Blending Into Gray

Chapter 16

"Ok, that's the right idea. No, you look awkward, don't stop like that."

I groaned, not actually exasperated, though pretending to be.

Roman snickered.

I had been mildly projecting my emotions so that Roman could feel them, allowing him to notice that I was just kidding about being annoyed.

"You're swinging your arm all the way through, which is great and all, but you're stopping just as you hit the person. That wouldn't hurt them."

"Well then what should I do?"

I asked him, and he paused, thinking of the best way to explain.

We we back at our little clearing that we utilized for many meetings before, but now he was actually teaching me how to fight without a sword.

It was actually turning out to be incredibly useful, just as I had predicted.

Still, it was one thing to have a perception of how something will go versus how it'll actually turn out.

Overall, according to Roman, I wasn't bad, but I was still new at this, so I was prone to making mistakes.

"Swing all the way through. If you're going to punch someone, make sure that you rotate your whole body. Even after you make contact, follow through."

I understood the logics of that, but that was rather hard to still do.

Regardless, I tried again, going to punch him in the head as he had suggested. I swung my body all the through, rotating my arm, but he caught it and had it pinned behind my back before I could react.

I hissed at the angle he was holding my arm, as it was curled into my back, with him pushing it upwards. Not gonna lie, it stung a bit.

His apologetic emotions resounded as he let go of me.

"That was better," he explained.

"But you have to use your weight, too. Not just your arm. Swing from the hips."

I guess?

I did it again, this time rotating my hips with my shoulder. He still grabbed my arm, but pinned it a little less harshly.

"That's was really good!"

"You still stopped me, though," I grumbled.

It wasn't that I was upset that I couldn't hit him, quite the opposite, actually.

I was rather impressed that he was so good at this, and he was pleased with that knowledge.

But I also wanted him to be impressed with me picking it up so quickly. He did seem impressed, so I was happy with that at least.

He laughed, pure happiness and amusement shining as brightly as the afternoon sun.

"Well at least you've got that down. Maybe I should also teach you how to block, now. That would be useful."

I nodded, and he let go of my arm.

I turned to face him.

"Alright, so if you're blocking, you want to use your hands. Do not, under any circumstances, use your forearms. That shit hurts, and you'll only end up making it worse for yourself."

Uh, alright?

"So try to block this," Roman said, giving only slight warning before aiming a punch for my face.

My eyes widened, and my hand shot out to block the punch, though I ended up slapping it with my hand.

I bared my teeth at the sensation, and Roman's apologetic manner came through.