Chapter 11

A week of training had elapsed. The training room was in a dilapidated state with holes in the walls, cracks all over the floor, scorched ground, etc. Kris and Abubakr sat on the ground facing each other and meditating. Their trousers had torn patches at the knees and sides of the lower part. They were maintaining a constant aura flow as they sat in silence.

"Alright, Kris. We are basically done with this crash course. Frankly, I am surprised at how quick your development is. I now understand what you meant when you said, "You pick up on things you see." Abubakr voiced out with a smile. 

"Told you so..." Oh man, I can't wait to get out of here and finally have a well-deserved bath! " Kris fell to his back, yawning out and stretching out his hands.

"Before that, there are two things that need to be done."

"Two? I thought you said we were done."

"I said basically, not totally"

"Whatever, man... same thing," Kris scoffed.

Abubakr sighed as he shook his head, "Regardless, you need to know about the types of demons you will be facing."

"Types? Aren't they already classified based on their source energy?"

"Not entirely, as irrespective of the source energy, there are various demons that exhibit similar characteristics, and you need to be conscious of that as you battle to take them down."

Kris sat back up with rapt attention.

"The types are; the general type, the guard type, the teleportation type, the healing type, and the special type. The general types are those with no special features. They are mostly yellow sources, although we have encountered them amongst the higher classes. You can always go crazy and creative against them. Now Kris, anytime you come across any other class, be watchful to know its characteristics. The guard type has unnaturally thick energy, as well as thicker armor and even thicker skin. Meaning, even if you get through their energy, it's not guaranteed that you can get through the armor talk less of their skin. Their insides are soft though, so if you manage to get an energy blast into them, you win. But to do so, you'd need a lot of penetrating force, so good luck with that.

"Hehehehe...penetrating" Kris chuckled.

"Oh God..." Abubakr giggled as he faced palmed.

"Well, this category is rare amongst humans though. So far, we only have one human that has exhibited such. That's Colonel Louis, and he is a white source. " He added.

"White source? Really? That's just cheating!"

"Oh well, the next type is the teleportation type. They can teleport to places they have been to, and the distance varies with class. So also the time lag between teleportation reduces exponentially with class. For a red source, it's about ten seconds. If you are lucky and exhibit these characteristics, you can always one-up the demons. The teleportation can also extend to about two extra people. The only downside is that the distance is shorter, and the time interval becomes larger. It's also rare amongst humans. We have only had five. Four of which were red sources, and only one blue source."

Kris's mind flashed to the fact that James was able to teleport during the encounter with the Orc at Dahab. 

"The next is the healing type. They are the most difficult to kill. They can both heal themselves and their allies while in a battle for small to relatively high damage. But when critically hit, their bodies regenerate. The only proper way to kill them is to blow up their core completely. COMPLETELY."

"You said it twice. With more emphasis the second time. "

"Yes! Because even if a tiny fragment of the core remains, they regenerate. Luckily, they aren't so rare amongst humans. In fact, our Commander is a very powerful healing type, known to be able to heal most high damage in mere seconds. Abubakr noted while clapping by tapping the elbow of his right hand.

"Why are you clapping?"

"Huh?"

"You... you were clapping. Why?"

"Uhmmm... because... it feels right."

"Don't do that... It's just us here. "

"You little..." Abubakr grunted to himself. He took a deep breath and continued his explanations. 

"Well, lastly, we have the special type. Even amongst demons, they are rare. We've only ever encountered them once. There were three of them. A white source and two red sources One of the greatest achievements of the group of red sources that became our current white sources was taking them down. An entire group of twenty-five red sources was reduced to seven due to that encounter. Some say the seven would have died if six of them hadn't awakened to white sources. Kris, irrespective of the class, if you ever meet a special type, never engage it alone. They are usually the combination of all other types in one or posses something that is just different or unexpected. The good thing is you may be able to easily identify them because they all had the same markings on their faces. A black dragon tattoo over the left eye. They all looked like humans until they evolved into their demon forms. So, they were easy to spot, and of course, there are no special types amongst humans thus far. " Abubakr warned with a serious tone.

