"Casual" Workout: Late Night Encounters

It hadn't taken Roland long to find himself quite the nice corner for himself in the training facilities on campus. Then again, it hadn't been that long since he'd first arrived on campus. They'd told him there was no helping it given the irregularity of his transfer to the academy. And so it was that he'd arrived a day late to the start of school, subsequently missing out on a mixer the day before. Not that missing said mixer really bothered him that much in itself, just that he'd missed what might have been his once chance to speak with the great Leonard Wolf himself. If nothing else just to pay his respects to the single most powerful fighter on the face of the earth, a position he hoped to fill himself one day. At the same time it might've been better this way, he was finally here after all. That in itself was enough and he wanted to train.

With that thought finished he started approached the punching bag he'd prepared for himself mere minutes ago. Naturally he started to punch it in an even rythm with such force that you might suspect that he was trying to beat the literal stuffing out of it. As it was, he actually WAS trying to beat the stuffing out of it and was most content that he failed in just that endeavour. All the equipment at the academy was of much stronger make than the average equipment one comes upon in the outside world. Following his awakening to Chi, Roland had destroyed several training appliances which forced him to turn to more basic exercises until he could make it to the academy. As such he was happy now that he was able to return to his regular training regimen. And so he kept bludgeoning the bag at a steady pace, working up a nice sweat in the process.

At present, he was far too focused to take notice of what attention he might be drawing to himself by training at this hour.

Others would have wondered why she was in the Training Facility as she did not seem to have a reason to. She hated training, and fighting was not even her strong suit as she preferred to stay in the backlines. However, those who knew her would understand Amira was also here to train, not the body but her mind. Despite the time, her mind was sharp and yearning to be trained. Silently she entered the building and noticed only a few people inside at this hour. It wasn't that surprising as most people were asleep at this hour. Her eyes looked around and subconsciously noticed several things: a young freshman girl while was able to attack the dummy with surprising force her posture was all wrong which caused her attacks to have a delay, a marksman who tried to shoot an arrow at a target kept missing bullseye as he would aim straight at the center rather than above and a man who was punching a bag with an even rhythm at a rate she thought there were no errors.

While it appeared his punches were strong and well timed, she noticed an opening that he could have taken. While Amira considered for a few moments to talk to him about it, she kept her mouth shut. It was highly unlikely that anyone would have wanted to study her techniques, plus she was too nervous to speak to a person she had never met. Instead, she opted to continue watching with a certain expression on her face, eyes going all over the place to mark his posture, the time is punches connected with the punching bag and the force of each punch to find a more efficient way he could take down his opponent without being exposed to an attack. Amira had done all of this while quietly watching from the sidelines, making no action that denounced her presence nor gave out what she was doing other than staring intently at the young man.

The combat training facility, a place that brought many good and bad memories for Reinhard. He remember when school was out for the summer and his father would bring him here so that they could have a bigger place to train. A good time they would have up until Leonard would get too serious and he would end up using his crystal chi and gave Reinhard a bad cut or two... the worst one was when he cut Reinhard's chest and it left a scar right above his heart. However this was different obviously because, it was during a school year and although it was late at night there were still students here. Although these were the hardcore train-alcoholics, and they were few in number.

Among these few students only two stuck out to Reinhard's eagle eye. The first was Amira or as she would rather be called Ami, a girl Reinhard had just recruited to his cause. The other was a special student that Reinhard had set his eyes on ahead of time he went by the name Roland. The young man was a junior and one of the best boxer's in the school, something Reinhard didn't take lightly due to how powerful the punch from a boxer with proper training and equipment could be. Reinhard had approached Roland with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face as he said "Hey there guy! My name is Reinhard, nice to meet you! Your name is Roland right?"

The way he spoke was as friendly and positive as he could make it out to be. He was hoping to open a dialog with the young man in the hopes that he could recruit him to his team. With Roland he would have the base form of his team, and he would later find people that fit in with his base three later. "Me and my friend over there came here to speak to you about a opportunity we have that we would like to give to you."Reinhard would say as he pointed at Ami.

Roland was just happy punching the bag until he was suddenly interrupted by someone. The person in question had approached from his right, speaking to him in an overly cheerful manner. Roland quickly caught the bag mid-motion, stopping it in its tracks before he turned to face whoever had adressed him. What he found was a fair looking boy with a beaming smile aimed directly at him. Roland was least to say perplexed over what a fellow like this could possibly want from him. He quickly wiped some sweat off his forehead as he answered as to whether he was indeed Roland Gates. "That's right."

