With the sound of the door banging open, Neal soon burst into the boxing gym, out of breath, and his hair was sticking against his scalp and forehead because of the red jelly.
Kiernan frowned at his appearance and knew that something happened, as the school shouldn't have ended for another four hours.
Neal, without saying a word, walked over to the punching bag and started hitting it with his knuckles until his hands were raw and bleeding.
"Travis! Travis! Travis!"
He screamed as he imagined the punching bag as Travis' face and didn't stop until he collapsed from exhaustion.
Kiernan said, slowly walking over to him with some healing bandage to put over the bleeding knuckles.
While he wrapped the bandage around Neal's knuckles, he sobbed silently and smashed the ground with his fist.
"T-Travis happened. I was done eating and went to return the tray, but then Travis walked over to me, shit-talked to me, and then poured some jelly at my head.
"I tried punching him, but with no effort at all, he dodged my punch and shoved my head into the trash bin!
"Everyone was laughing at me, and I am sure that Katherina also found out what happened. How can I face her after that? It was so humiliating!"
Neal grabbed his forehead and tried to shake his head in an attempt to shake the embarrassment away.
"Go take a shower, and we will discuss this afterwards, alright?"
Neal sighed, stood up, and slowly headed to the back room, but he then stopped and said.
"I didn't stand a chance against him. Yesterday's training was for naught."
"Was it really? Old you would have never even dared to throw a punch. Go take the shower, and we'll discuss it afterwards."
Kiernan said with a frown.
Neal, with his head hanging low, disappeared into the back room, and shortly after, the sound of a shower running could be heard.
'Hmm, I don't know if this is bad or not. The fight bruised Neal's confidence by a great deal, and that might affect his motivation or act as a driving force to improve.
'I hope it is the latter.'
Kiernan went to get some towels and wiped the blood off the punching bag and the floor right under it.
With time passing by slowly, Neal finally walked from the back room, dressed in a new change of clothes and looking more composed.
It looked like the shower helped him to calm down.
Sitting cross-legged, Kiernan patted at the mat in front of himself, and Neal sat down across him, awkwardly adjusting his posture.
"Explain to me how the fight went down."
Neal began to recount the details of the fight and showed his over-the-shoulder punch. Then he showed how Travis tilted his head to the side, grabbed his arm, and shoved his head into the trash bin.
Kiernan rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner and nodded.
"No wonder you lost. You barely know how to throw a punch from a stance, and you tried to do it from an unnatural angle.
"The speed of your punch was affected by the unnatural angle, and in the eyes of Travis, it must've looked as slow as a snail.
"Travis has plenty of previous fighting experience, as he must've had to fight quite many ranked matches to reach third rank.
"His eyes have adjusted to the speed of the fight over the years, so of course some sloppy punch wouldn't be any threat to him."
"I-I think my punch looked quite fast…"
Neal said, nervously rubbing the back of his head.
Kiernan chuckled, stood up, and then motioned for Neal to stand up as well, which he did with a confused expression.
"Move into the same position you were when you threw the punch, and then try to punch at me."
With a nod, Neal turned sideways, imagining himself facing the trash can, and then clenched his fist before throwing it over his shoulder.
"What the hell is that?"
Kiernan slapped the punch away, looking at Neal with a look of disgust.
Neal rubbed his fist, shocked that it hurt from a simple slap that looked effortless with no strength behind it.
"I don't think I've ever seen such a disgusting punch in my whole life.
"Your 'intention' to punch was so clear, and when you add your anger when facing Travis, he must've seen your punch coming from a mile away.
"Travis is no rookie, despite him using mediocre martial arts.
"You must mask your intention, or if you want to, you can trick Travis with your intention to make him fall into your trap."
Kiernan said with a serious tone.
"Intention… it sounds so complicated to me. How can I mask that? Do I have to wear a mask or what?"
Neal asked awkwardly.
"I knew when you were going to punch when you clenched your fist so obviously."
Neal formed a fist with his right and asked.
"You knew when I was going to punch when I formed a fist? What if I formed a fist, then waited for a little while before punching?"
"It's not that simple. I saw you pressing your fingers against your palm with a tightened fist, and that is what tipped me off. You don't usually do that if you don't plan on punching with all your strength.
"Your body also shifted slightly to make you more comfortable throwing that punch, which was another thing that tipped me off, and lastly, the unnatural stance slowed you down.
"You don't know how to throw anything else than a jab. It wouldn't have helped you in that fight, but we still have time to teach you."
Neal's eyes were spinning at the excess amount of information, and had no idea that he was so obvious.
Kiernan read him like a book!
"A-alright… So what will we train today?"
"I'll teach you other basic punches, but to improve the efficiency, I don't want you to go to the school before the ranked match."
"W-what? I think my father will be worried about where I am, and teachers won't take that lightly. Also… after today, everyone will speak ill behind my back, and if I don't go to school, my reputation will be even more in ruins."
"I am sure you can think of an excuse for your father. Say that you're preparing for your ranked match or something. I am sure he will understand.
"Also, it doesn't matter what other students think. The ranked match is all that matters, and once you defeat Travis, this whole thing will be forgotten immediately."