[The real training begins now.]
Ahead of Gray stood a different figure.
As his eyes fell upon them, their pupils dilated.
It was Axel, the classmate Gray had killed not too long ago.
Snow white hair dyed red through the edges, sharp white eyes. Standing at 185 CM he towered over Gray who was 177 CM.
It was Gray's high school bully.
"Why him?" Gray asked as memories of how he had killed him flashed by his eyes.
He had done it during his evolution state where he wasn't himself but he still did it. Even if he never talked about it, he always felt a sense of guilt from doing so.
Gray had even been having nightmares recently of it, whenever he'd managed to fall asleep.
It was how he was waking up so early everyday for training.
[Accelerate. A skill which greatly enhances and boosts the user's physical speed and reaction time.]
[On top of that, he's a kick boxer. By implementing his knowledge of martial arts and his acceleration, he'll become a perfect sparring partner to begin with.]
"How did you know..?" Gray asked.
[…?]
"How did you know that he's a kick boxer?"
[Because you killed him.] The system replied coldly.
[By taking a life, the soul of the life you have taken is converted into XP.]
[XP is the indicator amount of soul energy you have inside of yourself and the amount required for you to level up.]
[Status points is an indicator of how much energy and power you have available to distribute throughout your body as a result.]
"So what you're saying is that… His soul is trapped inside of me?" Gray asked.
[Negative. Only part of his soul energy.]
[I analysed that precise part of the soul energy and learnt data on him.]
[Data contained his fighting-style.]
[Said Information was stored in the system.]
[The strength of the soul energy also allows me to measure how strong a being you have killed is.]
[The strength is proportional to the amount of XP you get.]
"…"
[Are there any other questions?]
"No."
[Proceeding with training.]
[Commencing in 3.. 2… 1… Commence.]
Axel's figure suddenly vanished, appearing before Gray with a swing in motion.
[Accelarate.]
*BAM!*
A right hook landed right on the side of Gray's face at high speeds.
His body tilted to the side, and yet despite that, he hadn't moved an inch from his spot.
[If you saw it coming. Why didn't you dodge?] The system asked.
"Guilt… And because I felt like I deserved it." Gray muttered.
Without giving it a single care, Axel kicked at Gray's face from the side which he was tilted at.
Gray avoided it by a hair's margin as he stepped backwards.
Axel stepped in, sweeping down at Gray's feet at high speeds.
[Acceleration.]
Gray leapt up, avoiding the sweep.
Since he was airborne, he could now no longer avoid. Especially since he couldn't create a platform with pause.
Axel stepped in, kicking forward, thrusting his leg right at Gray's face.
Gray raised his arms from the front to block it. But it was a fake.
Axel suddenly planted the leg which he had thrust at Gray into the ground, before pivoting off of it and sending a kick at Gray from the side.
Again, it was at a speed faster than the eye could see, and yet, Gray avoided it once again without so much as looking at it as he ducked.
As the kick passed above him, Gray swiped Axel's leg which he had been using as a pivot, knocking him off balance.
A punch followed right after, slamming Axel right in the middle of his face.
Axel's head bopped back as he stumbled backwards.
Gray followed it after, unleashing a punch right in the middle of his stomach before following up with a hook from the left.
*Swoosh!*
[Accelerate]
With his skill, he avoided the punch in the last second, ducking down to the right.
However - *BAM!*
A kick was already there, waiting for him. Gray had predicted it.
Axel's brain trembled inside of his head as the kick landed right in the middle of his temple.
Still with his remaining energy, he accelerated a punch and sent it right towards Gray's face.
*Thud*
Axel's emotionless eyes widened as Gray caught the fist.
He proceeded to send another accelerated kick right at Gray's temple with his other leg, but that very same kick, Gray avoided as he ducked down.
Axel tried to retreat to process what was happening, but Gray's grip over his hand wasn't letting off.
With his increased Strength and Sense, Axel might have been moving fast. But for Gray… He might as well have been standing still.
In a struggle to get out of his grip. Axel thrust his legs in a kick, repeatedly at Gray.
A barrage of kicks, one followed after another as they made their way towards Gray's face.
Gray's head swayed left to right, side to side, up to down. He avoided all the kicks, perfectly without so much as a scratch.
On the 8th kick, Gray stepped in, swaying to avoid the kick as he did so.
"Sorry."
Those were the last word's axel heard, but all he could see was a fist ahead of him.
*Swoosh!*
[Accelerate]
He avoided by a hairs breath. A small cut formed on his face.
But now was his chance. He had an opening.
The instant he stepped into strike.
*BAM!!!*
He had been so focused on the fist that he hadn't realised, the knee which had followed after it.
It striked him right in the middle of his chin, knocking him out.
Axel's figure collapsed onto the ground. His pupils could no longer be seen as he was out cold.
"Is that good enough for you, system?" Gray asked as he turned to the orb.
[First Stage Of the training complete.]
[The User's fighting pattern has been analysed.]
[Irregular fighting style detected.]
[Style contains a mixture of: Boxing, Kick-boxing, Muay Thai. Mixed Martial Art without a specific form.]
It made sense for it to be that way, after all, Gray's fighting style was only based on the things he could see. He would simply imitate them.
[New Undiscovered Talent Detected In User: Martial Art Imitation.]
[User is able to imitate certain Martial Art skills and execute them upon inspection.]
[Creating, Pause-Based Martial Art Style.]
[Martial Art Mastery will be available in the shop.]
[Martial Art Mastery will also be available through training.]
The mimic of Axel disappeared, and a new mimic of a different person appeared right after.
With a cold look on his face, Gray raised his arms.
