After his morning workout, and his breakfast, Kyle went to be taught by Gramm, who announced that the safest place to be in the jungle (besides a safe zone) was on the ground. He said that predators hunt mostly in the trees, and they always have the advantage there. To survive, he proclaimed, one must keep his feet on the ground where they belong. This disappointed Kyle, who had been getting better at ascending and descending the tower, and he wondered if his time would be better spent doing something else. Gramm also gave them helpful hints about engaging both animals and people in combat, and by the time the class was through, everyone except Kyle was bored. He had finally found where he belonged. For once in his live, Kyle had the kind of mental and physical stimulation he required. Everything he learned made him thirst for more knowledge. Every time he grew stronger, it inspired him to grow even more strong. Kyle was happy.
This happiness continued when he got to jungle combat, because that was the day Mike had selected for sparring. Each boy was paired with another, and a circle was drawn in the dirt around them. They were both given the spears they had carved the day before, and Mike began running through how to disarm, parry and feint. disarming involved knocking the spear from the opponents hand, parrying was when one deflected their opponent's thrust with their spear, and feinting was pretending to attack somewhere, only to attack somewhere else. After running through those moves by way of training drills, Mike told them to use the unsharpened end and begin sparring. It was clear from the look in his eye that Mike thought they were all beyond terrible, and several times he sighed, and shouted at someone a way they could improve.
Kyle however, only had a moment to observe Mike, because he soon became preoccupied in his first combat ordeal. His opponent, a slightly taller, slightly larger boy named Victor, was ruthlessly trying to batter Kyle with the blunt end of his spear. Kyle found that although he was larger, he certainly wasn't as skilled or as fast. This he proved, by sidestepping most of Victor's attacks, and jabbing him swiftly in the back. At the end of two minutes, which felt to the group like two hours, Mike yelled 'stop', and everyone ceased fighting. Kyle had sustained two bruises, one on the shoulder, and one on the arm, but Victor had taken about seven or eight blows, not counting the blow to his dignity. When Kyle offered him a handshake, saying 'no hard feelings', Victor took it begrudgingly, and faked a smile through his anger.
Having tasted combat for the first time, Kyle thirsted for more. All throughout jungle zoology he was thinking about his fight earlier, and how to improve his spear fighting abilities. As soon as class was over and siesta began, Kyle challenged Jimmy to a sparring match. Jimmy accepted gladly, and, after deciding on the ring size, they began. The fight was about even, with both boys sustaining bruises, and both getting hits in. it seemed that Jimmy was as addicted to spear fighting as Kyle, and at the end of the fight, they were even closer friends than before. This became a routine, with Kyle and Jimmy practicing and sparring together every day after zoology. Because of their friendly competition, Kyle started observing the veterans when they practiced with spears, in an attempt to learn new moves and get ahead of his new rival. Consequently, Kyle became the most practiced and versatile spear fighter in the whole group, with Jimmy coming in close second.
Every day, things seemed to get better for Kyle. He wondered if the jungle would be a buzz kill, waking him from the glorious high he received from training and learning, and thrusting him into a world of pain. Trying not to think about it, he decided to enjoy the present, and worry about the future when it got to him. After all, there was plenty to enjoy. Every day in Gramm's survival class he would learn an interesting new skill. One day it was how to get meat from an animal, another day it was how to make cloths from plants and slain beasts. He also loved the zoology course, for he enjoyed hearing about all of the seemingly mythical creatures, and was both scared and excited to meet them. His favorite class however became jungle combat. Kyle loved everything about it, from the adrenaline rush, to how alive it made him feel. In addition, the class got infinitely better when Mike taught them hand to hand combat. Beginning with boxing moves, like jab, cross and uppercut, they gradually worked their way through many different styles of fighting.
One day, when they all knew and had drilled all the boxing techniques. Mike announced that they were still not ready for hand to hand sparring. When they heatedly inquired why, he told them that they couldn't move like fighters, and needed to be taught. He paired people up and assigned each pair a sparring ring drawn in the dirt, as if they were about to fight. Instead of telling them to start fighting, he told one person from each group to raise their hand. Kyle, who was paired with Jimmy, boldly raised his hand. Mike then said that the person with their hand up could not throw any type of move, and could not step out of the ring. If they did either, they would be forced to do thirty pushups, and suffer five lashings with a stick. This method, however harsh, succeeded in giving the necessary incentive, because throughout the whole exercise only two people stepped out. Next he told them that the other person could throw any boxing move, and that they had two minutes to pummel their opponent until it was their turn. Jimmy would have gone easy on him, but he had learned from all his fights with Kyle that Kyle wanted the full experience, even if that meant a merciless pounding. The exercise did in fact serve its purpose, because after three days of this training, the boys were experts at ducking, dodging and weaving to avoid enemy attacks.
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