Chapter 56: Individual combat

[Stage 2: Individual combat]

[Objective: Survive a series of one-on-one encounters. You will be paired with an opponent tailored to your weakness. You win either by incapacitation or surrender.]

[Rest period: 10 minutes]

“I don’t think I need to say what our weaknesses are. We’ll find out when we do individual combat,” Adrien said. “There isn’t a way to be ready to defeat our weaknesses in a few minutes. We should just sit and rest.”

Everyone sat and waited. They tried to ensure that they were mentally ready for whatever was to come. When the ten minutes were up, each person was transported to their own arena.

[Sarah vs The Brawler]

Srah’s breath hitched. Across the room, a massive figure materialized. He was six feet talk built like a brick wall, with a cruel sneer on his face. She looked around the room and noticed she was alone.

She looked down at herself; she was in scrubs. She had no weapon on her body. She looked at the man standing across from her againa nd panic started rising. She knew this was training, so she tried her best to push the panic, rising in her throat, down.

She closed her eyes, remembering how Ember told them to feel the hostility. She felt it, the hostility of the person in front of her. He was about to charge.

She didn’t spend time thinking about anything. Her eyes popped open, she looked at the floor to the side, and she saw a medical kit. Inside it was a scalpel. This was her only hope.

She moved as soon as she saw it, sidestepping the man who was charging towards her. As soon as her hand closed around it, she heard the crash. She turned to see the man’s fist smash into the desk her head was close to before.

He came at her again. She dodged, weaving in and out of his view. She was faster than him. She thought of her knowledge of anatomy and decided to use it to her advantage.

She didn’t slash or stab; instead, she dodged to his back and made an incision in the back of his knee. The brawler roared and growled in anger. He turned, stumbling towards her, swinging wildly. Sarah ducked under his arm, targeting the nerves in his armpit.

The brawler screamed. His arm went numb. Unable to move, the brawler fell to his knees. “I surrender,” he gasped.

[Aiden vs The Mimic]

Aiden found himself in a replica of his office. His opponent materialized in front of him. It was Ember, but in a way, he had never seen her before. Her eyes were cold, and her mouth was curled in a disgusted smirk.

“Aiden,” she said. “Always trying to cage me. Don’t you know I’ll never be yours?”

She walked towards him. The smirk plastered on her face as she spoke. “You think you’re a leader? You’re a man with a fancy title. You’re afraid of losing the one thing you can’t buy with money. What woman wants a monster like you?”

She lunged at him. He sidestepped and grabbed her arm. He tried to hold her without hurting her, but she was strong. She twisted and her elbow drove towards his throat. He blocked it.

He let her push him back to the oak desk. He pretended to stumble and the mimic lunged again. At the last moment, he dropped and swept his leg out from under her. She crashed with a grunt.

Before she could recover, he used his body weight to pin her down. She struggled.

“Disgusting. Don’t touch me,” she said, her face pressed against the floor.

“You aren’t her. She won’t use my love as a weapon,” he growled.

The mimic froze. Its form flickered and then disappeared.

[Marcus vs The Acrobat]

Marcus was in a junkyard surrounded by twisted metal. His opponent was a man who moved like a spider, with agility he didn’t know humans were capable of.

Marcus rushed towards him, taking the initiative to attack. The acrobat laughed, leaping over his head. He landed on Marcus’s shoulder before flipping off. Marcus couldn’t touch him. He tried to move faster, but no matter how fast he moved, he wasn’t able to catch him.

He became angrier, and the angrier he got, the wilder his swings were. He became predictable. The acrobat only needed to move a few inches to get out of his grasp. After a while, he knew he needed to change something. He was only thinking about using brute force to deal with the problem. What if he used another way?

He moved away from the acrobat. The acrobat didn’t move unless Marcus moved. He charged once more. This time, his thinking has changed. He observed the acrobat. He saw the pattern in his leaps. He favoured one foot over the other.

Marcus decided that since he couldn’t beat him with force, he would use the environment to his advantage. He took note of a precariously balanced stack of cars. He led the acrobat over to the set of cars. As soon as he saw the acrobat leap towards the car, he charged, pushing one of the cars, sending the entire thing toppling down along with the acrobat.

The acrobat ended up under the cars, unable to move.

[Ivan vs The Brutes]

Ivan stood in a maze of reflective corridors. He expected one opponent, but what materialized in front of him was three. Three identical men carrying shards of glass.

