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Chapter 18 - First Battalion Battle
🕑 Added 2024-10-12 23:25:01 +0000 UTCOliver quickly recognized who he was up against as he stepped onto the platform. The girl in front of him had golden hair, and Oliver noticed a few freckles around her nose for the first time. However, the girl didn’t seem to recognize Oliver; at least, her eyes showed no sign of it.
The boy looked around and saw that in the other arenas, opponents were greeting each other. He thought it best to copy them.
"Ni-Nice to meet you, my name is Oliver. I’m from the Second Battalion." Oliver had no idea why he was nervous. His feet were fidgety even while standing still.
"Nice to meet you. I’m Katherine. I’m from the First Battalion," the girl replied, noticing her opponent’s nervousness. However, she assumed it was due to the battle they were about to have in the next few minutes, unaware that the boy in front of her was experiencing a storm of emotions within.
Oliver bit his tongue to avoid saying, "I know," and walked to the side of the platform. He held onto his Artificial Ranger Badge.
"Activate!"
As usual, the liquid armor enveloped his body. This time, there were no surprises; he was already used to the transformation.
[Welcome back, Oliver!]
The boy was no longer startled by the familiar voice.
[The battle will start in...]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[Battle started]
As expected, the first move for both was to summon their weapons. Oliver remembered that Katherine used a fencing sword. The girl wasn’t sure what weapon he used, but upon seeing the Energy Pistol, she figured out the type of combat this would be.
Oliver's initial nervousness had vanished; he would have been far more embarrassed if he couldn’t show what he was capable of. Besides, he still felt an unreciprocated sense of rivalry.
Oliver focused on not giving Katherine space to get closer, constantly moving around the arena. When there were small openings, he tried to take a shot at her or used the shots to prevent her from advancing.
On the other hand, Katherine focused on avoiding the shots, which wasn’t too tricky given her speed. She aimed to thrust her rapier whenever possible, primarily targeting Oliver’s legs. She knew that if she could immobilize him, the rest of the fight would be decided in her favor.
'Think, think...' Oliver was trying to find any way to strike Katherine.
Although the fight seemed deadlocked to the audience, it was gradually turning in Katherine's favor.
Behind her impassive face, Katherine carefully observed Oliver's movements, waiting for the perfect moment to capitalize on one of his mistakes.
"Now!" she thought, finally allowing a slight smile to form beneath her helmet.
The girl lunged forward and extended her sword, piercing one of Oliver's legs. It wasn't enough to take him out of the fight, but she had finally drilled through the armor and drawn a bit of blood.
“Damn,” Oliver muttered under his breath. The adrenaline of the battle dulled the pain from the attack, but he could feel his leg growing numb, not moving with the same agility as before.
'Maybe...' Oliver started to formulate an idea. 'If she wants to slow me down, that's exactly what I'll give her.'
He continued shooting, trying to keep Katherine at bay as she rapidly closed the distance. To avoid her, Oliver attempted to run to one side of the arena.
"Ugh," the boy grunted in pain. However, it was a feigned mistake. The moment Katherine saw an opening, she lunged forward once more with her rapier pointed straight at him.
What she didn't expect was to see the boy’s Energy Pistol aimed right at her position.
"My turn," Oliver said calmly.
The point-blank shot left Katherine no room to dodge. She had just enough time to raise her hands to protect her face.
“BANG”
The blast sent her flying into the arena wall.
‘What was that?’ Katherine thought, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She shook her head, still dazed, but quickly regained her composure, ensuring no more shots hit her.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that Oliver had set a trap. In her eagerness to attack, she had fallen right into it. The boy had baited her into making a move so he could counterattack. Neither could fully commit to an attack, leaving them both stuck in a stalemate.
Katherine managed to strike Oliver more than once, but the boy held his ground, unwilling to lose. He used all his stamina to keep moving. Meanwhile, Oliver used his feints to land some shots, but Katherine was fast enough to dodge or even deflect most of the bullets.