He took a second to grab his water bottle as he listened to the one that had introduced himself as "Reinhard" went on about some manner of opportunity. He'd moved on to point out a girl further behind him, seemingly just observing from afar. He figured he might as well ask what this was all about rather than sending them off. "Elaborate." With that said he simply took a drink out of his bottle, positively thirsting after that intense workout he'd just pulled through, as short as it was. Now it was a just a matter of hearing them out as to what this "opportunity" of theirs could possibly entail.

While the girl had initially been enjoying her quiet analysis of the man's style in peace, a sudden noise caused her to jump slightly. Her eyes trailed towards the direction where the noise had come from and noticed the new freshman that she was now the trainer of, Reinhard Wolf. While his tone had brought unwarranted attention towards her, she did not seem to mind as she simply nodded as he spoke. She wasn't one to advocate their cause, after all, she was only there to help others become stronger rather than aim to become the greatest herself. Even if this man appeared to be in the same age range as her, give or take a few months, he was still a stranger and she felt odd around him.

It soon turned out this boxer she was watching was, in fact, a person by the name of Roland. The name didn't seem familiar, she had never met a person by the name or that before nor did she ever seem to hear that name in all the classes she heard. It wasn't that surprising regardless for she wasn't the person to actually know many people. When asking them to elaborate, she decided to speak up. "The chance to grow stronger physically and mentally." Those words tentatively escaped her lips, the hesitation clear in her voice. The two would soon have to break the ice together if he did accept the deal, if not she would be spared an awkward interaction. However, at this moment in time whatever Roland wanted to do remained a mostly mystery. If she were to predict the chance despite the fact it was currently too soon to tell, the logical part of her mind concluded it was slightly more likely than not as he were willing to give them a chance, although the possibility of turning them down was still a large factor.

"The chance3 to grow physically and mentally." those words echoed in Reinhard's head, those words summed it up perfectly what they were doing anyway. The man had told Reinhard to elaborate so now he would go off of what Ami said but add more to it. "We are forming a team. Not so we can win tournaments and stuff like that but so we can build a friendship and bond and grow... together." Reinhard would then walk over to the punching bag so that he could further demonstrate to them both the point of the team.

He hit the back with all his might and it would fly back almost coming a loose from its chain. "If I hit this with all my strength it flies back, When Roland hits it it goes back a little less, if Ami hit it I can imagine it would barely move." Reinhard would then move back to his original position. The point of this was not to say he was stronger but to show them they they all have different skills, Reinhard was stronger he was sure Roland and Ami both were better than him at something.

"I did this to show how we each are better at something, and as a team that is good because we are able to cover each other's weaknesses! Im a freshmen and you guys are juniors so we still have a good two years together, and in that time I believe we can do great things." Reinhard would then walk over to Ami and place his hand on her shoulder and would look over and smile at Roland. "So what do you say about our proposal buddy?"

Roland wasn't sure whether Reinhard was just straight up mocking him or not. Roland followed as far as the girl speaking up about growth in general when Reinhard had suddenly proceeded to give what was probably the cheesiest speech he'd ever heard. Roland found himself unable to take the young man's proposition seriously. And while the punch that he'd delivered had been surprisingly potent from someone like him, the cheesiness of this "demonstration" of his made it that much harder to take the guy even somewhat seriously.

No matter how Roland looked at it, he wanted to grow stronger while this kid just seemed to want to make friends with his upperclassmen. Perhaps to better his standing in some manner or another, he honestly didn't care enough to give it too much thought. In any case, he failed to see the point in taking him up on his offer at present. "Thanks but no thanks" With that said he turned back to the punching bag and resumed the repetitive process of punching said bag over and over again. This was after all the most sure way for him to grow stronger, as it had always allowed him to do so in the past. Assuming it was over and done with, he absorbed himself anew into the task at hand.

While she was slightly shocked by the fact that Roland had turned down their offer, she wasn't one to be perplexed either. Was it simply due to Reinhard showing off? After all, as a boxer potentially his pride could have been his strength. Was his demonstration what caused him to decline? It was clear that he wanted some help, and she was willing to try and help him. "I'm not good at this speech thing as he is..." She began. "It is fine if you truly don't want to join, but I personally want to help you." Cautiously she began to inspect his form as she began to tell him her observations. "There is a more efficient way to take down an opponent than brute force. Use your speed to your advantage as well. Your form is excellent, but I feel as if you are currently only using your strength to attack rather than speed which is why your punches are timed quite well. If you can combine the two, this will allow you to fight more efficiently. In addition, I recommend trickery. If you start off slow, your opponent may mistake you as a slow opponent and use less of their speed. Once they do that, attack as fast as you can to catch them off guard. Once they're taken by surprise, then attack with all you might combining both speed and force."

