21. Leveraging Strength
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Su Tang appeared punctually at the door of Mo Xiao’s office.
After knocking and receiving permission from inside, Su Tang pushed the door open and entered. The man was wearing the tight-fitting combat uniform issued uniformly to Sentinels in the White Tower, which outlined his exceptionally broad and upright physique.
Getting closer, the red veins in the man’s eyes were very obvious. Su Tang pursed her lips; she didn’t know when Mo Xiao had left this morning, but looking at his appearance, it was obvious he hadn’t rested well.
“You’re here.”
He looked up at her, took out a dagger from a drawer, picked up a handkerchief on the table, and began to wipe it.
“Move around and warm up first.”
Su Tang obediently performed a few sets of warm-up exercises in the center of the room. Watching the man methodically wiping the dagger, she couldn’t help but feel like retreating.
Growing up, let alone contact, she rarely even heard the word “combat.” She had always been physically weak, dodging PE classes whenever possible, and couldn’t even persist through university military training. She didn’t feel much in the morning, but now, truly facing special training, Su Tang was somewhat nervous.
“What’s wrong?”
Since finishing her warm-up, the little Guide had just stood in the center of the room looking at him without speaking. clearly having something on her mind.
“Captain Mo, I wanted to ask, is close-quarters combat hard to learn?”
“It’s like this… I just passed by the First Squad’s training area and saw the team members training, so…”
Su Tang didn’t say it very explicitly, but she believed Mo Xiao would definitely understand her meaning.
When she passed the First Squad’s training area just now, she saw that group of Sentinels engaging in shirtless hand-to-hand combat. The brutal scene of fists hitting flesh made her increasingly nervous. Mo Xiao wouldn’t use the same method he used to train the squad members on her, would he?
Mo Xiao stopped wiping the dagger. With a push of his foot, the swivel chair turned to face Su Tang directly.
“The physical strength of Sentinels and Guides is different. Guides are naturally physically weaker, so your special training cannot be compared with Sentinels.”
After speaking, he put down the dagger in his hand and walked up to her.
“On the battlefield, you don’t need to fight head-on. So what I want to teach you now is how to leverage strength—to use an opponent’s force against them.”
Su Tang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t like them, it was fine.
But how does one learn to leverage strength?
Without giving Su Tang much time to think, Mo Xiao stood up and positioned himself behind her. He raised both hands to her waist level, making a gesture as if vaguely embracing the woman.
“For example, if someone attacks from the front, you can do this…”
His right palm pressed against the side of her waist. His fingertips, calloused from use, gently rotated at her waist, and Su Tang’s body involuntarily spun half a circle to the left.
“Do you understand?”
Mo Xiao stopped his movement, took a half step to the left, and stood directly in front of Su Tang.
“So you’re just teaching me escape techniques for the battlefield. And here I thought ‘leveraging strength’ was such a fancy name for it.”
Su Tang couldn’t help but laugh, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. Mo Xiao was infected by the girl’s good mood, and the corner of his lips uncontrollably curved into an arc.
“We leave for the mission tomorrow. Teaching you too many combat techniques in a short time won’t raise your strength enough to be of much use. Teaching you some more practical evasion techniques now is the most appropriate for you.”
Mo Xiao paused, then continued:
“If you are interested in combat techniques, wait until we return from the mission. I will formulate a one-on-one special training plan for you to lift your strength first, then slowly teach you combat techniques.”
Of course, Su Tang was willing; she had no reason to refuse becoming stronger.
“Then it’s a deal. Don’t think I’m too weak and refuse to teach me when the time comes, Captain Mo.”
“I won’t.”
He wished she would pester him every day; how could he possibly refuse to teach her because she was weak?
For the entire afternoon, Su Tang practiced various evasion techniques in Mo Xiao’s office. She felt her body’s flexibility increasing. Besides that, she keenly discovered that her spiritual power seemed to be widening bit by bit.
An absurd idea suddenly spawned in her heart: Could it be that her spiritual power level would strengthen bit by bit as her physical constitution improved?
Thus, Su Tang treated the afternoon’s special training with increasing seriousness.
“Tired?”
Time quietly arrived at 6 PM. Watching Su Tang sprawled in the chair, her small face red and panting heavily, Mo Xiao pursed his lips slightly, poured a glass of water, and placed it in front of her.
“Your physical stamina is too poor. When we return from this mission, I must arrange physical training for you first.”
He was confident he could protect Su Tang well, but he didn’t wish for a future where, if he was powerless to help, Su Tang would be a helpless Guide with no strength to truss a chicken, left to be tortured by those alien creatures.
“Captain Mo makes sense. I really should exercise properly.”
The woman picked up the water glass placed on the table and took small sips. He never liked others doing non-official things in his office, so he didn’t keep cups for others here. The one the little Guide held was the one he habitually used.
Her rosy lips pressed against the rim of the off-white ceramic cup. For the first time, Mo Xiao hated that a Sentinel’s five senses were so acute; he could see the faint lip lines on her lips so clearly.
Sensing his body becoming increasingly uncontrolled, Mo Xiao hurriedly looked away, mocking himself inwardly for being useless. Then, he picked up the dagger he had placed on the table and pushed it in front of Su Tang.
“I’m giving this to you.”
Su Tang put the cup back on the table and picked up the small dagger instead.
She unsheathed it. Her fair, small fingers tapped lightly on the blade. She couldn’t tell what material it was made of, but it looked very sharp.
“This was ground from materials I found during a previous mission. It’s extremely sharp. Keep it safe when you aren’t using it.”
The reason he shoved this dagger into her hand was that the raw material used to make it was unusually peculiar and had a natural deterrent effect on alien creatures.
Especially against those low-level alien creatures.
“I understand. Thank you, Captain Mo.”
Afterward, because Mo Xiao still had some deployment arrangements for tomorrow’s mission that weren’t settled, he sent Kelai to escort Su Tang back to her room.
As soon as she pushed open the door, she was startled by the two little fellows in the bedroom.
Zhan Ye, that guy, had sent the Golden Eagle over at some point. It just so happened she hadn’t taken the Silver Wolf out when she left. Who knew what conflict these two little guys had gotten into, but right now, one was standing on the edge of the sofa, and the other was standing on the floor in the center of the living room, facing off with tit-for-tat intensity, neither willing to yield.
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