Beyond Gods 24 Obsession and Opportunity

That night, Johan dreamt of his sparring match against Beiber. It replayed in his mind again and again, and he thought about different approaches he could have taken to win. Beiber had come at him with an aggression and ruthlessness that he had never experienced before. Each of Beiber's hits had hurt. The impression he got from Beiber was that he relied predominantly on his skills and physique, rather than planning his moves while fighting. Thus, Johan felt that if he had anticipated Bieber's attacks better, he could have won the fight, even without being fully prepared ... and if he had prepared, he would have dominated.

Something began to stir in Johan ...

a desire ...

a hunger ...

a new goal ...

Johan had lived a life where most people had told him he wasn't good enough. Teachers, figures with authority, his classmates and many adults. His youth had been riddled with losses, discouragement and struggles. He never excelled physically, socially, or educationally. The turning point came about in high school when he got the highest grade in his class on a single test. It was a class in which he was performing very poorly. His teacher had told him he'd fail, and even seemed to even to want him to fail. Yet, he'd beaten all the smart kids that day by trying hard and giving it his all. In the end, he passed the class. With that experience, Johan realised that there was always a chance to win, even if others said there wasn't and if you prepare strategically, gave it your all, you could defy destiny. With that single moment, the number of times he defied the odds, even with discouragement from everyone increased. His parent's encouragement made that trait in him only got stronger and stronger.

Johan experienced this revelation again during the fight with Beiber. It happened when he had taken Beiber to the floor. He found a weakness and exploited it against a fighter that was better conditioned and more practiced than him. Furthermore, he'd realised that using his eyes seemed to be weaken his ability to sense his surroundings. Johan realised if he was able to use the two in conjunction, his fighting skills would be taken to the next level.

"BOOM!"

The sound of bags being hit being woke Johan up, cutting his dream short.

"I want to fight him again," whispered Johan, "after training a bit more."

Johan got out of bed and went out of the storage room to see that several people were in the midst of training.

"Yo hombre," said a voice behind Johan, "Guang Hui been sayin yous got your culo kicked by Beiber."

Johan turned to see an athletic looking Mexican man in his twenties. Next to him stood an athletic Asian man.

"I took him down," said Johan, "if I had time to prepare, I'd have won easy."

The Mexican man smiled and turned to the Asian man and said, "Looks like this kid is perfect for our bet Kimura. Plus, I can tell he is from earth, just like us, so it will be fair."

"Seems so," replied the other Asian man, "but only if he lets you train him."

"Hombre, I'll tell you what," said the Mexican man, "me and Kimura have a bet going. He has been training his disciples for years. I said I can train a you to beat anyone he trains in one month's time, predominantly because my style is better than his."

Johan looked from the Mexican man to Kimura. He couldn't believe his luck, this was the perfect opportunity for him to prepare for a rematch with Beiber and stand up to Armyka.

"You are insane Gracie," said Kimura to the Mexican man, "You are gonna to get the new kid killed if he agrees. He lost to that chump Beiber, even the worst boxers here can beat him. Chris made an exception for him because his family has money. Some of my students have killed ..."

"Esse, I'm not insane, you're simply a bad coach," said Gracie, "you're wasting your student's time and giving them a false sense of confidence."

"I'm interested," said Johan, "when do we start?"

Gracie, Kimura stared at Johan clearly surprised by his quick and certain response.

"You're crazy kid," said Kimura. "You lost to Beiber just yesterday, it is no secret, and suddenly you are acting like you're a top fighter. My least trained fighter has been through a least ten tournaments. They've all gone pro. If they punch someone who isn't conditioned, they can kill hem. No one else would let Gracie train them, because they know this."

"They won't take up the offer," said Gracie, "because everyone knows you teach your fighters dirty tricks that cripple others."

"I'll be fine Kimura," said Johan. "Gracie here seems to know talent when he sees it. Plus, I trust his judgement about you sucking as a coach."

"JaJAJAA!"

Kimura turned red in the face as Gracie let out a laugh.

"Kid," said Kimura, "I don't even know you, and you've managed to get in my bad books. You are gonna regret this. After this match, I guarantee that you'll be in such bad condition that you wont even be able to fight in the upcoming tournament. If you don't train under Gracie, maybe you'd get noticed by a good sponsor when seen during the tournament. Crippled, you won't get offered anything and you'll end up a homeless bum."

"JajaJaa!", Gracie laughed and said, "Scared ese?"

Johan laughed as well hearing Gracie's comment.

"No mercy," grunted Kimura, "and to make this kid know his place, anything goes, no rules. I don't think I like you kid ..."

"That cool?," asked Gracie looking at Johan.

"Yeah," said Johan, "lets get started."

"I'll prepare you well," said Gracie. "We will train for two hour a day initially and increase. You'll have the weekends off for recovery."

Kimura said, "Why not, with the big fight tournament this year, my boys will need fodder for practice."

Johan smiled silently to himself. His blood had started to pump faster and faster with excitement. He knew that with this match he'd get closer to being the god-like being he'd seen in his future. He'd beat beat Kimura, then Beiber, then Armyka, and anyone else that got in his way. Deep down Johan felt this upcoming fight would be his first milestone on his journey to greatness.

Chapter end

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