“So -huff- tell me what you -huff- know about Chesnokov, -huff- Mr Wizard -huff-” I asked while doing pullups in the training grounds.
“He’s a ball of contradictions; refined yet savage, genius but oblivious… and above all, merciful yet relentless. He’s an exceedingly dangerous man, but if you don’t anger him he will never show you any hostility,” came the philosophical reply from my right-hand man, only recently promoted his loyalty was at an all-time high.
“Oh? That’s -huff- interesting… -huff-” I said as I did my last rep and dropped to the floor.
Mr Wizard held a towel out for me as I came down and said “we’ll leave for Omega in 45 minutes. The maids have already prepared a bath.”
While wiping my sweat off I replied “Thanks, I’ll head up once I finish up here.”
A shower would have been good enough though…
< [A bath is better after a workout, it the gradual heat helps with reconstituting muscles] >
So, baths after workouts then?
< [Yes, I can do my job better that way] >
< (The euphoria is relieving for me too) >
If you guys insist…
Dismissing the banter, I did my stretches and headed up to the bath the maids had prepared.
It was a mostly uneventful bath, the most interesting thing that happened was teasing the maid; since it was known that I’m into girls I only had to invite her into the bath, she blushed and made a quick escape. I also thought back on the dream that still haunted me, there was no rush and I felt that the matter would clear itself up at its own pace regardless of my efforts.
*tap tap tap*
The maid re-entered the bathroom, still blushing from earlier, and said “s-shall I help you d-d-dress?”
I really want to play with her… I thought, slightly sadistically.
“The car is waiting for you already, you need to go in about 5 minutes,” she continued before I could make a move.
“Tch!” I clicked my tongue, realising that I didn’t have time to play with her.
Within moments I had hidden my irritation under a light smile and said “let’s get going... you’re coming with me.”
Even if I didn’t have time now, I would have time during the trip.
“O-of course M-m-m-milady!” she jumpily responds, her face full of embarrassment. I didn’t miss the hidden traces of eagerness either.
After getting dressed I headed down to the car with the maid in tow, my right-hand man raised an eyebrow at the blushing maid but didn’t mention it. With that we left for Omega to meet my next mentor.
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Once we reached Omega I had Mr Wizard guide me to Jack’s store, carefully taking note of how to operate the transport lift. It seemed rather straightforward and all you had to do was choose an area and which station in that area you wanted to go to, although the fact that the areas were named ‘B-1’, ‘B-2’, ‘A-1’ and so on made figuring out where you wanted to go rather difficult.
Jack’s store seemed to be in area D-2.
Fortunately, the docking points seemed to be labelled properly. That both ‘North Storage’ and ‘Markets [Starboard]’ seemed to fit their naming conventions was rather odd, I asked about it in confusion.
Apparently ‘Port’, ‘Starboard’, ‘Stern’, ‘Bow’, ‘Mast’, and ‘Hull’ referred to ‘Left’, ‘Right’, ‘Backward’, ‘Forward’, ‘Up’, and ‘Down’ – respectively – in relation to the district arm itself; as seen if standing naturally to the centrifugal gravity and facing the end of the arm.
The cardinal directions were indicative of privately owned property or anywhere that required some sort of authorisation to enter.
The docking point we were headed to was simply called ‘Central Square’ as it was the main station for the area. Being the standard entry point for visiting the area, there were technically four docking points adjacent to each other but they were considered a single ‘Station’. Apparently, if all four points are occupied you’ll just have to wait for space to free up, though that is rare considering that if a platform isn’t populated it will move away automatically.
It is obvious that the transport platforms were originally intended for only cargo, the people in charge did a pretty good job at retrofitting them for human use; the wide platform only has knee-high barriers but by adding some rods and wires like a boxing ring they managed to stop people from falling off all the time. Another thing management did was reprogram the movement protocols intended for cargo and paid more attention to the acceleration and deceleration.
While looking at these mundane details I began to wonder why I never noticed them the first time I came.
< (It’s probably because you were too excited about meeting Jack…) >
Dawn was probably right, it was my own failing.
Anyway, once the lift arrived Mr Wizard lead me down the winding alleys to Jack’s store. I made sure to memorise the route as we walked. The area was rather clean for a place in the slums, though that may be expected for one of the classier areas of Omega.
When we arrived at Jack’s store there was a blonde man sitting next to the wall with a large bag next to him with his eyes closed. This man was probably Chesnokov, but anything is possible so I refrained from calling out to him and approached the counter.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Ah, miss Cusith!” the receptionist perked up, to which the man opened his eyes slightly and gave me an appraising glance. I was now confident that the man was indeed Chesnokov.
“Yes,” I said, giving the man a glance, “I’m here to meet someone, is there an open meeting room?”
“The meeting place has already been arranged, please follow me to the practice room,” said the receptionist as she started guiding me down a ramp to the training room.
Glancing back, I could see Chesnokov gathering his stuff.
The receptionist lead us into an area that had several weapon racks and training dummies, there was even a wide space for sparring in the middle. I signalled for my entourage to take a step back so I would stand out – not that standing out with my snowy hair and porcelain skin was all that difficult, it just felt appropriate.
Chesnokov entered the room a few moments later and came to stand in front of me with an intimidating glare, but I did not falter and stood steady – returning the gesture in full. The stare down lasted for a few moments before he spoke up, “Miss Cusith, I presume? I expected more…”
“Looks… can be deceiving, master Grigorievich,” I claimed while squinting menacingly at him.
