Ben was outside of the cage, taking off his red gloves and headgear. As soon as he slid the soft headgear off his face, he took a deep gulp of air, still exhausted as sweat dripped down his hair and face. He was unsure if he should be happy or disappointed with his results today.

  By the end of the sparring match, he still couldn't land any punches on his opponent. However, Ben wasn't without accomplishments. He avoided getting hit as well. Having learned to utilize his Body Language Reading, Ben became better at dodging at a rapid face. It was an improvement, though an embarrassing one.

  Ricardo was also not sure whether he should congratulate Ben or scold him, so the old coach spoke from his heart. "Listen, don't worry about all that stuff I said about the waiver. I just wanted you to know you had no way out to get you to fight hard. There's an old military saying: 'To get your army to defend to the last man, burn the ships behind them.' You understand?"

  Ben narrowed his eyes, deep in thought for a moment before his eyes flashed in understanding. He appreciated his coach's advice and enjoyed the process of learning from someone experienced. Ricardo was weird and cold but he was training him seriously. Ben knew Ricardo's intentions were good. Ben nodded to the old Brazilian. "I understand, coach. You're saying those ships are my distractions and thoughts about looking for a way out. You wanted me to focus on the opponent in front of me."

  Ricardo blinked. "No. The ships were your chance of a legal victory in a court of civil law…… They're burned now. Remember that."……

  Ben cringed. 'I think I picked the wrong teacher…'

  "I hope you still have some energy left." A sexy voice came from Ben's left as he and Ricardo turned to see Valentina with a lob-sided grin, looking at Ben mockingly. She stood with her arms crossed, highlighting her thick chest like two party balloons squeezed together. Ben had never enjoyed his birthday parties growing up but he got the sudden urge to start a party accessories business empire…


  "What do you want to do? The kid's gotten enough training for the day." Ricardo didn't want Ben to overtrain and get injured.

  Valentina snorted. "You're babying him. Like this, his jiu-jitsu is going to get rusty." She looked at Ben. "Let's go. We'll go review the fundamentals." In her mind, she was already going over the fundamental lesson plan:

  100 choke outs.

  100 armbars.

  100 knee submissions.

  It was the sadist's One Punch Man workout!

  …


  From Valentina's gaze, Ben knew what she wanted. 'She thinks I'm tired and this is a good opportunity to get revenge on me in jiu-jitsu after she couldn't win last time.' Valentina was competitive. Ben wasn't surprised to see this reaction from her. However…


  He smirked himself. 'It won't be so easy.' Even though he was exhausted, Ben possessed one unique advantage—his system!

  Ben's stamina was at the elite level, having taken 2 potions to boost it 40%. Even though he was still sweating and breathing in a rough manner, he could already feel his energy coming back to him at a steady pace. He wasn't worried about continuing! "All right."

  Getting the response she wanted, Valentina showed a wide malicious grin. "Follow me." After both of them said goodbye to Ricardo, Valentina turned around, and led the way to the lockers so Ben could change into his jiu-jitsu gi. She swiveled her head every few seconds to make sure Ben didn't escape. "Why so slow? Hurry up!"

  Ben was taking his time walking this short distance, and it was intentional—an intelligent tactical move. After all, who wouldn't try to buy time to recover their stamina in this situation? Well, that was one benefit but Ben's tactics went deeper. He was like a great army strategist deciding the fate of the world 1000 miles away from a pitched tent. And that tent was his boner…


  His strategic goal? To get a wide view of the upcoming battlefield, aka Valentina's ass.

  …


  Each time Valentina turned her head and saw where Ben was looking, her scorn for him increased. She vowed to hold her chokes on him extra long today. Yet, Ben had his own plans. Valentina dared to try to take advantage of him when he was down? He'd be sure to return the favor, by pushing her down instead!

  Ben's mind filled with his own complicated submissions involving Valentina, and though most of these "techniques" weren't the type he could do in public, some even potentially requiring a consent form and a lawyer on retainer……Ben still used them as in-spiration.

  Although his ideas weren't exactly "by the book," Ben believed imagination was the fuel for in-novation.

  So, as he entered the locker room and got changed for what seemed to be his impending bullying session, Ben wasn't fearful at all.

  5 minutes later……Valentina narrowed her eyes as she looked at Ben across from her on the BJJ mats. It was open training and there were a number of other students around them but Valentina could only focus on Ben. She was surprised at his recovery!

  Ben seemed full of energy as he stared at her with excited eyes. Seeing that, her instincts told her she'd made a mistake by challenging him at this time. It's true she wanted revenge and this seemed like the best opportunity since he was tired and only kept getting more skilled in BJJ. So if she didn't establish the pecking order now, then she might never have the chance to beat him in the future.

  In Ben's mind though, he already believed any such chance had long passed. In that case, since they were here, it was best to teach Valentina that fact, and since she had wicked intentions, Ben didn't plan to spare her. 'She's stepped into my penis fly trap……'

  It was time to eat the fly.