Chapter 406 - Training

In the backyard of the Kurogami Family's Residence.

A young man and young woman were standing in front of the tree.

Azura had her black hair tied in a ponytail while wearing clothes that would help her move more efficiently.

Ichiro was standing next to her and looked at the padded part of the tree.

The padded part was made from pillows and everything Ichiro could get his hands on.

He tried to mimic the padded striking post but didn't manage to do it so successfully, but it was still better than hitting the tree with bare fists.

''Alright…'' Ichiro walked behind Azura and grabbed her from her waist.

''Ohhh, weren't we training?'' Azura asked with a blush appearing on her soft-looking cheeks.

''Concentrate, '' Ichiro said and helped Azura change the posture, ''You can't use the full power of Iron Smash without destroying your bones; that's why I help you create a more basic version.''

Azura nodded and allowed Ichiro to change her posture.

Her shoulders were lowered, with the shoulder slightly in an awkward position.

She thought the current position would never work, but Ichiro patted her shoulders and said, ''Done.''

''Are you sure?'' Azura tried to punch forwards, but the current position was very awkward.

Her shoulder was lowered, which made punching forwards tricky and awkward, especially the way her elbow moved was uncomfortable.

''Try it out.''

''Are you sure?'' She asked with slight fear.

She still remembered the pain of getting her bones broken.

''Trust me,'' Ichiro whispered with a voice that oozed confidence.

Her face changed, and she nodded with firm lok

''Whoo…'' Azura took a deep breath, and her face became serious as she suddenly unleashed her punch!

Once the fist was about to touch the padded part of the tree, she clenched her fist, and suddenly the speed and strength of the punch increased!

*BAM!*

Once her fist touched the padded part, the pillow ripped in half, sending feathers flying around.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she quickly looked at her arm, which wasn't broken!

''Wow…'' Her eyes sparkled in amazement.

''That is the strongest punch you can do now,'' Ichiro said and touched her arms, which had hidden muscles but were not strong enough to withstand the whiplash of Iron Style's true power.

''You will get there.'' He said after seeing her face turning sad.

Azura smiled and nodded with excitement, ''Yup! Anyway, I want to spar you.'' Surprisingly, she said the words Ichiro never thought he would hear coming from her.

''Really?'' Ichiro took a step backwards and saw Azura going into her fighting stance, which started to resemble his former Cat Stance.

''Lower your shoulders.'' He reminded her after seeing her's body being slightly stiff.

Azura nodded, and after she lowered her shoulders, the stance looked much more natural.

Ichiro simply put his two arms in front of him and motioned for her to make the first move.

Azura took a quick step forwards, and when Ichiro thought she was going to attack, she stopped and took the previous awkward stance.

His eyes showed surprise to see her going back to the awkward stance without his help, and the way she did it amazed him.

She did it so fluidly and quickly like she had done it hundreds of times.

'She is indeed genius…' Ichiro smirked and finally understood the power of being Abyss' child.

If Aether was a genius rarely seen in the world, Azura might be even above him, but unluckily she started Martial Arts Path too late, but with the help of Ichiro, she might reach Aether's level in a few years.

''Iron Smash!'' Azura screamed, and her punch from the awkward stance was unleashed.

Ichiro used her backhand and redirected the punch away from his body.

Azura's posture became a mess after suddenly getting her punch redirected. She wasn't used to it and now understood the power of Iron Style.

From such simple-looking redirection, her posture became a complete mess, and she was now at the mercy of Ichiro and his attacks.

Ichiro swiftly grabbed her shoulder and pressed down with his fingers.

''Steel Edge, Gravity Press.''

''Ahhh!'' Azura fell down on her butt with disbelief on her face.

''Your punch might be strong enough to put some proper fight against Martial Leader, but you would lose to Martial Soldiers because of your lack of experience,'' Ichiro said and put his hand forwards.

Azura grabbed his hand and was helped to stand up.

She sighed and nodded, ''I understand… What should I have done to change the outcome?''

Ichiro pondered for a second and replied, ''You should have canceled your attack after seeing me moving faster than you.''

''And then what?'' She asked curiously.

''Unleash another punch from an angle I wouldn't expect,'' Ichiro replied and showed her.

He punched in front of him with a similar stance to Azura, but when his arm was about to get stretched forward, he stopped and suddenly used his left fist to send a powerful uppercut.

''With this, you might have hit me.'' Ichiro said, ''Maybe.''

''Waahh…'' Azura printed it to her memory and now understood that just by learning techniques won't be enough.

She has to learn to fight as well.

Ichiro patted her head and said, ''You were better than I was when I started.''

''Really?'' She asked with surprise.

Ichiro nodded, ''When I made my first punch against my master, I accidentally twisted my waist too much, and it got a strain.''

Azura looked shocked until she bursted into laughter, ''Hahaha!''

''Sigh… It did hurt.'' Ichiro chuckled, and suddenly his ears perked up.

He turned his head and looked inside the house.

From the front door, five men entered with large boxes.

They glanced towards Ichiro, who was looking straight at them.

They quickly made a quick praying gesture while murmuring, ''Irio's Pride.'' Once they were done, they left the house soon, leaving the boxes behind.

Azumi opened the door that led to the backyard and shouted towards Ichiro, ''The items you ordered had arrived!''

Azura's eyes sparkled, ''That was fast!''

''Wow.'' Ichiro thought it would take a week at least, but it took a few hours!