Chapter 114: Talk for Tomorrow
———Karra———
<2: 03 pm>
“And so, I need to make sure none of you are rusty.” Rico said while resting the wooden katana on her shoulder. “If we’re going to allow any of you to have some freedom when you go to those habitats and some other places, then we need to make sure you are very prepared.”
She taps the katana on the floor playfully as she slowly glances around to see what everyone’s reaction is like. Is she going to go after someone who looks the most scared? Or maybe it’s a different criteria?
“Jeff, Useph, Kist. You three come up first.” Rico instructed. “The rest of you will spectate on the bleachers.”
Well, no reason to oppose. Hopefully she went easy on them. I don’t think those guys have fought together for long, so their teamwork might be a bit off… Huh. Is she matching random people and seeing how well they’re working together in today's lesson? Or am I reading too much into that?
A barrier appeared, enclosing the four and making sure no attacks could reach us. With the appearance of the barrier also comes the appearance of equipment for the three… or rather, two. Jeff doesn’t use weapons.
Those are… real weapons. What the hell is her problem giving Useph an actual sword and giving Kist a karambit!?
“Now then. Let’s see what the three of you could do in three minutes.” She said while still holding her weapon casually. She doesn’t look like she’s ready for a fight at this moment, but I know it’s because she can’t take it too seriously or else she risks turning those three into fine red dust. “Come at me. You three should know better than to not hold back.”
*Dash* *Evade* *Swing* *Parry*
The three of them start doing their own thing once the match starts, trying to attack her from different angles while not accidentally running into each other. Rico’s movement is smooth and swift, as if predicting every action the three of them will take and how best to counter them.
A swing of the karambit aiming at her sword arm, aiming specifically at her wrist. With a fist aiming for her side and a sword aiming for her leg, it gave her very little room to dodge.
She balanced her body on a single leg as she leaned back to dodge the three attacks that would’ve collided, her left leg retracted back while her right arm was quickly tucked behind her back along with the wooden katana.
The three of them almost hit each other and had to retreat to make sure no one got hit, and left Rico enough room to put her left leg back down and get back into position.
*Leap*
She jumped up high, leaving the others taken aback. She doesn’t immediately drop back down to the ground, instead staying up in the air as she starts to gather mana into her wooden katana.
*Swing* *Boom* *Blast*
“Whoa!” Jeff start to lose his composure as Rico stays up in the air and swing her blade, launching waves of energy that explodes once it reaches the ground, obviously aiming right at the three in a pretty large amount, giving them very little room to do anything else aside from dodging the barrage of attacks.
Soon enough she stopped her assault and landed back on the ground and stood there, letting the three start trying to hit her again, only for her to continue the routine of easily dodging and blocking their attacks.
Even when those three managed to coordinate their attacks to cover almost every blindspot it still fell short, she reacted way too fast and will exploit even the smallest of openings.
It was clearly never meant to be a fair fight. She doesn’t try to attack without telegraphing it first, but she doesn’t lower her vigilance so she could at least give them some semblance of progress by hitting her, even if it does no damage. Those sharp weapons won’t even leave a small dent on her, so it’s not like it’s a matter of safety.
It’s the same song and dance and even before the three minutes is up, the trio already looks exhausted. They didn’t go easy on her and still didn’t get a single hit in. At most they simply make her use her wooden katana to retaliate.
“Can’t even last that long?” She mockingly said while lowering her weapon. “Hmm… Maybe you three need to work more on managing your stamina. I did say to not hold back, it seems like I need to be more specific.”
Before Useph and Kist could even move, she walked past them and grabbed their equipment. Shattering them into pieces and leaving them shocked by the sudden turn of events.
“Alright you three. Go sit on the bench and let the others have fun.” She said and dispelled the barrier. Weird, I thought she would’ve beat them down into submission or something… “Now then… who next…”
———Lynda———
<3: 01 pm>
*Slurp* *Slurp*
“Aren’t you getting a bit too loud?” Histon complained while I continued eating my noodles.
“Shut it. Let me eat in peace.” I said before I keep eating. You guys can just talk amongst yourselves and ignore me.
“Just let her be. Weren’t you going to talk about something?” Rousi said, thankfully redirecting his attention somewhere else.
“Yeah. I was gonna do that.” He said, sounding a bit annoyed. Just what is going with his mood today? “As you know, we’ll be going to that floating island tomorrow.”
“Uh huh. What about it?” Trener chimed in, confused as to why he seems to be weary about it.
“Did none of you remember the details!? We’re lumped in with the Perfect Class for crying out loud!” He said, sounding even more irritated. Is this about the time he picks a fight with the wimpiest-looking guy in that class and gets completely humiliated? That was even before the Eclipse. I’m not really sure why he even tried it at that point.
“What about them? Isn't it good that we’re sticking close to them? We could’ve ended up with a very rowdy and incapable group of students.” Rousi said, his tail that he carefully wrapped around his waist loosened a bit, as if to signify his confusion or lack of focus.
“I can’t say I am fond of them.” Histon bitterly said. Yeah, I can see why someone like him still holds a grudge, but surely he can ignore that, those guys aren’t that petty, aside from that crow woman. “We’re probably gonna end up not even getting so much as a single punch in when we arrive.”
“Personally, I am more invested in figuring out what they will use to transport us there. As we all know, it is a floating island. It’s not something we can just ride a bus to.” Kroin chimed in. Of course he would be interested in those kinds of things. He was never a guy that seemed that interested in more flashy stuff… Then again, maybe the means to get there is super flashy? No one got any intel on how we’re even getting there in the first place. “I personally see no problem with tagging along with that class. Sure, they might overshadow us in all aspects, but jealousy and grudge tends to hurts more than it helps.”
