The Mighty Force

Chapter 6: Seth Ex Savage

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

At the martial arts school

Master Zhang Wei stood behind Diana and blindfolded her.

"Remind me why are we doing this  again?" Diana inquired.

"You still have to master your senses, one of them being hearing. Therefore to master hearing, you need to practice this exercise until you have fully mastered it."

He attempted to hit her on the left side of her face from behind while holding the stick. She cocked her head to the right when she felt the onslaught coming. He then repeated the process but in the opposite direction.

She cocked her head once more to the right as the stick passed. He then moved around her and attempted to strike her in the chest after deciding his next attack. She dropped herself into a limbo dance position as soon as she recognized the source of the attack. Since Diana was doing this exercise efficiently, he turned things up a notch to challenge her. Therefore, he performed a sweep kick to knock her off her heels. 

Diana questioned why she couldn't hear the swinging stick's waft. Fortunately, thanks to her excellent hearing, she listened to his leg swivel through the mattress. She leaped over his leg once she sensed the attack.

He then increased his stick swings' pace once she touched down. She dodged the blows with precise skill and lightning speed. From Zhang Wei's point of view, it appeared as though her body was moving on its own. He was happy with her development and knew her training would be over if she kept doing this skillfully. Well, in terms of her hearing abilities.

Suddenly, she lost concentration as a plague of memories clouded her judgment. Mr. Maynard's words kept playing like a tape in her mind.

"Your song was unsuccessful and received many bad reviews on YouTube, Spotify, and Tunecore. This is the fourteenth unsuccessful song that you have released. At this rate, If this trend continues, we might be forced to pull the plug and release you."

She was outraged as she thought about those remarks. She was upset and wondered why life kept throwing curveballs at her. All she wished for in life was to follow her passion for music as a career. It seems as though life wanted to prevent her from unleashing all of her potential.

Soaking up her frustrations was not the solution, as she would drop her guard and be hit in the face from the side by the stick. The force of that attack caused her to fall to the mattress, where she remained immobile and looked up at the ceiling.

Standing beside her, Zang Wei clapped his hands to get her attention. Instead, she continued to stare at the ceiling and said nothing. He massaged his face with his hands as he moaned in irritation, "You have dropped your guard once more," he said with disappointment.

 He sat down and crossed his legs, "Tell me, what is the problem this time? You had the cat in the bag."

For a brief moment, she directed her gaze at him. He extended his arm at her. She grabbed him, and in turn, he pulled her back from the mattress, and she sat upright.

"Why is life so unfair?" She inquired.

"Life is not fair to everyone, dear. Not even the animals are spared from its barbarity," he answered.

She lowered her head and glanced at the mattress. She traced her palm across the mat with her right forefinger while he observed.

"Tell me, what is the matter?"

A tear-stained her left cheek while she placed her hands on her face to expunge it. She didn't want to expose her vulnerability to him since it would make her seem weak. However, she couldn't hold the anguish that was burning inside her and vented out.