Point-of-View: Inoka Fonseka
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Hm...? What ti is it? I sleepily reached out and picked up my phone, blinking a couple of tis to let my eyes adjust to the brightness. Oh, it’s already morning, huh...I let out a wide yawn as I stretched lazily, before turning around and burying my face in the pillow with a sigh. I then groaned as I recalled what had happened last night, rolling around and staring up at the ceiling blankly.
Huh, I’m just realizing...this is my first new year’s in a while where I haven’t woken up with a hangover. Neo was busy yesterday, so I couldn’t get in touch with him, which ant that all I had to drink was what I already had on hand...a total of one beer and, like, one and a half shots of vodka.
That got a bit buzzed, but it wore off in what felt like no ti. I sighed again as I reluctantly got out of bed and reached for the bedside table, picking up my half-empty pack of cigarettes and drawing one out, before lighting it up.
I took in a puff and exhaled slowly, my right eye watering as a wisp of smoke went into it, a slight sting ringing out. I let out a quiet sigh as my eye got all watery, before using my blanket to wipe it. Oww, I hate it when that happens, smoke getting in your eyes is the worst.
Hm? Oh, wow...I’m just noticing that my room is clean, even though I clearly rember a bunch of empty chip and snack packets and stuff being strewn across the room last night. Guess Kiyana and Aurora must have cleaned up before leaving...I can definitely appreciate that, I’ll make sure to thank them when I see them.
Anyway, it’s a little bit past 10 AM right now, and I think I’ll take the day off today. I an, it is new year’s, after all. Maybe I’ll try contacting Neo again, I’ll ask him to get so booze if he’s free. Oh, and maybe I’ll also ask for-...my train of thought was abruptly cut off as my phone starting ringing, startling a bit.
Is soone calling ? Wait, co to think of it, I think I saw a missed call notification when I checked the ti earlier...I wonder who this is? I picked up my phone and glanced at the screen...oh, it’s Liling...
"Yeah, hello?" I remarked with a stifled yawn, as I answered the call.
"Good morning, Inoka. Rember the training session you were scheduled to have with in a couple of days? Well, I have an urgent mission that I have to leave for tomorrow morning, so I’d like to move the session up to so ti today, if that’s alright with you?" She inford sheepishly, in an apologetic tone.
Aw, man, seriously?
She’s been helping with hand to hand combat training, though less frequently now since I’d more or less gotten a good grasp on the basics. When we first started hand to hand combat training, each of us Outliers were given trial runs with different ta-Humans training us, in order to determine who would be best suitable and compatible with each of us.
Zoraiz ended up being trained by Mike in hand to hand combat, Kiyana was helping Alexis, Aurora was stronger than any of the potential trainings, so she’s been training on her own, and I was most compatible with Liling.
Thankfully, she’s super pleasant and easy to get along with, not to ntion pretty cute, so I definitely wasn’t complaining...
"Yeah, I guess that’s fine, I don’t really have anything to do today," I responded, a little reluctantly.
"Okay, great. What ti works for you?" She inquired in response.
"Uhh...how about by around 12 PM? I should be done with breakfast and whatnot by then," I replied after mulling it over.
"Sure, that works for . And I’m sorry again, to spring this on you so last minute," She said apologetically.
"Nah, it’s cool, don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’ll see you in a bit, ’kay?"
"Yeah, see you soon."
With that, I hung up and let out a sigh as I got onto my feet and lazily stretched my arms up, stifling a yawn before letting out a slow exhale. Alright, guess I should take a shower and get changed before heading for breakfast...
...
"Hey, hope I didn’t keep you waiting," I greeted Liling, as I entered the training room.
"Oh, not at all. Why don’t you start stretching and then let’s get started?" She suggested in response with a smile.
"Yeah, okay...," I responded, before slowly exhaling and getting focused, preparing myself.
It was a couple of minutes past 12 PM, and having had a quick breakfast and gotten ready, here I was, ready to get this over with. Liling is really nice and all, but her training style is pretty intense and high-paced.
