Chapter 14: Simple
You throw a punch, but it misses. You are left open, and get hit. What do you do then?
In a random street-fight with a random person, sometimes just throwing blows wildly is enough to win. But in a battle of martial arts, this is not even close to being sufficient. You will be dodged, feinted, grappled, thrown, and destroyed by an experienced fighter. Just "throwing hands" won't do. Martial arts are about utilizing logic to optimize fighting to its absolute maximum, you will need to use said logic to fight that logic.
Right now, Amity was in desperate need to develop that logic.
She had taken significantly more damage than her opponent, the difference in experience and expertise was beyond staggering. On top of that, this new "fighting style" she had created already showed a massive flaw within its mechanical construction, one that was VERY easily exploitable.
She needed a workaround.
Jessica would make her move any second now, Amity had no time, she could only come up with something simple right now…
…
…
Simple…
…
That should be enough, right? Something simple. A simple technique should do it.
Why should it be complex, anyway? The more complex things are, the more difficult to do they become. Simple things are always better, they are easier, more consistent, more reliable…
…
The Blight family has always been too complex. Managing expectations from society, from the Emperor and the Emperor's coven, from other powerful families.
From her mother.
It was always too complex…
When she was with other people, they were simpler.
Willow didn't expect anything, she just liked being her friend.
Her siblings were quite simple, too. They just wanted happiness for everyone, themselves and for her as well.
Luz,
Luz is as simple as one gets. She just lives the moment. The "here" and "now". The past is gone; the future isn't here yet. With her, it was just the simple "today" that mattered. Living for yourself and your loved ones, that's it.
She never cared for "expectations", or "status".
Maybe that's why Amity couldn't help but latch on to her.
She was the simplicity she always craved.
…
Simple things are just better
…
What's the simplest thing a sphere can do?
Jessica leapt at her like before, expecting the same move to work twice. On an experienced fighter, this would have been suicide, with an amateur like Amity clearly was, it was bound to work.
As expected the sphere flew at her once more, and like before, Jessica side-stepped it. She was about to hit Amity with a devastating uppercut, which she would absolutely not be able to get back up from.
Until she felt a massive shock throughout her whole body. The air was suddenly kicked out of her lungs, as she felt a bizarre, indescribable type of blunt pain. She immediately collapsed to the ground, and Amity wasted no time to try to deliver an uppercut of her own. It obviously wasn't nearly as effective as she would have wanted it to be, Jessica's jaw and neck were tough, and Amity's hand hurt like hell after it. But the good thing about uppercuts to the jaw is that they work, and Jessica plopped unconscious on the ground. Only able to think:
What… ha…p….
The solution was to do what a spherical shape can do better than any other: spin.
It's a technique that is widely used in all sorts of ball-based sports. Giving the ball some spin in a calculated manner allows it to move in ways it should have not been able to.
In soccer, for example, it allows for the seemingly impossible "banana shot", which allows a goal from the corner of the field.
In tennis, spinning the ball allows it to both curve in the air as well as enhance a directional bounce, making it much harder to predict where it will go.
And in basketball, giving the ball backspin when you throw it makes it easier for it to land inside the hoop.
Amity did precisely that, when the sphere flew at Jessica, it went with a significant amount of backspin, enough that it would be able to bounce backwards and straight into her opponent. Since the sphere was smooth and uniform, Jessica was unable to notice that it even was spinning in the first place, catching her completely off guard.
The sphere bounced back and was able to overcome the inertia it had accumulated, allowing it to fly back at full force, and straight into Jessica's kidneys, delivering a devastating blow that caused a unique kind of pain only a hit to the kidneys can deliver.
Jessica was still out, Amity was tired, in pain, bleeding, and about to collapse as well.
But in a fight, the only thing that matter is who is standing tall at the end.
"FIGHT OVER! THE WINNER IS AMITY BLIGHT FOR THE WITCHES!"
