'Hmmm, perhaps I should monologue a little, it'll make my theatrics more entertaining. But on second thought, that isn't like me,' Adam thought.
"WHUUUUMMMMM!!"
'Attract,' Adam motioned with his hand, yanking Raj uncontrollably toward him, but just as they were half a meter apart—"WHUUMMMM!!"—he sent him hurtling back once more.
Raj was a two-starred Rank 3, a star above Adam, but that advantage had disappeared due to the sheer incompatibility of both their bloodlines.
Adam left Raj to catch some breath after that. Raj stood up, the sheer absurdity of the situation baffling him. He couldn't even move against Adam's will, let alone touch him.
No, he refused to accept that. He started to rush at Adam again, but as if anticipating it, Adam flicked his finger once more. Suddenly, Raj felt his center of gravity completely reversed.
"THWACK!" Uncontrollably, he flew upward and crashed onto the energy shield.
"Enough!!" the instructor ordered. "Winner, Adam Walker," he announced.
Some of the cadets cheered, seeing Adam in a new light—or more like his bloodline abilities. But little did they know, he was currently forcing himself to stand straight. Beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead as he got off the arena and made his way to his friends.
"Damn dude, you killed it up there," Owen exclaimed.
"Yeah, it seems you've gotten more adept at controlling your bloodline," Tokito added.
But Adam wasn't paying attention to them. He hurriedly brought out an essence-replenishing potion and gulped it down. Damn, that sure was taxing, Adam said inwardly. While it might have looked like he was effortlessly using his bloodline abilities, the truth was that he was just flexing.
Using the new technique was taxing. He was merely masking it by sheer will. But his essence had reached critical levels.
As soon as he gulped the potion, a warm sensation blazed through his body, and he felt his essence start to regenerate.
"What's wrong with you?" Tokito asked, seeing the beads of sweat on Adam's face.
"Yeah, you look constipated," Owen added.
"Don't mind me. How did I do?" Adam brushed the questions away and asked.
"Your fight probably had the best theatrics, like the way you were just flicking a finger and he would go flying," Owen described.
"You should try to increase your rank, though," Tokito voiced out.
"Hmmm, noted," Adam nodded. His body had already become accustomed to his seventh star. It was time he started condensing the eighth one. He was still too weak, after all, and while he didn't have any ambition to be the strongest or something, he did want to be able to have freedom. And only the strong can get that.
The matches continued. Some took no longer than a minute if the contenders were far apart in power, and some could take up to ten minutes or more if the contenders were around the same range in power. Finally, the last match had just concluded.
Turning to the cadets, "You see this?" Instructor Blake asked. "This is what you'll be doing now every combat class. Each time you'll meet a random opponent. It might be the strongest in class"—he glanced at Aurora—"or it might be the weakest in class. This is to diversify your arsenal."
"Now, there's still about twenty minutes until this class is over, but you're free to go for today, since it's the first day," he announced before he disappeared.
Groans of relief came from the cadets. Some of them were already too tired; they'd been standing for almost four hours, after all.
"You guys go on ahead, I have something to attend to," Owen said, and without giving either Adam or Tokito a chance to ask what it was about, he walked away.
"What's that about?" Tokito asked, turning to Adam.
"How would I know?" Adam shrugged. "Probably has to do with his girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?!" Tokito almost stumbled. It was only when he looked up that he saw the glinting eyes of the cadets on him and Adam.
"What the hell are you all looking at?" he growled. It was only then that they looked away—at least most of them.
Turning to Adam, "Since when does he have a girlfriend?!" Tokito whispered.
"Maybe since before we even entered the academy. During alchemy class, he always sits with her," Adam whispered back.
"Who is she?" Tokito asked with gleaming eyes.
"It's that Ashley girl," Adam replied.
"Hmmm," Tokito hummed. "Now that you say it, I sometimes see him making faces at her."
"Right?"
