Private Finished Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting

Lei Ling, huh? Zack took the hand that she offered for him to shake. He was going to say that he liked the name, but the issue that was facing them now took over in his in mind.

"Oh...." he said. "I was under the impression that we could just spar in the park. My power has no type of destructive capabilities, and from what I saw, I assume yours doesn't, either. If it's a problem, though, we can definitely change locations."

While Zack was a little intrigued at the mention of someone having a dojo on this island, he was even more intrigued by the mention of such an arena on the island. "I haven't been here that long, so I haven't heard of any arena," he said, "but whatever it is sounds interesting."

Zack envisioned the scenario in his head: in the middle of battle, only paying attention to his opponent, and managing to kick someone in the head. It would be problematic if he were to do it, and especially problematic if she were to do it. He shuddered.

Lei Ling pulled a map from her backpack, and Zack went over to peek at it. He scanned the map with her and brought his attention to the spot she pointed at.

"Huh," he said. "There really is an arena on this island. I didn't really expect that, although I guess I don't really know what I was expecting when I came here. Seems exciting. Let's go!" Zack started running to the exit, then stopped and ran back to Lei Ling. "Is there anything I need to know before we get there? Like rules, or anything? Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't run headfirst into things before I know what I'm getting into."

Zack didn't know if he was sure what he knew what counted as "friendly sparring" with her. With the various family members he had sparred with, each one had different definitions of friendly, and they ranged from knocking your opponent to the ground to getting a certain amount of solid strikes in. Based on what she said, though, he decided that she wasn't the type to be too rough with opponents. At least, that's what he hoped.

"I generally try to adhere to whatever rules my sparring partner has," Zack said. "Otherwise, I might get reckless, and that's resulted in either me or my opponent getting more hurt than intended. For example, look at this."

He started walking towards the exit as he pulled up one of the sleeves on his shirt, revealing the multiple scars that were on his skin. "Almost all of these scars are a result of me making stupid decisions. On one particular day, I decided to take on a bunch of thugs because I was feeling particularly invincible after a really good match I had. Unfortunately, I was severely outnumbered, and this is what happened."

Zack pulled his sleeve back down and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like to take things relatively easy now, as I can be easily worked up and catch myself going to far in the heat of the moment."

The subject of belts had been brought up many times, especially among his friends. He already had a general response laid out in his head.

"No, I never got any belts," he said. "The martial arts form I use is one that has been running through my family since forever. In fact, it was created by ancestors. However, every member of my family has a different ability related to combat in some way, and they are very diverse. Because of that, pretty much everything is different from regular martial arts."

Zack tried to think of a suitable example. "Think of this," he said. "My mom has slight precognition, meaning she can see what happens one second in the future. That gives her a tremendous edge in battle. Such a power could completely change her fundamental understanding of martial arts, and as such, a system like—"

Zack froze and stopped talking. "Okay, hold on. I'm going on a tangent. I was basically trying to say that I don't have any belts, and I said more than necessary." He sighed and rubbed the back on his head. "Sorry. I find the topic of my family and its system so interesting, and I have a habit of getting caught up in it."

Zack suppressed his excitement. Although he spoke a little about his martial arts among his friends, he was never able to get into the specifics. His family didn't want people telling of their secret, although he didn't mind too much.

"Hm. I don't know if I should tell you," Zack said. "We are going to be sparring after all." After a few seconds of fake-consideration, he spoke again. "Eh, I guess I'll tell you. When someone attacks me, I'll instinctively know the best way to avoid the attack. It's basically a weaker form of my mom's power. Say you launch a kick at me. I'll just feel the right way to move, and I'll dodge accordingly."

"Now, you might think that's unfair," Zack said, "but whether or not I actually avoid the attack is entirely up to me. My power might show me the best way to dodge an attack, but that doesn't matter if my opponent is too fast for me to react. If I can't see what my opponent is doing, my power will have no way of activating. Likewise, if my opponent is much stronger than me, I might not have a way of countering an attack without severely straining myself. Without my power, I'm just a normal human that's good at fighting."

Zack turned to look at Lei Ling. "By the way, this is what happens when I use my power." He caused his eyes to turn blue, then let them revert to brown, and then flickered them between colors.