Free Web NovelChapter 68: Chapter 67 - Training(Part 2)
Point-of-View: Zoraiz Rafayet
———————————————————————————
"You know, you’ve got great survival instincts and all, and that’s made you pretty highly skilled at evasion. But you really suck at attacking," Remarked Mike with a grin.
"Damn, you’re annoying...just stand still and let me punch you in the face already," I muttered in response.
"Yeah, no, I’m not gonna do that. You’re good at reading someone’s movements and then avoiding them, so just apply that to offense instead of defense. It’s not that hard...that’s what she said," He chuckled in amusement.
"So you say, but it’s not like you’re landing any clean hits on me either," I countered with a frown.
"Hm, fair enough...but, you know, I am going just a tiny bit easy on you, since I don’t want to land any particularly painful or damaging attacks," He responded smugly.
It feels like he’s trying to piss me off...
"Hey, don’t Meta-Humans use weapons? Maybe hand to hand combat isn’t my thing, it might be worth trying out a weapon-," I began to suggest.
"Well, yeah, plenty of Meta-Humans use weapons, but mastering at least a basic level of hand to hand combat is important too. You’re not always going to be carrying around a weapon, and you might come up against someone whom your powers aren’t effective against. The more well-rounded and balanced you are, the better off you’re going to be," He informed me.
"I get what you’re saying and all, but there must be other Meta-Humans that aren’t strong in certain areas, right?" I pointed out with a sigh.
"True enough, but such Meta-Humans usually don’t make it past Category 2. Let me be frank, as an Outlier, having you be at the capability level of a Category 2 would be pointless. This is the best way for you to get to your full potential when it comes to your powers," He responded objectively.
"Sure, but...I don’t really have any particular motivations to get that strong. Yeah, it’d be nice if I was super strong, but I wouldn’t lose my mind or anything if I don’t get to that level," I shrugged in reply.
"Well, I can’t exactly refute that line of reasoning...but this isn’t just for Harmony’s sake, it’s for your own sake too. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll have to face strong opponents in real fights, fights where it’s life or death...so, get up and come at me, we’ve still got a lot of training to get through."
I let out a sigh as I prepared myself, putting up my guard. It’s true that it won’t be easy for me without Harmony’s support, plus I’m really enjoying life here...I guess it’s only fair that I pay them back using these powers that led me here.
I mean, if I hadn’t gained these powers, I’d have probably been arrested that day, possibly even killed. And besides, I’m not particularly against having these powers and gaining the skills I need to defend myself...it’s just that it’s so damn tiring!
Well, anyway...I’ll just take my frustrations out on him, I just want to land one punch and I’ll be satisfied...
I shot towards him and swung a couple of punches at his chest and face as I closed in on him, but he easily deflected my first strike and blocked the second one, before grabbing my wrist and driving his right knee up towards me.
Unable to break free from his grasp, I swiftly sprang up and landed my left foot on his raised knee, before swinging my free arm at the side of his head. He reacted by quickly letting go of my wrist and blocking my attack.
He then dropped his knee, forcing me to spring back off of it, before he swiftly shot towards me before I could land.
He drove a twisting palm strike towards my abdomen as he closed in on me, and right as he was about to land his strike, I quickly brought my knees up at the last second, catching his arm between my thighs and halting his attack.
Unfortunately, that used all the core strength I could muster, so I couldn’t follow it up, and ended up awkwardly collapsing onto the ground, along with Mike, who let out a yelp of surprise as he got dragged down with me.
"Okay, uh...that wasn’t too bad. If you had someone else fighting alongside you, I’d have probably lost just then," Admitted Mike wryly, as he got back on his feet and helped me up.
"Tch, if I had more core strength, I could have swung my feet out and smashed your face in," I sighed wistfully.
"Man, so violent. Alright, come on, get back on your feet. Why don’t we see if that last move was just a fluke?" He taunted me with a smirk.