He grinned in return, “That is true, but action never lies… unless you’ve got a bigger scheme at work, but that’s beside the point. If you want to prove my judgement wrong, spar with me and show me that you’re more than you appear to be.”
“I imagine that you intended to do spar from the very start, I’ll indulge this little plot of yours!” I called out. It was rather obvious that I was going to prove my strength, why else would this meeting have occurred in the practice room?
At that moment, an employee walked out pushing a rack of polypropylene practice weapons.
< (That was definitely timed~) >
Disregarding Dawn’s commentary I walked over and selected a short sword. I considered taking two but I lack practice and it would only hinder me. Lighter weapons are ideal for beginners, easier to make unprepared swings. Chesnokov replied in kind and took up the same weapon for himself.
I also tried subtly probing his mind for techniques to aid me in this fight but met a wall, he didn’t notice my intrusion like Nordon did, but I couldn’t break through his defences either. It would seem that my abilities aren’t supreme, people with tempered minds can resist my attempts.
Taking our stances in the middle of the floor we prepared to fight. My intuition was screaming danger but my mind remained clear; if I couldn’t invade his mind then I would have to rely on watching him move.
The employee announced the start of the match but we remained still, each of us with scrutinising glare. I felt that he wasn’t going to move so I lunged first; that was a mistake.
He moved at the very last moment, parrying my blade and striking me hard on the back.
I was sent tumbling forward but quickly used the roll to bounce back onto my feet.
The first thing I saw when I looked up was a strip of black, his weapon, right next to my face.
I threw my head back to avoid the blow, but that only made things much worse; the tip of his weapon clipped my eye, crushing my eye.
I stumbled for a moment due to the loss of an eye, but I refused to Lose so easily and converted my momentum into a high-speed spin, striking his hand from below.
Hesitating from his earlier mess up, Chesnokov failed to react to my swing and his weapon went flying.
This made him snap back into it and attack with barehanded.
Having failed to anticipate his reaction, I received a fist to the face completely undefended.
Taking the opening, he followed up with a series of quick kicks and punches which left me winded and dazed.
I staggered for a moment, unable to respond to anything, and received a kick to the temple which sent me flying.
This left me disarrayed and unable to properly control my body.
How could I keep fighting while my body refused to listen?
The answer was simple; let it do its own thing. So, I did.
My body felt disconnected, but I knew it was still moving. Exactly what it was doing was slightly beyond my hazy consciousness as my surroundings faded to black.
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(Chesnokov POV)
What the hell is this?
Jack called me in to train “a girl with lots of potential”, but that doesn’t even begin to explain this monster! Is this thing even human?!
As per usual I requested a spar to test her aptitude for combat. This ended different to how I expected it to; normally people end up cowering from me – an automatic fail – while others either surrender after admitting the difference in strength, or charge me recklessly. This was the normal procedure.
This was not a normal occurrence however.
I started off by overpowering her as I normally do. I was quite impressed with the glare she gave me before we clashed. After a moment I knocked her down using her own momentum but she continued the momentum and popped back up on her feet like some kid’s toy. Normal people would find that impossible to pull off, even I would have struggled to react like that.
I sped forwards while hiding my presence and swung at her temple, applying just the right amount of force to knock her out. Incredibly, she managed to perceive the attack right before it hit.
“Impressive… but it’s already too late!” or so I thought before she started to dodge.
What monstrous reaction time! I never thought such reaction speed was possible!
*squelch*
… Whoops.
Looks like her dodge was just a little too slow and the tip of my weapon beautifully crushed her soft eyeball.
I froze, I didn’t intend to give her any permanent injuries!
My head was spinning, what was I supposed to do?
Suddenly my weapon went flying.
What a monster! She didn’t even flinch!
Having come back to my senses I retaliated, throwing a straight punch at her face at full power.
She didn’t have enough time to raise her defences and was dazed by my punch.
I took the opportunity and followed up with several more attacks and sent her flying.
If that doesn’t take her down, then she really is a monster.
Yep, definitely a monster; She just went feral.
She hissed at me! SHE HISSED!
She’s now attacking me without thought, simply swinging at me. She even tore through my clothes! I’m being clawed! Clawed of all things! By a human(?)! She even drew blood!
That’s enough of that, I better end this fast.
I parried a few strikes and got her in a choke hold. She clawed at my forearms while writhing around madly but I grit my teeth and bear with the pain. It takes a few seconds for her to fall unconscious, almost twice as long as I expected, but she’s out for the count and I’m alive.
I let out a breath as I relax.
We all have a beast hidden deep within ourselves. My fighting style relies on getting in touch with that ‘inner beast’, but I have never seen ‘the inner beast’ show itself so strongly. It’s almost as if that feral state I saw is her natural state. Though if that were true, what would that make the girl I spoke to? Is that calculative persona a fake?
This monster…
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(Tiama POV)
I opened my eyes and saw the roof.
Wait, why can I see with both eyes?
Suddenly a deep laughter resounded next to me.
“HAHAHA, already regenerated that eye? Like I thought, you really are a monster! What are you? Scratch that, I probably don’t want to know. The only thing that matters is that you want to learn, correct? From now on call me ‘instructor’!” said the man next to me, Chesnokov.
“At what price?” I asked.
“Free of charge! All you have to do is provide the facilities,” he said.
“Why?” I asked, doubting he would do it for free.
“I want to see just how far you can go. Call it self-satisfaction if you will, I’m just curious as to the possibilities ahead.”
I pondered his words for a moment before deciding to trust in them, “alright, I’ll take up on that offer then, instructor!”
With this, I have two high class mentors.