“Now that we’ve got our experts up here, I thought now would be a good time to give some examples of what we’ll be teaching.” The burly man gestured to the tent behind him. “Go ahead and grab whatever weapon you want; you’ll need every advantage you can get.”

The 3 other volunteers went into the tent with a specific weapon in mind, but Jack didn’t have any training in weapons. The best he had was the experience with the bats. It was at this moment that he realized he messed up. These guys probably wanted him to demonstrate something, and he had no skill to show.

I royally fucked up. I should have expected this. Curse you morning brain!

Seeing Jack just standing there the burly man fought to keep a smile off his face. “Don’t see anything you like? Or did you fight those monsters with your bare hands?”

Jack knew the man was mocking him but went along with it anyway. “Uh yeah, I used a katana when I killed the bats. I don’t see one here.”

Those words took the burly man by surprise. That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. He thought the guy would back down when given the opportunity. With a sad sigh he turned to one of the trainees in the crowd. “Caleb, go fetch a katana. Our friend here needs one.”

The burly man didn’t want to do what he knew had to be done. He needed to make an example. An example that would nip any future protests at the bud and the best way to do that is to show just how effective military martial arts could be. He’d hoped he could spare the idiot here by giving him the chance to back down, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Not even a minute past before the older teen named Caleb came running back with a sheathed katana in hand. Slightly out of breath, the teen handed it over.

The burly man shook his head and handed it to Jack. “You’re gonna regret this kid.” Turning back to see that the other 3 managed to find the weapon of their choice, the man pulled two carbon rods from holsters at his hips. “Who wants to go first?”

Without a second of pause the woman stepped forward with eagerness, ready for a fight.

“Phew, you’re a feisty one.” Ignoring the comment, woman only lowered herself into a stance, carbon gauntlets covering her hands. “Ready”

Taking that as the signal, the burly man leisurely walked forwards, twirling the carbon rods in his hands. Just as the man got within reach, the woman lashed out with surprising speed. Clearly it wasn’t enough though, the man just leaned his head back slightly and struck the base of the gauntlets with one of his carbon sticks, striking just below the gauntlet.

The woman let out a hiss of pain and anger before launching into a flurry of attacks. Punches, kicks, and elbow strikes were all deflected with little to no effort, the occasional strike hitting her in the same area on both arms, just below the gauntlets. It was clear that she hadn’t taken a gene pack yet as her movements were fast but not supernaturally fast. It was also clear that the burly man HAD taken one. Jack couldn’t tell which type, but he suspected it was the same one he chose, basic physical enhancement.

Breathing heavily from the nonstop storm of attacks, the woman rested her arms at her sides. It was clear that she’d given up. Face flushed and anger still radiating from her eyes, she removed the gauntlets and threw them into the tent before walking back down to the crowd of onlookers.

Yeah… I can’t do that… Also isn’t it cheating to pick on someone that hasn’t evolved yet?

Jack didn’t like the way things were going since it meant he’d inevitably have to fight the man. He’d had no experience fighting till a few days ago and that wasn’t even against a human.

*Sigh* Guess it’s too late to climb out of this hole.

The burly man didn’t even break a sweat. “Who’s up next?” Now the man had a cheerful look on his face. He looked like he was enjoying this.

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Wanting to get it over with, Jack stepped forward. It would be better to have his turn somewhere in the middle so the crowd wouldn’t remember how badly he’d been beaten, it’s less embarrassing that way.

“Oh, monster boy? You sure you wanna do this? I don’t hold back as much when fighting men.”

At this point Jack did want to back down but he was also curious.

How well can I fare against another evolved person? Also, I can just think of this as another training opportunity. Yeah, a training opportunity… Not like I’m going to get beat up or anything…

Grimacing, Jack replied with as much conviction he could muster. “Yeah, I think do.”

“That was your last chance bud. Come at me.”

Jack closed his eyes and took a moment to calm his racing heart. Calm down, you should just focus on not looking like an idio-

Jack’s thought was cut short as his body suddenly jerked, twisting sideways, his body automatically reacting to the attack though his thermal sight.

