Chapter 89: Holding Back?!

"This next attack will decide the winners of this battle!" Midnight exclaimed as she waited for the two to clash. Alex with his dagger in his hands, ready to use the reapers' slice attack, and the Bot, ready to use its overhead strike. It seemed like both were using the maximum amount of power that they could muster up. 

*Boom!*

The two collided. *swoosh* *swoosh* their bodes flew back in opposite directions. But the winner was already clear after having a simple glance. Midnight looked at the Bot which was still on its feet. It had been thrown back but it slowly got up back to its feet. But it was also damaged pretty badly. Alex on the other hand was in a worse state. Midnight looked at Alex who was slammed into the wall from the Bot's strength. She ran over to Alex who was still lying on the ground. "Alex, are you okay?" Midnight asked as she kneeled next to Alex.

Alex opened his eyes to see Midnight sitting beside him. "What happened?" He looked a bit confused but suddenly seemed to remember everything. Midnight saw Alex quickly get up and smiled, "At least you're okay. I was worried there but I guess the bot was only a bit stronger than you. Not enough to harm you in any substantial way." 

[Out of Combat]

Alex looked at the prompt then turned his attention at the Bot. He took a deep breath and sighed, "I really thought I had that. Guess I'm not there yet." He didn't look disappointed but he also didn't look happy with himself. Alex looked at Midnight and asked, "Did I do good?" 

midnight nodded and smiled, "You did really good. You were able to apply everything that I taught you, into this battle which is amazing. As you grow stronger and gain more control over your powers, I know that you will be stronger than me. But until then, I will continue to teach you as much as I can." Alex smiled back when he heard Midnight. He looked at his Ui and smiled, 'I lose more than half of my health… That is a lot. But that also shows me just how big of a power difference there is between people in the same ranks. The ones who are low B rank can't hold a candle against those who are high B rank.'

Midnight spoke, "Now, get some rest. Don't use that ability to heal up though. We're under the camera so it's better not to show your abilities to eyes that might peer from far places. Just rest." Midnight smiled and pointed to the camera. Alex looked at the cameras and nodded, 'I don't know who else would be watching this other than Imani and possibly Ryan and Master Zhun but no harm in not healing myself by using that ability. I'm sure that I'll heal faster once I'm out of combat. Plus, there aren't any huge injuries, maybe some bruises.' Alex nodded and sat down on the ground. Midnight smiled and sat down beside him. 

She looked at Alex and spoke, "But we will go a bit slower tomorrow. You took some huge hits from me and That bot so there will be some big bruises, especially to your back and legs. It won't hurt today or even by tonight but tomorrow, that's a different story… Well, I would say that but you have that convenient ability of yours so I guess I'm worrying for no reason." Midnight soon realized that Alex wouldn't be affected by bruises as he could just heal himself.

Alex laughed and continued to rest for a few more minutes. After over a dozen minutes had passed, Alex stood up, "I'm feeling a lot better now. We can continue." Midnight nodded and got up as well, "It's good that there weren't actual weapons used. Right now, you're just tired at most and some muscles might hurt. So Healing is a lot faster." She then walked a bit further from Alex and stood in a similar stance she showed before. "Now that you're full of energy again, why not try out a kick? This will be the last thing for today, after that, we'll just rest up. You'll then have to be under Imani's training." 

Alex looked a bit excited when he heard Midnight mentioning kicking. He nodded, "I'm good with learning a kick or two." He started to closely observe Midnight's body, her every movement. 'It seems like the closer I observe her body and how her muscles work, I can relatively work out how that move works. And with a few practice repetitions, I will be able to do that move easily… At least that's how it has been so far, Let's hope that kicking will be the same.' Alex waited for Midnight to show her kick. 

Midnight nodded, "We'll have a simple side kick for today. It's a good and powerful kick which, if done properly in battle. It will incapacitate your enemy." Midnight explained before showing the kick. Alex watched as Midnight kicked into the air. After kicking the first time, Midnight looked at Alex and smiled, "You're looking really closely at my legs and hips. Don't get perverted thoughts."

Alex didn't know how to react to this as well, he looked to the ground and spoke, "I was just looking at how your muscles were moving… It wasn't anything like you said." Midnight looked at Alex's reaction and started to laugh, "I know, I was just teasing you. But if you don't want me to tease you like this, you should act less like this when teased. I can't help but tease you if you continue to react like this." She spoke while laughing. 

Alex scratched his head and smiled, "I'll try." He just felt awkward at this moment. Midnight stopped laughing and got back to her stance, "Look carefully again this time. I'll be slower. I already understand how you learn these moves so fast so Doing this kick again but at a slower speed will also help you understand in more detail." She smiled. 

Alex nodded and got back to carefully analyzing Midnight's moves. After a few kicks, Midnight walked to Alex and smiled, "I'm sure that was more than enough. Not comes the tedious part of the repetition. No matter how good you think you got the kick down, You will need to repeat it multiple times just to keep that in your muscle memory. Put all that observation into action!" Midnight quickly ran to the corner of the room. She opened a door and rushed inside. Alex didn't know what she was doing but quickly understood when Midnight walked out with a pad. She ran to Alex and put the pad around Alex's chest level and spoke, "Aim to the center yellow circle on this pad. Don't kick too strong because you might lose your balance." Midnight explained. 

Alex nodded and took a deep breath. He took his stance and kicked the pad. Midnight watched as Alex kicked the pad but to only lose balance and fall. She couldn't help but laugh. "Get up Alex and try again. This time, slower." She said as she helped Alex up. 

Alex looked at midnight and smiled, 'I thought I could just do what she was doing but I forgot about balance even after she warned me. This time, I'll do this properly.' Alex took another deep breath and kicked the mat. It was slower but this time he didn't lose balance. The kick is also very accurate. "Good! Once again!" Midnight exclaimed as she put the pad a bit higher. 

Alex and Midnight continued the training for another 2 hours. "Good job. You've learned a lot. We even got to combine the moves you learned to make a few combos for you. So that will come in handy." Midnight smiled. Alex nodded, "That was tedious but also very fun… I already feel a bit more powerful after learning all this." He smiled. 

Midnight smiled back and walked towards the door out of the arena, "Let's go out now. No need to stay here anymore for today. Today's training from me is over." Alex nodded and followed behind Midnight. He looked at her and smiled, "What about your previous engagement?"

Midnight looked back at Alex and smiled, "Well, I guess we will come back to this arena once again today. I am already warmed up from training you so I can't wait for this. It's been some time since I've had to battle an A ranked awakened. This time I won't limit myself unlike that intruder yesterday." 

Alex looked a bit surprised by Midnight's words. He asked, "You held back in that battle against that intruder?" Midnight nodded in answer and spoke, "It's more like I was observing. She already had serum and grenades. If I was to push her too far, maybe she had another few grenades that she would use to kill herself while trying to take me out. Plus, she pushed too close to me so I was more or less handicapped."