19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EpQobic1Y
"Everyone, you are now going to begin your practice. Pair up with a partner and emulate the techniques I just demonstrated. The Nanobots across the field and within your Chrono Suits will prevent fatal or life-threatening injuries. However, they will be partially shut down during this exercise so your sparring carries real weight, allowing both partners to genuinely feel the impact of every strike. The Synaptic Hand Chains and Neural Leg Chains possess advanced healing functions, so do not hesitate to fight at your full potential if you choose to." Instructor Brandet says.
...
Everyone immediately begins pairing up.
Chris pairs up with Rhys.
The Zodiacians spread themselves across the enormous training field, leaving ample distance between one another to avoid interference during their sparring sessions.
Soon...
The battlefield erupts into motion.
Waves of Aura spill across the field from every direction as fists collide, feet carve through the air, and bursts of energy ripple across the endless arena.
Among them all...
Luis, the Zodiacian who had disrupted the class earlier, stands out immediately.
The sheer volume of Aura pouring from his body is astonishing.
It radiates outward in powerful waves, dwarfing most of the surrounding participants.
Chris lets out a quiet sigh before lowering himself into his stance.
Rhys mirrors him without hesitation.
...
Chris inhales deeply.
He guides his Aura throughout every part of his body.
A brown Aura begins swirling around him before gradually condensing against his skin, forming an invisible layer of protective armor.
Rhys claps once.
A light chuckle escapes him.
Then...
His Aura surges.
The sudden increase is so immense that it rivals, perhaps even surpasses, Luis's overwhelming Aura.
The pressure sweeps across the training field.
Nearby Zodiacians instinctively pause their own sparring sessions, stealing curious glances toward him.
A confident smirk curls across Rhys's face.
"Hey, Chris. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. One of the principles of the Drack Clan is that we crush every one of our opponents."
His Aura feels crushingly heavy, pressing against Chris like an invisible mountain.
Yet Chris refuses to back down.
"I'll admit it, you impressed me. But thinking you can crush me just like that means you're underestimating me."
A confident smile slowly forms across Chris's face.
"Don't do that... because that's the biggest mistake you'll ever make."
...
Chris steadies his breathing.
His focus shifts entirely toward his Virgo.
For a brief instant...
Everything around him falls silent.
He releases his Virgo Aura.
Unlike the Zodiac Signs he has trained with extensively, Virgo is still unfamiliar territory.
This spar is his opportunity to improve.
Brown Aura flows steadily around his body.
Its output is only average, but Chris understands something many overlook.
Raw Aura alone does not determine strength.
The true deciding factor...
Is how it is used.
"Hope you're ready, Rhys."
Brown Aura spirals around Chris as his stance lowers.
"Because I'm going to dominate you."
Rhys laughs.
"I'd like to see you try."
His Aura continues spilling around him.
"I won't be beaten that easily."
...
The instant their eyes meet...
Both of them explode forward.
Their feet slam against the ground almost simultaneously.
Rhys strikes first.
A powerful uppercut tears upward toward Chris's jaw.
Chris reacts instantly.
His reflexes prove sharper than Rhys anticipates.
He ducks beneath the punch in one fluid motion.
Without wasting the opening, Chris reinforces both legs with Aura and swings a sweeping kick toward Rhys's legs, aiming to shatter his balance.
But Rhys moves even faster.
He slips away from the kick with astonishing speed.
Before Chris can fully recover...
Rhys retaliates.
BOOM!
A devastating punch crashes into Chris's face.
The impact feels almost unreal.
Before Chris can even process the first strike...
Another ferocious punch slams directly into his chest.
THOOM!
The overwhelming force launches Chris backward.
His boots skid violently across the ground before he finally regains his footing.
He exhales sharply, rubbing his aching chest as he struggles to shake off the lingering pain.
"Man..."
Chris coughs lightly.
"That was one hell of a punch."
A grin spreads across his face despite the pain.
"I really underestimated you."
Rhys laughs loudly.
"And it seems..."
He points at Chris with a teasing smile.
