Not a day to rest

[skip-stop]

"Your school is closed for cleaning, why can't you spend this day on something other than training?" Victoria asked in an irritated voice. "Take the example of Astrid and Nerissa, they know when to rest."

"To keep my body in good shape, I have to keep a schedule," Charlotte answered. "Don't worry, I'm not going to waste much time on this, my back is still not in the best condition."

"You're incorrigible..." the Englishwoman sighed. "Bye."

"Bye."

As soon as Charlotte put the phone in her bag, the elevator doors opened in front of her. The young woman showed her pass at the reception and immediately went to the locker room. To her surprise, there were not very many people and most of them were completely unfamiliar to her. There was nothing surprising in this. If she knew every woman in this federation by sight, then her head would surely explode.

Without wasting any time, Charlotte chose the nearest free locker and began to change into sports clothes. As Victoria correctly noted, Charlotte's martial arts school was closed today due to a large cleaning. And although she had the opportunity to use any gym in the city, she decided to visit the gym in the LAW main building. After all, it was a nice free privilege for federation fighters.

When she finished changing, Charlotte took a quick glance at the mirror to look at her reflection. Sports top, short shorts, light sneakers and gloves. Nothing special. Taking a bottle of water with her, she left the locker room.

Charlotte Ravel'

Workout outfit

"Wow..." she said before she could stop herself.

She spent a lot of time and effort to equip her school to high standards. But this place was clearly several levels higher. A huge selection of exercise machines, punching bags, dummies and even several rings for sparring sessions. Impressive. There was no other way to describe it.

Stepping aside, Charlotte spent time warming up, she did not want to get a sprain or any other unnecessary injury. It was her first workout after Apex. Besides, she still hasn't fully recovered her back. Try to fall from about three meters high, you definitely won't like it. But, nevertheless, the doctors said that she could start training, so the Frenchwoman saw no reason to deny herself the pleasure of seeing how fine her body was.

After finishing the warm-up, she immediately went to the wing chun dummy. She thought it would be a good way to test if she could use all the speed she was capable of. Taking a fighting stance, Charlotte began to beat the dummy. At first at a moderate pace, and then she began to accelerate with each strike. She felt discomfort in her back, indicating that she should not overexert herself, but, nevertheless, the sounds of the collision of fists and wood became louder and louder.

[Epicsnivy]

Callie May

For Callie, visiting the gym was a daily occurrence for the Gold Medalist from Wyoming. Due to her incredibly hard work ethic and her pension for consuming ridiculous amounts of food, especially of the meat variety, and still being able to have a cut and impressive figure the moment she wrestles in a LAW ring, meant that her gym visits were a daily must. Usually she ends up bringing someone like Mary or Annie with her, both of them making really fun workout pals, mainly because Mary is easy to lightly poke fun of and Annie has just as much enthusiasm for the process of working out. Sadly, both of them were busy today, Mary had to tend for one of her horses getting sick, leading to her being busy at the vet an her match being cancelled for the night, and Annie having to fill in for her in a match against Phoebe Duclair. This left Callie feeling a little sad, cause workouts are immediately better with someone to pair up with.

Clad in a green long sleeved striped jacket, bike shorts, and sneakers, Callie waited at the bus stop, hoping to also find a different gym, cause it turned out the gym she usually goes to was closed due to someone entering while being sick, spreading an infection and closing the gym with staff having to disinfect. This definitely turned her mood down, but she heard about another gym that some LAW wrestlers use a lot, almost as if it is a common meeting spot, and when she got off the bus, and saw the entrance to the gym, a smile was restored on the brunette's face.

Compared to the gym she usually goes to, this place was a lot more fancy. Lot more exercise machines, punching bags, and a surprising amount of rings which definitely made Callie realize why so many wrestlers come here.

Because Callie was new here, she had to feel out some paperwork, which gave her a couple issues, her lack of being fully educated, having never completed high school, meant one of the staff members had to help her out, with people complaining about her in line. Callie wanted to scream at them about how she would "kick their face in" but she knew it would not be a good idea.

Eventually, the process was complete, and Callie with a new gym membership in tow, began to walk around the facility, being really impressed with what they had here.

Someone caught her eye however, as she saw a redhead kicking the shit out of a dummy. Callie was very intrigued by this, and had to introduce herself to this redheaded fighter.

"HEY! MIND IF I JOINED? Callie screamed as she approached Charlotte, hoping to introduce herself.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte was fully focused. She seemed to pull away from everything around her. The young woman was trying to squeeze out the maxim of her speed. Her fists, forearms and elbows were slamming into the dummy as if she was firing a machine gun. But it wasn't enough. The Frenchwoman knew that she was capable of more.

Yet, it wasn't hard for her to notice that she stopped accelerating. It wasn't her limit, but she just couldn't bring herself to throw her arms forward any faster. It seems she will have to work on her shape. The Apex was definitely not good for her health.

