--- [Jade’s perspective]

After a surprisingly long time, Rin finally emerges from the enemy base.

“There you are! Took you longer than expected.” – Jade

“One of them had a troublesome ability.” – Rin

“I see… Well, you got the flag! Good job!” – Jade

I pat her head while congratulating her.

“That flag looks heavy, want me to carry it for you?” – Jade

She raises her eyebrow and gives me a weird look.

“It’s not heavy… It’s a flag.” – Rin

“…” – Jade

Well, that didn’t go like I hoped it would…

“A-anyways! Let’s head back before they steal our-” – Jade

Before I get to finish my sentence, one of our opponents suddenly show up with our flag.

That was quick…

Rin tries handing the flag over to me, but I don’t take it.

“Jade, take it. Hold it while I take care of him.” – Rin

She keeps insisting, but I still don’t accept it.

“Go back to base, Rin. I can’t let you do all the work!” – Jade

She looks a little disappointed, but she doesn’t argue.

“Fine.” – Rin

“Not so fast. I’m not gonna let you get away. That flag belongs to me.” – ???

“Heh! You better catch me then.” – Rin

“That won’t be an issue.” – ???

In a contest of speed, there are very few, if any, other E-rankers who could match Rin…

By the time he took his first step in her direction, she was already out of sight.

What a showoff…

She really used her max speed just to prove a point, huh…

Clearly shocked, and struggling to process what just happened, his jaw dropped along with the flag.

He quickly snaps out of it and picks it back up.

“Holy shit…” – ???

“Fast, eh?” – Jade

“…” – ???

“Well, let’s just get on with it already. We’re gonna have to fight for that flag eventually, might as well just get it over with.” – Jade

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He shoves the flag into his pockets.

“Before we begin, I’d like to know your name.” – ???

“It’s Jade.” – Jade

“I see. I’m Ethan. I hope our fight will be just as memorable as the one with your teammates.” – Ethan

As he tells me that, he rubs his hands together.

Me and Rin like to fight in completely different ways, yet it stems from the same thing for the both of us; we take advantage of our strengths.

She utilizes her insane speed combined with the cutting power of her specialty to take down her opponents as quickly as possible.

I, however, tend to take more risks and trade blows since I’m very hard to put down.

With that in mind, I rush towards my opponent hoping for a direct confrontation.

He does the same.

Our fists clash, but I very clearly overpower him.

He backs off and tries to take advantage of his comparatively smaller stature by moving around quickly, dodging my attacks, and throwing his own at my blind spots.

I’m used to Rin, the master of that tactic, so it’s not very effective.

Just as quickly as he dropped his previous approach, he abandoned this one too.

He doesn’t seem to have any problem changing his fighting style on the fly; adaptiveness seems to be one of his biggest strengths.

However, that alone won’t be enough.

He’s a jack of all trades, but master of none.

I’m confident I’ll beat him if this is all he’s got.

He steps back, and lets out a sigh.

“I guess, I won’t be able to beat you without my specialty after all… I was getting tired after using it so many times in a row in my previous fight, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” – Ethan

He starts rubbing his hands together again…

Does his specialty have something to do with that, or is it just one of his mannerisms?

Yet again, he runs up to me, and tries to hit me.

The difference however is that this time it was a palm strike, and not a regular punch.

I counter it with an attack of my own, slamming my fist into his palm.

The force is strong enough to fracture the bones in his hand, yet he keeps holding on.

He wraps his hand around mine and holds on as tightly as he can.

I try to get it free, but his strong hold slows me down just enough for him to grab it with his other hand too.

As my fist is held tightly between his palms, he pushes them together.

Like there was nothing in the way, his hands come together, completely disintegrating everything in-between.

The shock and pain took me caught me off guard for just a moment.

He clearly knew it was coming, and so he was prepared to take advantage of it.

He reaches out for the elbow on my other arm, and lightly claps his hands together with it in the middle.

Just like before, everything between his left and right palms ceases to exist, and my forearm simply falls to the ground.

I grit my teeth so hard a few of them break to keep myself from screaming.

I’ve endured a lot of pain before, but this takes the cake.

Despite that, I refuse to show any sign of weakness to my enemies.

“The fight is over. Don’t come after me.” – Ethan

He turns around, and just as he’s about to go fight Rin for the other flag, I stop him.

“Wait.” – Jade

He stops, but doesn’t bother turning around to look at me…

“Do you have a death wish or something? You lost. Accept it.” – Ethan

“Your specialty is strong, I’ll give you that… I’ve never seen anything like it before. You know what… I think it deserves a round of applause!” – Jade

He lets out a chuckle.

“Good one. Even in the face of extreme danger, you’re still able to joke about your injur-” – Ethan

Before finishing his sentence, he quickly turns around as he hears the sound of clapping.

“Joke?” – Jade

The look on his face as he realizes I’m completely unharmed is priceless.

“B-but how?!” – Ethan

I crack my neck as I slowly approach him.

“Well, it’s simple really. You just got unlucky. I don’t doubt that you could beat most people here in a one-on-one fight, but not me. You see, compatibility is just as important as individual strength. I’m the worst possible matchup for you.” – Jade

With desperation in his eyes, he once again rushes at me.

He places his palms on opposite sides of my abdomen, then completely atomizes it.

His worst nightmare comes true as he watches it grow back just as quickly before his very eyes.

My specialty is a direct counter to his; as long as he doesn’t get my head, I’ll regenerate any and all damage he deals to me.

Of course, it drains my stamina, so I can’t do it forever, but considering he was already tired before our fight even began, he’ll be the one to run out of gas first.

“Now then, let’s finish this before Rin gets impatient and returns to finish you herself.” – Jade