"I overestimated you, bro."
...
Chris brushes off the pain and immediately maneuvers around Rhys.
He channels his brown Aura into his right arm.
A dark brown orb rapidly condenses above his fist, radiating a dense, compressed energy.
Without warning...
Chris feints a direct strike.
Then vanishes from Rhys's line of sight, leaving behind nothing but a fading vestige of brown Aura.
Rhys reacts a fraction too late.
Chris appears at his flank.
BOOM!
The dark orb crashes into Rhys's side with tremendous force, hurling him backward.
The impact forces several drops of saliva from Rhys's mouth as he skids across the field.
Chris disappears once again.
A larger trail of residual Aura lingers where he had stood, masking his true movement and allowing him to slip directly into Rhys's blind spot.
Without hesitation, Chris siphons and refines the Aura around him.
He channels it from both arms into the palms of his hands.
A dense sphere forms between them, crackling with dark brown lightning.
The surrounding air vibrates under the compressed energy.
Chris thrusts both palms forward.
A massive beam of condensed brown energy erupts toward Rhys.
But...
The instant the beam leaves his hands...
CRACK!
A massive dark brown chain whip lashes across Chris's back.
The violent strike cuts through his opening.
Rhys narrowly escapes the beam.
The attack grazes past him as he slips away, countering the very instant Chris lowers his guard to release his attack.
Rhys grins.
"That's a special counterattack technique of the Drack Clan. The moment our opponent lets their guard down, we leave behind a residue of our Aura to make them think we're still there. While they're attacking the illusion, we've already slipped behind them."
He folds his arms proudly.
"And the moment they raise their guard again..."
A smug smile stretches across his face.
"They're already too late."
Chris exhales, still feeling the sting of the chain whip across his back.
"I'll admit it."
He smiles.
"That counterattack was impressive."
His eyes remain fixed on Rhys.
"But you still got hit."
"You were trying to shape the residual Aura you wanted to leave behind, and for a brief moment your execution slowed."
Chris points toward Rhys's left shoulder.
"My beam still managed to bruise your shoulder."
"So..."
A confident grin appears.
"It isn't as flawless as you make it sound."
...
Rhys quietly gathers his Aura once more.
Dark brown energy spirals around him.
Four enormous spiked chain whips emerge one after another, each forged from densely compressed Aura.
They rotate around his body like living serpents, their overwhelming pressure spilling across the battlefield.
"Enough joking around."
Rhys smirks.
"Yo, Chris..."
His grin widens.
"We're bros from now on."
"So whatever happens next..."
His Aura surges.
"Don't take it personally."
"Because I'm going to crush you."
Chris laughs.
"I accept."
He nods.
"You're my bro from now on."
His smile sharpens.
"But there's one thing I disagree with."
He lowers his stance.
"You think you're going to beat me."
Chris chuckles.
"That's impossible."
"When I pummel you into the ground..."
His grin grows wider.
"Don't hate me."
...
Chris releases another wave of Aura.
He compresses it around both wrists, extending it toward his elbows.
The Aura suddenly begins rotating at incredible speed.
High-speed force blades form around both forearms.
The continuously rotating Aura condenses, making each blade larger, denser, and far sharper.
Chris explodes forward.
Both arms spread apart as he blitzes toward Rhys.
He drives in for a punch aimed directly at Rhys's face.
Before the strike can connect...
One of Rhys's rotating chain whips snaps toward Chris's back.
Chris instantly retreats to reinforce his guard.
But Rhys is already there.
He suddenly appears directly in front of Chris and drives a left-handed punch toward him.
Chris blocks it with his right arm.
Rhys immediately follows with a right-handed punch.
Chris blocks again.
For a brief instant...
Both of Chris's hands are occupied as they clash in midair.
His chest is completely exposed.
Chris forcefully shoves both of Rhys's arms away, creating a small gap between them.
It is all Rhys needs.
A third chain whip lashes into Chris's right side.
Before Chris can recover...
A second whip crashes into him.
BOOM!
