Leyla woke up early this Sunday. She had decided to learn some form of self-defense since yesterday’s close shave with death. Naturally, she was aware that her frail mortal body wouldn’t do much harm against potential supernatural foes, but it was still better than nothing as her options were limited.

She couldn’t have access to firearms because of the prohibition for civilian use in the States Union. Of course, she could try to access them illegally, but she felt that the reward wasn’t worth the risk.

Thankfully, through a lot of searching on the internet last night, she managed to find a class of martial arts that was still open for inscription. One could complete the inscription online and start the next day. Which happened to be a perfect fit for her. Nobody made a better student than those whose motivation was their continual survival.

As such, she was up and ready by 8 AM. She wore high-waisted sports leggings and a black sports bra. Her golden locks were bound behind her head by a black fabric exposing her delicate neck entirely. As for footwear, she put on simple generic white sneakers. Before leaving her room, she grabbed her sports bag and an organic basic cropped hoodie.

The traffic was smooth making her reach the fitness center quickly. She left her car in the underground parking lot and took the elevator. The 5th floor housed various areas destined to serve as classrooms. Each area had large glass windows, as such, she could see people attending various classes like yoga, cycling, boxing, and dance.

She reached the place where her class was supposed to take place and entered. Inside she found a man dressed in a simple sleeveless grey shirt and black pants. He was bare-footed and was seated in a kneeling-like position.

“You must be Miss Regal, I assume.” His closed eyes opened at her entrance. Standing up, Leyla noticed that he was tall at 190 cm. She was quite tall herself for a woman, but she felt dwarfed next to him.

“Yes, it is I, nice to meet you Mr. Arhan,” Leyla confirmed and greeted politely.

“The pleasure is all mine. Now, you can put your bag in the back. We will start the class right now if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not, Mr. Arhan. Although, I do have a question.” While speaking she walk to the back of the class and left her bag in the locker.

“Am I the only student in this class?” Leyla had been confused for a moment now as she didn’t see anyone else in the class.

Mr. Arhan reflexively passed a hand in his short dark hair, his sharp brow raising slightly in embarrassment. Leyla suspected that he would have blushed if his skin wasn’t a matte brown color. His grey eyes shifted sideways as he said.

“You are my first student.” Leyla instantly understood. No wonder she managed to find a place in this class so fast. This fitness center was quite renowned, as such most of their classes were booked. The waiting list was dreadful. Mr. Arhan must have been a new instructor, as such he didn’t have much of a clientele.

Now, that she observed him closely she noticed that he was young. Most likely only a couple of years older than her. People weren’t likely to trust him because of his young age. Especially in a field that required some years of experience. In addition, he didn’t have any credentials such as competitions’ cups or medals to validate his expertise, from what she saw on the website.

“Miss Regal…” It seemed that he had taken her silence for distrust and wanted to say something, but Leyla cut in before he could finish his sentence.

“Don’t worry Mr. Arhan, I am not going to escape because of your lack of credentials. I just want to make sure that you have skills and that they can be taught to me. Also call me Leyla, as we do not seem to be that far in age. It’ll feel more comfortable for me.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and regained his composure. He walked toward her and said,

“Very well, Leyla, you can also call me by my name then. I do have martial skills that will allow you to be able to defend yourself against vastly stronger opponents. The reason I don’t have any credentials such as championships or the like is that I was trained since young in a remote place. It wasn’t until recently that I moved to the city.”

He became more candid as a result of Leyla’s frankness as he explained to her why he was in such an awkward situation.

Although Leyla had her reserves, she had observed him since she entered the room. He seemed to be telling the truth and radiated an aura of steadiness and control. As such she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“To completely dispel your hesitation, let me demonstrate a smidgen of what I can and will teach you.” He made a gesture and Leyla followed him to the center of the room on a large mat that served as a ring.

We were now standing, facing each other. He finally spoke, “Try to strike me.”

“Are you sure Arhan?” Leyla asked.

“Yes, go ahead, you can’t hurt me anyway so do your best.” He answered reassuring her.

“Fine.” Although she wouldn’t call herself an expert fighter, she had watched a couple of videos and read various books. She at least knew how to throw a punch.

She spread her legs, stabilizing herself, and shifted her weight on her forward foot. She twisted her waist and used the momentum to send her fist flying toward his face. Arhan’s brows rose in surprise.

She was a total amateur, but her form was textbook-perfect. She was certainly talented, he concluded.

