Chapter 50: Xiya's Special Training (Beating)

After successfully getting through Mr. Kesi's short lecture, Captain Ikon assigned a new task to everyone.

"Kesi, Jiexika, you two come with me to scout the chaotic district south of the city; there may be foreign extraordinary beings gathering there. The rest stay behind," Captain Ikon briefly allocated the missions.

After Captain Ikon left the squad with Jiexika and Mr. Kesi, the three who had just been sitting together listening to Mr. Kesi's short lecture stared at each other.

"Ma Dan City used to be like this, with incidents happening one after another?" Leiketon asked, somewhat curious.

"Of course not. In the past we might go a month without anything, and even when something occurred it was mostly ghosts or the like, and half of those were fake extraordinary incidents," Qiaoxi shook his head and said.

"Recently the Earth Church has been busy dealing with the aftermath of the previous hospital incident and can't spare many hands, so they've handed over most of the city's extraordinary incident handling to us," Xiya said, having approached unnoticed.

"Are we free now?" Leiketon asked Xiya, who had come closer.

"If nothing unexpected happens, that's the case. You're staring at me like that—do you have some shortcut in mind?" Xiya gave Leiketon a seductive smile.

"What shortcut?" Joseph, who hadn't understood, asked curiously.

"Ahem! There's no shortcut; you must have misheard. Don't spend all day immersed in the world of knowledge," Qiaoxi curbed Joseph's strong curiosity and changed the subject.

Leiketon felt something off watching Qiaoxi's behavior; it seemed Qiaoxi was slightly moved by his earlier words. This left Leiketon bewildered, then excited, as if he could look forward to what comes next.

"I want to learn hand-to-hand combat from you again; the last impromptu training helped me a lot when we faced the clown, so I'd like to," Leiketon said, not revealing his thoughts, but bringing up combat practice with Xiya.

"Oh~ so it's our little Leiketon who wants to get beaten," Xiya laughed mockingly, but didn't refuse Leiketon's request.

"Do either of you want to learn hand-to-hand combat?" Xiya turned her gaze toward Qiaoxi and Joseph standing nearby.

When they first heard Leiketon mention practicing combat, the two were quite interested; after all, the reader's early stage is truly weak, and aside from enhanced memory and comprehension, they're no different from ordinary people.

But upon hearing Xiya's follow‑up, the image of being pressed to the ground and rubbed by Xiya instantly flashed in their minds, and the two shook their heads in perfect sync.

"No need, thanks!"

"Fine, you two are really cowardly. I beat you, and you still won't let me heal your wounds?" Xiya said with a sneering tone.

"Heal the wounds and then keep hitting?" At that moment, Qiaoxi, Leiketon, and the others shared a surprisingly synchronized thought.

In the end only Leiketon followed Xiya to the training ground. He had planned to bring Tu Ba Ge with him, but the rabbit darted into the hat and, via the hat's portal feature, slipped into the cabinet under the table.

"This rabbit's getting slipperier; it's hard to trap!" Leiketon sighed.

He flipped the great magician's top hat, which had been upside down on the table, so the hat now rested right-side up on the surface.

Without the hat's brim touching the table, its portal function ceased, and Tu Ba Ge could only stay obediently inside the cabinet as a reclusive rabbit.

After Leiketon and Xiya arrived at the training ground, Leiketon felt a dull ache all over; the memory of Xiya's brutal beating last time echoed in his mind.

"How about I practice my gun technique first? I think there's still a lot of room for improvement," Leiketon said, feeling a bit cowardly at the thought of getting beaten again.

"A lot of room for improvement? Your linguistic art is already quite solid," Xiya raised an eyebrow and said.

"As long as your gun technique can hit a fixed target, that's enough; the upcoming magic elixir will boost that ability, so there's no need to rush to master an advanced technique," Xiya dismissed Leiketon's excuse.

"Alright, go easy on me!" Leiketon said while subtly stepping back a few paces.