The combined impact sends Chris plummeting from midair.
He slams into the ground with tremendous force, fracturing the surface beneath him.
Within seconds...
The Nanobots swarm over the damaged area and restore the field as though nothing had happened.
"Shit, bro."
Chris lets out a relieved chuckle as he rises.
"You keep amazing me."
He rolls his shoulders.
"But don't let your guard down."
A determined smile spreads across his face.
"I'm coming for you."
Rhys laughs.
"I don't plan on giving you that opportunity."
His eyes burn with excitement.
"I'm going to emerge victorious."
"It would disgrace my brother if I didn't go all out."
Chris smiles.
"Look at us."
He chuckles.
"It's only our first day..."
"And we're already this close."
He lowers himself once more.
"So..."
His Aura erupts beneath his feet.
"Let's do this."
Chris vanishes.
In the next instant...
He appears directly before Rhys.
Rhys, who is hovering just above mid-level of the field, instinctively lowers his guard for the briefest fraction of a second.
It is enough.
BOOM!
Chris drives a devastating impulse punch straight into Rhys.
The impact launches him backward at tremendous speed.
Rhys nearly crashes into the ground, but twists his body just in time, regaining his balance a short distance above the field.
"HOW?! What did you do? You were so far away from me. How did you get so close?" Rhys asked, visibly frustrated, though a grin still lingered on his face.
"I told you not to get ahead of yourself. While we were talking, you assumed I was too far away to do anything, and you believed I couldn't escape your line of sight from the distance you created. I'll admit it, it was a good plan, but I managed to decipher it. When I was struck down by your second whip, you slowly moved away. It was so well executed that it looked as though you hadn't moved at all. The moment we started our discussion, the Mirage you had already set up was triggered, doubling the distance between us. During that conversation, I used a Mirage technique called STEP {a technique where you plant Aura in a straight line and, once triggered, it takes you to the end of the line faster than anyone can notice}." Chris replied with a confident smirk as he calmly drifted toward Rhys.
"Shall we continue?" Chris asked, his smile never fading.
"Yes, we shall." Rhys answered with the same unwavering enthusiasm.
…
They collided once more in midair.
Punch after punch crashed into one another, each strike accompanied by a violent surge of their respective Auras. Every exchange unleashed rippling bursts of wind that swept across the battlefield as their fists met, deflected, and rebounded. With every passing second, the speed of their attacks increased, neither willing to surrender an inch of ground.
Chris suddenly flew backward, creating a short distance between them.
Then...
He activated STEP.
The instant the hidden Aura line pulled him forward, Rhys instinctively raised his guard to block the incoming attack.
Too late.
An Aura-cloaked punch had already slammed into his chin.
Rhys's head snapped backward.
Before he could recover from the first impact, Chris's left fist crashed into his left cheek.
Rhys immediately attempted to widen the distance between them, flying backward at high speed.
Chris followed.
Every time Rhys retreated, another STEP was triggered.
Each activation ended with another Aura-empowered punch crashing into Rhys before he could fully regain his balance. The pace of STEP continued increasing, each movement becoming faster and more difficult to predict than the last.
Blood streamed freely from Rhys's nose.
Chris refused to give him even a moment to breathe.
Rhys suddenly dove toward the field at tremendous speed.
Chris immediately triggered STEP again.
Just before Chris reached him...
Rhys shifted backward by barely four inches.
It was enough.
Chris overshot his destination.
For the briefest instant, surprise crossed his face as his technique carried him farther than expected, leaving him completely exposed.
Rhys smiled.
Mirage.
He vanished.
The next instant, he appeared directly before Chris, both of them hovering only a short distance above the field.
Without hesitation, Rhys seized Chris's left wrist with his right hand.
Then...
BOOM!!
He violently slammed Chris straight into the field below.
The ground caved inward from the impact before the surrounding Nanobots immediately swarmed over the damaged surface, restoring it within seconds.
