(Mastery of the Punch)

*September 21st, 1918*

*4:00pm*

Bartok was exhausted from pulling the chariot as he rested on the grassy fields for nearly 30 minutes while he was catching his breath in the process.

"T-That was literally hell! But It will be all worth it in the end.." Bartok said to himself as he was still catching his breath as he looked over to see Maria walking towards him.

"You did amazing, Please rest all you can and help yourself with some water as well." Maria said to Bartok with a warm smile as she sat beside him and handed him the cup of water.

"Thank you, Maria" Bartok thanked as he started gulping the cup of water as soon he let out a huge sigh of relief before returning the cup back to Maria.

"I heard that once you're well rested that Akito is gonna teach you on how to master the Two-Fold Punch right? Are you sure that you are ready for this?" Maria asked as she used a cold wet towel and gently rubbed it on Bartok's forehead.

"If I may ask what are you doing?" Bartok asked in a gentle tone of voice as he saw the beautiful woman tend to his needs.

"It's gonna help you stay cool and hydrated since today is quite hot my dear also please take your shirt off as well. That's gonna create more heat for you okay?" Maria answered back as she continued to wipe the wet towel on Bartok's face as his face turned slightly red in embarrassment.

"U-Um sure! That sounds like a good idea!" Bartok said back to Maria as he took off his shirt in order to keep himself from being a victim of a heat stroke.

"By the way Maria, Once we get to America where do you plan on staying at? I know you wanted to live somewhere in the countryside right?" Bartok asked as he felt the towel return towards his forehead as he awaited his response.

"I truly want to stay close to my family but I know that eventually we must go our separate ways so It's gonna be hard to stay in contact with everyone but wanna know something interesting that Kaede told me before she left?" Maria responded back as she put the towel in the bucket of water that was beside her.

"And what did she tell you?" Bartok answered back with a smile.

"The year where Kaede comes from has more advanced telephones in which you can talk to anyone from places like China, England, Turkey, and other amazing places and it really brings a smile to my face that there will be a time where everybody can reach out to their loved ones with just one push of a button" Maria spoke as she squeezed the towel and gently rubbed it on Bartok's forehead.

"That's truly amazing! I know we have telephones as well but for something to become more easy and advanced must be a good thing! If we're still alive for that day then we can talk to our loved ones all the time!" Bartok spoke as he smiled at Maria.

"You're definitely correct, my dear" Maria spoke back with a smile as the pair continued to chat for the remainder of Barok's rest.

*4:35pm*

Thirty minutes had passed as the weather seemed to have cooled down as Bartok was prepared to master the Two-Fold Punch technique as everyone else watched him as well as Bartok awaited for Akito's instructions.

"He's really gonna master the technique this early isn't he? His next step is to improve and evolve from what he's been taught for the next two years but I have faith within Bartok" Kazumi thought to himself as he sat down alongside Yelana and the Romanov siblings to watch the upcoming session.

"If you can fully use the Two-Fold Punch to break this rather large rock over there than you had finally master the technique however that doesn't mean you're ready to fight Peter It just means that you must continue to build upon what you've learn and eventually develop it into your own ultimate attack but the only price is that if you put all of your power into that single punch than It's likely that you will NEVER use your arm again…" Akito advised to Bartok in a serious tone of voice as this seemed to caught everyone by surprise.

"So that's the price right? Well If it means saving Maria and everyone else here than I'm afraid that's something I'm willing to pay here! I have come this far to not back out like the coward I used to be!" Bartok said to Akito as he gave his master a motivated look in his eyes.

"He's willing to put everything down the line for us? To think three months ago we were in prison and thinking our days were numbered to now in which we are still alive and well with wonderful people protecting us. All of this truly makes me glad…" Olga thought to herself as she stood up in the process while Bartok and Akito looked back at her.

"You better win against Peter, you hear me? Besides, A certain pretty dutchess is cheering for you as well!" Olga said to Bartok as she gave him a smile and a wink to go with it as she sat back down.

"Thank you! With this fist I will send Peter flying back home!" Bartok said with a smile as he cracked his knuckles in preparations to master the technique.

"Bartok has already mastered the basics now he needs to focus all of his energy and power towards this fist and once he does that then the next steps should be easy for him…" Akito thought to himself as he saw Bartok prepare for his move.

"Alright. Here goes nothing!" Bartok said to himself as he closed his eyes to meditate so he could clear his mind of any distracting thoughts so that way he could muster the strength and energy to perform his technique.

"I believe in Bartok so let's all cheer for him in our heads everyone!" Yelena wrote in her notebook as she showed everyone her response.

"You're right Yelena so let's give him all the support we can give him!" Tatiana whispered back with a smile as she gave her a thumbs up.

The mood went quiet as nothing but only wind could be heard as Bartok focused on nothing but his thoughts so he could perform the attack as eventually Bartok opened his eyes while raising his fist in the process.

"TWO-FOLD PUNCH!" Bartok roared.

As he used his right arm to shatter the large rock as much to everyone's surprise the rock cracked a little before breaking into little pieces as many of it were scattered across the floor as many cheers followed directly after.

"Bartok! Y-You did it!" Maria cried out in joy as she ran up to him and hugged him warmly.

"Wonderful! You did it! You did it!" Alexei and Anastasia cried out as well as they smiled warmly as well.

"I knew he could do it! Bartok has improved so much but now the hard or maybe easy part is the training part. Mastering it was only the start" Kazumi thought to himself with a smile as he gave Bartok a thumbs up.

"I'm so proud of Bartok…"" Yelena wrote as well in her notebook and showed Bartok so she could congratulate him as well.

"You did wonderful Bartok! I know you can do it!" Tatiana congratulated Bartok with a smile.

"And what did I tell you?" Olga said in a snarky yet playful tone of voice as she smiled at Bartok.

"Thank you so much everyone! I couldn't have done it without yall…" Bartok said as he smiled at everyone with even more hope and motivation in his heart.