Kris felt a cold shiver around his body. The atmosphere became tense and the two sat in silence briefly.

"Alright then, Kris, remember I said there are two things left."

"Yeah,"Kris looked at Abubakr.

"The other is a final test. A sparring match against me. "

"Hoo... interesting," Kris smirked as he jumped to his feet.

"Hmmph... Don't hold back, come at me with everything you've got."

"You sure? I am finally getting the chance to let loose. " Kris began stretching.

"You do know I am a sergeant, right? Do you really think you'd win?"

"I believe the outcome of a battle is never determined prior to the battle"

"Tchh... arrogant prick. Don't go fighting a special type demon with that mentality."

"Yeah, yeah, enough talk. My body is itching for a good fight"

"Hmph... three minutes, full pressure room. The alarm will sound once the time is up. If you lose, you will be spending another week here, alone. You'd have to hone your skills till we have another sparring match."

"A stake? Wow! I never pegged you to be someone that loves to spice things up." Kris brought out his cloak and from it burst out his aura.

"It's that proud mouth of yours I'll enjoy shutting up!" Abubakr did the same.

He snapped his fingers and the pressure in the room fell on them. The time began to tick.

"Now then...Come at me!" Abubakr called out.

Kris opened both his palms and shot out two energy blasts at Abubakr. They spiralled around each other before combining then booming with speed as it got closer to him. Abubakr gathered energy on his hand and struck at the blast. It pushed him back a bit as he dragged his feet on the ground before he was able to toss it to his left side and it exploded. Kris had used that opportunity to get close from the right side. He jumped, spun in the air gathering momentum before striking with a left kick at Abubakr's neck. Abubakr ducked thereby dodging the kick. Kris landed on his left leg then struck with his right elbow which Abubakr used his palm to block. The force from Kris pushed his palm closer to his chest. Kris flicked his right hand towards Abubakr's face which made Abubakr tilt backwards but that was a feint. Kris jabbed at Abubakr's face with his left hand. Abubakr smiled, he created a blast on Kris's right hand to propel himself backwards thereby avoiding the jab. 

"Tchh.." Kris felt a heavy sting on his right hand as he rubbed it with his left.

"You are not augmenting your defense when you move in for the attack."

"Hmph..." Kris scowled. He jammed his right leg into the ground, stretched both hands behind him, and created a blast that launched him quickly to Abubakr. Abubakr didn't expect him to cover that distance so quickly and, as such, barely dodged (by quickly sidestepping) the strong right swing from Kris afterwards. Kris flowed with that momentum, and placed his right palm on the ground, using it as a support as he swung his left leg for a back kick. Abubakr tilted back to dodge it. As Kris dropped his leg down. He propelled himself upwards with a right-hand jab. Abubakr caught the hand by the wrist. Kris smirked as he opened his palm. There was an energy blast there. Abubakr's eyes widened; "Shit!" he thought, but as Kris released the blast at his face, it was just a harmless energy wave. 

"A feint!" 

Kris hit Abubakr's guts with an energy sphere and then detonated it. The explosion sent Abubakr bouncing across the ground till he got to his knees. As he looked forward, Kris swooped in with a dropkick, which he dodged by rolling sideways. He sprung to his feet and met Kris closing in again with another heavy swing. He used his hand to divert Kris' swing rightwards. Kris tried to turn to face him, but he kicked Kris in the side, pushing him to the ground.

"He is fast. He is actually making it difficult for me to avoid his attacks." Abubakr hissed.

