The chain of the heavy bag jingled from her hits, the sharp crisp sounds of her fists smashing against the bag attracted everyone's attention, Zack watched her with a smile on his face. As if everything she’s become was because of him. Zoey could not give Zack credit when credit is due. He has been with her since day one and still with her now.

Zoey threw her fists out with accurate and deadly speed all around the punching bag. She circled it while weaving in and out with her upper body. Continuously throwing her fists out while moving. If this was a person, they’d be unable to do anything but try and block this fast and disorienting assault or get worked by it. Zoey considered calling this move Ring Around The Rosies but the only way she could pull this off was if she was fighting against someone much weaker than her that couldn’t react to it. It was just a fun little combo she thought of.

“Whoever the hell that is, I'm loving the sound of those punches. Which one of you little bastards is trying to make me smile in the afternoon?” Coach Scott asked, coming out from the back.

He looked in Zoey’s direction and she could swear she saw a tear in his eye after noticing it was her. She couldn’t find out if it really was a tear or if her eyes were playing tricks on her because immediately after, he turned away and yelled at everyone to get to work. Zoey still couldn’t understand Coach Scott’s weird ass attitude with her. Did he like her? Hate her? Didn’t care whatsoever? The man was a fickle as a girl and she was a girl!

“I think it’s about time, I teach you how to counter.” Zack suddenly said.

“Really?!” A wide innocent smile painted Zoey’s face.

“Oh, geez. I didn’t realize how excited you were about this... You have been ready for it, I was just delaying it because I thought you were happy where you were now.”

“I want to learn everything.” Zoey told him seriously.

“Alright then. Let’s get in the ring and so I can teach you how to counter then.” Zack smiled.

They both put on the standard safety equipment before heading in the ring, head guards and mouthguards. Zoey was reasonably excited to learn this as counters were one of the things she was banned from practicing when she was still somewhat new to this. She’s still new but not as new. You know what she means.

“I’m going to start off teaching you the riskiest but most effective type of counterpunching.”

“Alright.”

“It basically boils down to this, when the person you're fighting goes, you go. So, when I throw a jab, I want you to strike me where it will hurt the most. Alright?” Zack had 2 punch mitts on. Zoey nodded, watching his upper body.

He threw out a slow jab that even a first-timer could catch. Zoey did as she was asked and punched out with a similar speed towards his mitt

“Good. Just like that. Now we’re going to go a bit faster.”

They circled around each other, as they practiced. If at first, it looked like an adult teaching a child how to do something, now it looked as if two competent fighters were going at it with everything they had. Zack understood when to stop and when to keep going. Seeing that she understood this part, it was time for them to stop.

“That’s enough. Let’s go on to the next part now.”

The rest of the day was spent learning about counters in its entirety. Zack himself didn’t really utilize counters all that much but when you're trying to go pro, you need to learn everything you can. Even if you won’t use it yourself, you don’t know who you’ll be placed against in a match. He even asked Coach Scott for a few tips on counters that easily gave her the Counter skill for her Status Box. Zoey was pretty sure Zack thought she was a monster when she could correctly perform a counter at the end of their training session.

“Jesus fucking Christ... I been watching them the whole damn day and I wouldn’t have been able to pick up counterpunching that easily.”

“Yeah, Zoey’s a freak, ain’t she? Can you imagine if she was a boy? The Coach would be sending us up there to spar with her every second. Just to get beat the fuck up like some clowns.”

“Don’t tell anyone this, but I don’t think I could beat girl Zoey even if I tried my hardest.”

“You're not the only one feeling that way. Haven’t you seen some of the newer guys been working hard as hell lately? I heard it was because the coach has been on their ass, comparing them with Zoey.”

“He does like to do that when she isn’t here. You know, I think Zoey might be better than Ben...”

“Ah, yeah he’s a fucking little prick, ain’t he?”

“I didn’t just mean his personality...”

“Oi, oi, oi. You aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”

“I might just be... You know?”

“Come on dude. Zoey is great and all but Ben is a real monster in the ring. The kid doesn’t even try and he still demolishes any opponent he faces. Zoey doesn’t seem like she has what it takes to really match up.”

“Have any of us even seen what Zoey is capable of? You know she’s the reason why those new guys a while back dropped, right?”

“No. My mom was sick in the hospital, I had to take care of my gramps that week.”

“Coach Scott decided to put her up against the new guys. You know what he said when he brought it up?” A grin popped up on his face.

“No, what he say?"

“If you can’t even beat a girl, what the hell are you doing here? And they did not take losing to her well.”

“Did she fucking beat their asses or something? What happened?”

