into your body, so as to not flare out like some kind of winged creature. "

"Okay, no problem. I can do that." I said, making a fist, keeping the thumb on the outside. I then punched forward, keeping my forearm vertical before punching outward.

Acinonyx approached me quickly and grabbed my hand and began to speak as he adjusted my fingers and my hand.

"It is extremely important that you align the first two knuckles in your hand with the bones in your forearm for maximum structure so you don’t hurt yourself. Not only will this create the maximum force, a common injury is when people hit with their ring and or pinky knuckles and break their hand. When punching, it is counteractive if you end up causing yourself more damage than your opponent. That will seriously impede you in a fight. " He said as he realigned my fist before stepping back.

"Here, punch this." He said, as he waved his hand and the water all around us rushed upward infront of me, before crashing back down to leave a straw practice dummy in its place.

"Can I ask a question, Acinonyx?"

"What is it? Is it about throwing a punch or the description I gave?"

"No, no, not at all. I just want to know how you are making things form from the water we are standing in."

Acinonyx shrugged before explaining.

"It is not all that complicated. The water around us is a representation of your xetral. If you tried to explore you would come to understand that there are seemingly invisible walls. These will expand over time as your xetral core expands as you develop as a xetralite. All I am doing is finagling it to form items in this place where your mind currently resides, helping bring them into psuedo reality. As your familix, I can do this as I have a tiny control over your xetral."

"So can I control things here and create items too?"

Acinonyx shook his head.

"Sadly no, as your xetral circuits are all messed up. The few connected are what made you gain consience here. Now come on. let me see you punch the target."

Sighing, I aligned my knuckles, before punching forward, hitting the target with a soft thud.

Acinonyx shook his head.

"When you punch, it is imperative that you strike with your knuckles, not the flat of your fingers. The part of the fist that should be taking the impact when you punch is the flat area between the second and third knuckles. You also want to make sure that you keep your wrist straight while making impact, so as to maximize the force produced. Also, to protect yourself, make your fist tight enough that it will not give when it hits the target—but not so tight that your arm shakes and you cut off blood flow to your hand. We don't your hand giving way when you punch demon flesh."

I readied myself, aligning my knuckles, before punching, keeping my wrist straight and hitting with my knuckles.

"Is that better?" I asked hopefully

"It is definitely progress, though you can do better. Make sure to roll your hips into your punch. This also forces your shoulder to help support and strengthen the punch, as well to engage your core and cause more torque and power through the punch."

I mimed a punch and tried rolling my hips. The amount of extra force and stability was surprising.

"You mostly got it there. When you start to throw the punch, pivot on the ball of your back foot and push your body forward. Make sure not to exaggerate this motion, as you will throw yourself off balance, but you should feel your lower body pushing your arm forward as you pivot forward. As you push off your back foot, make sure to turn your hips and extend your arm straight toward the target."

"Another thing, Nathaniel. When you land a punch, you also want to make sure to have a proper followthrough. To do this, try aiming for about two to three inches beyond your target, so you are almost punching through it. This is very important because this what will actually help minimize the pain you experience when you throw a punch. To achieve proper followthrough, your punch should follow a straight path in towards the target and then out away from the target. No arm bending, keep it nice and straight."

"However, make sure not to overextend into the punch. Throughout the punch, you should feel in control and balanced at all times. If you overcommit, you will fall forward, puting yourself into a vulnerable position." Acinonyx said as he demonstrated with visuals, even pretending to fall forward when talking about overextending.

"So, do you think you understand the gist of it?" Acinonyx asked, staring at me.

"I think so. It was surprisingly a lot to take in, but I followed along hopefully pretty well."

"Okay then," Acinonyx said, rubbing his hands together, "Do you know what you are going to be doing know?"

"Punching?" I retorted as I stationed myself infront of the dummy.

"Yes, over, and over, and over again. And good news!!! Since this all in your mind, you can't get tired, hungry nor thirsty. Also, you can't get physically hurt here, only mentally. I will tell you when you mess up a punch, as you won't fell the physical pain of error here." Acinonyx said, summoning a chair to sit down in.

"Now, Begin!"