The Gauntlet: Rising

Chapter Eleven: What Drives You to Win?

Minor finished his last bit of breakfast in the mess hall and his energy was already skyrocketing. He met with Jae in a training room filled with exercising equipment.

Jae was waiting next to a pair of small weights.

"Okay," Minor announced his presence. "Let's get started." He went to pick up the weights but Jae stopped him.

"Slow your roll, mate, You need to stretch first." He Instructed.

"Right," Minor said. "I knew that."

"Follow my example." Jae extended his arm across his chest and Minor did the same. He started counting slowly to 20 and Minor mimicked. They continued this with each body part: arms, legs, torso, wrists, any part Jae could think of until Minor lost patience.

"Okay!" He stopped stretching. "Can we start now? I didn't come here to do yoga." Jae finished his stretches before he spoke.

"Punch me." He said simply. Minor hesitated.

"Um..."

"Do it!" Jae exclaimed, and with that Minor went for it. He threw a fist at his trainer, all his frustration and impatience fueled into the punch. Jae dodged, pushed away his hand, and tripped Minor. It was all done in one swift move. "You were stiff, your movement is robotic and your punches are easy to depower or take the power out of." Minor felt as if all the training he did yesterday didn't matter, as if it had all washed away like a small stain on a shirt.

"I see now," He admitted. "I just really want to get to your level as quickly as possible, and this is feeling slow."

"You'll never get to my level, mate," Jae said bluntly. Minor expected comforting words, but he had forgotten this wasn't his mother he was talking to. "You need to get on your own level, but first finish your stretches. Today is going to be vigorous for you."

"Yeah." The boy sighed. As he resumed stretching; Jae spoke to him.

"What's your fighting style?" He questioned.

"I don't know, I've always wanted to try Karate or Boxing, maybe Kung Fu?" Minor wasn't sure.

"Stop," Jae said. "I guess I overestimated your ability to analyze."

"What do you mean?" Minor was beginning to realize Jae had a plan, unlike Aero.

"What kind of build and style do you think you will be able to achieve in 6 months and be effective in the Gauntlet?" Jae clarified. Minor had not thought about it that way, he didn't even think about the path to the Gauntlet. Just like Jae: he had overestimated his own ability to analyze. "Do you remember Moma Lumi?"

"Um...Yeah." It took Minor a moment to recall. "The tackle ballplayer with a passive and precise technique."

"Exactly," Jae said as Minor finished his stretches. "The build type we're aiming for is mostly built for dodging with ease and only blocking if you absolutely have to."

"But I can't just dodge my way through the whole Gauntlet! Can I?" Minor began to ponder on the possibility.

"No. We're going to build your muscle and stamina. You're going to have to use more punches and tactical strategies than most other contenders." Jae shut down Minor's pondering. "And when the normal schedule comes into effect, after training with the instructors your going to be training with me, got it mate?" Minor was dreading Jae's plan, but he was all for it. He had to take this seriously if he was going to make it to the Gauntlet.