“No. She just toyed with them. It was like seeing a professional go against a complete beginner. But she didn’t toy with them like Ben would. That cocky smirk on his face while he’s fighting you. Him constantly talking and not punching you when he has the chance. Just a complete game for him. Zoey was nothing like that. She acted like she didn’t want to break the poor guys and just went so soft on them. Like she was their teacher or something! Teaching em how to box!”

“Wait so she was all gentle and nice in their spar?”

“Yeah like a total fucking girl! Haha! I was laughing my ass off seeing the dudes up there. If I had to ever face Zoey, I'd be glad if she treated me like I was a total pussy!”

Zoey could hear everything Steven and Tony were saying... She tried not focusing on it while learning how to counter but she couldn’t help but be a bit nosey. It was in her nature to be aware of her surroundings and hear everything she can like a fucking weirdo. And the only reason she treated those guys so gently was because if she went all out, they’d definitely leave! Who would’ve thought trying to spare a guy his feelings would backfire?! Now Coach Scott never lets her spar with any of the guys anymore. Their delicate pride wouldn’t be able to handle it no matter how soft or hard she goes. If she didn’t have people like Miles or demons, she’d definitely go crazy just practicing all the fucking time.

“See ya later Zoey!” Zack waved.

“Bye Zoey!” The other guys called out.

“Bye guys.” She responded.

Zoey started jogging her way home. When she first started, she had her mom pick her up from the gym. That changed ever since her first run into the city. Now she’s been running everywhere she went to increase her body stat. Her mental stat is as slow as ever but there was some good news! After killing that demon, this was what her Status Box looks like now!

[Status]

[Name: Zoey]

[Sex: Female]

[Body: 1.4]

[Mental: 0.8]

[Magic: 0.1]

[Skills: 7]

[Skills]

[Punching Lv10]

[Footwork Lv7]

[Slipping Lv6]

[Blocking Lv5]

[Parry Lv6]

[Focus Lv2]

[Counter Lv1]

Yep! There was a .1 after her magic stat! Zoey guessed it got there because of the demon! She didn’t feel any different or felt like she could perform magical spells but seeing that it wasn’t a flat 0 anymore was enough to make her happy. Maybe if she beat a couple more demons, her magic stat would raise even higher. Then would she able to sense or create her own magic once its high enough?

Zoey wasn’t one of those nerds that dreamed of casting fireballs down from the sky on her foes or flooding waves of enemies with water magic. If it was before she got the Status box and started getting into boxing, then maybe she would be more open to the idea of becoming a generic magician class usually seen in an RPG. But now, once she gets her hands on some magic. She’s using it to boost her boxing skills to the next level! Fire fists, stone fists, lightning fists, ice fists, the possibilities are endless!

Zoey’s moderate-paced jog slowed down to a crawl as a bloodcurdling screech rang out from the alleyway she just passed. Now there were a couple of options that came to Zoey’s mind. She could phone the police and tell them of her location and jog back home, knowing she did what’s expected of a normal citizen. Or she could go and investigate what the hell was happening in that dark ass alleyway without any mind to her own safety like a dumb broad from a horror movie. And then there was a third option of acting as if she didn’t hear a damn thing and going about her business as usual.

“Please! Help me!!!” A woman’s voice cried out from the alleyway.

Zoey’s innate ability to be nosey at any opportunity forced her eyes into seeing the state of the woman. She was attempting to crawl out of the back of the alleyway. Her face and upper body were covered in blood and the look of desperation in her eyes really hit Zoey hard. Their eyes met and Zoey’s insides squirmed. It was stupid. It was very stupid. But Zoey couldn’t just act like she didn’t see this and walk away. The guilt would follow her forever.

“Mind your business...” A voice that sent chills through her body warned her.

From the alleyway, Zoey could see a face that was anything but human. A wicked long nose that could pierce through flesh, long claws that dug into the back of the woman, and an obvious sick twisted joy from causing pain and fear. It was a daemon. Just out in the middle of the day!

Normally a person’s reaction to seeing something as freaky as this would be to scream and run away to preserve their own lives. However, Zoey has just recently crossed the line of normality ever since dealing with her first daemon. Once she saw that it wasn’t some rapist, murderer, or gangster doing something terrible to someone. It was like a blazing fire lit up within her body. Goosebumps rose along the sides of her arms.

‘Status Box! Skills! Experience! Combo practice! Stat boosts!’ These thoughts flowed through her brain like a megaphone.

Zoey opened up her bag and wrapped her hands as fast as possible before slipping on her demon-hunting gloves. The ones that the demon cursed the other day. After slipping on the gloves, Zoey dashed into the alleyway with a mad look in her eyes and a crazed smile. With an absolute lack of care for her health or safety, Zoey struck the demon’s face with a running straight, knocking him off the woman and sending him a surprising distance backward. In her excited state, she didn’t even process the look of bewilderment on the demon’s face.