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Chapter 22: Training Ends
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 08:50:04 +0000 UTCEthan gestured for Seraphina to begin. She responded instantly, launching herself forward. She executed a flying scissor kick with her left leg, using the powerful momentum to spin her body in mid-air and land a sharp, impactful kick on Ethan’s right shoulder. The force of the blow was strong, and Ethan was uncontrollably pushed back several steps, his right shoulder still aching faintly from the clean hit.
He focused with all his might, his eyes tracking her every move, determined not to give her a single opening to attack again. Seraphina charged forward with a great leap, her movements agile and powerful. She jumped onto Ethan’s neck, clamping onto him with her legs in the tight posture of a rider. With a sudden, violent twist of her body, Ethan was directly thrown into a forward somersault. After Ethan hit the ground, he reacted with incredible speed, planting both hands on the floor and executing a flawless Thomas Flare, his legs spinning in a wide arc to create space. Seraphina, anticipating a counter, leaped back, somersaulting away to a safe distance.
The two stood up at the same time, reassuming their combat stances, their gazes locked. This time, Ethan took the initiative to attack. He curved his five fingers into the shape of a sharp claw and swiped at Seraphina's face. Seraphina’s eyes widened, her face filled with a flicker of disbelief, as if to say, "Why has this kid suddenly become so ruthless?" But there was no time to think. Seraphina blocked the incoming attack with her left hand, then aimed a swift kick at his vitals with her right leg.
Ethan dodged, then took advantage of the opening created by her extended leg to grab it firmly. With his other hand on her shoulder for leverage, he used her own momentum to execute a perfect shoulder throw. Seraphina hit the mat hard. She tried to get up, but Ethan pressed down on her face with his large hand, pinning her. She still wanted to use a scissor leg lock from the ground to trap Ethan, but how could Ethan give her the chance? He directly grabbed her head with both hands, spun her around twice on the spot to disorient her, and then unceremoniously threw her out of the designated ring.
Seraphina stood up, swaying slightly, brushing herself off. "You really don't show any mercy at all, you know that? My neck almost broke from that spin."
"You were the one who told me not to hold back," Ethan replied simply.
True friends should indeed not let each other win in a serious spar. But one must also consider the circumstances. In this kind of training situation, intentionally letting her win would only harm her in the long run, giving her a false sense of security. Going all out was the highest form of respect for the opponent. Seraphina knew this point as well. It was just that she was a bit disappointed about losing the spar, so she didn't say anything more, just gave him a respectful nod.
Marcus’s opponent was the same Felix from the first day of the tournament. Although both were combat-types, and their psionic abilities were both related to enhancing the physical body, Marcus's rank was higher than his, and after a week of intense training, he was now far more proficient in applying the advanced combat techniques. He naturally won his match quickly and decisively.
After the second round of spars ended, there were five students left who needed to compete. After another drawing of lots, Ethan was lucky enough to get a bye. When the third and fourth rounds were over, Marcus was, without a doubt, the other remaining winner. The final round had come: a showdown between Ethan and Marcus.
Both of them were at Rank One, Level Six. However, Ethan knew that while he had many alien heroes similar in function to physical-type psionicists, his core ability, the Omnitrix itself, was ultimately a manifestation-type. Therefore, the passive enhancement to his base human physical quality was not as great as that of Marcus, whose entire talent was dedicated to it. But Ethan wouldn't admit defeat so easily. He also wanted to see just how big the gap was between him and Marcus now, without using any of his transformations.
Ethan took the initiative to attack, launching a powerful kick at Marcus’s body, but his opponent was like an iron tower, not moving an inch under the impact. Ethan’s own leg, on the other hand, felt a sharp pang of pain from the collision. Marcus’s lips curled up, and he said with a hint of good-natured mockery, "Hehe, Ethan, is that all you’ve got?"
Ethan felt a surge of anger. How dare you say I can't do it! He threw a vicious low kick, aiming for his friend's vitals with surprising ruthlessness. But Marcus just casually reached down and grabbed his leg. Ethan felt as if his leg was caught by unyielding iron tongs; he couldn't break free at all. Since that was the case, he didn't struggle anymore. He directly used the place where his leg was caught as a pivot point and, with a burst of strength, jumped up as if he were stepping on something in mid-air. This way, Ethan’s head and Marcus’s head were suddenly at the same level; there was no way to complain that his opponent was too tall. He formed his right hand into a rigid hand-chop and stabbed it directly towards Marcus’s eyes.