After realizing she had been running her mouth, she slowly lowered her head. "You don't need to listen to my advice, but that's just something I noticed." Her voice immediately became quiet as her eyes began to flit to the side as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with everybody. "I just wanted to help..." The last words simply trailed from her mouth as she looked at Reinhard who was right next to her as an indication of what to do.

Reinhard was distraught at how Roland didn't accept his offer when he made the offer with a nice and respectful way. So he decided to move to his back up plan. He would let go of Ami and make his way back towards Roland and the punching bag and put a smile on his face. "You can say no but however how about we fight for it? Me versus you, if I win you join us and if you win we leave you alone." Reinhard wasn't sure if he would be able to beat Roland, however he had to try for he needed his team to be formed.

Reinhard being a member of the wolf family knew that he would have to follow the rules and regulations of the school and what not and so he wouldn't have a underground fight he would make it official. "So if you accept my challenge I will go and put in a request with school administration. Don't worry I have connections so the fight will get approved by tomorrow morning. So what do you say? Will you accept my challenge and all the conditions?" The fight would be a hard one no doubt, as Reinhard would be facing an upperclassman.

While Roland's intent had been to ignore the other two, he was surprised to hear the girl attempt to instruct him in much the same way as his actual instructor used to do. While the girl couldn't possibly know that he was still keeping a slow pace, her observation alone was nothing short of spot on. He'd begun to reconsider their offer if only to see how what other advice she might have for him. He didn't get as far as voicing his intentions before Reinhard instead issued a challenge to determine the outcome. Roland couldn't help but admit that Reinhard seemed very much confident if nothing else. Then again, that same confidence might stem from the "connections" he'd just mentioned. It was fairly obvious from that comment alone that Reinhard belonged to an at least fairly prestigious family. The sort of family that cared more for their own social standing than the Martial Arts. While Roland usually wasn't one to judge people over something like their heritage, Reinhard seemed oddly intent on gathering students he considered talented to whatever this cause of his was. He didn't like to assume such things off others but on the other hand he'd be stupid if he simply wrote off the possibility.

Roland just couldn't help but notice that Reinhard seemed more intent on hiring subordinates than he did making friends. Then again, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. There was after all no telling just what sort of doors might open for him should he decide to set foot in that world of theirs. Something he'd have to do anyway if he ever meant to claim the top of all fighters for himself. Better yet, he could always change his mind assuming things didn't work out, and even then he'd most likely have grown a little stronger from it.

Having thought it over, it would seems he basically had everything to gain and nothing to lose should he just agree for now. He would gain the favor of Reinhard and whichever family he belonged to, that of the black haired girl and an opportunity to "grow" as the girl had so aptly put it.

With that thought finished he figured he should probably answer them rather than spending yet another minute thinking it over. "No need" Having said that he once more stopped the bag mid-motion and turned to Reinhard. "On second thought; I say we make it a trial run" Roland thought his suggestion reasonable for both parties if not even favourable given that HIS solution didn't include the savage beating of one or the other party.

Amira was rather worried as Reinhard had issued a fight against Roland. She understood Reinhard was confident, but it appeared as if he was too confident at times. However, in addition to this, she noticed a change. The tense atmosphere that had been lingering in the air when the freshman had issued his challenge disappeared as Roland had agreed to join their cause, referring to this as a trial run. While she was glad he had decided to join the team as she would be given another chance to be able to work with a fighter in order to improve his skills, he was still a stranger to her. She simply looked at him and said a simple phrase, "Thank you. I will help you with your skills." Shortly afterward she attempted to let herself fade into the background, becoming quiet once more.

Looking at the clock she felt a slight shock as she realized what the time was. While she would have loved to leave without saying a word, she felt obligated to say at least a farewell to her trainee and the newest member of their cause. "Well..." She said quietly. "It is rather late so I will be taking my leave now if you will. I look forward to working with you Roland. By the way, feel free to call me Ami. No need for formalities." Without another word, she silently slipped out of the room as fast as she could. As she did so, she reflected upon the day's activities. Roland appeared to be a man of a few words, appearing to be motivated by a desire to grow stronger although his and Reinhard's definition was not the same. With a small smile on her face, she wondered how this trio consisting of Reinhard, Roland and her would turn out.

[EXIT]