The few people that were lucky enough to witness the whole thing exploded in cheers. For the first victory on the witches' side, it was beyond fantastic. Hard fought and well earned.
Out of the crowd, someone came in running at full speed.
"AMITY! OH, CRAMITY! Are you ok?!"
"Hey Luz!... I'm… in a lot of pain actually."
Weird thing to say with a huge smile on your face.
"Don't worry, honey. We'll get you to a hospital, you're going to be fine!"
Luz was panicking a little bit. Amity looked awful, like she had been mauled by a bear or something.
But… as Luz started carrying her girlfriend to a medical center, she couldn't help but speak her mind.
"Amity… that was… so DAMN COOL! THAT WAS AWESOME! You pulled that out of thin air! God, you are so cool! ... so hot"
"What?"
Amity was blushing (I think, the blood on her face made it hard to tell). Luz didn't think when she said that, and she was really red on the face, but she couldn't act like that watching her girlfriend winning a fight against a professional boxer didn't make her act up.
"That sure was amazing, Amity Blight"
They turned around to see Jessica finally sitting back up.
"Guess I got cocky and it bit me in the damn kidney… SHIT, it still fucking hurts, ooowwwww… Well, Fair play to you, you win. 'Sup Luz."
"'Sup Jess. Sorry my girlfriend knocked your lights out. I told you she was a beast!"
Ok, so that was it. Kinda feels anticlimactic, but it's not like it matters anymore. The fight itself left Amity feeling pretty satisfied. Weird, it's not even winning what feels good, it's just the act of fighting itself that feels so rewarding.
Is this what people like Shibukawa feel like? Is this why they do it? Honestly, she could see it. She could get used to it. Maybe she was a fighter after all. It certainly felt great… and it also seems to turn Luz on.
All of the sudden, a huge silence took over. Everyone present stopped talking for some reason, as if something shocking had happened. It was then that he spoke.
"It was quite the marvelous fight, you two. I am glad I was here to witness it."
They all turned to see Muhammad Alai standing before them. He had apparently been witnessing the whole thing from the start, but the fight was so amazing, no one even noticed that he was there.
"I am very happy that I got to see this today. I witnessed many great things. I saw the birth of a new martial art, the first one born from magic. I saw an evolved form of boxing face that martial art, a form of boxing that could only ever be cultivated in the streets, I saw that new martial art struggle, and face its own flaws. And I also saw it begin to overcome said flaws. There is still a lot left for you to grow, Amity Blight. I can tell you wanted to hit your opponent's head with that back strike, but you gave the sphere too much spin, and it flew much lower than you wanted it to. Luckily, you happened to nail the kidneys, and were sharp enough to grab the opportunity that lay before you. You are a talented and skilled fighter, and I see great things in your future as a martial artist."
"I can tell you from experience: the road to building a new martial art is long, arduous, exhausting, and often confusing. But I assure you, when one day you see someone from a generation after yours take up your teachings, your philosophies, your ideals, and put them to their own practice. When someone else takes the mantle of what you created, and moves it into the future. When you see your dream realized through them. You will be able to feel a special kind of pride that no one else will be able to feel. And that alone will be enough."
He then turned to Jessica, who was still on the ground.
"Of course, the same goes to you. I cannot imagine how proud your father must be of you right now. If I can be so selfish, could I ask you to carry boxing into the future for me? I am too old for it, and my own son has rejected boxing entirely in pursuit of his own path. I can see your true passion for transforming our sport into a true fighting style, it is the same passion I had to create the art of Alai, and it makes me happy that I am not alone in this desire."
"… … Leave it to me, master!"
Alai smiled.
"Thank you! In that case, let us end this properly."
Without needing to say or hear anything, and with smiles on their faces, Amity and Jessica stood on their feet and walked towards Alai. They shook each other's hand, and stood side-by-side with the legendary boxer.
Alai held their wrists, and raised Amity's hand high in the air, declaring her the winner of the match, as if he were the referee in the ring.
The crowd exploded in cheer.