Godfrey left Inara’s place and stopped at a gym. He walked in and smiled warmly at Victoria, who was in a ring teaching a young man. She had him in a headlock, and veins bulged from the young man’s averagely muscular arms, but he couldn’t free himself.
He wore a suppressor, so this was him using all he had as a normal human, yet Victoria held him there with a smile on her face.
She wore loose gray pants, a black crop top, and an equally loose, long-sleeved gray shirt.
This was her new job, and the gym also belonged to her.
"Here for some smacking?" Victoria chuckled when she saw Godfrey approach the ring.
"I trained with the Vagabonds for a year and some months. You can’t beat me," Godfrey replied casually.
"Wow? That’s quite the talk, ing from a student to his teacher. How prideful," Victoria said as she pushed the young man she faced forward, grabbed his wrist, and drew him back.
She shoulder-slammed him to the floor and walked to the edge of the ring, wrapping her fingers around the ropes.
"Drop the suit and step in. I’d like to see what you’ve learnt all this time," Victoria taunted.
"I came so we could go have lunch at home. You haven’t returned for a month now, this place isn’t a house," Godfrey’s voice softened. He knew the loss of her summon weighed heavily on Victoria, and so after the last attack on his mother’s life, she thought there was nothing she could do as a bodyguard anymore and decided to open a gym.
At first, it was a weled idea, but for the past month, Victoria had not returned home.
"I never said it was. Besides, I just want to flex my limbs. I’ll return soon."
Godfrey raised an eyebrow. "You’ve been saying the same thing for a month. Mum told me!"
Victoria scoffed and turned back. "You should have told me you’ve lost your skills. You’re next." She pointed at a huge, muscular man who stood among the few more interested in fighting her than lifting dead weights.
As the man entered the ring, Godfrey removed his coat and dropped the bag that held his hoodie. He folded the sleeves of his white shirt and bent to remove his shoes.
"I’ve heard a lot about you. That’s why I came. I’m Bone Fist," the huge man introduced himself with a solemn face.
Victoria entered a boxing stance, her eyes sharpening, but when the man was about to move, someone nimble flew into the ring and placed his hand on the huge man’s shoulder.
"How about you wait? There’s a family matter on the table."
The man looked at Godfrey. He could see the dark silver suppressor bracelet with red linings around Godfrey’s wrist, yet he couldn’t move.
"A-Alright," he stammered, and swiftly left the ring.
"I guess he fears an Elite Class. But I don’t think they’re that frightening with suppressors in the equation," a bystander remarked with a slight scoff at the huge man’s cowardice.
"So..." Victoria smirked.
Godfrey tilted his head with a helpless smile. "If I win, you will join us at lunch and dinner. If you win, you will join us for lunch only."
"What?!" Victoria glared at him. "What sort of bargain is that?"
"It’s that, or you don’t get to see my current skill," Godfrey said as he placed his weight on one foot and threw a high kick.
"See? I know taekwondo."
"Good." Victoria lunged at him, lowering herself for an upward punch.
’He’s fast, so he’ll retreat to gain space and...’
Her eyes sharpened as Godfrey took a step backward, leaving her range.
’...he’ll launch a roundhouse kick,’ Victoria whispered inwardly, ducking as Godfrey launched the roundhouse kick before striking his chest.
She followed up with another blow to his shoulder to weaken that arm before blitzing to the right with swift footwork and throwing a punch at his rib.
’A knee,’ Victoria thought, leaning her body back to evade his knee strike.
’Two punches...’
Her eyes didn’t even follow the trajectory of Godfrey’s fists as her body dodged on its own before she went in headfirst for his abdomen.
’...He’ll hit my back. It will hurt, but—!’
She bit her lips as Godfrey slammed down on her back, and before he could use his knee, she lifted him up and slammed his back onto the floor before aiming a punch at his face.
"I would have deformed your beautiful face, but your crush might end up leaving you," Victoria hissed, still feeling the sting from that hit to her back.
"I’m hurting... everywhere! I can’t believe this was how I once was," Godfrey grimaced.
"Round two."
Victoria chuckled. "As you wish."
The next round ended with Godfrey struggling to escape a headlock, just like the fellow he had seen earlier. Victoria looked at him with a beautiful smirk on her lips.
"Humbled?"
Godfrey struggled to nod before Victoria let him go. He couldn’t say he didn’t expect it.
Victoria had e out the best from a large group of people carefully selected by the authorities and bred from a very young age in brutal circumstances to bee the best of the best, and among those numbers, Victoria came out number one.
Her main forte was her Chimeric Boxing, a martial art born from defeating countless masters in deadly situations and learning from them. That continuous process honed her skill to near perfection, and every time Godfrey fought her, she always brought out something new.
***
"I’m back," Godfrey said as he opened the door.
Valentina came out of the kitchen, her eyes widening at the sight of Victoria, who didn’t know where to hide her head.
"I brought someone," Godfrey smirked as Ballista appeared behind the door with a large bag.
"I also brought her things," he added, forcing Victoria’s eyes to widen.
Godfrey shrugged. "What? I brought the prodigal daughter back home."
"Prodi—!" Victoria almost felt like pounding Godfrey’s head. She looked at Ballista and stretched out her hand.
"My bag."
"You’re a knight and she’s a lady. Be a gentleman and drop it in her room," Godfrey said as he strolled to the dining table and sat down.
Ballista walked past Victoria, dropped the bag in her room, and left.
"I need extra hands, Victoria. I’m not done preparing lunch," Valentina said as she walked back into the kitchen with a wide smile.
"Yes, ma’am," Victoria replied.
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