Kris sprung to his feet. Abubakr took a stance, keeping his left leg forward and his right behind. Kris moved swiftly and got closer to Abubakr. He swung a right kick to Abubakr's waist, but Abubakr took a step back, thereby making Kris miss. Kris stopped the kick two thirds of the way before pulling it back for a second strike, but Abubakr deflected it rightwards and kicked him with his left leg at the base of Kris' left thigh. Kris stomped the ground with his right leg and jumped with a backswing with his left at Abubakr. Abubakr leaned back, dodging the kick, and immediately jumped with a forward kick that connected to Kris' chest, sending him dragging on the floor.

Kris stood back up to his feet and dusted his chest. He crouched in a horse stance, and his aura rose. He gathered energy in his palms as he formed an 'X' with his arms. He shot them sideways and dashed forward. The blasts moved in an elliptical path. Abubakr looked at both, one aiming at his head, the other at his waist, and Kris aiming for his centre. Abubakr spun in-between 

the two blasts while charging a sphere in his palm. He used the energy blast in his hand to counter Kris' punch, which pushed both of them backwards. As Abubakr landed, he saw a blast aimed for his head. He bowed his head backwards till his hand touched the ground to dodge it. The second blast came from the top and was aimed at his chest. He released an aura that resisted it for a bit before turning out of the way and letting it blast the ground. As he got to his feet, he saw Kris' left punch and caught it in the nick of time. As he squeezed on it, Kris used his finger to call for the other blast to hit Abubakr from behind while he jabbed at Abubakr, who dodged it and kicked him away before using his hand to slap the blast to the ground. Kris came in with a flying kick which Abubakr sidestepped. As Kris landed, he closed the gap in almost an instant and struck with a 360-degree right kick. Abubakr stepped back, and the tip of Kris' toe scratched the cloak energy around Abubakr's nose. Abubakr lifted his leg to kick Kris, but Kris, upon landing, flowed with that momentum and swooped Abubakr's leg, making him fall on his back. Kris, while on the floor, used both legs to kick Abubakr away, then flipped to his feet, although he nearly tripped backwards.

"That bastard. He is utilizing his speed and not even trying to give me breathing room." Abubakr hissed as he got to his feet. 

"All that and you look like this isn't worth your time. It's pissing me off, "Kris hissed.

"Not worth my time? Is this guy drunk?" Abubakr thought to himself.

Kris gathered energy in each hand and compressed it as he folded his palms together. He opened his palms and there were tiny spheres on his fingers. 

"Ho... it's that move." Abubakr said as he burst out an energy field.

"He condenses energy to create those tiny and dense spheres. They are shot like snipers and have incredible penetrating power. Ten fingers means ten rounds. Difficult to avoid, but with this energy field I can react appro...." One of the spheres cut through his field, sliced his cloak and cheek. A trail of blood dripped. The shocked Abubakr touched his face and shakenly brought his hand to his face with blood on it.

"I found a way to make them faster and increase their penetrating power. I am calling them flash shots. Well, your reaction tells why." Kris gloated as he glanced at the index finger of his right hand.

Abubakr clenched his fist. His eyes glowed blue, his energy field became thick, and in a nutshell, he was pissed. He started running towards Kris. Kris shot the next one from his middle finger. It clashed and was resisted briefly by Abubakr's energy field, allowing him to evade it on time. Kris fired the next shot from his middle finger, then from his ring finger, pinkie, and finally from the thumb of his right hand. Abubakr was able to evade them as he got closer to Kris.

"Tchh... don't underestimate me!" Kris took a big leap backwards and created a blast from his right hand to further propel him back. He shot at Abubakr's feet with his pinkie, forcing Abubakr to jump into the air. Ring, middle, and thumb were fired in succession at him in the air, but once they entered the energy field, Abubakr was able to evade them in mid-air. He spun till he landed on his feet. Kris shot the last one from his index finger. Abubakr was about to dodge it by tilting his head rightwards, but as it got close to his face, it exploded. The explosion didn't do much damage to his left side but forced him to crash on his right knee. 

"Checkmate!" Kris yelled as he closed the gap with a straight jab.