As both tried to find a solution, the three minutes that felt like an eternity were too short. Before they could think of something to break the deadlock, time had run out.
[Battle finished.]
[Katherine’s win.]
Oliver agreed with the result; she had dealt the most damage and hadn’t even used her Boons.
Both opponents shook hands in the center of the ring, and the boy moved on to the next arena. However, before starting the next fight, he noticed a new notification.
[+5 Experience Points]
He hadn’t expected that combat sparring would put him in a position to gain that much experience. However, perhaps it was because he had fought someone with more experience than him. Still, the boy was happy; he had gained EXP points without obliterating his body with hours of exercise. Yet, the boy had bittersweet feelings. He wished he could have presented a better fight.
Oliver was only wrong about one thing. Katherine had paid attention to their fight; she just didn’t remember the boy. However, something caught the girl’s attention: Oliver’s will to win, his ability to think of tactics and strategies even when he was at a disadvantage. That absolute desire for victory was something rare to find.
Katherine had fought many heirs from other Houses, and all of them had a "noble" way of fighting. But the moment they sensed defeat approaching, they would accept it as if that made them superior.
‘Hmm, what was his name again? Oliver,’ Katherine thought before entering the next arena.
The following fights varied quite a bit. There was a clear difference between the First and Second Battalions. When fighting cadets from the Second Battalion, Oliver could hold his own and sometimes even win. However, his best performances against the First Battalion were draws. Even within the First Battalion, some recruits stood out from the rest.
To Oliver, it was obvious that Katherine was above the other cadets, but there were a few others he had watched who also seemed to stand out. One was a bald boy with a tattoo on his head and tanned skin. He seemed quite strong, made even more intimidating by his muscular build. Oliver didn’t get the chance to fight him, but from observing from a distance, his fights didn’t seem to last long.
The other person who had captured his attention would be his next opponent. The reason she drew attention was quite different.
"Hello! Nice to meet you; my name is Astrid. I’m from the First Battalion. I hope we have a great battle!" the girl introduced herself.
Astrid attracted a lot of attention but for very different reasons. The first reason was that she looked like a younger copy of Captain Liv.
For those who had already trained with Liv, they could only tremble at the sight of the devil before them.
However, Astrid had apparent differences beyond age. The girl had braided red hair, and her face wasn’t marked with scars like the Captain’s.
Another thing that caught the recruits' attention was Astrid's Ranger Armor. Each recruit had slight modifications in their armor, but hers seemed to have the most significant changes. Her armor had no steel plates on the abdomen, only a thin metallic fabric, revealing a well-toned and trained abdomen.
Finally, the last reason was what Oliver feared the most.
[The battle will start in...]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[Battle started]
As soon as the battle began, the girl rushed toward Oliver, not waiting to finish summoning her Ranger Weapon. But as soon as they appeared, the attacks didn’t stop.
Astrid was one of the few people who had a two-handed Ranger Weapon. In her right hand, she held a war axe, while in her left, a round shield. This combination allowed her to be extremely fierce with her attacks, only needing to block any counterattacks from her opponents.
Oliver had never been in such a situation, quickly cornered by the consecutive strikes. Even increasing his shots, he couldn’t penetrate the shield or stop her advances.
Finally, one of the strikes hit the boy. Astrid swung the axe from a blind angle, hitting Oliver’s face and knocking him to the ground.
[Battle finished.]
[Astrid’s win.]
Oliver spent a few seconds on the ground staring at the ceiling. His labored breathing kept him from getting up. It had been one of the fastest and most intense battles he’d ever had. Before he could say anything, the girl had already approached him.
"Oliver, right? Interesting, interesting. Your fighting style is too passive. You should aim to be more aggressive in the fight to win. If you keep fighting like this, just trying to gain space, you won’t be able to hit me." Astrid was overly enthusiastic as she analyzed the fight.
Although it seemed like she was trying to help the boy, she was mostly talking to herself in the end. Still, the information was useful to Oliver, who listened attentively.
"Shall we go again?!"
