Chapter 73: That’s Better
That’s Better
Mike had no idea how long this had been going on for.
Granted, keeping track of how long had passed hadn’t been on his list of priorities when his day started. But even then, he’d usually have an idea of how long he’d been at something once he started it.
Not this time, though.
"Your durability and recovery speed are genuinely remarkable," Masha said with genuine surprise in her voice. She looked unharmed. In fact, she looked less sweaty now compared to when Mike came into the training room, meaning that whatever training she’d been doing before he arrived was more strenuous than her beating him up.
As for Mike, well...
"Huff... Huff..." He panted as he looked at Masha through sweat-covered eyes.
His clothes were ripped in many places, revealing his upper body, which seemed to have sustained numerous impacts. Strangely enough, though, there were no bruises despite there being specks of blood here and there.
His hair was disheveled, and he was sweating like crazy. He looked a bit unsteady on his feet, and all in all, he seemed to be having a pretty rough time.
However...
His eyes were shining.
"Hm." Masha hummed as she looked at him.
’Even if my attacks aren’t especially damaging, they are meant to inflict as much pain as possible while also targeting his energy pathways, something that should be pretty agonizing. And yet, he hasn’t fallen once since we began. If anything, he seems ready for more.’ She thought and tilted her head.
As usual, she wasn’t actually giving Mike pointers or instructions. She simply wanted to pressure him enough to begin improving, as through pressure, he’d be forced to look for ways to escape an undesirable situation.
’Most of his peers would display some form of frustration, anger, despair, or some other negative emotion. But he doesn’t even seem mad. He just seems to be looking for a way to overcome the situation. That’s rare.’ The corner of Masha’s lip slowly curled upward into a small smirk.
’Not too bad, kid.’ She thought and stepped forward.
’I’m starting to see her movements a bit better now.’ Mike thought as he saw Masha move.
After getting beaten up so much, Mike had experienced a bit of her combat style, and if he had to describe how it felt, he’d say it reminded him of a viper.
The same way he could observe and analyze people’s styles was the same way she watched and waited for him to make a move, and he realized how she was making his two skills catered to reading his opponent virtually useless.
She could see when he read her.
She could also see how he would respond to her movements before he responded, and like a viper, she’d strike at him, catching him off guard.
Moreover, even the way she fought reminded him of a snake.
The few times Mike managed to counter, she would always slip just out of his reach. Her body seemed to almost coil unnaturally before she would ’wrap’ around him and bite.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t land a hit on her.
’9 seconds.’ He thought, that’s how long he’d managed to keep Crimson Ladder running before she stopped it last time, and that was his longest record thus far.
As she neared, Mike ran the technique again, but he didn’t move immediately as she neared. Instead, his eyes were wide as he took her in.
Reading her was hard.
She seemed to have complete control of all her muscles, and she could easily twitch some to make Mike believe she would attack with a certain limb before hitting him with another.
Her scent was no different. It was almost completely neutral, so the help there was little.
Same with the sounds she made. Even if Mike could hear when she’d truly attack, it happened so fast that he couldn’t properly muster up a defense before he was struck again.
Then again, the purpose was for him to run the technique for as long as possible, so why not just defend as much as possible? Perhaps retreat constantly?
Well, for the former, no matter how much he blocked or tensed his body, she always seemed to find a spot and strike him in such a way where any progress he made with Crimson Ladder was rendered mute, and the moment he tried to retreat, she seemed to always catch up to him like a phantom, and before he knew it, he was getting wounded again.
It was almost like a never-ending cycle or torture he couldn’t prevent. And yet...
’6 possible movements... the most likely is... a low kick!’ Mike tensed his right leg and shifted it slightly. A moment later, Masha’s own leg collided with it. The sound of skin and bone colliding sounded through the room, but it was unmistakable, Mike had blocked it.
’7 possibilities... a feint from the side... into a kick from above.’ Mike gritted his teeth and ignored the feint before leaning back, narrowly avoiding having his chin smashed in.
’Three possibilities... a spin kick!’ He crossed his arms over his stomach just as Masha hopped off the foot that was still on the ground, spun, and smashed it towards him.
The impact was jarring, and Mike was sent sliding backward. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the flow of Crimson Ladder.
Mike panted, he didn’t smile, he didn’t frown. Instead, his eyes were fully locked on Masha, watching every movement.
He realized that accurately guessing what she would do next was getting him nowhere. So, instead, he started to predict.
When her body was in a certain position, he would read and catalog every possible movement she could make from that position.
Take the last kick, for example. She could have either brought her foot back down in an ace kick, brought it back to kick forward, or spun and kicked with her other foot as she had.
In a fight, whenever someone got into a position, there was a series of potential movements they could make, and as time passed, the number of movements they could make would reduce the closer they got to attacking their opponent.
