Chapter 139 - 138 - Duel

Today's the 7th of October, a few days later. Mass-production of the combat androids had begun, and as it turned out, no changes were made to the prototype following my meeting with the director, but it wasn't a complete waste of time, I learnt pretty much all there is to know about the combat androids, so I was satisfied. 

Ordinarily, with all the upgrades to the exterior of the Sanctuary, any unidentified intruders wouldn't even be able to get near it. In addition to an array of pretty much every type of sensor in existence, there were several automatic rifles and cannons as the initial line of defense, and then there were the combat androids and drones. 

Not to mention the barely-perceptible bug-sized reconnaissance drones that have now been spread out for about a two hundred and fifty kilometer radius of the Sanctuary. 

The sensors installed onto the Sanctuary's exterior covered a radius of about ten kilometers, but that limit isn't a problem, since the bases that had been built on the outside also had the same sensors installed, along with automatic rifles and cannons, and a small number of combat androids and drones as well. 

There were currently forty such bases in total, some were still under construction, which was why most of the Aces were so busy lately, they were tasked with ensuring Mutants or Wights don't attack the builders while they're working, they were effectively on bodyguard duty. 

This is definitely a worthwhile endeavor if you ask me...once Teleportation Points are set up in the bases, we'll be able to easily travel throughout the land surrounding the Sanctuary. 

The current forty bases are split into sets of eight, with each set of eight placed evenly along an increasing radius. The closest eight bases to the Sanctuary are at a radius of twenty-five kilometers, while the next eight are fifty kilometers away from the Sanctuary, and the next eight are at seventy-five kilometers, and so on, till the current furthest eight sitting at a hundred and twenty five kilometers from the Sanctuary. 

Of course, there are plenty of areas between those bases that are blind spots, naturally. For now, the reconnaissance drones are being used to plug those gaps, but once all the current forty bases are fully constructed, they plan to build walls along each eight-set radius...that'll probably take a while yet though. 

Anyway, it was currently the end of the day for Academy classes, and we were done about an hour early. Instructor Jin Satou had to leave abruptly in the middle of the last session, teamwork training, so yeah. 

Oh, and as for the combat training, aka worse teamwork training, nothing had changed. We were still being made to do nothing but fight combat androids while outnumbering them. And sure, from the looks of it, everyone had improved slightly as a result and learnt how to overpower a stronger opponent using numbers...

But in reality, we're more likely to face the opposite scenario; where we're the ones outnumbered. The teamwork exam isn't much of a concern for me, my permanent team and I are well in-sync these days, and the teamwork training sessions are good enough to help maintain that while also gradually improving and sharpening our collective efforts. 

Instructor Satou may not have much of any motivation, but he's good at his job, he gives us simple yet highly effective exercises that help us build on our mastery and level of teamwork. 

Instructor Annika Mikhailova, our combat instructor, on the other hand...well, she seems plenty competent, but so far, her training sessions haven't been nearly as effective. Even before the whole temporary teams thing, her sessions were just okay, without being all that remarkable. 

Or hey, maybe I'm missing something and failing to see the big picture, who knows? Either way, I'm not gonna complain about it, if I can't rely on someone or something, I'll just find my own way to get what I need. 

"Hey, Kilzachs, wait up!" Suddenly called out Taayin, as I began to leave. 

Hm? What does he want-...oh. Right. I completely forgot... 

"Let's, uh, fight another day, 'kay?" I responded sheepishly. 

"No way, it's been long enough, and we've got some extra time today...come on, dude, fight me!" He exclaimed with a wide, expectant grin. 

"Stop that, can't you see that you're bothering him!?" Snapped Asshole, marching over with a frown. 

"The last thing I need is your help, get lost," I warned him with a glare. 

"R-right, of course...j-just say the word if you want my help and I'll come running!" He responded apologetically, before backing off. 

...I hope he dies soon or something, I can't take much more of this. 

"Well, uh, that was weird...so, anyway, come on, fight me!" Urged Taayin without missing a beat. 

He's so...intense, and I really don't want to deal with him, he's got a serious one-track mind. But I guess I might as well get this over with, because he definitely won't forget about it. No point delaying it, I suppose. 

"Fine, let's do this," I gave in with a reluctant sigh, before adding firmly, "But you can't challenge me again, got it?" 

"But that's-...! Actually, you know what, I agree to that...so long as you beat me! But if I win, I reserve the right to challenge you again!" He declared with a smirk. 

Somehow, I find it hard to believe that he'll stick by that, but it's good enough for now, I suppose. I let out a quiet sigh before meeting his gaze... 

"Alright, fine...but that was a big mistake, you really don't want to be motivating me to take this seriously," I remarked with an icy smirk. 

"Oh? In that case, you should thank me...because I'd kick you ass if you didn't take me seriously," He countered smugly. 

