Ever since the news of the ranking list and the challenge system ca out, Kieran had received several warnings not to go too far whenever he was about make a challenge. It was expected that the second stage recruits like them would try to challenge rankers and get on the list, but there was a reason why only the bottom rankers had been challenged.
Jake on the other hand, just ignored all those and went directly for the 67th ranker. Kieran was a hundred percent sure that Jake had watched the match that had just concluded and had seen what soone who stood at the 73rd rank could do.
’Why would he do sothing like this?’
Kieran’s thoughts churned, trying to understand what his motive could be; but he couldn’t co up with anything, so he decided to sit and watch.
He knew Jake. He was a battle hungry fellow, but he was in no way stupid! How true those thoughts were though depended on the outco of this fight.
Jake had once said that he was a physical ability user and that was how he could infer that Kieran was also the sa. The instructor, August had made a correction though, pointing out that Kieran’s ability hadn’t awakened fully and that it was too early to say what it was until then.
Although he had spent so ti with Jake and knew that he was a physical type awakened, the had no idea what his awakened ability was.
Just like Jake had explained to him, abilities tended to be unique to the users; and while there were so common abilities, the way each person wielded and cultivated it was different.
Physical ability users were of different types, but they were all called physical ability users because their ability at the basic level just increased their physical capabilities.
Kieran hadn’t invested much ti to research on the different types of physical abilities, so that was the extent of his knowledge on the matter.
Jake’s opponent though, George Smith, was soone he hadn’t noticed. And after checking the previous rankings, Kieran was sure that this was his first ti on the ranking list.
’Just how dangerous was he to be placed at 67 for his first ti?’
"Don’t ask , I don’t know either!"
The recruit said, sensing Kieran’s gaze on him.
His questions would have to wait and be answered by the battle which was about to start any mont from now.
On the stage, the two opponents faced each other, having a clash of aura even before the fight comnced and after a few monts, a subtle frown appeared on Jake’s face.
"You must be really crazy, challenging "
George broke the silence between the both of them, having won their silent clash.
Jake on the other hand remained silent, his aura flaring up once more, enhancing his already savage look.
"You know what I’m after, so I think you would naturally understand!" Jake’s eyes flashed.
"Hmm? Even with what you’re after, I still find this crazy"
George stated once again, but before he could educate his stubborn opponent, the signal for the match to start was heard and Jake rushed out, spinning his body and to Kieran’s surprise, throwing his sword at George.
BANG!!
The sound was crisp and clear, suffocating that of the other battles.
The contestants on the other stages, paused for a mont to look at the source of such a sound.
The man on the receiving end of this attack though was unfazed, dodging at a speed that barely outpaced the attack that was thrown at him.
Jake didn’t ponder on this through, taking huge lunges towards George, his uniform tearing the next mont as several patches of fur appeared on his body and he swung his hand which now had sharpened clash instead of nails at George who once again dodged at the last mont, his face and action giving off the feel of total calmness.
"Transformation type"
Jake had just shown what type of physical ability he passed and it just happened to be one of the best in the physical category. Not only did enhance the physical abilities of the users in their base form, people like Jake who had a beast type transformation had the possibility of gaining other abilities unique to those beasts when they morphed.
"It’s that serious, huh?"
Kieran observed carefully, noting how Jake hadn’t bothered to test the waters with his enemy, going straight in for the kill.
He now understood why he had thrown the sword at the beginning. His transformation gave him a wild beast like fighting style and it was obvious that it didn’t go along with his style when using the sword, which while still wild, was completely different.
"Why did he use it then?" Kieran wondered why Jake would try to master two separate battle styles.
Back on the stage, Jake whose attack had missed once again, was back on the chase against George who had done nothing so far but dodge and redirect the attacks against him as they danced round the stage.
Along the way Jake had picked up his weapon again and sohow to Kieran’s shock, began a fiercer attack pattern, using the weight of his sword and that bound his strikes to throw heavy attacks that left the stage full of dents.
With such powerful attacks and his speed which had increased as the battle went on, George couldn’t go on just dodging his attacks and was finally forced to make a move.
"Don’t force !"
George’s calm voice was heard and his hands blurred, moving at lightning speed hitting several spots on Jake’s body sending him skidding several ters back, his sword still in his hands.
’Strong!’
This was the only word that appeared in Kieran’s mind seeing what had just happened.
Jake’s current self, coupled with his very heavy great sword weighted a lot, yet he had been sent skidding that easily with a light attack from George.
The difference in power was clear. Kieran could see it, the recruit beside him could see it, everyone could see it and he knew that Jake could see it too, but that didn’t seem to be enough to make him back down as he went back on his feet, ready to luck another round of attacks.
The boredom and irritation on George’s face was clear for all to see.
"I warned you not to push . You brought this upon yourself"
George sighed, taking a stance for the first ti as his palm glowed with a mysterious silver hue and when Jake arrived in front of him, he swatted his arm to the side sending the great sword flying and a loud cracked was heard.
With a single strike, he had broken all of Jake’s built up montum, taking control of the fight. No! The fight never left his hands, he was simply playing with Jake all along.
As he moved his hands, several after images could be seen as he left several palms prints on Jake’s body.
Contrary to Kieran’s expectation, there was no shockwave or exaggerated effects. Instead, Jake’s transformation slowly reverted and he dropped his knees.
"What happened just now?"
From Kieran’s point of view, it seed like George had landed a few soft strikes on Jake and Jake had just given up.
"What did you do?" Jake’s weak voice asked George.
"Oh that?"
"It’s nothing. I just found your transformation unpleasant."
George said, walking off the stage.
Kieran looked at the defeated figure of Jake who was still kneeling on the stage. There was sothing awfully wrong with the way the whole thing had played out.
’What was the purposes of this fight?’
’Why blindly go against sothing that was clearly above you?’
Kieran went back to the questions he had at the beginning of the fight, and he was certain of one thing – There was sothing more to this fight than just an ordinary challenge.
He stood up from his spot, making his way back to his dorm. He had lost all interest in watching the other fights. What he had seen today was enough to show him the difference in strength of the rankers and furthermore, the even greater difference between second stage recruit who weren’t on the list like him and the rankers.
The Instructor’s words were clear in his head, but Kieran only felt a burning desire to get on that ranking.
Still, he knew that he had a long way to go, a lot to do and each of them required ti and focus. He couldn’t let himself be consud by his wants.
’ten days huh?’
A scoff escaped Kieran’s mouth as he sent a series of ssages on his watch and received a reply almost instantly.
Reading through the ssage, a mischievous smile appeared on his face and he turned around, changing his destination.
After a few monts he appeared on the top of the mountain, outside his unit building and surprisingly, he wasn’t the only one present; Derrick was also there.
"So, are you lots ready to get your ass whopped?"
August’s mischievous voice was heard from inside as he appeared with a cane in his hands.
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