Chapter 80: Combat

[Combat Initiated]

The voice of women entered Alex's mind. He quickly equipped the reaper's dagger and was ready to use his attack skill. 'I thought so. I don't think the same thing that happened yesterday happened again. It must be their way of finding out what level I am in terms of combat.' Alex thought as he slowly walked back to the door. He knew he could defeat the two women so his best bet was to stay close to the door. 

'The light from beneath the doors coming from outside helps a little bit to at least make out a figure in the dark.'Alex said to himself as he looked around. 

*Woosh*

Alex quickly looked towards his left to see a knife was thrown to the door. 'Knives?' Alex thought as he looked around the room. As his eyes slowly started to get used to the dark, Alex noticed a silhouette of a person slowly stalking around the corners of the room. 'Should I attack or just stay here? It's clear that this isn't Midnight because I don't think she uses the knife… So it's either Imani… Or someone else they've put up to battle me…' Alex wasn't sure who the enemy was so he couldn't decide if he should attack or just defend himself.

'Ah fuck it, I'll go on the offensive. I'm 100 percent sure that this isn't like what happened last time but I'll still watch out just in case.' Alex made up his mind. He wanted to take the initiation in combat. His eyes were already adjusted to the dark so it was easier to see in the room. Alex could exactly pinpoint where the attacker was in the room. He used might and quickly jumped towards the attacker, his dagger in hand. 

The attacker looked at Alex and jumped right towards the other corner of the room. As soon as the attacker landed, Alex threw the dagger towards him. The attacker dodged the dagger but failed to notice that Alex had already jumped towards him. Alex quickly punched towards the attacker's stomach. 

"Kwekh!" The man groaned. He put his hand on his stomach and jumped backward. 

*woosh* *woosh* *woosh*

Three Knives flew past Alex but they all missed. 'He's trying to make a distance with me!' Alex thought as he watched the man retreat to the back of the room. 'I should make the initiation!' Alex said as he ran towards the man. As he did, Alex also picked up the Dagger. Alex thrust towards the attacker's chest. 

The attacker flinched and tried to jump back once again but he slammed towards the wall. In desperation, the attacked started to throw more knives towards Alex but all of them missed.

Alex jumped to the attacker and smiled, "It's over!" He screamed in victory as he thrusted the dagger.

[Out of Combat]

Alex then slowly got up and looked around, "What that good enough?" He asked as tried to find Midnight or Imani. 'This person wasn't Imani or Midnight, no A-rank awakened would be this weak… Plus even if they were around the same strength as me, their experience would be a lot higher than me in terms of combat so I'd instantly lose to them anyways…' Alex sighed.

" But I do wonder, who is this?' Alex looked back at the attacker. He kneeled down and tried to get a closer look, "they're wearing a mask… I guess they either don't want their identity to be known or it's a part of the training." Alex mumbled as he looked around once again. 

"Okay, I think that's enough." Midnight spoke as she walked out of a hidden door in the room. She walked to the switch and turned on the lights. Alex looked around when the lights turned on, "This looks like the room of a rich person's house…" Alex spoke as he observed the environment. 

The room they were in looked spacious. It had some furniture to make it look like someone actually lived there. Midnight smiled, "This at first must have given you some flashbacks… I do apologize for that." She then looked towards the attacker. The Man's shirt was stuck to the wall by the dagger. "At least you are sympathetic towards your sparring partner." She laughed as she walked towards the man on the ground. "You can get up now." She smiled. 

The man slowly got up looked at Alex. Midnight also looked at Alex and smiled, "It wouldn't have mattered even if you were to stab It… It also wouldn't have mattered if the knives were to hit you." 

Alex looked confused by Midnight's words and questioned, "It? Wait…Why do you say that and why wouldn't it be a problem if I stabbed that man?… Or if he would have stabbed me?" He was curious. Alex couldn't understand what Midnight was talking about. Until now, he thought that it was a person but Midnight spoke about it as if it wasn't human. 

Midnight looked and the man and smiled, "Well, It's special. It isn't human but an attack dummy. No matter how much you stab it, The max damage would be that it would be destroyed but since it isn't living, wouldn't have mattered. And well, if you check the knives… They're actually very dull." Midnight looked on the ground and picked up one of the knives. She then proceeded to poke her hand with the knife but no damage.

Alex looked at Midnight and smiled, "I guess it really wouldn't have mattered… BUt It's amazing to think that this was a bot… It acted and even grunted like a Human." Alex said in awe.

She then looked at Alex and continued with a sly smile, " It's programmed to fight Like a C ranked Awakened. They also added other features to make it seem more human. Silicon body so it feels fleshy, voice box for when it takes damage, A smart AI which decides the best course of action… Of course, the thought to action speed will depend on which Rank it is supposed to be… Taken all that, this bot's skills as well as abilities would match a C rank awakened but… It seems like we will need to graduate you, Alex… You've become a B ranked… Well in terms of power a lower B rank Awakened. You'll need to get stronger to be able to truly take on a B ranked Gate."