"Get real." Abubakr scoffed as he rose with an uppercut, dodging Kris's punch by tilting his face leftwards and jamming his fist into Kris' jaw, forcing blood to be spat upwards. 

For a brief instance, Kris blacked out. When he awoke, he took a few steps back and was confused. His cloak almost dissipated and he felt the pressure of the room. He refined the cloak again, but Abubakr closed in and jabbed him in the guts. He coughed out as his eyes widened. He gritted his teeth, clenched both fists, and struck thrice (a right, a left, and then a right). Abubakr blocked the first two with his hand and dodged the third by leaning leftwards. While dodging, he lifted his left leg to kick Kris' face, then he kicked his stomach with the same leg. 

"Kkkkkkkahhhh," Kris coughed as he fell to his knee. Abubakr walked towards him. With a belittling look, his eyes glowed. Kris grinned his teeth at first and then smiled as he got to his feet. Abubakr feigned a move, causing Kris to flinch.

"Hmph," Abubakr remarked.

"Tchh..." Kris hissed as he launched a kick at Abubakr. Abubakr sidestepped the kick. Kris continued with the momentum, pivoted to his left, and went downwards to swoop Abubakr's legs. Abubakr jumped backwards and landed on his hand, then propelled himself back to his feet. Kris rose and attempted a knee jab with his right leg, which Abubakr countered by lifting his left knee. Abubakr dropped Kris' knee with his and turned to kick Kris in the face with the top side of his right foot. He continued with a 720-degree kick, ending it with a 'wipe' from the bottom side of his left foot. The 'wipe' spun Kris in the air till he fell onto his back.

Abubakr lifted his right arm (recall that the hand was sliced off at the elbow by Edward). He gathered energy at the elbow point. The ground was vibrating as the blast began to beam. As Kris rose to his feet, he shot the blast at Kris. Kris saw it closing in. He crouched in a horse stance and held the blast with both hands. The force pushed him back as he dragged his feet across the ground till his back slammed against the wall. He burst out his aura and, with a roar, he threw the energy blast upwards, where it exploded at the ceiling, creating a large rumble and a dust screen which covered his field of view. He puffed out twice, and from the dust screen, Kris noticed Abubakr coming in with a drop kick with his right leg. He put both his palms together and received the kick on them. His body vibrated, and he fell to his knees. Abubakr was surprised that he chose to receive it with his palms. Kris grabbed his leg and tightened the grip. 

"This is cliche to say again, but then... check... mate!" Kris heaved, and red energy surrounded Abubakr and turned into a sphere around him. 

"What!" Abubakr was shocked. His movements were restricted within.

"I made it such that the damage outside is... ow... delivered tenfold inside... God my jaw," Kris groaned. 

He held his jaw and spat out. 

"Just like that..." He flicked the sphere and within Abubakr could feel the slight sting all over his body.

"Tchh... You never showed this skill during our previous training" Abubakr voiced out.

"Are you going to whine about it? lol... Don't worry, this next skill is something you have seen before. You might die from this. But you did say, 'go all out'."

Kris gathered energy in his left hand and clenched it. His left hand began to vibrate violently as he tried to control it. Soon after, the ground he was standing on depressed a little, and the air vibrated alongside.

"You are actually trying to kill me!" Abubakr grinned and broke into a cold sweat.

"Not really... Just going all out!" He used his right hand to hit the sphere towards the far end of the room. It bounced against the wall and was propelled back at Kris. He roared and shot the blast at Abubakr. It boomed from his left hand, tearing the ground alongside. After a short distance, it boomed a second time and became larger. It collided with the sphere, and a large explosion engulfed the entire room. Kris increased his aura and brought his hands to shield him, but the force threw him back into the wall. After a while, it subsided. And a large smokescreen formed from red energy, debris, and dust particles covered the room. Blue energy cleared the smokescreen and Abubakr walked out of it. Kris walked out of the wall and raised his eyes to see an astral armor form covering Abubakr. 

