Straight through the Heart

Chapter 10

A/N

WARNING: THIS IS A KINDA JUICY CHAPTER ;) (See if any of you guys catch the hidden clue in this chapter. it's very hard to find).

For those of you who have not read Nerd in Disguise, you will not understand this chapter as much.

For those who have read Nerd in Disguise, you will hate/love me for doing this.

Enjoy.

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"Wake up!" I wake up to another rude awakening. This time she is kind enough to refrain from throwing a knife near my face. She has the courtesy to yell at the top of her lungs. 

"Mom! I'm up! I'm up!" I plug my ears and stumble out of my tiny tent. I wake up groggy and tired. I don't even know how I got out of my tent as my body is on fire. Every muscle is screaming in protest at every movement. I wince at pain at the slightest motion. I cringe when I bend down to put on shoes.  

It's finally day three. It feels as if the past two days has been a long month. My stomach growls for food. I look around for something to make. If I light a fire, then it would take too long to cook my food. I settle for a granola bar, protein bar, banana, apple, and water. It doesn't take long to finish the food, leaving my stomach semi-satisfied. 

I start the normal morning routine: run three miles and then do some full-body workouts. The running part is something I dread since it's split into a lot of intense sprints. I hate cardio, but it is good for stamina. I really need stamina if I want to keep up with my mother. The entire morning routine takes a lot longer than the previous days due to my sore muscles.

By the time I come back to the campground, a good hour has passed. As I get to the clearing, I can see my mother busy moving equipment around. Glancing at the ground, I see at least a couple dozen of weapons spread out in an organized fashion. 

"What's going on?" I glance at the weapons. I recognize a select amount by name but not the majority.

"Time for you to learn and adapt to all weapons. Well, at least the main ones. Then, we will start making use of ordinary items as weapons." She thinks for a couple seconds before adding, "We need to work on your stealth." She ties back her wavy hair into a neat bun. Her fresh morning face bare no sign of wear from the past days. Then again, she's always looked young for her age, especially now. I would say she looks barely mid-thirties despite being forty-three. 

"Alright." Let's get this over with.

We start with the guns. I know half of the guns here, but I still have a lot to memorize. Then, she makes me disassemble each weapon to learn its parts. I'm tied multiple times to see how long it takes for me to reassemble and load the gun. 

Over and over. 

Repeat. 

Again and again.

By the time noon comes, I have learned everything there is to know about all the guns around me. This is not as difficult as I thought because most of the weapons are commonly used around professionals.

We move on with knives. I realize I know nothing about knives. I only recognize like four out of twenty knives. I had to get use to all the different weights and lengths. My mother included daggers and swords. 

I've never used a dagger or sword until today. I definitely felt badass swinging a katana around. There was also the Shinai Kendo bamboo sword, which hurt a lot than I thought. I did have fun with a fencing sabre even though I was not that good at handling it.