"How did you see through that?" Chris asked, coughing several drops of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"It was actually quite simple," Rhys replied between bursts of laughter. "I realized your STEP operates on the principle of Push, Drag, and Pull. First, you plant your Aura at a specific point. Then you lock it there, forming a tiny invisible emblem. After that, you drag the opposite end of the emblem to the center of your chest. When your opponent moves, they unknowingly pull on that Aura line, triggering your STEP and launching you across it at astronomical speed. I concentrated my Aura into my eyes, carefully analyzed the technique, and... well..."
He laughed even harder.
"...I got you good."
…Chris slowly rose to his feet, his left hand still resting against his aching chin. He rolled his jaw from side to side before running his tongue along the inside of his mouth. The metallic taste of blood lingered.
Without a word, he leaned forward and spat several crimson droplets onto the field. The Nanobots immediately swarmed over them, erasing every trace within seconds.
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
"I'll admit it... you got me good."
He rubbed the back of his neck before lifting his eyes toward Rhys.
"But who told you that was the only technique I have up my sleeve?"
A faint smile returned to his face.
"If you thought that..."
Brown Aura quietly began flowing around his body once more.
"...then kindly rethink your strategy."
He lowered himself into a fighting stance.
"Because this fight..."
His Aura pressure steadily intensified.
"...is far from over."
…
The instant Chris finished speaking, he triggered STEP.
Rhys laughed.
"So you're using it again?"
His smile widened, convinced he had already deciphered the technique.
Chris appeared directly before him.
A faint smirk spread across Rhys's face.
He immediately activated Mirage STEP {A technique that combines STEP with an illusory mirage, using one's Aura to create five invisible stepping stones ahead of the user.}.
An Aura mirage remained behind as his real body glided smoothly across the invisible Aura platforms. He shifted away from Chris before instantly activating it again, closing the distance from another angle.
Chris turned just in time.
Rhys launched a vicious uppercut.
A violent pulse of wind erupted beneath the punch, tearing upward through the air.
Chris narrowly leaned aside, allowing the fist to skim past him.
Rhys refused to give him a moment to recover.
Before his right arm had even finished rising, another punch surged toward Chris.
Chris reacted immediately.
Instead of retreating, he slid his left palm through the rushing stream of wind, redirecting both the airflow and Rhys's fist. Using the redirected current, he propelled himself upward, lifting his body above Rhys's extended arm.
Rhys looked up with a frustrated smirk.
Without hesitation, he twisted his falling right arm and fired another crushing punch toward Chris.
Chris's instincts flared.
He activated STEP.
His body vanished.
The punch struck nothing but empty space.
BOOOM!!
The compressed wind released by Rhys's fist exploded outward, producing a thunderous shockwave that echoed across the field.
Chris reappeared roughly two feet away.
Rhys slowly lowered his fist before laughing.
"Awww... Why did you have to dodge that?"
He shook his head with exaggerated disappointment.
"I was about to end this fight."
His grin widened.
"That dodge was lucky."
His eyes narrowed.
"You won't be next time."
He slowly raised his right palm above his left, forming a precise spherical stance.
"Watch your back."
"We ain't done yet."
A tremendous wave of dense, unstable Aura immediately gathered between his palms.
Dark brown lightning wrapped itself around the rapidly condensing sphere while powerful pulses of wind spiraled around it, continuously feeding its rotation. Dense waves of energy throbbed violently from the growing orb.
…
Chris had already settled into a defensive stance, waiting for the inevitable Energy Emission.
Chris's Mind
"The moment I block his Energy Emission..."
"I'll use a Double Mirage STEP."
"Evade his guard..."
"Slip into his blind spot..."
"Then drive an Energy Orb straight into his back."
…
Rhys continued compressing the attack.
With every passing second, the Energy Emission became denser. The swirling wind currents surrounding the sphere continuously reinforced its rotation, increasing both its stability and destructive force.
Then...
He fired.
The instant the beam erupted forward, the recoil forced his stance slightly backward.
The ray blazed across the field like a torrent of condensed destruction, wrapped in violent brown lightning and spiraling currents of wind. The sheer density of the attack caused the pathway it traveled to steam violently as the surrounding Nanobots rushed to repair the damage almost as quickly as it formed.