Suddenly Charlotte shuddered as if someone had run a knife over a porcelain plate near her ear. The reason for this was simple. She didn't expect at all that someone would start shouting right behind her. After stopping beating the dummy, the pink-haired woman took a deep breath and turned around.

Literally for one second she was confused. Not seeing anyone in front of her, she thought that maybe she was lost in thought too deeply and that the scream behind her back was just her imagination. But then she lowered her head and right after that her left eyebrow slightly lifted.

Until today, the lowest woman she had ever encountered was Nerissa. The difference in their height was about twenty centimeters. But the stranger who was standing in front of her right now was at least thirty-five centimeters shorter. However, this did not prevent the Frenchwoman from noticing the good shape of this woman. Considering that only LAW fighters were allowed to enter this gym, it was easy to conclude that they were colleagues.

Taking another deep breath, Charlotte pulled herself together.

"At first..." she said. "Why shout?"

Yes, of course, the sounds of her bones colliding with the wood were loud, but clearly not so loud that there was a need to scream. For Charlotte, this behavior was a little strange. The gym is not a library, but still you should not raise your voice so much without obvious necessity. However, the stranger's question caught her attention. It's not every day you can meet someone who wants to train with a wing chun dummy.

"You know kung fu?" She asked. "This dummy is not suitable for classic punches and kicks."

Only after that Charlotte realized that she had forgotten about one important thing. It seems that such a sudden scream stunned her a little more than she thought. She had completely forgotten about manners. But, as they say, you can fix anything except death. Therefore, the pink-haired woman stretched out her right hand forward, offering the stranger a handshake.

"Charlotte Ravel'." She introduced herself.

[Epicsnivy]

Callie was well known for not exactly a quiet person, in fact she was extremely loud, and also not very smart. She did not recongnize that shouting out loud in a gym would be against common etiquette, but she did not care, for as long as it got the redhead's attention, she was satisfied, and could not care less about how others in the gym felt.

"I don't know girl, shouting just comes natural to me." Callie said in her usually loud voice. "Besides, you seemed so focus on your awesome fighting skills that you would not had paid attention to me otherwise."

As Callie got closer, she could see how built the redhead was, evident but sleek muscle across her midriff and thighs., Callie was excited to meet someone who she could tell could kick some ass.

"Oh heck yeah! I'm a multi time Kung Fu Medalist at the Wyoming Martial Arts Championships. I could have easily gone into Mixed Martial Arts or the Olympics even if I slept walk through the competition." Callie said, talking herself up to make herself seem more impressive.

"Callie May!" Callie said, shaking the hand that Charlotte offered, holding it nice and firm. "So, you mind if I kick this dummie's ass a couple of times." The brunette asked, waiting to get a response.

[skip-stop]

"Girl?" Charlotte repeated in her mind.

Yes, of course, she wasn't an elderly lady, but she hadn't heard anyone address her that way for a long time. Especially considering that she was clearly older than this loud stranger. However, the Frenchwoman did not focus on this. Much more interested were the words that the stranger turned out to be a multi time Kung Fu medalist.

"Hmm, impressive..." said Charlotte, once again running her eyes over the young woman in front of her.

Despite the fact that the Frenchwoman herself spent almost six years of her life traveling the world and studying a variety of martial arts, she never took part in official championships or anything like that. Even though she had her own martial arts school, her career in professional sports began only after signing a contract with LAW.

"Pleased to meet you," Charlotte smiled slightly, feeling Callie's firm grip. "And, yeah, sure, be my guest."

Releasing Callie's hand, Charlotte took a few steps to the side, freeing up space for her new acquaintance. The Frenchwoman needed a short break anyway, so she took a bottle of water and took a few sips, while keeping her eyes on Callie.

"It'll be interesting to see your technique." She said, leaning her shoulder against the wall.

Despite the fact that Charlotte was far from the only martial arts practitioner here, until that day she had met only one woman who knew more non-standard things than boxing and Muay Thai. After their meeting, Jenner even asked Charlotte to start training her. Therefore, the Frenchwoman was wondering if Callie is really as good as she says.

[Epicsnivy]

By the looks of it, Charlotte really wanted Callie to impress, especially as she openly talked up her long resume of previous martial arts-based accomplishments before coming to LAW to wrestle. Charlotte was clearly older then her, so the brunette clearly had something to prove.

“Alright Charlotte, HERE I COME!” Callie yelled, still not paying attention to the proper etiquette of the gym. “KIYA!” Callie let out her scream before attempting to roundhouse kick the dummy.

The roundhouse kick was thrown with plenty of speed and power, so much so that the dummy was knocked over to its side very harshly as her kick connected. Callie very excitedely let out a fist pump as she walked over to Charlotte.

