Free Web NovelChapter 62: Chapter 61 - Murderous Determination
Point-of-View: Adelmira Hartley
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"Wait, seriously? I mean, I know that you’ve been preparing yourself to do this, but isn’t it a bit too soon?" Inquired X skeptically, as she blocked an attempted punch from me with ease.
"Maybe...but I can’t wait anymore. Tomorrow, I’ll finally kill the bastard who murdered my mother," I replied firmly, as I swung my foot up at her.
It’s the 10th of June today, and a couple of days ago, we had begun physical hand to hand combat training, now that we had mastered some techniques of our respective Skills. X was training us in this area, by one hour bouts of one on one sparring with each of us.
Aura control, output control, mastery of Skill techniques, and physical combat...I had learnt all the basics necessary to fight as a Meta-Human, and now that I had, all I could think about was killing him. I know that the smart thing to do would be to wait a while longer till I’m ready, but...I can’t do it, I just can’t wait anymore.
"Look, you’ve made some really good progress, Miraliz, but you’re still far from ready. Your movements are still too clumsy, and you freeze up whenever you’re caught off-guard...which is normal at your level of experience. The only way to get good at hand to hand combat is continous repetition, it’s not something you can master overnight. It’ll take at least a couple of months before you’re-...," She advised me.
"I know you’re right, I know that...but right now, it doesn’t matter to me. And besides, this guy is supposed to be a Category 2, right? I can take him," I responded, knowing that I was being stubborn and illogical, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care.
"How about this, at least wait a few more days, let me teach you some simple fighting techniques so that you’ve got a better shot," She offered me, as she continued to effortlessly block and deflect my attacks.
"I appreciate the offer, but it’s too late...I already made the request to Trevor yesterday, and he agreed," I informed her.
"...oh. I hate to say it, but, uh...you’re probably gonna get your ass kicked," She replied wryly.
"Doesn’t matter. Even if I fail, I can try again some other time...and Eden can’t afford to let me die after failing to capture the last Outlier that appeared," I pointed out objectively.
"Huh, guess you’ve put more thought into this than I expected," She responded, as she deflected another attempted punch and sent me stumbling off-balance past her.
"I’m...so...tired...," I sighed, as beads of sweat dripped down my face and onto the floor. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"Well, we have been at it for over forty-five minutes without a break," She laughed wryly.
"Yeah, and despite that, you’ve barely even broken a sweat," I replied with a rueful smile.
"I mean, I’ve been training for years at this point, so I’ve got a lot of stamina. Plus, you’re still growing, so your body is immature," She pointed out logically.
"Hey, how did you train, by the way? I mean, you said that you were locked up most of the time, right?" I inquired curiously.
"Well, when it came to the basics like Aura and output control, I was trained by others, same with hand to hand combat, but once I had decent levels of mastery over all the basics, they told me to continue training in my cell. And, well, I didn’t want to die on the missions they send me on, so I did...also, I was bored, and I kinda enjoyed physical training, I especially worked on my flexibility and agility," She explained as she recalled.
"I see...well, I can’t wait for years, considering how impatient I already feel. Tomorrow, even if I lose, I’ll make sure to find out exactly what I’m up against, how capable this bastard is, and how strong I need to be to kill him...," I stated as I felt a surge of emotion, mostly rage.
"That’s quite the look you’ve got in your eyes there...easy now, you don’t wanna get too heated, kid," She remarked with a wry smile, as she patted my head.
"Hey, I’m not a kid!" I protested indignantly as I pushed her hand away, though I couldn’t deny that it felt kinda nice.
"Yeah, yeah...here’s some advice, your best chance of winning tomorrow is by riling up your opponent at the start while staying calm yourself. And then, wait for an opening and strike with an attack strong enough to kill. Learnt any techniques that could do the trick?" She inquired with a smile.
"I think so...thanks for the advice, I’ll keep it in mind."
...
A short while later, I was back in my cell, having just taken a shower and changed. I was laying flat on my bed, staring up at the ceiling while deep in thought. The truth is, I’m more confident about this than I let on.
I’ve been working on a new technique, one that wasn’t in the Aqua Skill book that I was given...or, well, there were similar techniques, but this was like a more extreme version. I haven’t quite mastered it, though.
I probably can’t win without it though, so I have to get it down pat by tonight. Hm, and X’s suggestion on how I should approach the fight...I can apply it with this technique, and if I succeed, I’ll probably win.
I’ll be able to practice freely inside this cell, since whatever these walls are made off, they can’t be damaged by Meta-Human powers. It’s strange, because it feels like normal concrete when I touch it...well, no reason to question it, let’s get to practicing.
I need to be careful not to overexert myself with this, I have to be at my best tomorrow...but I can’t take it easy either, this is my best chance of killing that man, I won’t waste it. I hope he underestimates me, that’ll increase my chances of beating him.
I’ve done all I can to downplay how powerful I am, and as far as Eden is concerned, my numbers are a fair bit lower than either of the other two Outliers here. And well, I do have a lower Aura capacity than Astra does, but my maximum output is much higher.
My Aura capacity is 1020 and my maximum output is 475, but I’ve downplayed both by about 150 Aura. Maximum output was easy enough to lie about, but hiding my Aura was a bit tricky...after all, by using Appraisal, anyone would be able to tell if I wasn’t fully suppressing my Aura.
Unless, of course, I partially unsuppressed it in a way where they wouldn’t be able to see...or, in other words, I unsuppressed a portion of my Aura straight downwards. And sure enough, no one noticed when I did so before measuring my Aura capacity.
It may be meaningless in the long run, but if I plan on escaping this place someday, I need every advantage I can get, no matter how minor. I’ll keep at it, no matter how long it takes, until I finally get the chance to escape. Of course, before that, I first need to get this Condition thing removed somehow.
Well, that’s all probably not going to happen any time soon, so I won’t agonize over it...there’s no point in getting too far ahead of myself, I need to stay in the present and approach things one step at a time. And right now, the step that I need to take is mastering this technique, so that I can kill that man tomorrow. Time to focus...
...
...
"Hey, good morning...wow, you sure seem to be having a comfy nap, aren’t you?" Came a voice as I felt a poke against my cheek.
Hm...? What time is it? I let out a wide yawn as I slowly blinked my eyes open, squinting a bit as I waited for my sight to adjust. Oh, it’s X, she must have woken me up.
"Another five minutes...," I grumbled, as I shut my eyes again and buried my face in the pillow with a lazy sigh.
"Huh, that was actually super adorable," She laughed, as I felt her ruffling my hair.
"What time is it?" I muttered sleepily.
"It’s past 11 AM...you’ve got less than an hour before your fight with that Category 2 guy who killed your mom. You should probably eat and get ready before that," She responded, as she poked my face again.
That’s right...today’s the day I kill that man. Time to get up, I can sleep all I want afterwards...
"Thanks for waking me up. Alright, let’s do this," I remarked as I smacked the sides of my face to get rid of the grogginess.
"Wow, guess you didn’t want the five more minutes, after all," Smirked X, as I sat up and stretched my arms, a sense of murderous determination about me...
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