Gymnasium

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The Gym.

Vertigo looked down. "Ah him. Yes." he smiled. "In martial arts, you don't actually show any mercy when you're faced with an opponent." he looked at Evangeline. "So, shall we start?"

Evangeline was teary eyed. "H-heeeh?~ But I'm a beginner right? You'll show mercy against me, right?" she gave her puppy-dog eyes move as she slowly crawled in.

Vertigo laughed. "Of course." he chuckled. "But first, you have to change into the Karate uniform. I've already prepared everything in the changing room. You're obviously size extra small so everything's all ready. So you can just go ahead and change." he smiled.

"H-haiiiii.~" she quickly nodded and ran to the changing room.
While inside, she breathed a sigh. "Vertigo is scary." she grunted and began to change into her Karate uniform.

Vertigo gestured his head for his opponent to leave. "Work hard. And you may someday be able to reach my level." he said warmly followed by a smile as he waited for Evangeline.

Evangeline walked out of the changing room, still fixing her belt. "Neh, Vertigo-san, how come I have different coloured belt compared to yours?"

Vertigo walked towards her. "That's because we have different levels. You're only starting today, so that means you're a beginner and will start with a white belt." he smiled and helped her with fixing the belt. "In martial arts uniform, you don't just simply tie it like tying your shoelaces. It goes like this." He showed her how.

Evangeline nodded. "Ooh, I see." she chuckled. "I never knew martial arts is that strict. Even tying the belt has a pattern." she laughed. "Soo, how many color of belts do I need to take before I become a black like yours?"

Vertigo chuckled. "Well, let's see. You start off with white, then yellow, then green, then blue, then brown, and finally black." he smiled. "Pretty long way to go." he chuckled.

Evangeline's mouth dropped open. "Heeeh?! So you mean you went through all of those?!" she said while looking down at her belt.

Vertigo finished tying her belt. "Technically, yes. But I've skipped a few levels since it all depends on your performance." he smiled. "Although once you reach the black belt, there are another ranking system. It's called the Dan system and is composed of 10 levels, with 1 being the lowest. I'm just in number 6 though." he chuckled.

Evangeline's eyes sparkled. "Waaah~ Then you must already be pretty good then?~" she beamed. "Okaaay~ Let's start! I will hold a world record! Reaching black belt in just one day! And yes, it is this day." she chuckled.

Vertigo laughed. "Okay." he chuckled and moved over to the center of the room.

"Heeey~ I'm totally serious about this!" she pouted and ran towards him, facing against each other. "As proof of that, I'll even use this special genius skill of mine to do that." she said with a serious look. She smiled. "Okaaay~ Let's start, sensei!"

Vertigo blinked. "Wait, are you really serious about achieving black belt as soon as possible?" he tilted his head. "But that's almost basically impossible for the type of body you have. Remember that you're rather frail than the rest."

Evangeline lowered her eyebrows. "Heey~ You don't have to emphasise it like that." She pouted, then smiled. "But don't underestimate me. Why do you think I can play various sports in a whole new level compared to others?" she smirked. "I'm a genius after all."

Vertigo looked at her and grinned. "Well well. Looks like it's time to challenge that geniusness after all. Let's see if it can take as far as to create a world record." he chuckled. "Did you know? That brown belts achieve black belts in different ways. Either examinations, recommendations, etc. But the hardest of all is to defeat a black belt in a match. But it is also the quickest and most efficient of all." he smirked. "Although it doesn't apply to lower ranks, who knows? That brain of yours might actually accomplish that." he chuckled.

Evangeline's eyes sparkled. "Really?~ There is such as waaay~? Neahaha! Cool! Then all I have to do was defeat a black belt like you after all?" she beamed. "Okaay~ Let's start!" she chuckled.

Vertigo looked down and tightened his belt. "But you do realise that defeating a black belt is not even as hard as looking for a penguin in the desert right?" he looked at her. "And you do realise that this is martial arts. I won't hold anything back if you are serious about this." he smiled. "It's up to you to decide."

Evangeline shivered at his smile. "Err. He really is scary." she thought. But nodded and smiled. "Yep yeeeeep~ I'm serious about this. Besides," she chuckled. "I've always wanted to see how Vertigo looks like when he's serious." she beamed.

Vertigo smiled. "Are you dead serious about this?" he chuckled. "Remember the scream you just heard earlier? I've even held myself back since it's a simple sparring and not really a match."

Evangeline blinked, then scratched her cheek. "Oh riiiight~ That scream." she bit the side of her lip. "It's okaaay~" she grinned. "I don't actually care. I just want to reach the black belt level and that's that!" she smiled. "I want it. And I'll do whatever it takes to get it."

Vertigo smiled and made his stance. "This may sound ironic but, looks like I'll personally be the one to demonstrate and introduce to you the thought, " he grinned. "That you can't have everything that you want." he smiled again. "Your move, rookie."

Evangeline nodded. "Time to challenge how far my geniusness can take me." she chuckled and made her stance as well. "Okaay~ so I'll just imitate what I learned from the movies." she chuckled and crouched back. Then sprang forward into a dash towards him, finally delivering a rather flimsy punch towards his face.

Vertigo looked at how careless and obviously beginner quality her moves were. He caught his forearm with two hands and leaned to the side. He moved his foot against hers and pulled her forward to remove her balance, then shifted his weight as he knelt one knee to further pull her forward and turned her upside down. And with a final support of the other hand which grabbed her belt, he slammed her, back first against the floor.

He stood and dusted off his hands. "Hmm."