Point-of-View: Zoraiz Rafayet
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"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 punch you in the face already," I muttered in response.
"Yeah, no, I’m not gonna do that. You’re good at reading soone’s movents 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 amusent.
"So you say, but it’s not like you’re landing any clean hits on 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 off...
"Hey, don’t ta-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 ta-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 co up against soone whom your powers aren’t effective against. The more well-rounded and balanced you are, the better off you’re going to be," He inford .
"I get what you’re saying and all, but there must be other ta-Humans that aren’t strong in certain areas, right?" I pointed out with a sigh.
"True enough, but such ta-Humans usually don’t make it past Category 2. Let 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 cos 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 ti before you’ll have to face strong opponents in real fights, fights where it’s life or death...so, get up and co at , 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 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 here.
I an, 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 .
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 to spring back off of it, before he swiftly shot towards before I could land.
He drove a twisting palm strike towards my abdon as he closed in on , 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 .
"Okay, uh...that wasn’t too bad. If you had soone else fighting alongside you, I’d have probably lost just then," Admitted Mike wryly, as he got back on his feet and helped 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, co on, get back on your feet. Why don’t we see if that last move was just a fluke?" He taunted 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...
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Point-of-View: Alexis Tucker
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"Ugh, I should have done gymnastics or so other athletic crap in school...well, not that I ever had much ti 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 up...the two guys ntioned that their trainers said the sa thing, but they’re better at when it cos 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 inford .
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 sa things, and besides...Liling is actually one of our best trainers, the majority of the tas that she’s trained are at Category 1 or are certain to eventually get there. anwhile, 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 an, 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 .
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 ."
"I’ll, uh...I’ll try."
"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 ti 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 montum 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 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 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 ...just kill now...
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