Chapter 40: Getting Thrashed
Getting Thrashed
It took a few minutes, but everyone was able to spread out decently throughout the hall, its large size giving them ample space to spread out with at least 5 meters between some and more between others, like Masha had instructed.
Mike did some light stretching as he waited for Masha to do whatever she was about to do, his excitement palpable.
He’d never done just pure close combat before. And now, he didn’t count the time when he killed those Lizardmen or lost control in his fight with Theresa.
He looked around the hall and inspected the various students. Kris was near one of the corners while Agnes was closer to the back. She was still staring at him hatefully, and Mike felt like he’d be dead if looks could kill.
’Give it a rest already. I’m pretty sure there will be people who will go out of their way to humiliate you. Why are you looking at the guy you approached first?’ He thought and resisted an eye roll. He knew that she would probably become an issue later, but what could he do? It’s not like he could just tell her to stop.
"Alright, everyone." Mash clapped loudly, catching everyone’s attention.
"I’m going to activate the holograms now. So prepare yourselves. Oh, and don’t think you can run away from a fight. I will personally drag you back in front of your hologram. And if I catch you using your ability, even for a moment, I will intentionally crank up the difficulty to punish you." She flashed a smile as a holographic control panel appeared in front of her, making most of the students shudder.
She tapped a few things, and Mike watched curiously as clear lines appeared on the floor between each student, and from within them, walls of pure energy materialized between each student, creating several cross-sections that divided the different ’arenas’.
’It’s pretty small, but... that’s probably what she wants.’ Mike mused. As opposed to his spars with Theresa where the two of them had the entire arena to themselves with more than enough space to move around, this setup pretty much forced them to get in close and personal, and he could already see many students looking uncomfortable at the prospect of fighting within such an enclosed space.
Not Mike, though.
As much as he enjoyed fighting Theresa, having to constantly chase after her whenever they sparred was pretty annoying, especially when he spent half the time ensuring he didn’t have an arrow explode in his face.
So, the prospect of proper close combat certainly appealed to Mike.
As he was thinking, his attention suddenly snapped forward as a figure started to materialize out of seemingly nothing.
It’s here that Mike felt like calling it a hilogram was a bit inaccurate. His impression of holograms was that they lacked mass and couldn’t truly be interacted with physically. However, looking at the thing in front of him, Mike was pretty certain he’d feel it if he punched it.
Or if it punches him.
It took only a few seconds for the hologram to materialize, and what stood before Mike was a humanoid figure that had no facial features and was slightly see-through. Its build also didn’t give any indication of its gender.
It had some muscle, though.
Despite the lack of eyes, Mike felt like it was ’looking’ at him. Which was a bit surreal, but he didn’t question it.
"Begin," Masha said simply, and Mike stared at the hologram, not sure what to do yet.
Did he attack first or...?
Suddenly, the hologram stopped forward and threw a pretty standard punch.
Mike narrowed his eyes and evaded the punch pretty easily.
There was nothing special about it, and the speed was sorely lacking, so he had no problem avoiding it.
It threw a few more punches from different angles, and Mike dodged those as well before deciding to go on the offensive.
He sidestepped a jab and pulled his fist back before clocking the hologram in the abdomen. He intentionally held back, but the thing still doubled over slightly as it was sent staggering back, and Mike stared with genuine surprise.
The sensation of his fist against it was... interesting.
He knew he didn’t hit flesh, but the way the point of impact caved in was very reminiscent of just punching someone in the gut. But it also felt sort of... off. Like the skin was weirdly fuzzy and slightly tickled his fist.
’Cool. Even its reactions are pretty realistic.’ Mike thought as he saw the hologram ’recovee’ from the punch. It seemed like the holograms were made this way to simulate a real person who could feel pain.
After recovering. The hologram ’stared’ at Mike for a few seconds, and then Mike had an odd feeling as something within the hologram seemed to ’click’.
The next moment, it went forward again, and Mike watched with surprise as it charged at him faster.
