Gurren took a defensive position, instantly assessing his situation, "she may lack experience but it's difficult to tell what moves she'll make. Each swing of her blutklinge and each step she takes is erratic".
He watched Mia begin to lunge and prepared himself accordingly, "What'll she do? I can think of many potential moves she could make but it's difficult to pinpoint which". He paused his thought process, "That's the one, she'll come at me with a downward slash. Mia, I want you to become a huntsman, that's why i'm going so easy on you, but if I can deduct your moves this easily-"
In an instant she was gone, Gurren looked around, "she was just in front of me. What the hell?" He tossed his head back and forth, "where is she? Where is she?"
VOOSH!
She was to his right, sprinting full speed towards him, her face showing aggressive determination. In the instant right after she lunged she disappeared from sight and shot over to his right, she moved at incredible speed.
Mia outstretched her hand, she was now in a perpendicular form, heading directly at Captain Yakusuke.
The Captain's eyes widened, "I didn't expect for you to attain such a skill so quickly". He positioned himself to counter, both his hands grasping his sword tightly, he stood in a near perfect blocking stance.
She came closer and closer, and for the strangest reason she let go of her sword for a second.
...
In the back, "she let go of it?" Alli thought, as she crossed her arms, "interesting but a gamble".
The sword was nearly out of Mia's grasp, but at the last second she grabbed its pommel. The true reason she let go was to get two inches of additional length. With these additional two inches she had the perfect opportunity. Mia thought that letting go of her sword would surprise everyone, no one would expect a swordsman to let go of their blade, it was unheard of.
Mia edged nearer and nearer towards the Captain, her eyes wide and her mouth had a slight grin. Almost there, feet, inches.
Within his range she slashed downwards with all her might, leaving a large cut into the floor beneath her.
The Captain jumped back, seemingly evading her swing, "heh, I didn't expect that, I'm surprised you thought of such a wild strategy so quickly. I'm kind of impressed".
Ah ah ah ah, Mia's breathing was awkward and heavy. She, on one knee with her blutklinge's blade lodged into the ground, had a disgruntled but also a disappointed look on her face.
She thought, "damn it, I used the same wild moves as I did with that beast, and yet I failed". She punched the ground and grit her teeth.
"Captain Yakusuke stood there looking down at Mia, "Shall we continue?"
Mia didn't answer, her mind thought that she was an object of scorn due to her lack of strength, "If I can't beat him, then I can't be a huntsman. If I'm unable to become a huntsman I can't become stronger, DAMN IT!"
-
"Gurren, Mia, that's enough", Alli walked forward and interrupted the two of them. Both the Captain and Mia looked confused.
"What are you talking about Alli? If anything we've just gotten started", Gurren stated defiantly.
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A moment of silence passed, Alli clenched her fist.
WAAAAAAP!
She struck him over the head, "ARE YOU DUMB? ARE YOU IMPERVIOUS TO PAIN OR SOMETHING? HUH DUMBASS?" She paused, "Gurren, your chin is bleeding". She looked over to Mia as gurren stood there and grasped his chin, it was indeed slowly dripping blood.
"Congratulations Mia, your gamble paid off". Alli looked both happy and annoyed... "Now tell me Mia, what kind of person lets go of THEIR DAMN SWORD!" She grabbed Mia's hair and pulled on it angrily.
She sat there, motionless, "What? I- I did it? But he dodged?"
She didn't know what to think nor how to properly word her responses. For several minutes after their match she remained sitting still, still awestruck from the news.
Finally, Mia regained herself, "Alli, how else can I get stronger? Other than killing beasts I mean".
Alli stood still, thinking.
"Aha!" An idea sparked, "I'll train you, listen Mia, I only had Gurren fight you at about one tenth of his strength. I wanted to gauge your potential as a huntsman, and by fighting him I now have a pretty good Idea of how you'll progress". She took a breath, "firstly, we've got to refine your fighting skills, just wildly swinging that big ass blutklinge everywhere leaves you open to so many counters. I'll have to beat that habit out of you".
She looked back towards the stage, "ATCHI! SUZATCHI!"
They both perked up straight, "yes mistress Alli!" Their tones changed, they were so young but both of them had a certain "adult" feeling.
"Go and prepare the Mecha-trainers!" She yelled. The twins scuttled off into another room as fast as they could.
Hikaru walked up to Alli, "Mecha-trainers?"
"Oh right! My precious Hikaru and garbage dump Gurren haven't seen them", she said gleefully, "I designed eleven anti-beast mechanical weapons. Of course they're to be normally used to kill beasts but I think they can serve well in Mia's training". She crossed her arms, "I hope the three of you enjoy them".
...
Beep! CHCHCHCHCH! KRRRRRR! Beep! CHCHCHCHCH! KRRRRRR! Beep! CHCHCHCHCH! KRRRRRR!
Mechanical noises filled their eardrums and they all looked up.
BOOOOOM! BOWWWWW SPSSSSSSSH!
Above them various panels in the ceiling exploded and fell to the ground, leaving a smokescreen of dust.
"OOoooooo they're here", Alli said as she clasped her hands.
Seconds past as the dust settled. Mia, Captain Yakusuke, and Hikaru stood with wide eyes and dropped mouths. The sight in front of them was shocking to say the least. In front of them were eleven robots. Floating above were two rocket propelled bots, one looked like the head of a bird, and the other looked like a gasmask. Beneath them were the other nine, each of which was incredibly strange. On the far left was what looked like a cauldron with four legs and the face of a boar. Beside the boar-cauldron was another rotund bot with three legs, this bot had a latched compartment and above it was an elevated attachment, it had a small opening and a single eye, it was accompanied by a small pipe emitting smoke.
Mia looked over at the others, each one's combat abilities were truly an enigma. Beside the one-eyed bot was a thin tall bot with five spider-like legs and a spherical duck head, atop the head was a candle. This bot seemed more like a piece of furniture rather than a weapon for killing beasts. Beside it was a much more humanoid bot with a witches hat and a large bot with treads and a saw blade attachment.
Everyone looked up, and three long bots hung down from the ceiling, one with the head of a devil, one that looked like an eye, and one with a normal humanoid face.
Now out of all of these bots you'd hardly assume their purpose, except for one. One bot stood out from the rest. It had a large central body with five tentacle-like legs coming out of the sides. Its head was off putting, it had long hair white metal plating making up the face. On its face were two eye holes, a triangular nose and a thin circular mouth. It was truly a frightening weapon.
"Damn Alli, you really got creative with these. Are they effective for killing beasts?" Gurren asked, as he inspected each bot.
A moment of silence.
...
"I dunno". She said as she stuck her tongue out, trying to act cute.
"What do you mean you don't know? Haven't they been field tested or anything? How do you know if they even work?" The Captain was greatly annoyed at this point, He expected for her inventions to be battle-tested and fully functional. Now, he was suspicious of them entirely.
"Don't worry they'll do the job, after all I am the one who made them", Alli stood proudly and admired her creations".
"Alright Mia, this IS your final task. Beat them, and your training will be complete".
Mia looked at each robot one after the other, assessing their possible weaknesses and strengths.
"Alright, let's do this thing", she said with a confident smile.