Osho had to admit, he was impressed.
He'd read about beast-tamer gyms and training facilities, and he could tell at a glance the one the staff used was of high quality.
The room was quite large, about 250 meters on all sides. It had a high ceiling with obstacles meant for flying beasts, the walls were made of a sturdy allow and seemed to be fitted with Mana insulating devices meant to reduce the shock of Mana released by anyone who was training.
There was a section made to be a gym by human standards, however, there was some extreme equipment there, and Osho could see things like 1-ton dumbells and higher. But it shouldn't be too surprising considering how strong beast tamers tended to become.
There was also an area dedicated to training the beasts with a lot of equipment Osho didn't quite understand the significance.
The most notable thing though, were the arenas.
There were three circular arenas that were 50 meters in diameter. Each was made of an incredibly durable alloy that, similar to the walls, had Mana insulating devices meant to endure the force of attacks released by those using them.
Moreover, Osho couldn't see it, but he was sure there was some sort of formation in the room that made it so that Mana flowed easier. He knew this because he felt his body replenishing its spent Mana reserves without his input. It was slow but noticeable.
"Hey, this isn't half bad," Ellie said with some satisfaction and Osho immediately took her word for it. If the rich girl said something was good, then it was probably good.
"So how are we doing this?" Osho asked Ellie who was removing her shirt to reveal the sports bra beneath.
"Let's just start with a simple spar, how does that sound?" Osho looked her over and was a bit surprised by how well-built she was, but it made sense. There's no way her father wouldn't make her train to be able to defend herself.
"Sure. How should we do it?" The two of them hadn't stopped walking, so now, they had reached one of the arenas.
"Let me and you go at it first." She said with a small smile and Osho shrugged his free shoulder.
He gently carried Gale from his shoulder and placed him at the edge of the Arena and Ellie followed suit. Then the two of them walked to the center of the arena and started warming up.
"I say the round ends when one person either surrenders or is thrown on their back," Osho suggested as he rolled his shoulders and Ellie who was stretching nodded
"That doesn't sound bad. Sure." With both of them in agreement, they both finished their warmups and stood opposite each other.
Ellie put her hands up and bounced on her feet as she entered a standard boxing stance while Osho entered an Orthodox stance with his left foot forward and right foot back to create a stable base.
"Are we starting?" He asked to confirm and Ellie just nodded, her smile never leaving her face.
With that, Osho didn't move forward but instead observed her.
'She certainly isn't an amateur, her stance is pretty solid.' He noted as he took in her stance, the two of them slowly circled each other as they waited for the other to make the first move. Osho continued observing.
'She's smaller than me, so I shouldn't have any issue overpowering her. But she probably knows this as well. So chances are that she'll keep her distance. Moreover, a good jab from her is bound to hurt, and she's ambidextrous while I'm right-handed, so I'm a bit disadvantaged in that area.' With this, Osho knew how he would play this out.
They continued to circle each other, but he made no move to attack, and as time passed, Ellie began to grow impatient. But from start to finish, Osho never made a move.
Eventually, she reached her breaking point.
She bounced on her feet one more time before suddenly moving forward with surprising speed in a single step, just entering Osho's attack range.
She sent a jab at his left rib but Osho blocked it with his arm. Then he leaned back to avoid getting hit in the jaw by a jab from her other hand.
Before he could counter, she shifted her positioning to his side where she sent another two jabs at his ribs. But Osho still blocked calmly.
'Her jabs are fast, but also a bit predictable.' He noted as he continued to endure her onslaught. For the most part, he stayed on the defensive as he looked for a chance to counter. Ellie was on the defensive, but he could tell that she was still being cautious, so catching her off-guard wouldn't be so simple. As such, he would wait.
This continued for a while with Ellie sending a barrage of jabs, but as time passed, her punches became more ferocious and started aiming for more sensitive spots.
Osho rarely got a chance to counterattack. She moved like a whirlwind, but he still kept his cool, he sensed that she was about to crack.
And indeed, his opportunity came.
A hint of irritation appeared in her eyes as she sent a premature jab that went out of the pattern she had created, and Osho immediately seized the opportunity.
He redirected her arm with his before stretching forth with his free hand to grab her. He intended to throw her over his shoulder onto her back, ending the round.
However, instead of grabbing her clothes or her flesh, he grabbed air. Then before he could react, he suddenly lost his balance as his feet were swept out from under him. But he reacted simply based on muscle memory and put his hands back while rotating his body. The moment his hands hit the ground, he pushed off it and successfully performed a backhand spring.
He landed on his feet but barely got a chance to collect himself when Ellie rushed in again, but this time, her fighting style changed completely.
Her body was lower to the ground as she kept assaulting his lower regions, attempting to grapple him and pull him to the ground. Osho immediately recognized it as Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
'Why am I not surprised.' He thought. Of course, she knew multiple fighting styles.
But it was a good move on her part. She was smaller than Osho, so trying to reach for places like his head would only put her at a disadvantage, and the way he almost grabbed her before cemented this.
So she switched tactics and attacked his lower body which he had less control over than his arms. However, Osho had a lot more experience than her.
That's why he was able to spot a flaw in her movement which he exploited immediately.
She tried to go for his legs again, but without any special movements, he just jumped over her and kicked down on her back, which sent her to the ground with a harsh 'thud'.
Ellie had the wind knocked out of her, and before she could react, Osho was on top of her with his knee pressed in the center of her back while he pinned her arms to the ground.
"How's that?" He asked, a little out of breath, but it was nothing serious.
Ellie grunted and tried to struggle, but Osho just pressed into her back more and she found breathing difficult, enough to make her give.
"Ugh... Okay..." She croaked out and Osho eased up. He got off her and she rolled on her back, her chest heaving.
"Why... are you so good?" She asked with a grunt as she managed to sit up and Osho held out a hand which she took. He pulled her up before answering her question.
"I've fought here and there in the past." He replied cooly and Ellie glared at him.
"The way you moved wasn't just from 'fighting here and there in the past'. Most people don't know how to find flaws in established fighting styles like boxing or Jiu-jitsu. Yet you noticed the flaw in my attack flow when I was boxing, recovered WAY too calmly when I switched to Jiu-jitsu, and once again exploited a flaw immediately!" She poked his chest.
"You aren't being trained secretly by some old master or something are you?" She asked suspiciously and Osho let out a genuine laugh.
"That would be nice. But even if that were the case, what would you do about it hm?" He teased and she pouted.
"Then I'd ask you to introduce me to them so they could train me as well." Osho snickered at her words before shaking his head.
"Well, I'll have to break your bubble. There's no secret master." He rubbed his chin before grinning.
"Who knows? Maybe I'm secretly a prodigy who can analyze fighting styles after seeing them once." Hearing this, Ellie just snorted and hit his chest, but the gesture was more fond than aggressive.
"You're a dork." She sighed and Osho just shrugged.
Ellie then looked at him, like, really looked at him before sighing. She didn't know everything about Osho, it wasn't a fun realization, and she longed to be trusted enough for him to help her fill in the blanks. But alas, she wanted him to tell her of his own accord. So for now, she wouldn't pry.