The Next Level

"That should've been impossible. You're telling me that your ruined body survived with that much blood missing, and that high of an internal temperature? Your brain should've started melting at that level..." Alatus quietly said.

"But it didn't. That's the fastest speed I was able to achieve with my ability. To answer your question, I was able to break the speed of light, but I can only do it around four times. My base speed should be just as fast as Dani's, if not faster, and with the right weapon, I could do a lot." Boo said, stretching her body.

"So, you seem to know that I wanted to test you. Okay, are you ready?" Alatus asked, priming her fists for combat.

Boo nodded, stretching her fingers out, and asking one more question.

"Any weaponry I can use? Or do you prefer hand-to-hand combat?" She asked Alatus.

Alatus replied with the latter, and the small brawl began.

Boo no longer had her insane speed capabilities, but her demeanor completely changed. A confident stance can win a fight alone.

Boo ran up to Alatus with her right hand cocked back. If that were me, I would've feinted that and came in with my left hand. Her new, black clothing rippled in the wind and her hair followed right behind.

Alatus didn't even make a move to retaliate with Boo's right jab, which threw off Boo. She tried to punch Alatus with her right hand after seeing her reaction, but Boo was too slow and was grappled by Alatus anyway.

With Boo on the ground, Alatus tried to claim her win.

Boo put her legs up Alatus's arm and flipped the fight completely! I was impressed, but with that counter-attack, Boo was back up on her feet and set her arms in front of her face, focusing on Alatus's body with an even more refined stare.

"Not bad. You do have some speed, but your overall reaction is too slow. We're done now." Alatus replied, tightening the gauntlets on her forearms.

It was weird, seeing such a display of strength from the fight with Illya be turned down this much... I wondered if I still had my powers...

"I hope you don't hate me now, but I wanted you to all see a core point I want to plant into your brains. Sure, you might've been forces of nature in the fight with Illya, but those things all happened with the help of your strands. With basic combat ability, I was able to best Boo in hand-to-hand combat just by moving faster than a quality she lacked: Reaction Speed." She added again.

In contrast to Boo's naturally upset personality, she nodded, understanding the core idea itself.

"So, what you're saying is that those strands made up for a lack of our weaknesses, but now that we don't have them, there are tons of things to improve upon?" Boo asked, to which Alatus nodded.

"That's right. And, I'm sure you all have your weaknesses, which we're here to explore. I want to take those who can fight with weaponry, and Fudo will take those who can fight at a range. That being said, Dani, Alex, Boo, and Shike will be sticking with me. While Fudo will take Carl, Charlie, and Belle. Any objections?" Alatus asked us, looking at the group of our friends.

"None from me. I hope I can improve like this." I muttered, joining Alatus off in another direction from Fudo.

"Now that we've narrowed down specific weaponry we all can use, I would say we should all have brawls here. However, I've seen how you all fought during the fight with Illya, which is why I wanted to join my brother in the first place. We can avoid that part, as I've seen the strands you all used and what parts they enhanced on your bodies. For example, Dani lacks any real strength, but her speed is almost as fast as Boo's. Dani's reaction time is faster than hers, and she has a higher capability with her surroundings. On the flip side of that, Boo has strength that sets her in front of Dani." Alatus said.

We all did have subtle strengths of weaknesses, but I haven't been able to focus on them. My only real fight resulted in what I thought would be permanent damage to my body and a Demonic Entity that took over my body. Hell, I've never really performed that well in a fight... that weird Entity did.

"Shike, it seems that your cool and collected nature allows for strategizing in a fight nobody else could participate in. I can tell that Alex isn't too good of a fighter, but can offer support elsewhere... it'll be easier to train Alex, but he'll need the most attention. You're average at everything, but with ample studying and training, you can become specialized in something nobody else is good at." Alatus led Alex on and he listened with a big smile on his face.

"Alex was just barely exposed to strands that Dani and the others used fluently... so, Alex has the possibility of learning both strand types. Of course, that in itself is dangerous, and teaching you how to obtain my strands would permanently offset the power you can pull from Dani's strands, but it will still put you on Fudo and my level. It's up to you. Would you like to learn our Essence Strands?" Alatus asked.

I always took Alex for somebody who was in the back and never really got the attention he deserved. Alex himself was an amazing fighter and survived all of Orion's War with the same difficulty as the rest of us. We owed him this increase of power at least, so I stepped in.

"I think you should take it. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed with your strength, and I think improving it to Alatus and Fudo's level would be pretty cool." I told him.

"Thanks, Dani, but I want to do this of my own accord! I appreciate you saying that I would be cool, but I'm doing this to make myself stronger! And to get a girlfriend! I'm in!" Alex exclaimed.

Huh? Get a girlfriend? So weird...