"Man, and he didn't even tell us," Tokito drawled and shook his head. "I think we should get one too," he suddenly said.
"Not interested," Adam replied almost instantly.
"Oh come on, Adam, there are so many beautiful girls in that academy. Plus, we're not exactly ugly!"
"Suit yourself!"
As they walked back to the dorms, the two continued their assumptions, not knowing how completely off course they were.
By 3 p.m. on the same day, Adam made his way back to the academic block.
"Come in," Aurora's voice came from the other side of the door.
With a little push, the door gave way, and he entered the office.
"Lady Aurora," he greeted.
"Come with me," she said and headed toward the training room.
"Have you ever been taught hand-to-hand combat?" she asked.
"No," Adam said after a moment of silence. "I've only watched a few clips."
"Figures," she muttered. She had noticed that Adam fought like a child—no, worse than a trained child. His fighting style had no techniques whatsoever. It was either purely barbaric or a poor imitation of a technique.
"Today we're brushing on hand-to-hand combat," she intoned.
"I don't think that'll be necessary, Lady Aurora!" Adam chuckled sheepishly. He was already getting enough beatings; he didn't want to add any more to it.
"You're becoming less stoic as the days go by. It'll be best for people to be unable to read your face. Someone is leaving a bad influence on you."
Wait, where did that come from? Adam thought inwardly. The reason he had been stoic all those times was because of his awakening, and now that the effect was slowly going away, he was going back to normal.
But wait, even before my awakening, while I wasn't stoic, I wasn't this unhinged. Damn you, Owen, and Tokito to a lesser extent. He recognized the influence of their personalities on him.
"You're actually right," he muttered after reasoning.
"That's one of the fundamentals of combat. If people can read you, they'll eventually be able to read your moves."
"Ready yourself, I'm going to attack you," Aurora said.
"What!?"
"You heard me!"
Adam stepped back to make space. "So, we're really doing this?" he asked, half-joking, half-praying. Even though this wasn't a sword fight, this was arguably more dangerous. I don't know how many times my body will be broken today, he sighed.
She moved like water with a grudge—silent, fluid, but deadly. He raised his fists like he'd seen in the clips. It wasn't much.
His punch came slow and uncertain. She stepped inside it without effort, twisted his wrist, and folded him to the ground like a bad idea.
"First lesson," she said, voice as flat as a closed door. "Balance before power."
"Okay," he coughed. "I think my back is broken."
She didn't respond. Just stepped back and waited.
He rose, straightening his clothes. The next attempt came quicker, more serious. A feint. A swing. She moved beneath his strike and drove her palm into his chest like she was ringing a gong. He flew, hit the floor, and skidded.
Did she just unplug my lungs? he inwardly wheezed.
"Try again."
This went on for what felt like hours. He attacked. She broke him. He learned. She corrected. Each blow she landed was a lesson, cruel in its efficiency. She never smiled. She never missed.
"No distractions," she said, crouching to his level. "Center low. Don't chase. Let them come. Use their momentum."
Somewhere between getting knocked down and getting back up, something shifted. He stopped thinking. Started moving. He feinted, pivoted, tried to catch her off guard.
She caught his elbow mid-air and flipped him flat. Again.
"What happens if I land a hit?" he asked, spread out on the floor.
She looked down at him like he was a strange bug. Then came her impassive voice: "You can't. And if you manage to, then I teach you why that was a mistake."
He groaned. "You're terrifyingly strong and fast."
"Believe it or not, I'm using just the same amount of strength as you, and moving at just about the same speed as you are," she said.
"Whaaaat!" he reeled. Bullshit, he refused to believe it.
"It's just technique... and experience," she replied. "Now get up before I make you."
Isn't she supposed to give me some set of moves I should be practicing, instead of this brutal knockdown!? Adam thought. From those clips he had watched, the sensei or instructor gives the Padawan a set of moves to practice.
With a groan, he got up and resigned himself to fate.
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