This rule still applied to Masha, and Mike was taking full advantage of it.
He’d guess the potential moves she could make and wait until her options were limited before guessing what she would do and react promptly.
It was risky, and the window of response to her movements was incredibly small as he could only make an accurate prediction when her options were limited, and by then, she was already about to attack.
Still, he was doing it.
For the first time in a while, Mike made use of his odd ability to completely turn off his thoughts to ensure he made no mistakes.
"Marvelous." Masha’s smile widened as she took a step, and Mike held his palms in front of his neck, barely catching Masha’s fist before raising one knee in front of his stomach to avoid getting kicked there.
The hit nearly threw him off balance, and Masha sent a kick towards his leg that was still on the ground. But Mike barely managed to pivot before holding up his arm, blocking an elbow strike to the temple.
"Good!" Masha said as she continued her assault.
Her attacks continued to come in a flurry, curling in from odd angles that would leave most people at a loss. But Mike was managing.
He hadn’t blinked once, not even as sweat entered his eyes.
Every dodge was incredibly close, and the smallest mistake would cost him. But he was doing it.
Slowly, Mike started to enter a rhythm. The pressure from having to constantly analyze possible movements just to defend was intense, but after more than a dozen blows, he was starting to get the hang of it.
It wasn’t comfortable, though. Far from it. Even if Masha only struck him in places that wouldn’t deal too much damage, the impacts were still jarring, and he could feel them through his bones as he was barely keeping Crimson Ladder active.
Still, he didn’t let it get to him.
Whenever he managed to avoid or block a particularly tricky attack, Masha would compliment him, and as time passed, she seemed to enjoy the situation more and more as she slowly increased the pressure, never allowing Mike to get too comfortable, allowing him to continuously teeter on that edge where the smallest mistake would cost him, and to her elation, Mike managed to avoid getting hit directly the whole time.
’I knew it. He’s far from simple.’ She thought as she looked into the bright blue eyes through the flurry of attacks.
His mind was focused solely on her.
Seeing him so focused, so determined... It was refreshing, really.
Most of the other students in this place couldn’t show this much determination, this much focus.
They would ask for breaks. They would ask her to properly explain.
But not Mike. He took everything in stride, and Masha reveled in it.
However, it was bound to not be permanent.
Even with Crimson Ladder augmenting him, Masha was simply that much stronger than him, and it was inevitable that she eventually managed to land a clean hit.
Her fist moved faster than Mike could block, and by the time his arms had crossed, it was already burying itself deep into his solar plexus.
Mike crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings got cut, and Masha exhaled as she looked down at his gasping figure before humming.
"Alright. That’s enough for today." She said before crouching down and taking out what looked like a small pill.
She turned Mike over and dropped it into his mouth, and as soon as she did, his writhing stopped almost immediately as he abruptly sat up, eyes wide.
His hands went over his body, and he was stunned to realize that all his pain was gone. The memory was there, but the pain had truly vanished.
"What was...?" Mike trailed off, and Masha just shrugged.
"Pain killer. One of the better ones, anyway." She stared at him for a few seconds before speaking again.
"You’re not half bad, I’ll give you that." Hearing this, Mike sighed and fell on his back again.
"I couldn’t even hit you once. It was like the smallest mistake would cost me." Mike thought.
"That’s how that works." Masha just shrugged.
"As you get stronger, you will encounter more opponents that can pressure you immensely, and in situations like those, making the smallest mistake will screw you over. Heck, meeting someone with similar skills to you will yield such a result. So it’s not bad that you are experiencing what that feels like now." She explained, and Mike exhaled before sitting up.
"I guess so..." He muttered, and Masha was about to reassure him, but she paused. He didn’t seem discouraged. If anything, he seemed thoughtful.
"So... same time next week?" Mike asked, and Masha blinked, not expecting him to sound almost... eager.
"... Heh. I like your spirit." She chuckled.
"But no." Her answer caught Mike off guard.
"Huh? Why??" He blurted out, confused.
"Is something wrong? Or did... did I not satisfy you?" He asked, suddenly nervous.
Seeing this, Masha chuckled.
’He’s kinda adorable.’ She thought, and she had the sudden urge to pat his head, but she stopped herself.
"Nah, you’re alright. Let’s just say that you and your fellow combat students are gonna be doing something... interesting, by the start of next week. So you won’t be able to see me." Hearing this, Mike’s interest was piqued, but before he could ask, she was already waving him off.
"I have stuff to do, so move along." She said and walked back to the dummy that was in the center of the room.
Mike got up and hesitated, before saying.
"Thank you!" And went out. Leaving Masha alone in the room who smiled slightly.