Chapter Ninety-Eight - Natalie

Ctrl-Alt-Delts wasn't at its busiest when I arrived. Probably because it was still pretty early, all things considered. Still, there were plenty of people around, pumping weights and working out.

I signed it at the front, then bounced on the spot a few times to limber myself up before I caught sight of a familiar face sitting by the rear. Natalie! She was sitting, elbows on her knees, a cellphone in hands, her posture a bit on the shrimpy side as she scrolled through something with quick flicks of her thumb.

"Hey," I called out as I came closer.

She glanced up from her phone, blinked, then smiled. "Oh, hey... you."

"Forgot my name?" I asked.

"Uh," she replied. "Nah, it'll come to me. I'm like that with names sometimes, sorry."

"Happens to everyone," I said. "So, you working here today, or just working out?"

She shrugged, and I couldn't help but look at the way her shoulder muscles moved. "I should be working, but it doesn't look like it'll come to that. I had a client no-show."

I brightened at that. "Really? That's great!"

"I don't know about that," Natalie said. "I do need to earn a living, you know?"

I laughed and waved it off. "No no, I mean, I came over to do some training, and I'd love your help. I could use a few hours of sparring, maybe some tips and tricks. Even if it'll mostly be you throwing me to the mat, that would still help a ton."

Natalie touched her jaw, then nodded. "I could do that, sure. I don't usually do private sessions with so little warning."

"That's fine," I said. I rooted around in my purse and pulled out a loose stack of bills. "How's... one twenty five for the morning sound?"

She stared, then hummed. "A bit under my usual rate, but something's better than nothing. The group that didn't show were six members at a hundred each."

"Damn," I said. "That's a big payday. Did they all just decide to no-show?"

"Pretty much. They're all corporate types. I really should have a no-show fee in my contract."

"Corpo types hire you a lot?" I asked.

She nodded along. "It happens. It's more that once you have a decent reputation with their circles, they come to you pretty often. I did work for Luna Corp and a few others, and that got me in. The no-shows today were all trying to hit E-rank this month. Basically special diet and exercise and twice-weekly near-portal sit ins."

"Does the exercise help?" I asked.

"A little. You hit D-rank recently, right?" she asked while standing up. She started walking towards one of the more private, larger, training rooms at the back. Probably the one she'd reserved already.

"About a month ago. A little less," I said.

"Cool. So, there have been studies. A person with a leaner musculature and lower body fat ratios tend to hit E-rank faster. Smaller people as well. It's one of the reasons that there's a disproportionate number of E-rank women. Something like sixty percent of all E-rankers are female, and there's some evidence that it comes down to sheer mass."

"Huh... I mean, I guess that makes sense. IF magical energy needs to sink into your body or whatever, then the less body you have..."

"Exactly. But that would just mean going on a diet might help. The muscle mass is something else. When you hit E-rank it takes about a year for the benefits of the rank to really start showing up. D-rank is about the same. So for now, you're not much faster or stronger than an E-rank. In eleven months or so, that might be different."

I frowned. That was a little frustrating.

"The exception," she continued. "Is for people that are pushing themselves. The theory is that you slowly replace all of your cells with some that are better suited to absorbing and handling magic. It takes seven years for all of the cells in your body to replace themselves, right? So that's how long it takes for a D-ranker to hit the peak of D-rank physique. But working out breaks down muscles. You can at least get your fitness to peak D-rank in a much shorter time."

That made some sort of sense. "I'd like to hit the peak in a lot less time than seven years. I know it's possible, right? There have been C-rankers in less time than that." Fran hit C-rank in like, eight or so months. It had been on the news. Not like, a massive story, and she wasn't a record breaker or anything, but it was still considered impressive.

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"C-rank is a whole other matter," Natalie replied. She gestured to some gear on a rack, and I caught on and started checking to see what fit. It was just gloves and a padded helmet, the kind of thing that might stop a concussion from hitting the ground wrong. "At C-rank, the rules change, and at that point, I'm no longer suitable to help. But I don't think you need to be at the peak of physicality as a D-ranker to reach C-rank."

"Huh. I guess that makes sense," I said.

"So, what are we starting with?" Natalie asked.

We started by having a quick spar, and once again, experience trumped anything else. Not that I wasn't getting better.

I could actually feel it. When she swung at me, it felt like I had a half second more to react than before. The problem was that I didn't always react in the right way. Sometimes I dodged or moved, only to discover her already moving to take advantage of my new position.

Natalie was talented, experienced, and even if she wasn't a ranker, her physique was about as top as a normal person could be.

I did find myself holding my ground a lot more than I had just a few weeks ago. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novelFirｅ.net

Some of that had to be the slow improvement of my body, but I think a good chunk was actual combat experience. It helped with some of the hesitation.

Natalie ran me through some spars, then we ran through some exercises and stretches. I was less keen on those, since I knew that I wouldn't keep this loop, but she did eventually fall into more sparring and some kata-based training, so it wasn't all lost.

Eventually things ended, and I Reloaded.

This time, when I reached the gym, we skipped some of the discussion and went straight into sparring. It was nice. I was catching on to some of her moves, and learning how to apply some of the things she taught me previously.

"You're not bad," Natalie said as she wiped her face with a towel.

"Yeah, sure," I said. I had a few bruises that were smarting, and was covered in a sheen of sweat that made my clothes stick. "But you're better."

Natalie laughed. "What belt rank did you say you were at?"

"Eh, blue, but it hasn't been long enough for advancement or anything," I said.

"Hmm, you're on the better end of that," Natalie said.

"Well, thanks," I replied. "Wanna see if we can't make it even better?"

"Let's see if you can't run through some stretches first, alright?"

I supposed that was only fair. We did just that, then more sparring, though with less energy involved.

When I Reloaded it felt weird to return to a more rested, less beaten up self. I shook it off soon enough before heading back to Ctrl-Alt-Delts.

To change things up, I asked for sword-combat training. Natalie said she wasn't as comfortable with that, not having mastered it herself, but she still found some wooden swords to beat me with.

She fought with the more Japanese martial style. It didn't quite suit what I was doing with my own fledgeling style, but some things were universal, and there were a lot of techniques that were there to help with things like edge alignment.

Besides, it was good practice facing someone stronger and faster and with better technique without the fear of being killed.

We took shorter breaks, then got back into it.

The pattern repeated for a few more loops. I'd go to the gym, ask Natalie to help with something, pay her, then get my ass handed to me.

I was improving though. I could feel it. New techniques, sharper reflexes, and just more experience. It just wasn't instantaneous. That was frustrating, but it was also just how things tended to work out.

I was just getting really tired of the loops when Natalie and I sat down after having done a bit of boxing training. "So, uh, you're a pretty clear-headed woman," I said.

"I'd like to think so," Natalie replied. "At least, some of the time."

"Cool... hey, mind if I ask you for some relationship advice?"

She snorted. "Sure. If nothing else, this might be interesting."

***