A foreigner's journey

After knocking on the door, room 202 was silent.

Tifa stood awkwardly in front of the door and waited quietly, holding her hands in front of her belly and twisting her fingers together unconsciously.

About half a minute later, the door suddenly opened.

Heather was wearing a dark blue jacket and sweatpants, and her shoes were cheap brand sneakers that were easy to move around. His black hair was messy, and his eyelids were half drooped behind his glasses. After opening the door, he glanced at Tifa: "I remember what I said yesterday was [6 o'clock in the morning]."

Tifa said "Ah", then bowed in embarrassment and apologized: "Yes, I'm sorry, I came early and disturbed you, senior brother..."

"Forget it, just be early this time. Remember to be punctual next time."

Heather picked up a cowhide ledger on the table at the door and put it into the inner pocket of her coat, then waved her hand. Seeing this, Tifa quickly took two steps to the side to make room. The former then walked out of Room 202. Locked the door: "Follow me."

Tifa followed Heather and walked down the stairs along the narrow second-floor corridor of Tianwangzhuang. Tifa deliberately stepped lightly when stepping on the metal steps, for fear of disturbing Granny Marley while she was resting. Then she was surprised to find that Senior Brother Heather's walking posture was obviously very normal, but it did not make any sound on the rusty metal steps, just like a cat walking lightly.

[It's like a ghost]...Tifa remembered for no reason what Granny Mare had said about her senior brother last night.

At the same time, Tifa secretly wondered if her senior brother had deliberately slowed down his pace because he was concerned about Granny Mare's rest situation. You obviously know how to take care of others, so why do you go out of your way to show off your indifference?

The two of them walked one after another along the bright streets of the Qifan Street slums towards the outer wall of Midgar. Heather just walked forward silently and at a speed that was neither fast nor slow, just Tifa's speed between a brisk walk and a trot.

Heather didn't speak, and Tifa didn't know how to talk. Moreover, she had to jog all the way to keep up with Heather as she was recovering from a serious illness. She was inevitably out of breath, so naturally she couldn't talk to him.

The closer to the outer wall, the sparse residential facilities become. Construction waste, broken tires, rusty steel bars and huge pipes discarded from the uptown area are piled everywhere. The barbed wire fence used for isolation has long been rusty. It is not so much an isolation function as a symbolic division of areas.

The two walked quickly through the deserted scrap area and came to a desolate open space. We are very close to the almost endless towering outer wall, and we can even see some of the colors of the sky through the gaps in the edge of the huge steel disk above our heads.

Heather looked around. The silence in the dimly lit open space seemed a bit too quiet. There were piles of sand and stones everywhere, and in the distance was a broken metal passage.

He nodded and turned to look at Tifa: "That's it. I'll give you ten seconds to adjust your breathing, and then use all your means to attack me."

"Ah...ah?" Tifa, who was panting with her hands on her waist, looked at Heather in surprise, not even bothering to wipe the sweat from her forehead: "Brother, what did you say?"

"You still have 7 seconds."

Heather just lowered her hands and looked at Tifa. Although she didn't put on a posture, Tifa could feel the [aura] rising from her senior brother.

Senior brother is serious!

Tifa clenched her fists with both hands in a Zanganliu fighting style, ready to fight. The senior brother is called a super genius that the master has not seen for decades. He is just a novice who has learned the Zanganliu fighting technique for more than a year, so he must concentrate all his energy.

3 seconds!

Tifa secretly encouraged herself, no problem, didn't she also kill the monsters in Demon Mountain? Tifa, you can do this.

2 seconds!

Tifa's slender and pale little fists were clenched tightly. She didn't want her senior brother to feel that she was not worthy of being taught. She wanted to show her senior brother her potential in Zanganliu fighting skills.

1 second!

Heather twitched her fingers at Tifa.

drink!

Tifa's feet suddenly exerted force, and she rushed towards Heather. Her left fist turned into a palm, and the bottom of her palm struck Heather's chin, but Heather easily avoided it. The girl's right fist, which had been charged for a long time, took advantage of the situation and flew out, but was blocked by Heather with one hand.

