In the main hall of the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall public area.
"Hope you guys didn’t wait too long." Cassius glanced over to his right as he entered.
Four boys and one girl, all in their Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall student attire, were in the midst of warming up. Some were punching sandbags, while others were adjusting the gym equipment.
Cassius recognized three of the upturned faces from the previous night. Tifa, Milo, and Phil, whom he had taken out to dinner. The other two were new students who had registered the day before.
"It's okay, Instructor Li Wei. There were still five minutes before class starts, so we were just warming up," Tifa said, lowering her fist from the sandbag. Her pretty figure was obvious even in workout clothes.
"En." Cassius nodded. "By the way, Tifa, can you open the training room for me? I’m going to the locker room to change." He tossed the key over to her. "The room number is on it. The rest of you can follow her."
Cassius watched the five of them leave before he walked down the corridor to the instructor's locker room. He opened his personal locker and quickly changed into a sturdy beige combat attire. After chucking his clothes and hat inside, he locked the locker and walked back out, the pale yellow light shining down on him.
Ten minutes later, in training room B-15.
Phil was in a lunge position, his back straight, left fist tucked at his waist, and right fist extended forward.
As Cassius continuously corrected his posture, he explained to the four onlookers, "It's important that your punching stance is correct since it's a fundamental aspect of martial art. If your basics are even just a little off, everything you learn afterward will be skewed and you'll be at a significant disadvantage compared to others."
Two minutes later, Phil's forehead was dripping with sweat. His body was trembling, and his joints felt numb. Exhausted as he was, he felt less tired when he sensed Tifa gazing at him from the side. Emotionally, at least, he wasn't tired.
"Alright, Phil, take a break." Cassius patted Phil's shoulder. There was a fine line between persistence and overexertion; one was good and the other not so much.
Cassius had replicated Instructor Lisa's teaching method from the youth training camp. By publicly pointing out every mistake a student made, it would leave a lasting impression on them. Afterward, the students would stand in the correct posture for three to four minutes. The student would remember about half of the correct stance in a single session, barring any issues with their mental fortitude, which would help them a lot for future training.
Of course, there were also students who were extremely prideful and sensitive to criticism. Cassius made sure that he understood Phil's personality before doing this.
"Whew..." Phil relaxed with a sigh and glanced over at Tifa, who was listening to the lesson with rapt attention. He discreetly shifted closer.
"Alright, let's demonstrate the next move. Milo, come up here."
Phil looked at his friend. Milo got up with great reluctance and walked over. As he passed Phil, he seemed to mutter under his breath, "Why should a swordsman learn how to punch?"
Time flew by. Two hours was the perfect amount of time for training. Cassius glanced at his watch and saw it was exactly six.
"Alright, let's stop here for today. See you all tomorrow."
Cassius opened the door of the training room and made his way over to the public area. A group of students who were also headed in that direction to change, followed behind.
Back on Hongta Street, the sky in the horizon was turning a flaming red. Pale yellow clouds blended with the sunset, creating a peculiar mix of colors. A flock of black birds flew from west to east and the cold wind rustled the fallen leaves and torn newspapers on the ground.
A man wearing a black jacket and jeans stood tall under the twilit sky. He wore sunglasses and held a cigarette, slowly exhaling a smoke ring.
"Here we are. Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall. Li Wei..." The corner of his mouth curled into a cruel smile.
His big hand crushed the cigarette butt. The tall figure strolled toward the martial arts hall. Once he entered the hall, the man asked, "So, you're Li Wei?"
"And you are?" Cassius looked curiously at the man in sunglasses. The man was around his height, and a strong smoky smell seemed to cling to him.
"Never mind that. I heard you're pretty good at martial arts. Let's have a match!" The man slicked back his thick hair, a cocky grin plastered over his face.
Out of habit, the man pulled a cigarette out from his pocket, smirking. "What's the matter? You afraid?"
"Martial arts hall rules; you need to pay a challenge fee first," Cassius said calmly.
Needless to say, there was a fee for challenges. If there wasn't, he'd have been harassed to death. Why should he waste time dealing with random hooligans when he could spend that time training his Covert Martial Arts?
"Ah, really?" The man in sunglasses looked around. Some curious students nodded in affirmation. "Alright."
He cracked his neck nonchalantly and marched over to the front desk. Just as he was about to speak to the old man engrossed in his magazine, a voice interrupted him.
"Martial arts hall rules, no smoking inside."
"Ah, really?" The man in sunglasses looked up and saw the "no smoking" sign behind the old man. Coughing twice, he quietly put the cigarette back into his pocket.
"I want to challenge that guy named Li Wei." The man pulled out his black wallet. "How much is it?"
The old man glanced up, then returned to his magazine. "Instructor Li Wei? That'll be a thousand."
The man in sunglasses froze with his wallet open. "How much?!"
"A thousand!" The old man's voice was loud. He sounded profoundly irritated that his reading had been interrupted.
"That... that much?" The man in sunglasses coughed awkwardly under the heavy stares around him. "Let me see. One, two... seven, eight, nine."
"Damn, I'm a hundred short!" the man cursed.
"It's alright, nine hundred will do. I'll cover the rest," Cassius said, unexpectedly handing over a bill.
"Thanks, man!" The man in sunglasses smirked. He handed the ten bills to the old man at the counter.
Five minutes later, under the evening sky, the man in sunglasses stood frozen on the street, staring blankly at the door of the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall in front of him.
Ten moves. He lasted only ten moves.
All he had gained for his efforts was a bruised cheek. Plus, he was now short nine hundred Hongli Federation bills that he usually reserved for cigarettes.
"Couldn't block his punches at all... He’s definitely a stage five in combat moves. Maybe, he's even an expert at the peak of stage five..." The man in sunglasses's words unconsciously slipped out.
In the villa's main hall, two men sat on two soft, comfortable sofas. A refined young man in a white shirt sat on the left while the burly man in sunglasses and leather jacket sat on the right.
"He’s really at the peak of stage five?" The young man lightly propped up his gold-rimmed glasses, the half-moon lenses reflecting slightly.
"Why would I lie? Look at me." The man in sunglasses jabbed at the white medical patch on his left cheek.
It hardly hurt, but what did hurt was being humiliated in the martial arts hall. Kieran was used to handling shady business for Matthew. He wasn't normally a restrained person and would've blown up in such a situation, but he had to hold back since Matthew’s brother, Phil, was there. It just pained him that he had lost the nine hundred for his precious cigarettes...
"Peak of stage five, huh? There's some value in befriending this Li Wei!" Matthew’s handsome face broke into a smile as he snapped his fingers. "I'll pick my brother up after school tomorrow afternoon."
"Ahem, ahem... could you cover my travel expenses?" The man in sunglasses rubbed his chin.
"What kind of ride costs nine hundred dollars?!"
"...In any case, it’s nine hundred. Are you gonna pay up or what?"