My Pro Boxer System

Yuki stared at me with a disinterested look on her face before protesting to Faye.

"Why do I have to babysit him? Ask Chris to do it."

"I feel you're the better fit for the job," Faye explained calmly. "The two of you are the same age, so I bet you'll get along nicely."

"I have nothing in common with people like him, you know that!"

"You have no choice in the matter," Faye said exhaustedly. "And if anything were to happen to him, you'll meet the same fate as well, so think very carefully before you do anything stupid."

"Tsk! Whatever," Yuki finally relented, crossing her arms.

"Good, the two of you can leave now," Faye ushered us off.

Yuki and I exited the room together. From the look on her face, it was evident that she was unhappy about what had just happened. She stormed off down the hall, and I slowly followed behind her, limping. I couldn't help but be a little curious about her. How does a girl my age end up in a gang?

When we reached the exit, she finally stopped and folded her arms. By the look she was giving me, you would have guessed that I had spat in her coffee.

"Look! You'll be taking over for Dave, the guy you injured. He usually fights three times a week. He already fought twice this week, which means you have one more match scheduled. The match is tomorrow."

"You expect me to fight in this state?" I asked. They practically ran me over with their car, and now they expected me to fight the following day.

"I don't expect anything from you. Go into that match and get yourself killed for all I care. You won't be the first. What I don't want you to do is run, so I'd have to chase after you. I promise you, if that happens, it won't be pretty. Give me your phone," she said, holding out her hand.

I took my phone out of my shirt pocket, and thankfully, it was scratched. I opened the lock screen and then handed it to her.

"I'm putting in my number. We'll get in contact whenever you have a match to make sure you're not being an idiot."

After we exchanged phone numbers, we parted ways. I had to drag my aching body home with nothing but the moonlight to guide me.

[Remember, you haven't completed your daily quest today.] Alexa's voice spoke.

[I must warn you, though; today's quest will be much more brutal.]

"Great, that's just what I needed."

[Happy to oblige.]

This was the first time I had heard from her since I was hit by the SUV. She said nothing about the gangs or the fact that I would now have to fight without a license.

When I got home, I stopped outside, contemplating what to do. Chances were that Thalia or Mom was home. Seeing me limping home, covered in blood, was bound to raise some questions.

In the end, I decided to sneak in through my window. I quickly changed my clothes and went downstairs to see who was home. Thalia was there, curled up on the couch, clearly upset that I was home late.

Then came the round of questions. I managed to convince her that I was out with friends, and then I decided to make dinner for us. After we ate, I went back to my room to finish the daily quest.

This time, I was transported into an empty room. The room was completely white, from the floor to the ceiling. The only things inside were punching bags hanging from the ceiling. There must have been over a dozen of them.

The way they were laid out made it feel as if I were inside a maze. Just then, Alexa materialized out of thin air in her true form.

She was wearing a white dress that stopped just below her knees. An ominous smile rose on her face, which told me I was in for some real punishment this time.

"Today's training will focus on improving your punching power. You have the speed, but your punches aren't as effective yet."

"So, will I be doing strength training?" I asked.

"Power and strength aren't the same. It's not necessarily the strongest person who hits the hardest. How hard you hit someone is regulated by your brain. The average person only uses 40-60% of their strength. We've done the calculations, and you only use 53% of your strength."

"What does this have to do with punching power?" I asked.

"If you go to punch a wall, obviously your brain won't allow you to punch at full strength out of fear of the damage it may cause. But your body is different; you don't have to worry about such minor things. You heal faster than a regular person. Just today you were run down by a car and you're almost fully heal. You can sustain more damage, so why not break that limit altogether and use 100% of your strength? That will be the focus of today's training."

I understood what Alexa meant.

"So how will hitting the punching bags help with this?" I asked.

Alexa smirked.

"These aren't ordinary punching bags."

"So are they like the jump rope? Do they have some kind of special effect?"

"Something like that." She giggled, looking a little giddy. "You see, some of the punching bags contain sand, just like ordinary punching bags, while others contain hardened cement."

My eyes widened.

"You expect me to punch a punching bag made of concrete? Are you mad? I'll break my fingers in the process! How will that help me?"

"The bones you break will come back stronger. Some martial artists practice this. They punch hard objects so their bones chip away and slowly break. The bones that grow back are more rich in calcium making them much harder and stronger. The bones in your fingers need to be especially strong or else you'll break your finger bones mid-fight if your punching power is increased.

Anyway, here's how it goes: you will make your way through the maze of punching bags, hitting each bag a total of 15 times before moving on to the next bag. Make sure to keep your form and we'll also upload some combinations we want you to practice. Failure to do them perfectly will result in punishment as always"

I still couldn't get over the fact that she wanted me to hit a punching bag made of cement. I suddenly felt dizzy. Somehow being kidnapped and nearly killed felt more peaceful that this hell. Whatever, in the position I'm in; weakness isn't an option.

"You see, you will need to hit each bag with full power each time. Since you don't know which bag has cement and which has sand, it will train your brain to hit at full power no matter the situation. By the end, it won't even faze you whether you're punching sand or cement."

After Alexa explained everything, I lined myself up to complete the quest. I took my stance in front of the first punching bag.

A bead of sweat rolled down my face. I prayed it would be sand. My fist crackled through the air, landing on the punching bag with full force. I squinted a little, dreading what it would be. Luckily it was sand.

I released a sigh of relief when I felt the softness of the bag and realized it was made of sand. I continued to hit the punching bag 15 times and then moved on to the next one.