Braverte takes a sip of his tea, after finishing he nods at Demo to beckon him to start. Demo jumps up and tries to Superman punch Braverte. Braverte calmly lowers his core and smoothly brings his cup along for the movement and without spilling a drop dodges the punch. When Demo lands he quickly turns towards Braverte and unleashes a barrage of attacks. Braverte unfazed expertly dodges each one with minimal movements and without spilling a drop.

After a few moments, Demo stops and looks at Braverte. Demo doesn’t say a word and while waiting Braverte takes another sip.

“You done?”

Demo doesn’t reply. Braverte takes a step closer to Demo.

“Why do you think you can’t hit me?”

“Because you’re too fast.”

“My speed has nothing to do with it. You’re just too slow and too predictable.”

“What do you mean?”

“Raise your hand.”

Demo does as Braverte tells him and raises his left hand.

Braverte without warning hits Demo’s hand.

“Did that hurt?”

Demo shakes his head.

“Why do you think it didn’t?”

“Because you didn’t use your full power.”

“Power has nothing to do with it. I’m going to use the same amount of power but use my body a bit more.”

“Your body?”

Braverte hits Demo’s left hand again with a lot more force and blows Demo’s hand backward. Demo looks at Braverte with a befuddled look.

“You used more power.”

“No, I didn’t. I simply put my shoulder into it. Now watch.”

Braverte again hits Demo’s hand but this time the force makes Demo’s hand fly back a lot further.

“That time I twisted my hip before putting my shoulder into and throwing the punch.”

“But why …”

Before Demo can finish his question Braverte throws another punch. This punch was so strong it actually lifted Demo off the ground and pushed him back a few meters.

“Foot, hip, shoulder, and finally punch.”

Demo looks at his hand which is still shaking from being hit that strongly. Braverte takes a sip.

“Using your whole body to attack makes the attack itself stronger. You with me so far?”

Demo nods as he makes his left hand into a fist.

“But that doesn’t explain the speed.”

“What you see as speed is just me recognizing what you’re going to do and where you’re aiming. If you know a right kick is going to come and it’s aiming for your head, you duck or move out of the way. Only a fool would stay put. And because your moves are so simplistic I can easily get out of the way.”

“I’m basic?”

“Extremely so, but that’s only because you never learned how to properly use your body in a fight. Let’s fix that.”

“Ok!”

“But first finish cleaning up. I gotta go to work, I’m already late. Pulmo is going to have my head.”

Demo looks down at his fist knowing he just learned something that will make him stronger.

Demo spends the whole day fixing the house. While taking breaks he tries to do what Braverte told him. Let the attack flow from his entire body instead of his arms. Demo is able to finish repairing what he destroyed by the end of the school day and after he finished he kept repeating the movements he learned. All a sudden he heard a familiar voice calling out to him from a distance. It was Ugly Face.

“Are you ok?”

Demo appreciates the concern and smiles at Ugly Face.

“I’m good.”

“I was worried, that last hit looked really bad.”

Demo doesn’t look at Ugly Face to hide the frustration he knows must be showing on his face.

“Sorry about that.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. You went toe to toe with My-Ty and lived to tell the tale. Plus you beat 3 of the top 10, you don’t have to apologize for anything.”

“Where is My-Ty now?”

“I heard he has been meditating in the open field in the forest behind campus.”

Demo doesn’t say another word but starts walking toward the forest. Demo and Ugly Face make their way to a big open field in the middle of a beautiful green forest. The birds are chirping and there is a gentle breeze. In the center of the field sits My-Ty who almost seems like the epicenter of this serene scene. My-Ty is in deep meditation but the sudden appearance of Demo and Ugly have upset the balance of people that surrounded him. He opens his eyes and looks back to see who has come.

“Demo…”

Demo doesn’t waste any time and grabs his coin.

“I challenge you!”

My-Ty releases a deep sigh.

“Fighting someone as weak as you just makes me look like a bully”

“This time will be different.”

My-Ty stands up and turns towards Demo and Ugly face.

“How about I show you what the strong are like?”

Demo confused at what My-Ty is talking about tilts his head.

Chapter 48 Fin