Nevertheless, for him her fist was unbearably slow, he reached with his backhand and shifted the momentum of her fist in such a way that it went sailing a few inches to the left of his face.

Leyla spread her eyes wide open in shock. She had thought he would try to move sideways or backward to avoid the punch or even simply block it. But instead, Arhan had deflected it, in such a way that he barely used any strength. She didn’t even see his hand shift hers to the side; she only felt a light push.

“That was…amazing.” She said in awe. Her impression of him went through a complete 180° shift.

“And you will be able to do it too, should you devote yourself to training.” He seemed to be standing taller. After, all he had been slightly depressed since moving to the city. He didn’t know anyone and wasn’t quite used to the busy rhythm of city life.

Also, his lack of verifiable background in martial arts wise made it hard for him to find a job. Thankfully the sister who owned this fitness center came to the crutch, allowing him to be registered as an instructor. And now he had just convinced his first student of his reliability, he was understandably very happy.

“Great, when do we start.” Leyla was enthusiastic after all this application of force seemed perfectly tailored for her.

“Hold your horses. We first need to build you a solid base. You’re in shape but it’s mostly genetics. You don’t exercise often, do you?” He asked while eyeing her critically. His whole demeanor had shifted, he now looked like a severe master.

Leyla blushed in embarrassment. After all, it was true that ‘exercise’ and she, weren’t the best of friends. She was a bookworm, and it was to be expected that she didn’t exercise her body that often. She naturally possessed a great figure, being slender and well-proportioned where it mattered but that was purely thanks to her parents, not a conscious effort on her part.

“Well, we will have to do something about that won’t we?” His smile was sadistic at this point. Leyla shivered and wondered for the first time today if she had made the right decision.

…………

A couple of hours later,

Leyla was lying on the mat completely exhausted. She was having a hard time catching her breath and she felt like she was hurting at places she didn’t even know existed.

Arhan looked as fresh as when they began despite following her in the same exercises.

“We will stop here, I think. That was a good session.” He had a smile full of satisfaction.

“Thank god, any more and it’s my corpse you would have to drag out of here.” Leyla sighed in relief. She tried to stand up, but she wasn’t having an easy time. Arhan smiled and shook his head in amusement before lending her his hand. She grasped it and stood up.

“Don’t laugh, I felt like I would die at one point.” She said holding her side while grimacing.

“I believe you. I have fond memories of my training.” He shivered in remembrance. They looked at each other laughed heartily. Well, Arhan laughed heartily, Leyla laughter was interrupted by bouts of pain in her sides which made the situation even funnier.

Leyla went to the back of the class and removed her bag from the locker. She took a towel from it and wiped her sweat. After that, she drank a whole bottle of water. She felt as if she was lost in a desert for a moment before finally finding an oasis.

Feeling better, she tidied up her things and turned to Arhan asking, “Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?”

Leyla had found herself appreciating this man during their session. She had never felt this way about someone. More accurately, she had never let herself feel this way about someone. Now that she wasn’t blocking the whole world out anymore, she decided to be a bit bolder in her relationship with others.

He raised his brows in surprise but answered, “I am of course, agreeable and it’s not as if I have other things to do. Also, how can I refuse my first student’s request.” He said with mock seriousness.

Leyla smiled in satisfaction and they both walked out of the classroom. There was a coffee shop next to the reception on the entrance floor. They took the elevator and went there.

They chose a relatively isolated table in the coffee shop and ordered their drinks. After which, they just got to know one another. They talked about multiple things such as their lives, jobs, the city, and the schedule for their lessons. They agreed to see each other on Thursdays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays.

Arhan also gave her a training plan to follow even at home and chuckled when she groaned.

After one hour or so they separated. Arhan had received a call and was needed somewhere. They exchanged their RTPA IDs before they said their goodbyes.

On the way back home, Leyla received a call from Cole to confirm their plans and give her the address for tonight.

“I will be there. The Blue Isle? I’ve never heard of it, but then again I don’t go out that much.”

……

“Ok, I’ve saved it in my RTPA, I will find it. I think. I will call you otherwise.”

…….

“You too, See you there.” She hung up, now she just had to get ready for tonight.

She had a moment of realization while looking at her rearview mirror.

Aren’t I quite the social bee these days? Making new acquaintances left and right. That’s me, Leyla Regal the picture of sociability.

She chuckled at her thought