"Yo whats up man? This kinda a surprise, didn't think id see you after the test. Kinda thought youd be dragged to the principals office haha," Andrew said, with a smile on his face.
"Haha, yea, i mean i guess you could say i was a little bit curious about you…" Zachary said with a nervous smile.
"Wait…. I don't swing that way bro? Im sorry though…"
"Wait, what? no… i don't mean it like that. I mean i was curious about your performance in the exam." Zachary stammered out.
'did i really make the right choice? He seems kinda unreliable…'
"Haha, i'm just messing with you bro. No need to take things so literally. But whats up? What were you curious about?"
Andrew laughed a bit internally, he used to be just like this kid in his past life around the same age.
Treating even a grain of salt as a boulder, taking life so seriously at such a young age…
"Oh okay I got you, but i saw what you did to the testing machine before… your hiding your strength aren't you?"
Zachary suspected this as the rest of Andrews tests went way too smoothly. Every score was so precisely within the same range.
Andrew had purposefully tried to score within the middle for his remaining tests. Above average but not so above the average that he would draw attention from faculty.
"Oh? What makes you think that?" Andrew said with a curious glimmer in his eyes.
"I could immediately tell that punch wasnt an accident during the strength part of the test. You delivered a blow powerful and precise enough to pierce the alloy plate, meaning you didn't waste any energy…"
"That was the biggest sign to me that you had a different agenda than to stand out, so i naturally became curious…" Zachary replied, clearing his throat.
Truthfully, the only reason he knew that Andrew was masking his power was because of his master, otherwise he would've been like everyone else giving the benefit of the doubt.
"Yea honestly, i came across a decent sized fortuitous encounter that my parents left behind before they passed away. A familial technique I guess you can say."
This little white lie wasn't a problem for him, he had damn near a century of experience and mental age over this young buck protagonist.
Before Zachary could ask another question, Andrew decided to take control of the conversation.
"So, is that all youre curious about? I do need to get home to eat."
"Actually I was a little curious… I was wondering if you'd like to train with me one of these days."
"I did catch a glance of you in the park the other day while you were training. Quite frankly, I didn't really believe you when you said you were good at body conditioning."
"But seeing the results from the test, I can tell you weren't just trying to cozy up to me."
Andrew held back a smile.
"Yea of course, we can definitely help each other out in some training. Would it not be a problem though? I could tell that old dude took an interest in you."
Zachary was slightly surprised hearing this, not thinking Andrew was also watching him.
"Yea it wont be an issue, he just wants to give me some pointers and resources here and there. I can even put in a good word for you so we can both take advantage of this opportunity." Zachary said, with a reassuring tone.
"Wow… he's surprisingly generous!" Andrew thought.
However he did not hesitate, he knew this was a small opportunity he had to take advantage of.
"Yea man, that would be dope and I appreciate you willing to put in that kinda effort even though we just met."
"What days are you free to get in some training?"
"Everyday, i'm literally free everyday and probably will be for a couple of months." Zachary quickly said, also not wanting to miss this opportunity.
"That sounds great to me bro, what you doing later tonight? We should hit up the park and get something in as soon as possible. Time awaits for no one after all…"
"Lets do it, 7pm?"
"Sounds good to me, ill catch you then. Would talk more, but i do gotta get running."
He was already brainstorming how he was gonna prepare for this training session. He would need some prep time first though.
"Perfect, i wont keep you then. Catch you later!" Zachary said with laugh, his dark violet eyes barely showing past his hair.
"Likewise Zachary, looking forward to it."
….
After getting home, Andrew cooked up a nice primer shake, which was more like a gooey concoction than anything.
After he primed the system, he decided to meditate for a bit, focusing on his innate energy.
He mainly was focusing on just feeling it, and then moving it from body part to body part, and then multiple parts at the same time.
He desperately wanted to understand this new power as soon as possible.
He sat in meditation as long as he could for about a couple hours.
Periodically he changed his body's positioning to make sure he could stimulate and circulate this in multiple.
He started to feel his body heating up like never before, quickly transitioning into holding this feeling while shadow boxing.
He started rapidly moving through different positions and techniques.
Muay Thai, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Jeet Kune Do…
He started rapidly fusing basic martial techniques from his past life all at one time.
He focused strictly on precision, holding the feeling of internal energy flowing through his entire kinetic chain.
He moved faster and faster, eventually moving so quickly an ordinary person wouldnt even be able to see his movements.
"I need to move faster, i need to go harder; more precise, looser technique, better chaining…"
Andrew had fallen into a complete flow state, at this point to a completely untrained person it would appear he was just switching foot positions absurdly quickly.
All thought began to dissapear, and all that was left was movement…
In between these borader transitions lied many versions of punches and kicks.
the flow of innate energy reached its peak in a time span never described in the original technique.
After another couple of hours, he opened his eyes suddenly.
Every punch and movement of his body slightly shot off a black goo like substance originating deep from within his flesh.
After another few moments, the movements came to a halt. He quickly got into a standing meditative position and breathed rythmically.
He moved the innate energy from every section of his body at one time in its most optimal way.
He started to comprehend the next level, realizing innate energy wasn't something you needed to move.
it already existed within every cell.
He took up a horse stance, and he threw out a punch.
The punch was so fast and powerful he even shocked himself, he could feel the air trying to resist the momentum he was forcing upon it.
His technique was so fast, even the friction of the air only aided his power.
Reverberations sounded through the air, a slight turbulent wind appearing within the apartment.
"Now… i'm ready!"
_____