Rise To Power In The Apocalypse

Chapter Five: Combat Lessons

“When facing an opponent up front, you have to be on high alert,”

“They could be weak or strong, but you don't want to take that chance,” a slim but well-built man wearing a faded lemon top with ash trousers stood in front of Ash.

He looked like he was giving him a combat lesson, seeing as they both stood in a boxing ring.

“Oh, so um... Ramsey?” Feeling lost, Ash tried to ask a question but was cut short.

“You have to immediately assume your best defensive stance,” the man continued.

“You never know what might happen next, so you have to be prepared,”

Ash immediately thought of a scene from his past as he saw Gram standing before him.

He brought both of his fists towards his chin as slightly moved back.

Immediately, Gram thrust his knife toward Ash, aiming for his chest.

“When a person comes at you with, let's say a punch, or maybe even a knife or sword, you must be sharp enough to see it coming and immediately evade it,”

“When I say evade, I don't mean fully dodge the attack, it's important to conserve as much energy as you can during a fight,”

“All you have to do is shift your body a bit to your side, enough for you to dodge it,”

Ash saw this and shifted his body to his side, allowing him to evade the blade neatly.

"Oh, so you can dodge?" The man asked as his excitement level rose.

“After doing that, the next attacks could be faster or slower, it's all up to you to decide, because the person might be eager to kill you, or may just be watching your moves”

Gram's attacks got sharper and deadlier each time he tried to stab Ash.

He soon started to use skillful leg work and body movement to surprise Ash.

"Are you gonna dodge all day? Throw a little punch or something," the man said mockingly.

“The moment you get an opening in a person's defense, be quick enough to know where his next attack will come from and readily deflect it,”

“When you do that, you'll be able to catch the person off guard in that little amount of time,”

Immediately Gram did another thrust with his knife, Ash parried with his left hand and countered with an uppercut punch from his right hand.

A mixture of blood and saliva gushed out of the man's mouth as his body lifted from the ground.

"Ahhh," he cried out as his body slammed against the wall while his knife got knocked away from his hand.

“Now, when it comes to jabbing, you have to be light on your feet,”

“This will give you the agility you need to quickly evade all punches,”

“That must be why you almost always bounce around during a fight,” Ash let out as he pants tirelessly on the floor.

“Exactly,” Ramsey smiled as he gave Ash a thumbs up.

Angered by this, he rushed back at Ash without thinking and threw a few punches straight to his face.

Ash bounced on his feet seconds before the punches approached him, giving him the swiftness to move to his left, right, down, and back.

As he evaded the punches, he countered immediately with a few jabs but the man was quick enough to block them, making Ash use a backhand hit that landed at the side of the man's face.

He staggered a bit as Ash jumped from side to side to confuse him. 

The man threw an overhand punch but Ash got down to dodge it. 

Ash suddenly punched Ramsey in his abdominal area but there was no effect.

“That was weak,” Ramsey scoffed out.

“Listen, when you catch an opponent's abdominal area unguarded, be sure to throw a few powerful hits there,”

“That will reduce their defense power a lot. Then maybe you can counter with even more powerful attacks to finish them off,”

Seeing how Gram left his abdominal area unguarded, Ash threw several powerful jabs at it and an uppercut to his chin.

As the man's body left the ground, Ash gave him a right sidekick straight into his abdomen, slamming him into the wall and on the ground.

After watching Gram collapse on the floor, Ash looked around at the men, they were all beaten up, and on the ground.

"I guess I'll have to thank him again, seeing as his lessons were helpful," Ash murmured to himself.

"Why does it feel like I'm forgetting something," he rubbed his chin before remembering the girl.

"Oh,"

"You can come out now," Ash said as he turned towards the girl hiding behind a large but dirty box.

She had a few teardrops on the side of her eyes as she trembled in fear.

‘She must have been scared of all the fighting.’ he thought to himself.

Seeing how terrified she was, Ash extended his left hand out to her as he smiled brightly.

"It's ok, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you," he assured her as she took his hands. 

From his back pocket, he brought out a white handkerchief and offered it to her.

The girl accepted it and wiped her face with it.

"Thanks, for saving me from those men," she muttered.

"It's nothing," Ash replied.

"But why?"

"Why did you save me?"

"You don't even know me or know what I did," the girl curiously asked.

"Does it matter?" Ash's response made the girl a bit emotional.

"Grown-ass men aren't supposed to be chasing after a girl, especially in the middle of the night, that's assault,"

"But why?" The girl asked again, this time with a demanding tone.

"Why did I save you?" Ash asked back as he gazed into the night sky. "Let's just say I'm repaying a favor," 

"A favor?" She asked with a puzzled look.

"Never mind," Ash smiled brightly.

"Let's leave this place," 

"Umm... Sure," the girl nodded.

"You bastard. You think this is over?" The man who was beaten badly by Ash sprang up and charged at him with his pocket knife as he and the girl were unaware.

"I will at least kill one of you before going down!!" He yelled as he got closer to them.

"Ahhh,"