Chapter 338 A prodigy“s moves
Ricardo and Valentina"s eyes s.h.i.+ne with antic.i.p.ation as they felt the power Ben was loading up in his right arm. His legs pressed hard into the mat as Ben squeezed his right fist against his body, making his boxing glove tighten with creases. He was generating power like a volcano preparing to erupt, and as his opponent"s right arm fully extended over Ben"s right shoulder, Ben struck out!
"It"s now!" He twisted his body to the left. His right hand moved upward with such speed and power it cut the wind.
Valentina gasped. It was like she could feel a wind-aura coming off his right arm, like it was some sort of anime. And as Ben"s fist moved closer and closer to his opponent"s head, alarms rang out in his opponent"s mind. "Danger!" He felt the power behind Ben"s fist just by looking at it. Even though they were wearing headgear, something told him that If he was. .h.i.t by that…
The opponent"s heart was trembling! He wanted to move but he was off-balance and there was no time. He could only watch as the fist came closer and closer towards him, until finally…
"AHHH!" Ben"s fist erupted upwards as everyone stared on with their jaws dropped, and Ben followed through with the strike. "SHORYUUUUKKEENNNN!"
"Huh?" Ben"s opponent didn"t know how to respond because Ben"s back was now facing him and Ben was several feet in the air, spinning in a circle with one arm up in a dragon punch. "This is…"
Valentina blinked. "That"s…"
Ricardo could only mutter one word. "r.e.t.a.r.ded…"
…
As Ben completed his 360 and landed back on his feet, he was excited. Then, he realized he completely missed his opponent who was now staring at him as if he was looking at a monster…
That look made Ben smirk. Even though he missed his special move, he wasn"t discouraged, because just like when he beat his little brother in Street Fighter growing up, Ben believed all he had to do was spam it until it landed. Of course, he ignored the fact that his little brother was a 4-year old toddler back then.
Ben was full of confidence, the opposite of everyone else.
Valentina scowled and turned to her father. "What the h.e.l.l have you been teaching him?!?"
"I didn"t teach him that!" Ricardo felt unjustly accused. He was supposed to be a champions.h.i.+p trainer. So what the h.e.l.l was his student doing?
Well, right now Ben was glaring at his opponent, who had recovered and was now giving Ben a look of derision. Although that last strike scared him at first, after seeing the ridiculous thing Ben did, the opponent couldn"t take Ben seriously. So he relaxed in his posture, standing up tall, and preparing to play with Ben.
Being much shorter, Ben felt that his opponent was looking down on him, literally and figuratively, as if saying, "It"s over Benjamin! I have the high ground…"
"You underestimate my power!" Ben couldn"t help shouting it.
Valentina and Ricardo squinted at each other in confusion.
However, as Ben pulled his fist back again and dug his feet into the mats, his opponent grimaced. "Don"t try it…"
Ben didn"t listen. "SHORYUUUKEN!" He went for another spinning jumping uppercut.
Valentina and Ricardo winced as they looked away. This was too ridiculous. As for Ben"s sparring opponent, he just shook his head and took a step back. At no point was Ben"s strike ever close to making contact with him. The reality was that although Ben had power, his accuracy and striking technique were still abysmal. These were a matter of talent and not something that could be made up for with system potions.
So Ben"s opponent wasn"t worried at all, and as the Capcom c*nt-face landed from his 360…his opponent was already timing a counter-punch.
*Whoosh*
Though Ben"s chest was full of Karate pride, seeing a fist flying at his head, his instincts helped him quickly s.h.i.+ft to defense, and like before, he was able to predict the direction of the punch, and moved his head out of the way, barely dodging it.
Seeing Ben dodge that strike and a series of following ones adeptly, Ricardo knitted his eyebrows. In some aspects, Ben was showing great potential. In others…
Ricardo shook his head. "If only his IQ didn"t rise and fall like an elevator…"
However, as Ricardo saw Ben prepare another special move, he couldn"t help but shout. "Stop that nonsense! Throw punches like I showed you!"
Ben heard his coach, and understood. Ben knew what he had to do now.
"SHORYUUUKEN!"
…
Ben wasn"t going to change his heart for anybody… Not Virtua Fighter, or KoF, or even Mortal Kombat…
However, after the 7th missed flying uppercut, when his opponent started laughing at him, Ben realized maybe it was good to change up his techniques. "I"ll bait him with the cla.s.sical stuff to hit him with my super when he"s not prepared…"
So, Ben kept dodging strikes, but this time, he countered with normal punches. Seeing this, Ricardo and Valentina sighed with relief. Finally, he was doing something effective. Or at least, that should have been the case, except…
"Why is he missing everything?"
Every strike Ben through was fast and powerful, but nowhere near the mark! He punched the air and sometimes lost his balance after. His technique was actually better on the Shoryuken!
"How can he dodge like that and be so bad at striking?" Valentina didn"t understand it. However, Ben had figured it out by now—it was one of his abilities.
[Elementary Body Language Reading(Skill, Fine) - Pa.s.sive skill. Lowest level of body language interpretation. May help to understand people"s intentions, feelings, and thoughts. Due to the low level, may lack accuracy and only be useful in certain conditions]
This was a technique that Ben used on occasion but was never any great help to him. In BJJ, because he didn"t get to use his sight and people grappled in close distance, this skill was rarely of any use. Now while striking though, Ben used Body Language Reading to monitor his opponent"s muscles as he prepared to strike. With that, Ben could tell where the strikes would be delivered!
With that, he was able to fight. Well, he was able to dodge… Up until now, he hadn"t landed a single punch and it was frustrating him. As he got some distance from his opponent, Ben leaned back against the cage and glanced around his shoulder at Ricardo for guidance. "Coach, what do I do?"
As for Ricardo, he was also not sure. He thought Ben the basics of punching but it seemed it would take more repet.i.tion to hammer it into his bones, a lot more. a h.e.l.l of a lot more…
So fixing Ben"s horrible punching technique wouldn"t be possible with a few words. So seeing his helpless student looking at him for guidance, Ricardo didn"t know what to say. Then, he realized it. Ricardo gritted his teeth, but he finally said the words. "Go back to the uppercuts."
…
Valentina and Ben both stared at Ricardo with raised eyebrows. Then, Ben smiled like a boy on Christmas. "You mean the Shoryuken?!?"
Ricardo grimaced like he"d eaten a lemon. "Yeaaaa….f*ck me…"
As ridiculous as it was, Ben was actually better at spinning uppercuts than anything else…
This was the day Ricardo sold his soul to Capcom.