"Yo! Suddenly so cautious? Do you know what the definition of hand-to-hand combat is?" Xiya, ignoring Leiketon's retreat, asked an irrelevant question.

"The definition of combat?" Leiketon was momentarily stunned.

After a brief thought, he said, "From the combatant's perspective, close‑range fighting with mutual offense and defense?"

The response to Leiketon's words came from the sole of a black long‑boot.

"Boom~" Leiketon was knocked backward before he could react, crashing onto the floor.

"You! Ambush!" Leiketon wailed from the ground.

"One of the essentials of combat is constant environmental awareness; you must not overlook anything," Xiya said coldly.

Leiketon didn't rebut Xiya's words; instead he rolled twice on the ground. Then Xiya placed one foot exactly where Leiketon had just fallen.

It was Leiketon's inference based on the change in Xiya's voice position, leaving no time for detailed thought.

"Not bad, your reaction's faster," Xiya's praise came together with a sharp attack.

Having just scrambled up, Leiketon was kicked away again before he could fully stand. He noticed Xiya's attack, but his body couldn't match the computer's reaction speed, so he could only watch helplessly as another kick sent him flying.

"No, why do you love kicking people so much?" Leiketon shouted in complaint.

He began to suspect Xiya had some odd fetish. Then she kicked him from another direction, forcing him to roll and crawl on the ground to steady himself before he could finally get up.

"One kick is enough to beat you," Xiya said in the gentlest voice, dripping with sarcasm.

Leiketon wanted to retort that Xiya might also moonlight as a provocateur on the hunter's path, since that single remark could raise an opponent's blood pressure.

But Xiya gave Leiketon no chance to speak; she launched a whip kick at his face. The newly risen Leiketon bent his waist again to sidestep, then, mimicking Xiya, swung a whip kick of his own.

Unfortunately, before his leg could connect, Xiya caught it with a hand, then snapped her wrist, pulling Leiketon into the air, spinning him once before slamming him heavily onto the ground.

"Ah! Hiss~"

"My leg feels broken," Leiketon groaned, lying on the ground and shivering.

"No fracture, just a dislocation," Xiya said calmly.

"Just that?" Leiketon thought that seeking Xiya for combat practice was a foolish decision; the second time was downright stupid.

Xiya stepped beside Leiketon, bent over, placed one hand on his thigh and the other gripping his calf.

"Kach~" a sound, and she cleanly snapped Leiketon's dislocated leg bone back into place.

"Ah~" After the bone was set, Leiketon slowly realized the pain and let out another wail.

"Alright, stop screaming; if others hear, they'll think I'm abusing you!" Xiya said with blatant contempt.

Leiketon lay on the ground, unwilling to move, like a salted fish that had lost its dream.

Xiya tossed a bottle of healing potion to Leiketon: "Drink it yourself; if you have severe external wounds you can also apply it."

"This is a lesson: don't show off in battle; if you're unsure, don't make reckless moves that unbalance you, or this will be the best outcome. The point of hand-to-hand combat is to defeat an opponent in the simplest, most efficient way," Xiya explained while Leiketon took the potion.

"Got it, thank you, Sister Xiya. Your strikes are indeed heavy, but they work well; I will never make that mistake again," Leiketon nodded, indicating he had memorized it.

"That's all for today. Rest and recover your injuries, or your family will think you were robbed on the road when you get home," Xiya said, then left the training ground.

After Xiya left, Leiketon lay alone on the training ground, recalling the beating he just received. His biggest mistake was the counterattack after evading Xiya's strike.

"Actually, whether I kick or strike, the outcome is the same; I just chose the worst way," Leiketon muttered to himself on the ground.

"One of the essentials of combat is to constantly observe the environment, allowing no negligence whatsoever; my performance just now can be described as a total mess." Lekton recalled his performance just now, engaging in self-reflection.

(End of chapter)