The beam raced directly toward Chris.
Chris chose to meet it head-on.
He inhaled deeply.
His focus sharpened.
Virgo Aura surged around his entire arm, weaving itself into a wavy, zigzagging pathway with razor-sharp concentrations at both ends. Pulses of Aura raced through the structure as he swung the Aura pathway directly into Rhys's Energy Emission.
The moment the two forces collided...
Chris immediately dispersed his Aura, just as Instructor Brandet had demonstrated.
Only...
He executed it in his own way.
As his Aura unraveled, dense waves of lightning burst outward, scattering across the beam before wrapping themselves around it in violent spirals.
The two Aura densities clashed fiercely.
The resulting collision released a deafening screech that echoed throughout the entire field.
The sound alone was enough to unsettle weaker Zodiacians.
Those with only low Aura instinctively faltered.
The mid-average Zodiacians and those above merely glanced toward the disturbance before returning their attention to their own sparring matches.
…During the deafening screech of the colliding auras, Chris, hidden amidst the chaos, activated STEP and concentrated a tremendous amount of Aura throughout his entire right arm. Rhys was so distracted by the violent collision that he failed to notice Chris slipping beneath his line of sight. Before he could react, Chris surged upward and drove a massive Aura-infused punch straight into Rhys's stomach. The impact released a violent pulse of wind that blasted Rhys roughly twenty centimeters backward.
Chris activated STEP again.
He instantly appeared beside Rhys while he was still being carried by the momentum of the first strike and drove another Aura-laced smash into the left side of his face. The force twisted Rhys into a scattered trajectory, leaving him unable to regain his balance.
STEP.
Chris vanished once more and appeared directly above him. As Rhys's momentum finally began slowing, Chris slammed a devastating downward kick into his chest.
BOOM!!
Rhys crashed violently into the lower platform of the field, leaving a dent nearly thirty centimeters deep before the Nanobots immediately swarmed over the damage, restoring the surface within moments.
…
Chris lowered his arms.
The skin around both hands had been badly scorched by the overwhelming heat of his Aura. Fresh blood seeped from the burns as pain coursed through every finger.
"How'd you like tha..."
He coughed sharply, wincing as the excruciating pain surged through his hands.
…
Rhys slowly pushed himself back to his feet.
Thin streams of blood trickled from both corners of his mouth. His face was bruised, and another cough forced blood from his lips. He wiped it away with the back of his right hand before straightening himself.
The two of them now stood roughly twenty-five inches apart on ground level.
"Wow... you got me good. I'm impressed. You took full advantage of the situation and manipulated your Aura perfectly. I just confirmed my hypothesis, but that's not my priority right now. Right now, all that matters... is defeating you." Rhys said with a rollicking laugh.
"Well..." cough.
"I'm not going to lose, no matter what. I have a purpose... and if I lose my very first match..." blood splatters.
"...it just means I was never meant to be. It will never leave me... it keeps haunting me day and night. I ain't going to lose here. This isn't my stop. We only just got here... I ain't going to lose here."
Chris poured every ounce of emotion in his heart into those words.
…
Chris immediately darted toward Rhys, throwing a weak but Aura-blazed punch.
Rhys, still feeling the effects of the previous barrage, barely managed to dodge. Even so, the punch grazed his chin, leaving behind a shallow scar. Maintaining his footing, he ascended roughly forty inches above mid-level.
Chris triggered STEP once again.
He appeared barely two inches away before immediately chaining it into a Triple STEP.
In a single instant, he appeared in front of Rhys...
...then behind him...
...then to his left.
Rhys desperately tried to track every movement at once.
That single hesitation left him exposed.
Chris capitalized on the opening, landing another grazing strike before his movements noticeably slowed. His body suddenly felt hollow, as though every ounce of strength was draining away.
He was running dangerously low on Aura.
Rhys...
Still had more to spare.
…
Rhys continued dodging every attack Chris launched.