“Ah yeah! How do you like that?!” Callie yelled as she bowed to Charlotte respectfully. Hoping to get a response.

[skip-stop]

"Well, let's see..." Charlotte thought as Callie took her fighting stance.

The American woman again let out a loud scream, which attracted the attention of most of those who were in the gym at that moment. And then she made an arc with her left leg, sending a roundhouse kick into the dummy. The sound of Callie's foot hitting solid wood echoed through the gym.

The result of her kick was that the dummy collapsed. Yes, she really had impressive strength and speed. Charlotte could fully assess this because kicks were her main weapon, most of the time she devoted to taekwondo. And although she considered herself a universal fighter, it was kicks that most often helped her get the victory.

Callie approached Charlotte in order to get her opinion. It was not difficult to notice that the American woman was very excited. And Charlotte really had something to say. Of course, she wasn't going to pretend that she knew everything in the world. However, she was a martial arts master and teaching students was her job outside of the LAW ring.

"That was a good kick," she said with a curt nod. "Powerful and fast, your technique doesn't even need to be adjusted, the trajectory of the leg movement was almost perfect." The corners of Charlotte's lips slightly lifted. "But..."

Yes, there is always at least one but. Putting the water bottle on the bench, the pink-haired woman took a step towards her new acquaintance. Since Callie had asked her opinion, she was going to be honest. Besides, Charlotte saw nothing wrong with sharing knowledge with someone who wanted it.

"Take your fighting stance," she said, stopping just half a step away from Callie. "Look, your supporting leg." She pointed down. "Your stance is done like a textbook, at official exhibition you would have received the highest score." She looked into Callie's eyes. "But in a real fight, especially when your opponent is experienced, it's not the best solution." Charlotte gently touched Callie's thigh, slightly pushing her leg back. "Move your leg just an inch back, because of this, the speed of your kick will decrease a little bit, but instead you will get a much more hard stance." Charlotte lightly patted the American woman's thigh. "Speed and strength are good, but you have to stand like a stone because you don't have to count on your every kick to be successful, you have to stay at place after an unexpected opponent's attack, and it's much easier to do when your leg is slightly shifted back." Charlotte smiled again. "Understand?"

[Epicsnivy]

Callie let out a furious roundhouse kick, putting all the force she could into it and knocking the wooden dummy onto its side. It was clear that kick would do a lot of damage to an opponent, and now Callie waited for what Charlotte had to see.

According to Charlotte, her stance was not the best for a figh, which left Callie a little red in the face from embarrassment, especially Charlotte touching her thigh and pushing it back.

“Okay, I think I do.” Callie said, hoping she understood what Charlotte wanted, and adjusted her stance so that her standing leg was back a little bit. “Hey! Could you reset the dummy so I can try again?” Callie asked in a hasty manner.

Hopefully Charlotte would respond, and the advice would get to Callie so she could improve as a fighter and a wrestler.

[skip-stop]

Charlotte noticed that Callie was blushing slightly. It seems the American woman expected Charlotte to tell her that her kick was absolutely perfect instead of giving advice on improving the stance. Well, the pink-haired woman could really say that everything was fine. However, she didn't see the point.

Everyone could think about it differently, but she came to LAW not only to reach the top, but also to become an example for future generations of fighters. Yes, Charlotte had no doubt that she still had a lot to learn, but at the same time she was always ready to share the knowledge she already had with other fighters.

That's why she decided to give advice about the fighting stance that Callie used. And, to her relief, the American woman did not refuse this advice. After she shifted her leg back a bit, her stance became clearly more confident. This made Charlotte smile a little.

"Ah, of course." She said in response to Callie's request.

Taking a step to the side, the pink-haired woman bent down and grabbed the dummy. With one movement, she put it in an upright position, and then shifted her gaze to Callie again. She wondered if the American woman would feel the difference between these two stances.

"Come on, don't hold back!" The Frenchwoman called her, nodding towards the dummy.

[Epicsnivy]

Callie took the new stance she was taught by Charlotte, and she could automatically feel the difference. She felt a lot more stable and firmer, like her feet were planted into the ground. Something about it was so satisfying, she could not wait to kick someone’s ass doing this. But first she has to kick this dummy’s head off.

“Thanks! NOW LOOK OUT! KIYAH!” Callie said before warning Charlotte to get out of the way as she was about to launch another Roundhouse kick to the wooden dummy. It was time to show the gym why she is a martial arts gold medalist.

Callie launched the kick, and the next thing anybody saw, was that the dummy was knocked over onto it side, like the first time Callie kicked it. Only this time, something was different.

The head was no longer on the body, landing right next to wherever Charlotte was. Seeing this, Callie jumped in the air like she was on thirty grams of sugar.

“OH HELL YEAH! HOW WAS THAT?” Callie yelled as she waited for Charlotte’s response.