Hmph...we'll see about that... 

... 

A few minutes later, he and I were both inside a Duel Field, with most of our classmates watching with interest. When the countdown began, Asshole began cheering my name and crap, which absolutely infuriated and creeped me out at the same time. 

I yelled at him to shut up, and now, I'm just enjoying the peace and quiet while I still can-...oh, just three seconds left, guess I should put my guard up. I drew out my right X-Blade and activated it, while setting my X-Blasters to mid-range at seventy-five percent output. 

"<Primary Manifestation: Finger Blades>!" Chanted Taayin with a smirk, crouching low while locking his sights onto me. 

Fighting him is so unsettling, he's got the vibe of a feral wild animal or something, his moves are really difficult to read. Like, seriously, he's more intense than any Mutant I've fought, it's almost scary. 

The instant the countdown ended, he shot towards me at a rapid speed, slashing at me with his right hand's energy claws as he closed in. Predicting his moves and attack patterns are all but impossible, the most effective way to fight him is to simply react the instant he attacks. 

I blocked and deflected his slash with my X-Blade and then swiftly fired a couple of shots at him from near-point-blank range. He quickly sprang back while swinging his left hand up, one of my shots grazing the side of his face, as he managed to deflect the second one with his claws. 

He continued to evade nimbly as I then fired out a barrage of shots aimed at him, before I chased after him, drawing out my second X-Blade and activating it. The moment I began chasing, he stopped running away, halted, spun around and zipped towards me with a wide grin on his face, a sharp gleam in his eyes as he zipped forward. 

I slashed down at him with my right X-Blade as I closed in, which he evaded and countered by driving his claws up towards me. Right before his attack could land, I blocked it with my left X-Blade, stopping his attack. 

And the instant I blocked it, he suddenly sprang up, wrapping his legs around my left arm firmly, before attempting to grab my forearm with his hands, his manifestation starting to pierce my skin. I reacted as fast as I could, taking aim and firing with my right X-Blaster, as he began chanting... 

"Gotcha, <Secondary Manifestation: Torture-...>...woah!"

As soon as I fired, he quickly let go and dropped down, my energy bullet severing a few strands of hair as he just barely evaded my shots. The moment he landed, he struck his feet out at my ankles, which I dodged by swiftly springing back and countering with a couple of shots. 

He hurriedly sprang up onto his feet and leapt out of the way, my attack grazing his calf as he avoided taking it head on. I then used Cut and Paste on myself to teleport behind me, before silently swinging my X-Blade at the back of his neck. 

He stiffened for a fraction of a second, before spinning around and springing back in a rapid, fluid motion, swinging his claws out in reaction. My blade struck his claws, both our attacks getting deflected off each other as he backflipped away and got some distance. 

As he continued to flip away, I focused on a section of the floor and used Cut to remove a chunk of it...right as he was about to land on that spot. He lost his balance with a surprised yelp as he landed on the pothole-like spot on the ground. 

I then used Paste to bring back the chunk I'd used Cut on, right above his head. He jumped out of the way in alarm, at an impressive reaction speed, but he couldn't fully avoid it...the edge of the chunk clipped his right foot as he leapt off to the side and rolled away, as the chunk of floor fell down and broke apart. 

As he began to get back on his feet, wincing slightly as he put some weight on his right foot, I cocked my wrist and flung my left X-Blade at him with a rapid spin, aiming for his legs at just below the knees. He reacted by jumping straight up to avoid it, right as I used Cut and Paste to teleport behind him and grab to spinning blade, before slashing it straight up towards him. 

At the last possible moment, he violently twisted his body across in mid-air and just about managed to get his hands in the right place, blocking my slash by the skin of his teeth. 

He then bent his elbows and rapidly straightened them like springs, using my energy blade as leverage to jump off of and get some distance from me. I think it's about time I end this-. 

"Damn...I knew you'd be tough, but this is crazy," He remarked with a wry smile, before slowly exhaling and raising his arms across each other as he crouched low, his hands past his shoulders and his energy claws pointing outwards, "Haven't quite got the hang of this yet, but nothing else is working, so...!"

Is he...? Should I finish this before he can unleash it? Nah, I'm curious to see what it is, I'll just teleport myself to the ceiling of the barrier when he finishes the activation chant and-...

"Alright, take this, <Manifestation Over-...: >...!" He began, before suddenly trailing off and stumbling a bit...he failed, he didn't keep it contained long enough. 

It's over. 

I teleported myself behind him as he stumbled, before slashing at him from behind silently...he began to react, but it was too late...he got teleported out before my attack even entered his peripheral. 

I have to admit, his senses and instincts are incredible, he reacted to a lot of attacks that most people would never even see coming. But none of that matters, because... 

"I win." 

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