She soared backward with more momentum than she originally started with, rolling against the ground and skidding past her initial starting point to a quiet stop.
Mosh Pit Beta was graveyard silent.
From my time spent at Sector One-Zero-One, I’d come to understand that the AAA was very different from a traditional military structure. In that as much as they were a group working together, they were also a group competing with each other. In the military from my world, there were no such things as heroes on the battlefield, and soldier A was not actively competing against his fellow soldier B to kill more men and do more feats. People who tried to run off and perform such stupid acts of heroics would be sharply reprimanded, if not dismissed from service. Here, in the AAA, personal glory and the sheer difference in abilities and powers meant that there could be heroes on the battlefield.
I understood that the AAA was a structure that valued power and accomplishment above all else. If you had it, you were promoted, increased in rank, and given the due respect. If you didn’t – then no one paid any attention to you.
Sophia did have power. She was the second-highest leveled person in the Lance Brigade. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter because nightmare levels and human levels were different. A Tier 3 nightmare was a hundred times stronger than a Tier 2, and a thousand times stronger than a Tier 1. Therefore, a basic Tier 3 nightmare was at about Level 1000 in human levels. A Tier 4 was a hundred times stronger than a Tier 3, and a Tier 5, which I was, was a hundred times stronger still.
Weakened or not, in one-on-one combat were no holy weapons were at play, I might as well be fighting a one-legged cat.
“Come on,” I baited her. “I know women are weak, but you can’t be that weak!”
There was a floating giant bar up above, which I estimated was the visual representation of our respective Health. Whereas mine was still green and full, Sophia’s had dipped tremendously down to the halfway point and was flashing an orange-reddish hue.
She managed to withstand that?
Sophia coughed, all eyes landing on her as she struggled, but properly rose to her feet. She clasped her hand over her injured chest, wheezing and panting as she glared at me harder than anyone I’d ever met, past life and present.
If looks could kill…
I hadn’t been holding back, yet, she was still able to stand up after that. Barely standing, staggering, and breathing hoarsely, but she was still standing. I was impressed.
I was so impressed I started clapping.
Everyone gave me weird looks. The audience, the referee, and Sophia herself. I didn’t blame them. They didn’t understand the full gravity of Sophia’s feat. She just survived and got back up from a full power frontal kick to the chest from a Tier 5 Nightmare.
That was damned impressive.
“Alright. I think it’s time I took this a bit more seriously.”
I gestured my right hand in a ‘come hither’ motion. Sophia charged.
She was fast.
Seventh Sense – Collision Imminent!
Unfortunately, we were in different leagues. My [Seventh Sense] was at this point, a form of limited precognition. I backstepped, and Sophia’s right leg blurred through the air where my face had been seconds ago.
Seventh Sense – Collision Imminent!
Another kick followed the first, rising from earth to heaven. I leaned back, the tip of her boot nearly grazing my chin.
Seventh Sense – Collision Imminent!
The same leg distorted in mid-air, changing directions, the high-kick striking like a viper towards my throat. I cartwheeled backward, out of range, skidding to a stop on the muddy ground as Sophia stood, panting, one leg in the air, still in the position she had sent it.
She’s able to fight like that with her broken ribs?
I couldn’t tell how it was she was doing it. Either she had a ridiculous pain tolerance, or she had a conviction that burned hotter than any injuries could.
The cheers of the crowd were going wild. The sounds were so loud that it felt as though my eardrums were going to burst. Amidst the focus on the battle, I had almost forgotten that we were being watched by a large number of AAA soldiers.
“You’re… good.” I admitted. “No. You’re really good. You’re better than a lot of people here. And that’s truly comforting.”
“Comforting?” she growled out.
I noticed that the crowd’s cheering had died out as people were listening to our conversation. I sighed, shaking my head. “There are some cowards in the AAA, who believe that they don’t have to try their best because General Hoplite will always be around to protect them from danger.”
“Then they are naïve fools.”
“Exactly,” I said clapping my hands. “General Hoplite is amazing, there is no doubt. But, that is no excuse. There are a lot of nightmares out there – strong, powerful nightmares. And I never want to see the day, when any of them, any of them – defeat General Hoplite. So, I have to get stronger. I have to get stronger to ensure that it never happens. Strong enough that any nightmare out there who thinks of attacking him will have to face me. No one, absolutely no one, is allowed to defeat him.”
No one but me.
“So… come at me with your best, Sophia Alphaphilia.”
She didn’t respond, but she did nod her head. There was something different in her eyes now. It wasn’t the same hate and loathing, but I couldn’t identify it. Pushing it aside, I focused on my breathing, focused on my senses, and drew upon Neo’s muscle memory, slamming it down to my Ghilan instincts.
Smell.
I traced