Marcus, surprised by the maneuver, wanted to use his other hand to block Ethan, but his reaction was anticipated in time. The hand-chop that was originally aimed at his eyes instantly changed direction and hit him squarely on the side of his neck. One must know, the front of the neck houses the trachea. Usually, even a light poke would cause a moment of significant discomfort, let alone such a forceful, well-aimed chop. This single blow made it so Marcus couldn't even breathe properly. He was in immediate pain and hurriedly released Ethan's leg. He clutched his neck with both hands, and a violent coughing sound came from him, accompanied by an uncontrollable, ragged wheezing. However, Ethan had consciously held back on this blow. After all, if he had used his full strength, Marcus’s trachea would have probably been directly crushed right there on the spot.
After about ten agonizing seconds, his coughing gradually subsided. Ethan didn't worry that Marcus would play dead and then launch a sneak attack; that wasn't his style. He rushed over while his opponent had not yet fully recovered and sent a powerful sweeping kick at his legs. Marcus was tripped and fell heavily to the ground. Seeing this, Ethan quickly grabbed his leg, wanting to throw him out of the ring in the same manner he had with Seraphina. But he had severely underestimated Marcus's sheer weight and density. With his current Rank One, Level Six physique, grabbing him felt like trying to lift a giant, unmovable rock, let alone swinging him around. And this momentary hesitation had already cost him his opportunity completely.
Marcus had already recovered. He pushed off the ground with both hands and shot to his feet. Before Ethan could react, he was directly enveloped in a crushing bear-hug by his friend. Marcus hugged him tightly and then gradually, relentlessly, began to exert his immense force.
Ethan, his ribs creaking, immediately yelped, "I lose! I lose! I lose! I give up!"
Mr. Gordon, who had been watching intently, called out, "Stop!"
Marcus released him. Ethan sat directly on the ground, panting heavily, his vision swimming slightly. Just then, he felt as if he had briefly seen his great-grandmother waving to him from the great beyond.
Mr. Gordon stepped forward. "I declare, in this temporary test, Marcus Vance is victorious!"
Clap, clap, clap! The other students offered him warm, respectful applause for the hard-fought victory.
Marcus pulled Ethan up from the floor and said to him with a smug, triumphant tone, "How about that? Aren't I awesome, buddy?"
Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in an ill-intentioned, wheezing tone, "You just wait, Marcus. Next time, I'll turn into Diamondhead and torture you again." Marcus, remembering the 'psionic badminton' incident, couldn't help but shudder involuntarily.
Mr. Gordon addressed the class. "Alright, students, I believe that through this assessment, everyone is now clear on the gap that can exist between yourselves and others. I won't talk about those like Marcus and Seraphina who have practiced before. Ethan trained together with all of you, starting from the same place, but his comprehension and application of the combat techniques is already much deeper than most of yours. If you had put in the same focused effort as he did this past week, you wouldn't be so much worse off than him now. Alright, I won't say more. Let's use the remaining time to practice our boxing techniques one more time! Move it!"
"Yes, sir!!!"
Having truly fought a match and seen the results firsthand, the crowd's enthusiasm was now extremely high. For the next week, everyone's effort in training visibly improved. Under this new, high-intensity training mode, Ethan, through sheer hard work and his enhanced absorption rate, successfully broke through to Rank One, Level Seven, even without using any more of his precious potions or Aura Cores. In this half-month, Ethan had also properly consolidated his foundation. The recent breakthroughs, fueled by potions and the Aura Bloom, had indeed been a bit too fast, and his foundation was becoming slightly unstable. It wasn't apparent now, but he knew that once he reached a higher rank, such a weakness would be fatal. Marcus and Seraphina also made their own breakthroughs during this period of intense training.
On this day, the half-month supplementary training session officially ended, and everyone welcomed the final assessment tournament. However, what puzzled everyone was that Ethan, Marcus, and Seraphina, the three clear top contenders, didn't show up at all.
"Marcus and Seraphina’s families have a lot of credits, so maybe they don't care about the potion prize. That's understandable. But why didn't Ethan come either? Doesn't he want the potion?" one student wondered aloud.
"Don't you know? Ethan's parents' jobs are also quite good. Although not on the same level as those two, they should have some decent savings. They should still be able to afford some basic potions for him," another replied.
"Well, it's a good thing the three of them didn't come," a third student said with relief. "We've all seen their strength. If they came, the top three prizes would probably be completely swept up by those three. Now that they're not here, the rest of us actually have a real chance!"
"That's true! I've been working really, really hard during this period. I'll definitely get one of the prizes this time!"
"You call that working hard? I saw you! You practice one boxing combination and then rest for half an hour!"
"Hey! At least I finish a whole set each time!"
Mr. Gordon clapped his hands, silencing the chatter. "Alright, stop arguing! The three of them have voluntarily given up their spots in the final assessment. That is their choice. Now, everyone else, line up and prepare to draw your lots."
"Ooh ooh, it's finally starting!"
"I'm definitely going to win this time! That potion is mine!"