The two of them were attacking and defending, and the sound of fists and feet clashing could be heard constantly in the open space.

Heather did not treat Tifa with a scornful attitude. Instead, she took a defensive posture very seriously and constantly deflected or avoided Tifa's offensive.

The girl used all the skills she had learned and used her own Zangan-ryu fighting style to continuously attack Heather. Master Zangan said that each of his disciples' Zanganliu fighting skills would incorporate their own unique style. This is exactly the spirit of Zanganliu.

Compared to her master's heavy, powerful and thunderous attacks, Tifa prefers smooth and flowing attacks. Even though Zanganliu fighting technique does not strictly include the technique of attacking while moving, Tifa's fists and feet are very flexible, and the girl's body also shows unusual flexibility. She can always move quickly. In the process, he attacked with incredible angles and postures.

If it were an ordinary person as the opponent, maybe he would be a little confused facing this fifteen-year-old girl, right?

The attack and defense between the two lasted for about 5 minutes. Seeing that Tifa's speed and punching strength had dropped visibly, Heather grabbed Tifa's kicks from the side and pushed them forward. The girl He stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Okay, that's it."

Heather did not help Tifa, but took out the cowhide ledger with a pen from the inner pocket of her coat, opened it and wrote something on it.

Tifa sat on the ground for a while and then slowly got up. It was strange to say that since the fire, her mood had been as gloomy as a rainy night, but after the five minutes of hearty sleep just now, As he attacked as much as he wanted, he seemed to feel a little more comfortable.

He lost his hometown, lost his family, and suddenly came to Midgar. He didn't even know how to earn money for the next meal, and where was the future... But at least, he still had hands and feet, and he still had learning. A skill from the master. As long as you work hard, there will be a way.

"As long as you learn it, no one can take it away."

Heather, who was writing in her ledger with her head down, suddenly said this sentence without thinking, then stopped writing and looked up at Tifa:

"You practiced very well and incorporated your own characteristics on the basis of Zanganliu."

Suddenly receiving praise from her senior brother, Tifa's pretty face turned bright red: "It's because Master taught her well."

"Zangan has always liked free-range teaching. To put it bluntly, it is to let the disciples grow freely. Don't put gold on his face."

Heather obviously understands Zangan's style very well: "This is Midgar, and the lower city is a mixed bag, and anything can happen. So you need to become stronger. Remember, no one can take away what you have learned. .”

As he spoke, he handed the cowhide ledger to Tifa, who took it with both hands and discovered that what Heather had written in the ledger was a detailed analysis of his fighting style.

Heather pointed to the writing on the paper and said: "You are not strong enough but very fast, so you need targeted training. Strengthen your strength and stamina while ensuring your speed, otherwise you will not be able to cope with a multi-person fight." . For the next three months, come to me at six o'clock every morning. I will make an exercise plan to help your physical strength return to the level before the injury as soon as possible, and then you can start practicing the Zanganliu fighting technique."

Although Heather's tone was stern, Tifa could feel the concern from her senior brother. She nodded heavily: "Please, senior brother."

"Don't use 'you', am I that old?"

Heather looked around: "This place is very secluded and suitable for practice. I will come here from now on. Now, the next stop."

"Huh?" Tifa thought she was going to start training today.

Heather glanced at her: "Oh, what, you need to find a job, otherwise even if Mare reduces your rent by half, you still can't afford it."

Tifa then remembered that her assets were less than 500 GIL, and she couldn't even afford this month's rent.

"But before looking for a job..."

Heather pointed in the direction of Qifan Street Station:

"Go have breakfast first."

Thanks to Feizhaizhaishu for the 500 starting coins

PS: It’s beyond my expectation that the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was so bad... I ran all night to watch the BJ Olympics opening ceremony at Station B to wash my eyes, and suddenly I am looking forward to next year’s Winter Olympics.