They didn’t attack one at a time. They attacked from three different positions. Ivan realized his weakness was that he always focused on a single character. Now he was being forced to fight multiple people at once. His usual singular focus would not help him at this time.

He used his blade to slash one, but another came towards him, slashing a cut across his arm. The third almost took his eye. He needed to change his style if he was going to survive this. He didn’t think about the perfect kill; he had to maneuver differently.

They crowded him, ruining his usual rhythm. One of the men came towards him, kicking him off his feet. He quickly rolled away from their attacks, getting back to his feet.

This time, he put away his knife and used his hands. He moved towards one, kicking him in the knee. He heard bone breaking. As the person slumped, he used him as a shield. Using his strength, he rammed his human shield into one of the other men’s bodies. He made his way to the other man while the two were down and gave him a headbutt, leaving him dazed.

He then reached for his knife and slashed the man. The three men were down, and the scene froze.

[Alex vs The Illusionist]

Alex was in a funhouse surrounded by mirrors. He saw Adrienne in each mirror. In one, she was trapped in fire, in another, she was being attacked. In another, she was pounding on the mirror, calling his name.

Alex roared, rushing towards the mirrors one by one, trying to find Adrienne. But every time he broke one mirror, another one would appear, and in each mirror Adrienne would be enduring some sort of torture. He was exhausting himself repeating the same act.

He needed to make a change. But what could he do? His instinct to protect Adrienne was driving him to try to save her from each torture she might be suffering.

He forced himself to stop. He closed his eyes. It’s not real. None of it is real. She isn’t here, he thought. She’s strong. She’s smart. She is safe.

He ignored the pleas and cries. He was learning to filter. He didn’t need to pay attention to an illusion. What he needed to do was find the real danger. This is supposed to be combat; there is no way he is the only one here.

He clenched his bleeding hand, willing himself to ignore everything about the voice. He instead took in his surroundings. He used the skills he learned before to feel his surroundings.

He felt it then. It wasn’t strong; the feeling almost blended with his panic. Then he heard it-a small step. He opened his eyes and lunged towards an empty space. His fist connected with solid flesh.

The illusionist appeared, and Alex sent him flying with another punch, knocking him unconscious.

[Adrienne vs The Bully]

Adrienne was in an empty classroom. A burly man stood opposite her. He was sneering at her. Adrienne’s first instinct was to look for Alex, but he wasn’t there.

“Looking for your little boyfriend?” the man snarled. “Can’t fight without him? Don’t look, he won’t be coming to save you this time.”

She knew she was alone; she couldn’t do as she normally did. She would usually wait until Alex was close by to feel safe. Now it was just her, and she needed to dismantle the opponent as soon as possible.

She decided she didn’t need a protector. She was more than capable of taking care of this herself. The bully moved towards her. She sidestepped him.

She grabbed a chair and swung it. Not at his head, but at his knee. He roared and stumbled back. She didn’t wait. She aimed thepiece of chair still in her hand at the bully’s chest. She used all her strength to stab him in the chest.

He paused, looking down at the piece of wood sticking out of his chest, and the scene froze.

[Ember vs The Null]

Ember stood in a white room. Her opponent was a woman with a pair of daggers. Ember was ready to fight as soon as she saw her move.

Ember was fast, but the null was faster. No matter how she moved, she wasn’t able to land a blow on the woman. She advanced faster than Ember defended faster than Ember. There was no way for her win against someone like this.

She remembered the previous training. She tried to feel where the null was before it made a move, but she was unable to. The woman was too fast and too skilled. When she was about to lose, Ember finally remembered that she didn’t need to fight with her body.

She stopped trying to match the null with her speed and instead used the power she had. She only had a split second to make a decision. She took a breath and used Pheromone Control. She released a burst of confusion. This disoriented the null.

The null faltered for a moment, her rhythm broken.

Ember locked her gaze on the null, meeting her eyes with Enthralling Gaze. “Stop,” Ember said, her voice bypassing any thought the null could form. The null froze in place, eyes wide and vacant.

Ember didn’t hesitate. She moved rapidly to the null and gave her a single blow to the throat. The null collapsed.

At this time, the Covenant Engine sounded.

[Stage two: Complete]

[First tier of Ghost Protocol mastered]

This first notice was said to everyone.

[Congratulations, Architect. Your team is no longer prey. They have learned to become predators.]

The notice that followed was only for Ember.

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