“When did you guys start to speak up so much anyway?” Histon said with a clear sense of irritation. For a guy who loves to talk and show off, he definitely doesn’t like people trying to criticize his way. “I swear, one of these days I’m gonna crack their skull open and see if they’re still gonna retain that smug smile…”
I… don’t think anyone ever recalls anything like that from the incident. Also, no freaking way he is thinking about fighting them all.
*Slurp* *Gulp*
“...Last I checked, wasn’t there an incident not too long ago about a few kids trying to ambush Emmie and still lost? And you’re thinking about fighting someone like that eventually?” I finished my noodles and immediately talked back.
“Shut it. We won’t know until I try.” Okay buddy, that’s like saying we won’t know if I could beat Wiina until I try. I don’t need to try to know that.
“Where the hell was this bravado of yours two days back? You didn’t even run out to fight them like some of the people in that class did.” I said just to mock him a little bit. That was still an insane event, all things considered. A bunch of comets of salt and a bunch of giant gliding snakes up in the air, all falling down to cause havoc, and the majority of them were cut down by people who can fly up and kill them in a single hit.
No idea who those guys are, but from Karra’s stream one of them was definitely Wiina herself.
And then there is the matter of the mysterious fox lady that some caught the sight of. That seems a bit… I don’t really know how to describe it, but it feels like there are too many mysteries piling on in this town as it keeps going. Even Philadelphia didn’t get that much attention from all these super strong guys, and that city is much bigger than our town, like a lot bigger. Unless we want to say that those guys do come from Philadelphia and only came here because we’re right next to the city.
“...Speaking of two days back. There seems to be more violent crimes going about now.” Kroin suddenly brings up rather morbid news. Really? Right now? I was planning on refilling the noodles and he’s just gonna say that?
I’ll come back to that later. Let’s go get more noodles. Stories can wait, food can’t.
“Ah. Fancy meeting you here.” As I wait in line for a refill, I see Fiss getting behind me with an empty plate of what probably was a rice dish.
“Why the hell are you still here? I thought you live super far away? Shouldn’t you ride back home quickly?” I asked her, confused as to why she doesn’t just go back home immediately.
“Umm… Well…” She said while scratching her cheek, looking rather embarrassed. “Remember the Apocalypse Snake Incident? A lot of people’s house got wrecked by those creatures, mine included. The school was kind enough to spare some room for students that have their house under repair. Apparently they have things already set up for students who want to live here, it’s just not officially up for grabs…”
“Wait, that’s seriously a thing?” This is the first I’ve heard about it. I don’t even realize there even is something akin to a college dorm here… Hold on, is it actually meant for that? “This place keeps surprising me at every turn. What else could they possibly hide…”
“So… Yeah. For all I know I might be living here for months. There is still a lot of time before the semester is over.” Fiss elaborate a bit more. Considering the quality of everything here the living space would probably be quite pleasant.
“More noodles, please.” I said while putting the bowl on the counter and letting the staff refill it.
“More shrimp fried rice, please.” Fiss placed down her plate and waited for the other staff refill it.
The two of us then get walked out, both having a full portion of food. At least noodles don’t fill someone that much, can she wolf down another plate of rice?
“See you later, Lynda.” She said before walking off. All I could do was nodding at her before she left. I want to at least ask her a bit more about the accommodations, but I should see her again tomorrow, and I’m not in a rush. Let’s go back to those guys and see what they’re up to.
“-I heard there have even been self-proclaimed supervillains now. That didn't exist before, who knows what really changed.” I wasn’t here for most of the conversation, but it’s clear there’s something more interesting going on.
“I thought proclaiming something like that would’ve been suicide with how things are.” I remarked as I sat back down.
“You would think that, but it seems like the boost in power causes some people to be pushed right off the edge, as one may say. Becoming drunk with power, or gaining the right, or perhaps it is better to say wrong, amount of confidence.” Kroin explained. “For all we know, it might cause someone to acknowledge any latent potential they have, but it is all speculation at this point, and I’d rather not try to find it out myself just for the sake of a small nagging curiosity.”
“Well as long as no crooks got the big idea around here, it’s not something I see us having to be concerned about.” Rousi declared.
Well, I’m gonna let them keep talking, I now have more noodles to go through.
*Slurp* *Slurp*
“I doubt there’s anyone stupid enough to try that around here. There are a lot of individuals we already know can crush through police forces and such.” Histon said while sounding completely unaware of how he was planning on fighting one of those eventually. “They still have some sense of preservation, right? Otherwise they would have declared it before any extra boost.”
“Things are a lot more nuisance than that, I would’ve presumed.” Kroin replied, not wanting to simplify the reasoning as just that.
“I bet what that Wiina woman did to… Krusher? That’s what we’re calling that guy, I think?” Trener recalled that past event. Not many people were there for it, but it does feel like a turning point in a way.
“Indeed. Not the most inspired name, but a fitting one.” Kroin remarked. “Even now we still don’t know where that guy is, but it is clear that he is afraid of ever using his power openly again. You’re not wrong in having that presumption.”
“Huh? And you try to discredit my opinion that’s about the same? Are you looking for a fight!?” Histon noticed the difference in response and is not happy. This guy sure gets ticked off easily.
Thankfully no one actually felt like fighting it out here, so it’s just more passive-aggressive remarks.
I’m more concerned about what will happen tomorrow, that’s where we’ll probably see some wild shit in person.