The next morning, everyone gathered back in the courtyard life yesterday. Mira made her way in front of everyone and started to talk to them.

“Everybody pair up! I am going to actually show you how to do the moves that I want you to learn slowly. Generally, the best way to learn these techniques is just to spar with one another or to have the proper training equipment. I refuse to make something that will only be used for a couple of weeks or so. So that means that your partner is your training equipment. The better your partner is, the better the training. I will give a demonstration of how this is done as well. Cole, you should go find the people that you want me to take to the trials. One thing I almost forgot, make sure that they are okay with being away for around 2 years as that was how long we spent in the trial. There is also no getting around this time limit either. Remember the requirements I gave you yesterday.” Mira said as Cole slowly nodded. Maria then ran up to Cole to remind him of something.

“Remember that Mira hates men. I think it’ll be fine if you pick some boys, but make sure they understand not to approach her because she might just instantly kill them. I’m sure you don’t want that. Good luck, Dad!” Maria whispered as she gave him a thumbs up and a wink.

Cole was really regretting all of this now. Even though Mira always wears a mask, anybody can tell that she is a beauty under that mask. It may be hard to prevent the young and fearless men from messing with Mira. Maria was right, if one of the guys rubs her the wrong way she might just kill him before anybody can stop her. That’s how quickly she makes a decision. No hesitation.

Cole went around to everybody that he could think of. He started speaking to the parents that he trusted telling them that they had found a lucky encounter that could enhance the younger generation, but they’d need to be away for around 2 years. He also mentioned that someone is here to train them and help them pass the trials that are included. It was like a sales pitch.

He was able to gather 4 girls and 2 boys that fit the requirements. It wasn’t that the Zaria family had a lack of men, but that they didn’t fit the requirements right now. He gathered the 6 of them and started to prepare them for the training.

“There are a few things that I have to warn you about the training that you absolutely must follow if you want to live, especially you two.” Cole said to them in a stern voice and pointed to the boys. He did not want them to die for no reason.

“We will be trained in unarmed combat and the person doing the training is a bit special. She is Maria’s friend but is brutal and ruthless. The unspoken rule seems to be to never talk back to her when she is training and to pretty much do everything that she says. As for you two boys, never, and I mean never approach her. Don’t try to hit on her, don’t talk to her, I don’t even want you to look at her. You might just die before I can stop her. Just please don’t piss her off. She’s helped Maria a lot and would be annoying to fight even though my cultivation is higher. She also doesn’t pull her punches if you ever spar with her, so beware. Oh, one more thing. There are 500 other people training with us. You can talk to them if you’d like, but they only listen to Mira so I’d be careful. They have also had plenty of bad experiences with other men as well, so I would not try to get close to them if I were you two. Okay, now that you know what to expect I’ll lead you to the courtyard.” The six of them were surprised by everything that Cole just said. They were a bit skeptical as well, but since Cole warned them beforehand then they know what to look out for.

Cole brought them to the courtyard and they saw the sea of women here who were all paired up. They all sensed new people come into the courtyard and turned to look at the new people at the same time. It was honestly very intimidating to be stared down by 500 women at the same time. They then heard a commanding voice that came from the front.

“Cole, your sure took your sweet time! Bring those 6 up here!” Mira commanded.

The six of them looked up to see who was talking to Cole like that and saw a little girl wearing a black robe and a black mask. They guessed she couldn’t be older than 14. They then felt the Stage 7 Qi Condensation aura from her and a chilling aura surrounding her.

Cole brought the six of them up to Mira.

“So these are the 6 you chose for me to escort huh? Do their parents have any problems with the way I teach? I don’t want someone trying to kill me because they go back half-dead.” Mira asked as she scanned each person. These 6 people were all in the Qi Condensation Realm at different stages.

“I will take responsibility if it comes to that, just please don’t kill them.” Cole said.

“That will be up to them. Now then, do they know anything about fighting without a weapon?” Mira asked and one of the boys spoke up this time.

“Of course I know how to fight without a weapon! Who doesn’t know how to punch and kick? How hard can this be?” The boy tried to show off a little. He took Cole’s warning to heart and didn’t do anything rash, but he still wanted to try and get this girl’s attention. Everyone in the courtyard stiffened when they heard him say that. Cole just facepalmed and Maria shook her head. They had to learn sooner or later.

“Oh? So you think that fighting without a weapon is only punching and kicking? Very well. I want you to throw a series of punches or kicks at me. Everyone! This will be your first lesson on how to properly punch and the different techniques for fighting without a weapon! Pay attention!” Mira said as she gestured for the boy to come at her.

The boy nodded and charged at her as he tried to punch her face. Mira lightly deflected the blow and punched him in the liver. She then used the hand that deflected the punch and knocked him in the jaw. The boy was fading in and out of consciousness by now, but Mira still had one more thing to demonstrate. But really she just wanted to show off a bit.