"Even on the last day, I still get to see something new..." Kris laughed as he fell to his bum.

"You little..." An alarm rang loudly, and the pressure of the room dissipated. Abubakr grinned as his eyes glowed. He took a deep breath, calmed himself and sat down.

"So... How did I do!" Kris chuckled.

"Frankly I have half a mind to fail you right now and make you stay here another week. It's a sparring match. Go all out is a figure of speech you lunatic."

"Sorry, sorry, I just took it literally"

"Animal!"

"Stop being so angry. I apologized, didn't I?"

"Ugghh..." Abubakr grunted.

"Anyway, your offense is decent, your moves and techniques were well thought out and their linking and application are commendable for a beginner. But you are sloppy and although fast, still linear and evadable. Your defence on the other hand sucks, it's literally non-existent. You have to remember to augment your cloak to improve your defence. Once I got you with that uppercut, If I was a demon, you would be dead. You blacked out and nearly lost the cloak. You are too violent and your obsession with attacking is your greatest weakness. Work on that if you don't want to die or get a teammate killed."

"Yes sir!" Kris rubbed his head and looked downwards. He did understand what Abubakr meant. His mind flashed on how easy it was for Abubakr to dodge and sidestep some of his moves. Truly he was sloppy.

"But despite all that, you actually pushed me hard. I even had to bring out the astral form to survive. That alone gives you the passing mark."

"Oh wow, talk about obvious naming." Kris rolled his eyes.

"Fuck off... I am not the one who named it. Plus, it was either that or Max cloak form. 

"Hmph... lol"

"Anyway, this form is the maximum defence your cloak can grant you before it turns to armor. It's far stronger than anything your aura augmenting can give you, and once you achieve it, you no longer need to focus on defence. So, your mad fighting style will work properly with it."

"He is really mad about the going all-out thing." Kris sighed in his thoughts.

"It's still a far cry from the armor. But it's the next thing you'll need to achieve as you hone your skills on your own."

"On my own? So that means..."

"I will no longer babysit you. You are free to use the training halls on your own and grow until you achieve the armor. If you need advice, though, you can come to me. I'll help you out."

"Oh wow... I don't know how I feel about this. But regardless, Thanks. Seargent Abubakr."

"Hoo... Not an asshole to the very end? That's a shocker... But you are welcome, and I am glad you completed your training just in time."

"In time for what?"

"You will see. After leaving, you are to assemble at the A block training room by 1800. The Commander will address you. That gives you about eight hours of rest, give or take."

"How do you..."

"You wouldn't get it." Abubakr retorted. They both laughed for a bit before Kris took his leave. He reached his dorm, had a very long shower, set an alarm, and rested. 

The alarm rang for fifteen minutes before Kris got up. 

"Oh shit!" He wore his camo and rushed to the A-block training site. He noticed that no one was manning the door. He entered the hall quietly. and saw the cadets lined up. There were 17 of them, all seated on the floor 

"How nice of you to join us, Kris," Elizabeth called out to him with a very displeased look. The others giggled as they saw him walk in shyly.

"Well then, to conclude my statements, all eighteen of you will be participating in the graduation ceremony set to start in a week. Hone yourselves to the max! I wish you all the best of luck! " Elizabeth effused with a wave of her hand. All the cadets roared, lifting their hands in the air.

"Eighteen? I thought I counted seventeen. " Kris murmured to himself. As Elizabeth left, Su walked up to Kris.

"Wow! "Camo does fit you. Her eyes glistered as she saw him.

"Thanks a lot. By the way, I can only count seventeen people here, but the Commander said eighteen of you will be participating in the graduation ceremony. Someone missing?"

"Nope, all eighteen of us are in this room."

"That's what I am saying. There are only seventeen of you here."

"The commander didn't use the word 'eighteen' until you entered."

"What does that mean?" A confused Kris mused.

Su smiled at him. 

Huh??