Opening his eyes Jack could see one of the carbon sticks had passed right by his torso, the burly man had thrusted it forward intending to ram the stick into Jack’s stomach.

An unwarranted rage burned in Jack’s chest as he could suddenly hear the roar of blood in his ears. Did he just try to hit me with my eyes closed?!

He could feel his other emotions slowly dying one by one until there was nothing left but the desire to fight and teach this guy a lesson. If Jack wasn’t in such a situation, he would have noticed how strange the emotional change was.

“Nice dodge, but make sure you’re paying attention, this is a fight you know.”

Jack’s face took on an intense and feral look. Eyes wide and jaw clenched.

FINE! You wanna play it that way?! Let’s play!

Without a word, Jack closed his eyes yet again. At least at this point, fighting with his eyes closed seemed to be his best option. After all, his only fighting experience was with his eyes closed.

Jack could see the blurry outline of the burly man in his thermal vision.

That’s it! Focus!

The man’s image sharpened, and he could now see the carbon sticks in his hands.

“What did I tell you about closing your eyes during-“

The man’s words were cut off as Jack slowly unsheathed the katana in his hands, throwing the sheath to the side as he carefully walked forward. This was his best state, and he was going to show this rude bastard why!

The burly man felt the change in Jack’s demeanor. He’d went from a nervous kid to a determined predator. He didn’t know why, but at that moment he knew he had to take this fight seriously.

Jack dashed forward and slashed with the katana in hand. The black blade blurred forward at speeds countless times faster than the woman before.

Seeing this, the burly man’s eyes widened as he used a carbon stick to deflect the blow.

*CRACK!*

The two carbon weapons collided. The man disengaged and dodged to the side. ‘Shit! That was a heavy blow… I better not take too many of those head on…’ Rubbing his sore wrists, the man dashed towards Jack’s open side.

*Swoosh!*

The carbon stick hit only air as he swung.

*Swish!* *Swoosh!* *Swish* *Swish*

The man tried repeatedly to strike at Jack’s sword arm, but his new thermal reaction allowed him to dodge every single strike at the last second.

“Open your fucking eyes brat! You won’t be able to hit anything at this rate.”

Jack turned to see the man at his side. “Who says you can’t see without eyes?” Advancing at full speed, Jack closed the distance in an instant, thrusting the katana at the man’s leg.

*crack!*

Deflecting the blade to the side, the man continued his assault. Trying to use the fact that Jack didn’t have his vision to disarm him.

Every attempt failed. Jack just couldn’t be hit, but neither could he land a solid blow on the military man.

This cycle continued for a few minutes as the two exchanged rapid-fire attacks followed by miraculous dodges and parries. A single mistake could mean their defeat.

Only a few minutes had passed but Jack could feel a splitting headache coming on. His thermal vision was becoming less effective by the second.

Noticing his predicament Jack tried to end the fight as soon as possible, becoming more reckless with his attacks and focusing less on defense.

Finally, it blipped out. His thermal vision went black, and Jack felt an impact as a heavy body slammed into his side.

It was only a few seconds, but the burly man put Jack into a headlock during his moment of disorientation.

“Do you tap out?”

Struggling to breathe, he flexed his muscles as hard as he could to escape the lock.

“Woah there, you’ll run out of air and pass out that way.”

Reaching for every bit of strength he had, Jack pulled. It was a fruitless attempt, but at that moment he felt something. An ember in his chest, a small flame had kindled there. It didn’t burn, in fact, it felt good, energizing even.

Pulling on the unknown power, Jack felt it flood his limbs like liquid fire.

*Bump Bump* *Bump Bump*

The power circulated though his entire system giving him strength on an entirely different level. Pulling once again, he could feel the burly man’s grip loosening. At this moment, just before the opponent lost his hold, the flame winked out and Jack went back to being just as powerless as he was before.

Seeing there was nothing he could do even after giving his all, Jack tapped out.