Chapter 38: Familiar Face
Familiar Face
Time passed, and the two boys slowly found themselves in an odd yet somehow functioning conversation.
Kris would mumble outer barely discernible words that could easily be misconstrued for something else, and Mike with his uncanny intuition would translate them nearly perfectly and give an adequate reply.
It was also at this point that Mike felt that he needed to truly address his instincts. At least, the part when it came to reading intent.
He knew his instincts were a sort of passive function that formed as a result of his senses being so potent, but he genuinely wondered how that worked. Because from the looks of it, their accuracy was so good it was borderline mind-reading.
He wanted to ask the system, but he felt like it was something he could figure out himself, which is what he tried to do.
He asked Kris another question about combat, and Kris once more mumbled a reply.
As soon as he did, Mike paid attention. As in, REALLY paid attention, and it didn’t take long for him to notice the discrepancies.
An unobservant person would probably describe Kris as an indifferent person who barely reacted to anything. But Mike would beg to differ.
He noticed details that he had never noticed before. Or perhaps he always had, and his brain just filtered them to the side.
The subtle twitch of his fingers when Mike looked at him. The minute tensing or relaxing of his shoulders when he spoke, the faint change in his scent when he replied to a question, the sound of his throat tightening a little whenever Mike leaned a bit closer, or the way his heart sped up or slowed down depending on what question was asked.
The signs were small, but there, and when Mike paid attention to them, they became as clear as day to him. It was sort of like breathing. He did it unconsciously, but as soon as he thought about it, he became aware of each breath.
The same applied here. He could just unconsciously tell how someone felt towards him, even if he wasn’t staring at them directly as his senses were just that potent. But as soon as he focused on what they were doing that made him know why their intent was the way it was, it was hard to miss.
Then again, Mike did not doubt for a second that there were some supernatural aspects to it. His entire Lupine shtick was already abnormal as it was, and he truly wouldn’t be surprised if straight-up mind-reading was a thing Lupins could do.
Moreover, his instincts went far beyond simply reading people well. For instance, he had a feeling that his conjecture about his senses was mostly correct. On that front, how did he know? On what basis was he so sure? And why was he correct?
’It’s a curious thing.’ Mike thought, slowly coming to the realization that if he truly wanted to, he could spend a pretty long time just contemplating his own existence as a Lupine.
Certainly something to look into later.
Speaking of sharp senses, about an hour after their odd conversation, another person entered the training hall.
Mike’s ears twitched subtly as a somewhat familiar scent filled his nose. He turned to see a person he hadn’t expected to see again. At least, not in a setting like this.
’Masha?’ He thought with surprise. The dark-skinned woman strode into the hall confidently, her snake coiled around her neck as she approached.
Mike took a moment to inspect her and... wow.
When he’d first seen her in the storage room, she was wearing a loose sweater and pants, so Mike could only really see he face and hands at the time.
Now, though, she wore a set of workout leggings and a sleeveless crop top that showed off her toned midriff and arms as well as her ample cleavage.
Her legs were also muscular, but in a way that was more than appealing to the opposite sex, and Mike couldn’t help but stare, and with his senses, he could notice a lot more than the average person...
"Huh, it’s you, kid?" Her words snapped him out of his ogling, and Mike’s gaze snapped to her face which looked both surprised and slightly skeptical.
"Uh, good morning." He scratched his head. "Are you the instructor?" He asked straightforwardly, and Masha nodded.
"That’s right, I’m the Close-combat instructor." She confirmed, and Mike’s expression turned strange.
"Then... why were you in the...?" He trailed off, finding it difficult to reconcile the disheveled-looking woman in the storage room of the gym with this confident and–quite frankly–hot individual before him.
At this, Masha waved her hand dismissively.
"Bah. You think instructors live off applause? We’vegot quotas too, kid." She said dismissively, but Mike didn’t need his uncanny instincts to tell that she wanted to change the subject.
Her gaze then shifted to Kris, who looked unbothered by the situation, but Mike saw the slight way his fingers curled and how his breathing became slightly uneven.
"Huh, well, I’m not too surprised to see you so early." She said, her voice devoid of any mockery, just intrigue.
Kris didn’t respond, or even look at her for that matter, and Masha shrugged like she expected it.
"With that said, why are YOU so early?" She asked Mike who just looked happy to be there.
"I was too excited and nervous, so I didn’t get much sleep. Hence, I came early." He shrugged, and Masha raised a brow, her one eye holding a hint of disbelief and amusement.
Oddly enough, Mike felt the exact same feelings from the snake around her neck. It was like they were in a strange sort of sync, which made Mike assume that the snake was related to her ability in some way, if not an outright manifestation of it.
"That’s weird. Usually, you brats are too unbothered to care about being nervous for things like this." She said pointedly, and the jab flew right over Mike’s head as he just shrugged.
"It’s the first time I’ve done something like this after all." He replied, and his response made even Kris to regard him curiously.
"What do you mean by that? Didn’t you go to school normally before coming here?" Masha asked with her signature raised brow, and Mike knew he’d messed up.
He forced a cough.
"Well, yeah. But that was a while ago." He half lied.
No matter how terrible the conditions were, all human children within their territory needed to receive the bare minimum of education before anything else, even if they were orphans. They were taught basic English, Math, writing, and general knowledge.
However, it only lasted up until they were 10. Mike was 17, so the last time he was schooled was 7 years ago. Heck, calling it a school was generous, considering that he and a bunch of other orphans had just been grabbed and thrown into a dilapidated building where an underpaid teacher did their best to teach the group of rowdy children.
Anyway, his response was met with a look of skepticism from Masha and one of interest from Kris.
Oddly enough, he felt the same curiosity from.the snake around her neck, like it was judging him too. Yeah, they were definitely in sync.
There was an awkward silence before Mike decided to change the subject.
"So! What will today’s class entail?" He asked Masha, who got the message and decided to drop it as she answered.
"Since it’s the first day, we will be starting off somewhat easy. Each of you will need to fight against a holographic image which, yes, can hurt you. It will have beginner-level martial arts with strength around your level. The purpose will be to fight them so that I can get a clear idea of where you need to improve while helping you root out your bad habits. Also, I’m telling you this because it’s not exactly a secret." She explained, and Mike rubbed his chin.
Kris seemed content to stay silent as the attention was no longer on him, and Mike decided to leave him out of the conversation.
"Right. So, will our abilities have any impact here?" Mike asked, and Masha shook her head.
"No. In fact, you won’t be allowed to use them. At least, not this early on into the course. The point is to build up your foundation, as more often than not, close-combat will become a staple in your lives, especially if you have abilities that lack ranged applications. And as I said, it’s to help root out bad habits, and there will be times you find yourselves in situations where your abilities aren’t an option, be it due to a lack of energy or other factors. Building your close-combat style around your ability is good, but it shouldn’t be your only option." She finished, and Mike stared at her.
As in, he just stared without saying anything for a good thirty seconds, and Masha frowned.
"What?" She finally asked and Mike just blinked before smiling.
"You’re a nice person." He said genuinely, and Masha looked legitimately taken aback by the sudden compliment, and even Kris tilted his head slightly.
"... What made you come to that conclusion?" She asked, both out of curiosity and to try and hide her own bashfulness.
"Just call it a gut feeling." Mike grinned cheekily.