19 The Technique

"I've gotten rusty" Dudley mutters as he lays on the ground outside of the cabin. When he a shadow in front of him, he says,

"Teacher, do you enjoy making me wake up on the floor" Dudley asks Marimo as he fully raises his head and sees Marimo standing in front of him

"Your awareness of your surroundings is good for a kid. The only reason I had to drug you was to bring you here and also because I knew you would have woke up during the journey here. But now that we are in a closed area, I can start making your senses excellent and teach you how to cure yourself even when drugged." Marimo answers Dudley and he nods.

'Why did I lose my ability to hear any sound 20 meters away from me?Oh right, new body, new muscles to train, I wish I was like all those characters that inherits their previous bodies memories and experiences. Really, it was careless of me to not retrain all my old abilities because I lived in a home. I…' Dudley is awoken from thinking when Marimo reminds him that he is here by saying

"Boy, pay attention, we are not yet outside, we are still in the house barrier. Here is where the beginner training will begin. You must master the skills I am going to teaching in one month otherwise, you will go outside with whatever skills you master" Marimo starts to walk around Dudley.

As he is walking slowly in a set pace, Dudley begins to see copies of Marimo appearing behind his teacher and surrounding him by walking in the same manner as Marimo. Dudley looks around him and sees that all the copies of his teacher looks the same and that he could not tell the difference. Then his teacher starts speaks in multiple voices.

"This is the only footwork technique I will be teaching you because that's all you will need. This technique is mostly known as the after-image technique as it deals one's perception. Making your opponent think you are still in a position after you move is one of it's if not it's important aspect. Most martial artists I've met accomplish this feat with pure speed and power."

"But you can also do this with the absence of sound and misdirection. As you see, the only thing you hear from me is my voice but not who's speaking. What you are hear is not what you see most of the time. You see a flash of lightening before you hear the rumbling. You hear water touching the ground before you see it happen. With this technique, you can fool everyone even it's masters depending on how you apply it and also because they are always a step or two behind in listening and following.A…"

"Teacher, could you slow down. Listening to multiple voices speaking at the same time is unnerving." Dudley put his palms on his ears. Marimo stops walking and his copies retract into himself. He shakes his head and says,

"Your training will be increased by the factor of two for interrupting me. The reason I was demonstrating the technique to you is so, you can watch my movements along with the position of my legs and the pace I was walking in. Don't interrupt me again." Marimo finishes in a deep voice.

Dudley nodded nervously thinking about how much worse his training was going to be. He was going to berate him big mouth when Marimo continued, "As I was going to say, an advanced practitioner of this technique when walking will seem out of time to most of the people watching him."

"His movement will seem like he is walking backward instead of forward but he will be miles in front of them before they realize it or see it happen. I will leave the final components of the technique for you to figure out as well as how you will attack with such a technique. Now let's begin"

When he hears that, Dudley mentally prepares himself for a grueling training. "Stand still, back straight, legs tensed, begin walking in a triangle shape slowly. One step tensed one step relaxed. One breath in one breath out" Marimo says and Dudley follows his instructions to the latter.

He walks for a few minutes. While, he is walking, Dudley thinks. 'This is easy, I thought teacher was going to tie leg weights to my leg in order for me to learn this technique since he said he will increase the intensity of the training. I hav…' collapsed was Dudley's legs. In fact, Dudley did not notice he was falling until his face was planted on the ground and his head was ringing.

'Eh, what am I doing on the floor?' Dudley blinks while he ponders. He lifts himself up again and falls again. 'It is like my body faster than my mind.' Dudley tries to lift his arms and he does it but his hand falls before he realizes it. He turns to look at his teacher and sees a smirk on his instructor's face. Marimo says mockingly

"What are you doing on the floor student of mine?" Dudley starts to respond but Marimo interrupts him "Wait for a few minutes, it will fade. While we are waiting, I'm sure you did not realize what the consequences of such a technique is. What a genius you are. Also, no using the energy inside of you to speed up the process." Marimo says out of the blue.

"When I was training you, I noticed that you were getting thinner faster. You were using the energy inside of you, weren't you? Never mind, I hinted at the consequences of the training but you did not notice. Did you think the perception drawback only affects the victim?"

Marimo waits a while and sees Dudley's head move down. "You are funny student of mine. To fully master this technique, you must fully take the position of the victim and remember what it is you are feeling in order to get your body properly used to moving out of time. To be a master, you must know how it feels to hit and be hit, how to move and how someone moves. Finally, how to be faster and slower than your opponent"

"Nnnngh," Dudley groans

"Good you are recovering. After you recover, go to your room and arrange your things, your mother prepared something for you. I forgot to give it to you so I left it in your room." Marimo talks to his unresponding student

"Nnnghhh" Dudley groans. as he twitches his finger. Slowly, he lifts himself up and faces Marimo. He takes a step forward and stumbles. He does it again and the same thing happens so he stands there for a while. He takes a step forward after a few minutes and it works, "Yes" he shouts and he notices that he can talk again. He shouts at the top of his lungs "Whooohhoooooo!!!"

He does a happy dance while heading towards the house forgetting that Marimo is still standing there. As he is doing a step by step happy dance, he hears "Oh wait, I forgot we are not done yet."

Dudley slowly turns around and sees Marimo's face and he whimpers.