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Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
-+=[BoG]=+-
"He just benched 765(346.99kg) pounds! I also saw him squat and deadlift over a thousand(453.59kg)." Darren was still surprised by what he saw.
Vik raised an eyebrow at Marcus. He also noticed his physique and saw that it visibly changed from what he saw previously, but it wasn't any of his business on the how or why. When he first got him implanted, he didn't see any signs of other cyberware or steroids in his system.
Not like it would work that fast anyway.
"Pretty impressive, John." Vik complimented earnestly as it was indeed an incredible feat without enhancements. "Right, Darren, do you wanna set up a spar between John and Derek?"
Darren looked over to his student doing lateral raises.
"Sure, why not? It'd teach him how to handle bigger opponents. You game, John?" He asked.
"Let's do it." Marcus was excited for his first fight other than getting tested by Vik and those muggers. They didn't count.
"Preem, I'll let him know." Darren walked over to his pupil.
Vik turned to him.
"You got the gloves, right? Darren briefed you on the rules?" Vik asked.
"Yeah, gloves and head protection required. The gloves are in my locker." He nodded.
"Perfect, go on and I'll get your headgear." Vik walked towards the end of the gym where there was a bunch of boxing equipment.
Marcus went straight to the locker room and punched in his password as he got his bandages and gloves, but he also needed to check his stats. From what he remembers, he got quite a few Athletics notifications and it was already close to leveling up.
He pulled it up.
Body 9(1700/2500)XP
- Brawling 6(750/1750xp)
- Athletics 6(1750/1750xp)
- Shotguns 6(300/1750xp)
- Heavy Machine Guns 5(1150/1500xp)
- Blunt Weapons 5(1250/1500xp)
'Nice.' He thought with a smile and pushed his skill to level 7.
Feeling a tingling sensation, he took deep breaths as he was flooded with knowledge of more acrobatic maneuvers and his overall better handle on his balance and flexibility. As this skill gets higher and higher, his fatigue will go away faster. In short, stamina regeneration. This was why he could do multiple training sessions without feeling like he was about to die from exhaustion.
Once the feeling was gone, he headed out and saw Darren and Derek in one corner getting gloved up.
Vik called him over.
Marcus came over and sat down while Vik bandaged him.
"Have you ever been in a fight without weapons?" He asked.
"No," Marcus replied simply.
"Just be careful of shots to the head. You can take a good beating but your brain will still rattle when hit, so keep your guard up. This is perfect for your first fight since Derek doesn't have any combative cyberware. Let's see where you stand in a real fight." Vik finished bandaging him before he put on his gloves.
"Got it." He nodded.
"Good," Vik put on his headgear before taking out some kind of container, "you'll need this. Just got it yesterday." He opened it and it was a mouthguard. "Don't want to accidentally lose any teeth." Vik put it in his mouth for him and stood up.
Marcus followed suit and got in the ring as Vik watched from the side.
Derek and Darren also got in.
"Alright, Derek, John, no hits below the belt, and keep it clean. You both ready?" Darren looked at both of them as he would be reffing the spar.
They both nod.
"Preem, touch gloves." the sound of the gloves smacking echoed throughout the room as Darren nodded, "and BOX!" He stepped out of the way.
Derek seemed to favor speed and tried testing Marcus' defenses by jabbing his midsection.
Marcus already had his right arm there and countered with a jab of his own and surprising to even him, it completely broke through Derek's guard as he got a decked in the face causing him to stumble back from the blow.
He didn't let the surprise of his own strength stop him as he slid forward and feinted a right hook which he fell for as Derek ducked down but Marcus was already performing an uppercut to his chin.
Derek fell forward completely knocked out as Vik and Darren got into the ring.
Vik performed a standard check-up and sighed with relief.
"Just a concussion, nothing broken or dislocated." Vik got back up as Darren lifted his student up to put him in the medbay near the aforementioned vending machine.
"Like I said, a monster." Darren laughed as he got out of the ring carrying him gently.