Although his own movements had also begun slowing and his strength was gradually depleting, he still possessed enough Aura to maintain the advantage.
Chris refused to surrender.
He continued exchanging punches with relentless determination, but little by little, Rhys began dominating the exchange.
WHOOSH!!
A tremendous wave of dense Aura suddenly erupted from the opposite end of the battlefield.
Luis, the class disruptor, and Idris, the Zodiacian Chris had pinned down the previous day, had pushed their sparring match to its climax.
A powerful Aura clash exploded between them.
The technique Instructor Brandet had demonstrated was now being executed at full capacity.
FLEX.
An ability that condensed Aura to dramatically increase its output.
It operated on the principle of expansion, stretching Aura before continuously reforming it from the inside out. The repeated compression caused its density to increase until its output became nearly three times greater than normal.
Now, that very principle unfolded before everyone's eyes.
Their battle was unbelievably intense.
The Nanobots continuously repaired the cracks and dents forming beneath every collision.
Both fighters were bruised.
Both were battered.
Yet neither showed the slightest intention of backing down.
Every strike was delivered with remarkable precision and calculated accuracy.
The sheer ferocity of their battle drew the attention of several Zodiacians, many of whom gradually shifted their focus away from their own sparring matches to watch the clash unfold.
Chris's energy felt as though it was steadily draining away every time he manipulated his Aura. His body was covered in bruises, his Aura reserves were nearly exhausted, and he looked as though he could collapse at any moment. Meanwhile, Rhys still appeared energetic, eager to continue the fight.
"Bro, are you sure you want to keep going? You know we're just sparring, right? You don't have to push yourself this far. It's only a practice match." Rhys said, genuine concern evident in his voice for his newfound friend.
"Don't say that. I may not be as strong as the rest of you, but I'm not going to lie down and let you all walk over me. What I have seen... what I have felt... even my parents don't know. I'm not going to let it..." Chris paused, taking a painful breath before raising his voice.
"I refuse to give up before it has even started.
I WON'T FALTER!"
The conviction behind his words carried a warmth that resonated deep within Rhys.
"If that's what you want... then I'll respect you and keep fighting with everything I've got." Rhys replied, a newfound respect shining in his eyes as he looked at the boy standing before him.
…
With the last ounce of strength remaining in his body, Chris bolted toward Rhys.
Their practice match was rapidly approaching its conclusion.
Chris threw a punch with his left arm.
Rhys calmly raised his right arm and blocked it before instantly countering with his left. Both of them were hovering a decent distance above mid-level, and the counter landed squarely against Chris's jaw.
A sharp wave of pain surged through him.
Still...
He endured it.
Ignoring the agony, Chris immediately threw another punch.
At this point, the fight had become almost entirely one-sided.
Rhys relied on flawless defense and precise counterattacks.
Chris attacked relentlessly.
His body was never meant to withstand such relentless strain, yet he refused to stop pushing forward.
Again...
And again...
He swung.
Every punch was blocked.
Every attack was answered.
Yet his determination never wavered.
It was that unwavering resolve that slowly began inspiring Rhys.
A proud chuckle escaped Rhys's lips.
Another perfectly timed counter crashed against Chris's chin.
Blood spilled from the corner of Chris's mouth.
His vision blurred.
Darkness crept into the edges of his sight.
His eyes lost their focus as exhaustion overwhelmed both his body and mind.
Rhys immediately noticed.
His expression softened.
Without hesitation, he flew toward Chris.
Instead of delivering another devastating blow, Rhys gently tapped Chris's chest with a light jab, almost like a brotherly fist bump.
Then he lifted Chris's left arm and rested it over his own shoulder.
Supporting his weight, Rhys slowly guided him back down to ground level.
He kept Chris steady beside him, allowing him to recover while they watched the final moments of the sparring session unfold.
By then, every other pair had already finished.
Only Luis and Idris remained.
Their battle was reaching its climax...
And little by little, Idris was beginning to falter before Luis.
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgj7iuC4Xh
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