Not by a huge amount, mind you. But it was certainly noticeable, and Mike had a harder time dodging. Moreover, the punches weren’t so simple either as the hologram struck from more unpredictable angles, and it started using other parts of its body to attack too. Like its legs.
’I should probably be more offensive.’ Mike thought.
He once more avoided a series of attacks before closing in and sending a punch towards the hologram’s chest. This time, though, Mike watched in surprise as the hologram moved its chest out of the way at the last moment and locked its arms around his, effectively pinning him.
It then tried to grapple him, but Mike, with this insane strength, pulled his arm free, but not before pulling the hologram forward too and giving it a good knee into the gut.
It doubled over again, but this time, Mike didn’t give it a chance to recover as he unleashed a rain of blows on the hologram, beating it from side to side as he went at it relentlessly, surprised and elated at how durable it was.
’I don’t think I’ve ever hit anyone, or anything for that matter, with my full strength. I wonder how durable this hologram truly is.’ He thought and was unable to resist the temptation as he pulled his fist back, his muscles tensing as he stepped forward and threw what could only be described as a disastrous punch at the hologram.
But just as the punch was about to land, Mike felt a sense of danger, and he jerked his punch to the side while leaning back.
Somehow, the leg of the hologram whipped upwards with surprising power, and Mike saw as the foot shot just inches above his head.
He frowned as he backed away just before the foot stomped down, creating an audible BANG as it struck the ground.
’That’s dangerous.’ Mike noted as he stared at the hologram that now gave him a decent sense of danger now.
’Okay. Let’s see what you got.’ He grinned and waited for the thing to attack.
And attack it did.
The hologram surged forward, and as soon as it got close, it started assaulting Mike viciously with a series of attacks. From strange punches and palm attacks that came from hard angles to constant interference with Mike’s feet.
The pressure ramped up significantly, and while he was still above the hologram in sheer stats, it made up for the difference in sheer skill, and it wasn’t long before Mike found himself on the back foot as he was constantly evading and blocking.
Luckily, his instincts were as sharo as ever, so there wasn’t an attack he hadn’t anticipated coming ye–
A palm smashed into his face hard, causing his head to whip backward from the force.
Without giving him time to recover, the hologram followed up with a pretty nasty combo, hitting him in his gut, ribs, and shin, and ended it with a mean uppercut that sent him reeling.
He staggered back and put his hands up for any follow-ups, his instincts warning him of another incoming attack, but it didn’t come from where he thought, and a burst of pain hit him as his kidney was kicked squarely, causing him to gasp as his footing became unsteady.
A fact the hologram exploited as I dropped and performed a leg sweep, making Mike fall back. But he somehow recovered and did a backhand spring to get away, landing a but unsteady as it wasn’t something he was used to doing.
’Damn. What the hell?’ Mike shook his head as he tried his best to ignore the pain assaulting his senses. It was hard, though.
He watched the hologram intently as he tried to get his breathing under control.
His instincts warned him of where the attack would come from. So why?
The hologram went forward again, and Mike gritted his teeth as he went forward to meet it, deciding that being defensive wasn’t a good idea.
As soon as they got close, both threw a punch, but the hologram shifted the trajectory of its fist and pushed his away, making him miss. It clenched its other fist, and Mike got ready to block, but his eyes bulged out as he was suddenly kicked right in the gut, making him wheeze and double over.
What came next was a nasty elbow to the back of his head, sending him into the ground face first.
For a moment, there was silence as the Hologram stared at him, as though waiting for him to get back up, and a few seconds later, he did.
"Ugh." He groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.
In truth, he’d barely taken any damage from the assault. The blows hurt, sure, but his durability wasn’t to be underestimated. He wasn’t even bruising a lot yet, which spoke volumes of his tankiness.
He regarded the hologram for a moment before he got up.
Then he smiled, but it was more predatory than amicable. The fact that his ferocity had entered the twenties probably wasn’t helping either.
"Okay. I think I get it." He said and gestured for the thing to come at him.
As for if he actually got it? Well. Time to find out.