"Hm, maybe...Rend? Render? No, how about Disrupt? Nah, too simple...oh, maybe I could go with-...," I muttered to myself.
Yeah, I know, but I figured I might as well come up with a name for it, you know? Hey, once I settle on something, could you make it so that saying the name feels like the chants for my Skills?
Like, that kinda robotic echo I hear in my hear when I chant. I hear that echo when you talk to me too, by the way.
Also, when other Hunters chant, it feels a bit...I don't know, different, somehow.
Okay, not sure how, but I get the difference, I can just sort of tell...but then, the question is, why is there a difference?
Alright, I think I get it...well, kind of.
"Uh...hello? You there?" Suddenly came a voice, startling me.
"Huh? What? Oh, hey...what's up?" I responded, as I composed myself.
Today's the 1st of April, 2168, it was the end of the day, Friday evening. Also, April Fools day.
It's not all that popular in this era though, some people make dumb jokes and pull pranks, but most stay out of it.
Well, at least, that was the case with my class here in the Hunters Academy. It might be different in other places, who knows?
Anyway, it was after classes, and I was currently in one of the facility's training rooms, along with Ariella.
She originally wanted to spar against me right on Monday, but I asked her if we could delay it to the end of the week, since I wanted some time to focus and work on manually channeling my Mana.
"You good to go? All warmed up?" She asked me with an eager smile.
"Mhm, yeah, I'm good to go," I replied with a thumbs up.
"Alright, let's take our places, and whenever you're ready, make the first move," She responded, before heading to the other end of the room.
I was using a wooden short-sword, and she was wearing gloves instead of her usual gauntlets, to minimize any potential damage we could end up inflicting on each other.
I may have gotten stronger, but I'm still at J-Rank, as far as Power Level goes. And she's gotten a hell of lot more powerful since we enrolled, her current stats in comparison to the stats she had back then are:
HP: 124 -> 348
MP: 470
Strength: 120 -> 346
Agility: 135 -> 406
Vitality: 128 -> 350
Perception: 126 -> 398
Power Level: 192,200 -> 364,300
Potential: 945,000
I mean, come on, this is just ridiculous...she's straight-up more than tripled some of her stats, and it's only been three months since we enrolled.
Her MP is the only constant, and that's only because all Hunters, besides me, have a fixed amount of Mana that can't be increased, they can only increase the level of control they have over it by gradually learning and casting stronger Spells or Skills.
It's not just power, she's been blessed with talent too. Plus, based on what I've seen in our Practical Training sessions, she works pretty damn hard too.
Her current Power Level puts her on par with an upper-mid K-Rank...at this rate, it won't be very long before she enters the realm of Ace Rank.
I doubt I can give her much of a challenge, but if nothing else, this should be valuable experience, to fight someone on this level.
Alright, looks like she's ready...time to get started. Wait, before that...Ai, about what I asked earlier...
Sweet, thanks. Now, then, let's do this.
I took a deep breath and let out a slow exhale to compose myself, before I shot towards her, sprinting across the space as she assumed a defensive stance.
I leapt forward as I closed in, swinging my wooden blade across at her head, but she ducked under it with ease.
I swiftly shifted my center of balance, leaning my upper body back before driving my knee towards her, but she blunted the strike by blocking it with her palms, my knee thudding against her hands.
She rapidly extended her arms out like springs, pushing and launching me back several meters through the air, my feet skidding back as they hit the floor.
Alright, that told me all I need to know, there's no way in hell I'm keeping up with her physically at my current level.
I know she wants to see me use Drain, but with how fast she is, there's no way I can actually connect with it.
Hm...maybe I'll use another Skill.
She doesn't seem like the type to blab, so if I ask her to keep it to herself, it's unlikely that she'll talk...though, ideally, she won't notice it at all.
Okay, here goes...
"
As she tried to regain her bearings, there was a hint of panic in her movements as she drove her right fist down towards me, which I just barely evaded by tilting my head across, her fist whizzing past my cheek and grazing my ear, before I drove my hand towards the middle of her torso, my fingers pointing straight forward...
"
I unleashed a burst of Mana from my fingertips the instant they came into contact with the middle of her torso, over her solar plexus, my fingers pressing against her top and pushing in, right as a violent shudder of pain erupted across her body.
As I backed away and got some distance, my eyes widened as she stumbled back, trembling in pain before coughing out blood with a sharp wheeze, trails of blood trickling out of her nostrils as she collapsed onto her hands and knees...