Marcus was more focused on the notifications.
Body +100
Athletics +100
Brawling +100
This was truly a game changer in terms of gaining the most experience in the fastest way possible. That was assuming he had challengers lining up.
Vik turned to him.
"Not bad, John. You looked solid, but I'd like to see some pad work and find something to work on." The ripperdoc and coach informed him.
"Let's do it, coach." Marcus smiled as did his trainer.
-+=[BoG]=+-
Vik showed him the ropes and got a basic routine to start out with. He emphasized training his cardio and doing weight training to increase his strength and endurance. They went through several exercises and it had been a few hours since then.
An hour of boxing training, one for pure cardio, and the last for strength training.
Marcus was drenched in sweat as Vik had no mercy, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Alright, John. I think that's enough for the day. Hit the showers and I'll bring you out for a drink, my treat." Vik smiled as he liked his determination and discipline to go on for so long and didn't complain.
"Sounds good, thanks Vik." Marcus smiled as he went to the locker room.
As he got undressed and shoved his clothes into his locker, slamming it shut, he had a massive grin and pulled up his messages.
To Rebecca
John Wick:
You got me hot and bothered, Becca.
[IMG]
Laughing to himself, as he sent it. The pic of him covered in sweat was bound to rile her up.
Taking a hot shower and rinsing himself off, he grabbed a towel drying his body before putting it into a bin and getting dressed.
'Probably a good idea to bring another set of clothes.' A mistake, but ultimately didn't matter.
Walking out of the locker room, Vik waved him over.
"Later, Darren." Vik walked out of the front door.
"See ya, Vik. Nice meeting you, John." Darren waved.
"You too." Marcus waved back and left with Vik.
They walked around the side where there was a few parking spaces before he saw Vik approach a two-door car.
Vik got in the driver's seat and Marcus opened the door to the passenger and got in.
"Pretty good first day, Marcus. Time to celebrate a bit." Vik started it up and pulled onto the road.
The taller man had to adjust the seat a bit, but he was comfortable.
He pulled up his stats after the three-hour training session.
Body 9(2500/2500)XP
- Brawling 6(1750/1750xp)
- Athletics 7(1000/2000xp)
- Shotguns 6(300/1750xp)
- Heavy Machine Guns 5(1150/1500xp)
- Blunt Weapons 5(1250/1500xp)
Finally, he was at the door of level 10 of Body. He missed out on some XP for his attribute but he also didn't want to be in agony on the shower room floor butt-booty naked, so he'll take the loss for his dignity.
He also noticed that his XP progression has elevated considerably rather than his solo training on the training shard.
This was thanks to Vik pushing him along with his guidance, so it was more effective.
He'll level it up once he gets home along with Brawling.
Marcus was excited to see what the peak of humanity would be strength-wise.
Vik turned on the radio and groaned in disgust as it played some sort of sound that couldn't be categorized as music.
"The music nowadays," The older man sighed in disappointment.
"I got some good stuff in my neural interface." Marcus laughed as Vik grew curious.
"As long as it's not screeching, then I'd be up for anything." Vik reached for his center console before pulling out a blank shard. "You can upload it and slot it in the radio."
Marcus took it and slotted it in his neck before uploading a banger.
Once it was done, he took it out and put it in the music player.
The player switched modes automatically.
Failure - Breaking Benjamin
As they were riding in the car, the both of them nodded at the song feeling the energy.
It ended as soon as Vik parked on the street.
"Damn, they don't make music like that nowadays. You got any more of that?" Vik asked with hope in his eyes.
Marcus laughed before grabbing the shard and sticking it into his slot as he uploaded all the Breaking Benjamin songs on his playlist.
"Personally, Diary of Jane is my favorite, but it's all there." Marcus handed him the shard as he took it.
"Thanks, Marcus. Now you definitely earned that drink." They both laughed getting out of the car.
The taller man looked at his surroundings and noticed an iconic place.
El Coyote Cojo
'Right, this was around here.' Marcus thought as Vik led the way.