“As you can see he is already dazed. He didn’t plan out his attacks and only charged in recklessly. He had no idea what to do when I deflected his punch and couldn’t react fast enough when I punch him. What makes unarmed combat essential is not just knowing some of the moves and holds, but learning to judge your opponent and know what to do depending on what your opponent does. That’s why sparring is really the only way to learn this. Now I will show you something special. This is something that you can do if you synchronize your arm and body movements as well as having great muscle control.” Mira said as she stood within arm’s length of the boy. She extended her hand like she was going to give him a handshake. She brought her hand to his chest then formed a fist about 2.5 centimeters away from his chest. She then popped her fist forward and it slammed into his chest. The boy flew back and Cole ran to go catch him.

“That is called the one-inch punch. I went through the movements slowly so you could see what I did, but this is essentially a very close-range attack if you have perfect control over your body. There is also another variation called the six-inch punch that can be used a bit farther out and hurts a lot more.” Mira explained the move to them. She then turned to the other 5 people that Cole brought.

“Don’t try to show off in front of me like that boy. The only reason I ask is to see if I will have to reteach the shit that was taught to you. That would make my life harder, so I’d like to know beforehand. I already know that it’s impossible for you to know more than me in this field. Now, do any of you have experience in this field?!” Mira asked again and the rest of them just shook their heads.

“Wait! Mira! Did you really have to be so rough with him? He’s going to need to heal for the rest of the day!” Cole complained as he carried the boy.

“I didn’t kill him so what’s the problem? He also tried to brag about his shitty moves and shame the way of fighting bare-handed! He said he knew how to punch and kick so I simply asked him to show me. He should’ve known that I don’t pull my punches, yet he comes to challenge me like that?!” Mira shot back at him, then turned around to the rest of the group. Mira walked up to the boy and slapped him until he woke up then walked back.

“Now we can finally start the training session. I want one person in the pair to be the attacker and the other to be the defender. I will show you what the attacker needs to do and what the defender needs to do. Maria come here!” Mira said as Maria reluctantly walked up. Mira then got into a defending stance and gestured for Maria to attack her. Maria then started to throw punches at her.

“What I want the defenders to do is focus on predicting each punch and deflecting the attack or grabbing their arm. These are essential to fighting without a weapon. There is also blocking, but that is not as useful when fighting cultivators that have weapons.” Mira said and stopped Maria. She then told Maria to get in a defending stance and do what she was doing. Mira then started to attack Maria, but in slow motion, for everyone to see.

“I want the attackers to focus on these kinds of attacks. There are 4 main punch attacks that I have found. Those are the jab, uppercut, hook, and cross. What I want you to focus on is how I position my body and rotate it whenever I throw a punch. A punch isn’t just throwing your fist out and hitting something. A proper punch requires you to use your core and to rotate your body to follow through with the punch. A punch requires your whole body to bring out its full power. Watch how I utilize my legs, feet, and body when I throw just a straight punch.” Mira kept throwing different punches at Maria slowly as she taught everyone there.

“Do this until I tell you to stop! Feel free to look up and watch me as I spar with these 3 for another reference. Cole and Erika! Come up here with Maria! We will start the training now!” Mira commanded as they reluctantly walked up.

“You three are not going to do what they are doing. You are just going to spar with me until you learn how to attack and defend properly! Let’s start with Maria!” Mira said as Maria just nodded her head and started to attack Mira.

Maria was never able to hit Mira and was just beaten up. Mira then switched to Cole and did the same thing as yesterday with him. After Mira felt like it was time to switch, she told Cole to stop and Erika stepped up. She didn’t hold back with Erika either as she was beaten to a pulp as well. Mira still had time before she switched to grappling and started to spar with people that weren’t doing as well as others. After a while, it was finally time for the grappling lesson.

“Alright, it’s time for me to teach you about grappling and different holds. Just watch how I perform these grapples and holds. You will take turns with your partner being the one that is grappling and the one that is grappled until I say stop. Maria come here!” Mira brought Maria up again and started showing off the few ways to grapple someone and showed a few choke holds or arm holds that might be more useful for them.

Maria only did this with Maria as she had the rest of the people watch. She didn’t want anyone else touching her, but Cole and Erika were thankful for this.

After a while, the afternoon came and Mira told them to stop grappling.

“I will now show you some different kinds of kicks. There are many different types of kicks, but I will only demonstrate ones I feel are the most useful for cultivators. There are a few good spots to kick. The body, head, and shin. There is also the knee kick if you get close to them. If you are against a male, feel free to kick them in the testicles. They definitely won’t want to after those pop.” Mira explained as she started showing the different kicks that might be useful. The people didn’t necessarily need a sparring partner for this, but Mira wanted them to learn how to defend the kicks too as well as getting used to being kicked in those areas.

Mira sparred with a lot of people this time, not just Maria, Cole, and Erika. She started picking out a lot of people from the large group. Mira picked one group towards the end that was doing the worst and started sparring with them. After they were bruised all over, it was finally time for the training to end.

“We will be doing this every day before I deem you lot worthy of being called an amateur! When you reach that level, then you all will spar with each other with your weapons until it is time for me to escort you to the location of the trial.” Mira said then left the area. Everyone sat down for a bit to rest before going off and doing their own thing.

Mira continued to train these people until she felt that they were ready.