I swear, one of these days, I’m gonna land a proper hit on him...and when I do, it’s gonna be satisfying as hell...
———————————————————————————
Point-of-View: Alexis Tucker
———————————————————————————
"Ugh, I should have done gymnastics or some other athletic crap in school...well, not that I ever had much time for stuff like that," I muttered irritably, as I wiped away the sweat on my forehead.
"You don’t have to get so discouraged, you’ve improved a lot, and quite steadily, at that. I’d say you’re at about a Category 2 level," Responded Kiyana, as she took a swig of water.
"I feel like you’re just buttering me up...the two guys mentioned that their trainers said the same thing, but they’re better at me when it comes to hand to hand combat," I pointed out with a frown.
"Actually, from what I’ve heard, they’re closer to Category 1 now. You’re more mid-Category 2 in that regard. You are behind them, but not by much," She informed me.
Hm, doesn’t seem like she’s lying, but I still feel kinda patronized though.
"Zoraiz, I can understand, he was always on the run so he was in decent shape even before all this. But Inoka was basically a shut-in, how is he better than I am at this?" I muttered with a grumble.
"Well, fitness and fighting instincts aren’t the same things, and besides...Liling is actually one of our best trainers, the majority of the Metas that she’s trained are at Category 1 or are certain to eventually get there. Meanwhile, I really don’t have a lot of experience training others, so a part of why you haven’t progressed as fast as the others might be my fault, sorry," She replied with an apologetic smile.
Okay, now I feel bad...from her perspective, all my complaining probably felt like I was blaming her, but that wasn’t my intention at all.
"No, I’m sorry for bitching so much, I shouldn’t take my frustration out on you," I responded ruefully.
"You know, you’re better off not comparing yourself to others. Um, I mean, different people evolve at different levels. In my opinion, you should only compare yourself to yourself...like, your current self to your past self," She advised me.
Well, she’s got a point, but...
"I can’t argue against that, but then, what am I supposed to do with all this frustration?" I sighed in reply.
"I, uh...I don’t think I can help you there," She remarked sheepishly, before suggesting, "Anyway, that’s enough of a break, what do you say we get back to training? Oh, and please try not to ’accidentally’ fire off lightning when you get frustrated at being unable to land a hit on me."
"I’ll, uh...I’ll try." freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"Just so you know, if you use your powers, so will I," She smiled as she got into her stance.
Yeah, I won’t stand a chance if she does that...alright, fine, I’ll just have to keep at this until I get good enough!
I then shot towards her and leapt forward as I closed in, aiming to strike her with a flying kick. But she easily evaded it, stepping out of the way.
I slid along the floor as I landed, before regaining my balance and sprinting towards her again, drawing back my right fist this time as I closed in on her. As I swung my fist towards her face, she tilted her head out of the way and skipped off to the side, to my right.
That’s what I was counting on! Whenever I go for a full blooded punch, she always just evades by stepping across to the opposite direction in which my body is moving. Since I attempted that punch with my right fist, my body’s momentum was twisting to the left, so she went to the right.
She probably thinks that I’m attacking in frustration, I deliberately tried to give off that impression by opening with that straightforward, easy to read kick, followed by a simple, head-on punch. And now, I’ve got her right where I want her.
As she got in position to my right, I swiftly swung my right leg off to the side, her eyes widening in surprise as she began to cross her arms defensively in front of herself...but that’s when I lost my balance and fell down awkwardly, my butt hitting the floor painfully. Ow...
"Wow, you surprised me there. That would have probably landed if you didn’t lose your balance. But your body still isn’t flexible enough to pull that off," Remarked Kiyana with a smile, as she helped me up.
"Yeah, I think I might have pulled a muscle in my thigh," I grimaced in response, as I rubbed my thigh gingerly.
That was the closest I’ve gotten to landing a hit on her, and what an embarrassing way to fail. Kill me...just kill me now...
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