They entered the dive and Vik went right up to the bar as Marcus followed.
A familiar figure approached them.
"Ah, Vik. It's been a while," He smiled as he looked at Marcus. "Who's your big friend?" He joked.
"Coaching him. Marcus this is Pepe, Pepe Marcus." He introduced.
"Nice to meet you." Marcus extended his hand as Pepe did the same.
"And you. A friend of Vik is a friend of mine. Now what will I get both of you?" He asked.
"Whiskey," Vik answered.
"Same here." Marcus hadn't drunk anything else since coming to this world.
"Got it. Coming right up." Pepe went to pour them out.
"So, how's the edgerunning goin', John?" Vik asked.
"Still training, haven't gone out yet," Marcus replied honestly.
"If only more people thought like that, there'd be a lot less dead gonks who thought they were the next legends." Vik sighed at the reality of dreamers but composed himself.
"Ain't that the truth. You became quite big in boxing though." Marcus commented.
The drinks came and they thanked Pepe.
"I got my taste for the limelight, but it wasn't for me. Been sleeping through the nights ever since." Vik had no regrets giving it up for a quieter life.
"To each their own." Marcus raised a glass.
Vik got the message as one chose glory and the other a simple life.
"To each their own." Vik raised his as well and their drinks clinked before downing it. "Right, how's Misty doing? She likes you, ya know."
"Good, planning on hanging out tomorrow," Marcus stated.
"Better treat her right. She's too good for this city. I don't mind coming out of retirement to show you a move or two." Vik joked but the message was received.
"You already put me through the wringer. Don't wanna be on the receiving end of you trying to hurt me." Marcus laughed as did Vik.
"You've seen nothing yet." They ordered two more drinks.
They were soon interrupted by another familiar figure.
"Ah, Vik. Didn't know you were stopping by. Quien es tu amigo?/Who's your friend?"
It was Mama Welles.
"Coaching this guy, this is John," Vik patted his shoulder. "John this is Mama Welles."
"Nice to meet you, Mama Welles." He had a feeling this might happen, but he didn't mind.
"And you, Marcus. You gonna order anything other than drinks, boys?" She asked.
Vik's lip twitched.
"Sure, wouldn't mind some authentic tacos," Vik answered.
"Same here." Marcus naturally wouldn't say no to food. He was hungry and was gonna wait until he got home, but since she offered then he wouldn't turn it down.
Mama Welles smiled.
"Sit tight." She seemingly went to make them herself.
"I can pay for my tacos." Marcus wouldn't take advantage of going from drinks to food, so he suggested that he pay for his own.
"Nah, I could use some soul food as well." Vik shut down his offer.
They sat and talked for a while as they drank until Mama Welles came up to them.
"There you are, enjoy. Nice meeting you, John." She headed out.
"Seems she's quite busy," Marcus noted as he dug into the tacos.
'This is actually the best thing I've eaten since getting here.' Marcus felt like he could cry from how much better it was compared to the burritos.
"She's probably just stressed. Jackie's been on a job for quite a while." Vik continued to eat.
"Jackie?" Marcus was interested. He hadn't heard of nor seen V or Jackie since he got here which isn't surprising since he only just started going outside his apartment.
"Ah, right. He's a boxer I trained before you, but he decided to run the edge too. Didn't say much, but he went on a job with his choom. Don't know who." Vik explained but it didn't help too much.
Could it be V? Vik said it was Jackie's friend so the only lifepath that it would fit would be Corpo. That hardly helped considering it might not even be V at all. Could it be the Mexico thing that was brought up in the dialogue?
Marcus has no idea.
They finished up eating and paid.
"I'll drive you home. We're heading in the same direction anyway." Vik offered and Marcus had a feeling he wouldn't take no for an answer. "Plus, you could show me if you got any more gems in that noggin'."
Ah, there it was.
-+=[BoG]=+-
Another chapter down! Little moment with Vik and met some new people.
I appreciate the support!
Later!