According to her, it’s to get used to fighting in a hectic situation with no ti to think, so that I can remain calm if and when I do end up in such a situation. She’s not the most physically strong, but she’s insanely fast and agile, and her strikes are sharp and painful.
I was constantly bruised all over by the end of each session when I first started sparring with her, but I can now block or avoid, like...a third of her attacks. She’s still way too fast for to actually keep up with though, and despite her level of skill, she still couldn’t make the cut as a Category 0.
That made realize that, even though we Outliers have Aura capacities that far exceed any natural ta-Humans, we’re not just going to surpass Category 0 overnight.
It’s like we’ve got extra large MP bars, so we’d have the advantage in a battle of attrition, but if we’re up against soone significantly more skilled, then we don’t stand much of a chance. Even if we unleash our Auras to slow down our opponents, we’d still likely be at a disadvantage.
Well, there’s Aurora, but she’s kind of a special case, considering her rather unique circumstances. Oh, and speaking of her, once the first attempt to asure her Aura capacity resulted in the crystal shattering, they tried again a few days later, with a much bigger crystal.
And, uh, her Aura capacity is on another level. Specifically, at 1630. That’s about the sa as an Outlier and a Category 0 combined. Which probably ans that, even before she ca across the ta-Orb, she had an Aura that was on par with or greater than a Category 0.
Anyway, getting back to this current sparring session...well, to put it bluntly, I was getting my ass kicked...
"Don’t fall for feints, respond to my attacks as late as possible," She instructed , before feigning a strike to my face, and as I instinctively raised my arms defensively, she instead struck my midsection, knocking the wind out of .
"E-easier said than done...I can’t tell between your feints and actual strikes," I groaned, as I collapsed onto my knees.
Her fighting style involves quick, sharp strikes, and it’s really unpredictable. Sotis it seems like she’s about to repeat an attack that she’s used against before, only to then do sothing completely different when I preditate and block in anticipation.
"You’re trying too hard to read my movents, which actually makes you easier to read. You need to stay calm, empty out your mind and just react," She instructed , as she offered her hand with a smile.
I let out a sigh as I took hold of her hand and let her pull up, gingerly rubbing the spot where she’d struck as I got back onto my feet.
"Not to repeat myself, but that’s a lot easier said than done," I sighed in response.
"Yes, this isn’t sothing that you can get good at overnight, but you are making fairly decent progress, nevertheless. Let’s change things up...now, you attack and I’ll only evade, block and deflect, I won’t attack or counterattack. Let show you how to properly defend," She suggested, before getting into a defensive stance, waiting for to attack.
Yeah, we’ve done this a few tis before, and I’m yet to land even a single strike on her. And I doubt that anything’s going to change today...
I then shot forward and feigned a rising kick to the left side of her head, and as her left arm began to rise up, I swiftly bent my knee and aid to strike it against her left side instead. Right before I could connect, her right arm swung across in a swift, fluid motion and she blocked my knee with her palm, absorbing the impact effortlessly.
In an attempt to be unpredictable, I then swung my head towards her to try and land a headbutt, but she reacted so quickly that it was embarrassing. She ducked backwards to avoid my attack, and as I lost my balance, she quickly slipped away and got a bit of distance.
I just about managed to keep my balance, before zipping towards her at top speed and then getting low as I closed in, before attempting to knock her off-balance with a sweep-kick, which she easily dodged by leaping backwards calmly.
I continued to keep low as I then sprang towards her, driving a rising punch towards her chest...and a second later, I could only feel a sense of exasperation as she blocked my fist with her right palm, before placing her left hand below my elbow and using my montum to swing up.
I was helpless to counter as she threw over her shoulder, letting out a sharp gasp as my back hit the floor, landing behind her.
"You should only put everything into an attack if you’re a hundred percent certain that it’ll land, otherwise you’ll just end up leaving yourself wide open," She advised with a smile.
Yeah, uh...I figured as much when you flung over your shoulder like a rag doll...
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