King Grey Skill 7

My mentor splashed water on my face at my remark. “I did it to show you that you and these fish—the ones that were able to make a fool of you—are similar.”

I furrowed my brows. “What?”

Lady Vera’s hand suddenly shot out toward my face, causing me to whip my head to the side.

“Your reaction speed is fast, frighteningly so,” my mentor explained, patting my shoulder. “But it’s instinctual, not tamed, just like these fish.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean tamed?” I asked.

“You might not be aware of it but, through of this ‘ability’, by the time your opponent’s arms flex in order to throw a punch, your brain has already sent a signal to your body in order to react. Now, if your opponents are on the level of students here, you hold a large advantage over them. However, if left like this, stronger opponents can easily predict how you’re going to dodge, just like how I predicted the fish would try to dodge when I grabbed it.”

I thought for a moment and realized that what Lady Vera said was pretty spot on. “So how do I ‘tame’ this ability?”

“By responding, not reacting,” she answered, getting up and taking an offensive stance.

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

She shook her head. “One is intentional, the other is instinctual. We’ve focused on basic conditioning for the most part, but I think you’re ready to start learning how to start responding.”

My eyes shined in excitement at the thought of finally learning to fight from Lady Vera. “The fun part!”

“Fun for me,” she replied with a dark smile, swinging her foil in a figure eight. “But lucky for you, your next class starts soon so we’ll start with this exercise tomorrow.”