Chapter One-Hundred and Twenty-Two: Training Sucks Donkey Nuts.

"Alright, I- I can't anymore ahhhhhh," Drake gasped, writhing on the ground.

"What's wrong prick? Can't handle a little ass whooping?" the man said, standing as he sneered down at him.

"Apparently not.." Drake huffed, looking back up at the man, "I never imagined people actually trained to kill would be so hard to fight…."

I can still beat them in a fight at full power though. Just want to slide that in here… Drake thought, trying to nurse his bruised ego.

"I will say I am impressed with how well they are pummeling you. I did not think that your military was so well trained," Natto giggled, laughing at Drake's expense.

I'm going to refrain from saying something very rude, and it's totally not because I'm exhausted from holding back, while getting my ass kicked.

Drake huffed and heaved a breath, drawing in much-needed air as he sat his body back up. He was getting shafted left and right when it came to technique and his self-imposed handicap made it even harder, but he had kept his vitality at its peak for the most part, also allowing his Aura to continually scan the field.

He wasn't so foolish to believe telling Shigure to control his people would result in them actually listening. The more Drake interacted with the teen the more he questioned if the boy was actually in charge or just a powerful ally people were manipulating.

Drake had noticed quite a few onlookers come and go, but thankfully after witnessing his entrance yesterday as well, Bjorn was camped nearby laughing at Drake being smacked around. They decided against doing anything for now.

"All done buttercup?" the man jeered, again throwing an insult at Drake.

"I consider myself more of a Bubbles thank you. Let's go again, I'm slowly getting it," Drake sneered back.

"You call that getting it?" a woman from the side said, pointing and laughing.

Drake ignored the jab, taking his stance once more.

The man across from him doing the same opting for a more loose form, attesting to his mastery of his MMA style.

Drake scoffed. Knowing that he was also playing loose because he didn't respect Drake as an opponent.

It is taking all of my willpower to not just put my hand through his head….

Drake only knew his fighting styles from shows and anime, the most in detail being boxing.

They both rushed forward meeting in a clash of jabs and strikes.

Drake kept his arms up doing his best to cover his head as he used his nimbleness to doge as best he could.

But the man was faster. Using his experience and quick thinking to feint for Drake's left, then quickly swept his back leg. Taking Drake to the ground once more.

The man quickly barked a laugh, bringing down the heel of his metal boot in an attempt to crush Drake's head.

Falling to the ground, Drake let out a puff of air, but recovered, tumbling out of the way of the stomp. With his now increased Dexterity, he sprang back up with a handstand from the ground, collecting himself and going in close again.

Drake moved in towards the center of the man, doing his best to use the same feint the man had, throwing a quick jab to his left. Unfortunately, Drake's arm was caught in an arm lock, the man laughing as he used his kneed to kick upwards.

But Drake wasn't about to be undone. And wasn't about to let his Adrenaline Acuity go to waste.

So he cheated.

Seeing the knee strike come in slow motion, Drake pushed himself off the ground and over the man's right shoulder, taking him into a headlock, then wrestling him to the ground.

"Gotchya bitch!" Drake chuckled, holding the man in a tight headlock.

Within a few more struggling seconds the man finally tapped out.

Drake released him and got to his feet.

"See? Learning!" he huffed.

The man grumbled something and went back to the spectators, another person walking forward.

"Not bad rookie, but keep in mind going to the ground in a real fight is death. You won't just be dealing with one opponent," the man smiled.

"Good to know, then let's go with two then," Drake said pointing to the woman who insulted him earlier, "You seem to want to get in on the action so, let's see what you got, Blossom. Or wait, you are probably a Buttercup in this situation," Drake said, tilting his head in a momentary debate.

The woman growled and glared back at Drake.

"I'm goin' to enjoy kicking your sorry ass kid!" she spat, cracking her knuckles.

Drake gasped in faux fright.

"Oh no! Mojo Jojo is angry, whatever am I going to do?"

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Adam looked from the rampart at the camp down in the field, a group of people sparring and forming a circle around those currently fighting.

"Hmmm, at least he's shit at hand-to-hand combat," Adam mused, "His magic was rather extraordinary but it's nothing I can't handle."

Adam looked beside the ring of spectators to a smaller group near Bear. There the rest of Shot's party looked on, laughing and pointing, some still eating, others going back and forth from the tents of their little camp.

"I don't see why they would want to follow an idiot like him when we are obviously the better choice. It's rather sad that such beauties are wasted on a fool," he scoffed.

Next to Adam, a small magic circle appeared, from it a pale gangling man rose up from the ground.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"Master, we were unable to infiltrate their camp in the night," the Ghoul gurgled.

"I can see that… I'm more interested in what you learned, you fucking lesser..."

The Ghoul shrank, bowing deeply.

"We have mapped out their camp. The leader sleeps alone in a tent at the far end, the rest have decided to form pairs or larger in the others. And the man in charge seems to have a perception skill that lets him notice us within a certain distance…" the Ghoul replied.

Adam sensed a but within the pause.

"And what's the but? Out with it, I don't want to be seen with something like you. It will ruin my plan," Adam spat.

"Yes… There is a woman who is on the edge of the camp, she is far enough away we believe that we can grab her in time, even if we were to alert the leader. But we will suffer great losses…"

Adam waved his hand.

"I don't care, do it. I can always make more of you filth. Don't fail this time or will be changing employers."

The Ghoul gurgled a grunt and sank back down into the magic circle.

Adam scoffed, placing a sleeve to his nose.

"Filthy lessers… If only I could be with the greater's where I belong I wouldn't have to deal with their disgusting stench. And I could have all the pleasures and riches I want…" Adam thought aloud, his eyes moving again to the group below, "But soon… very soon, I will have a very obedient workhorse," he sneered, a smile creasing his pale lips.

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Chelsea moved inch by inch closer to Claire, with only one clear goal in her mind.

I need to find out what happened! I might have set myself back by being a bitch early on but I won't be beat! She thought, her eyes focusing on the blonde woman who sat across from her, looking at the sparring.

"What are you doing…?" Tom asked, chewing on a piece of jerky, his eyebrow raised.

"Don't fucking worry about it Tom," Chelsea said, snapping at the poor man.

Tom recoiled gulping down the rest of his jerky in one bite, suddenly choking.

Claire heard the ruckus and turned her head, furrowing her brows in curiosity.

"What are you two doing?" she asked, almost parroting Tom.

"That's what I would like to know!" Tom said coughing.

"We aren't doing anything, but what are you doing!" Chelsea huffed, scooting over even closer to Claire, "I thought we had an unspoken deal not to get ahead!" she whispered.

Claire scoffed, "Hmph, how are we supposed to have a deal if it's unspoken? Sounds really stupid. And…. I didn't get ahead…" Claire said, suddenly deflating.

"What? What happened exactly?"

Tom inched in closer only to be hit square in the face by Chelsea's fist. Tom was unharmed but got the message and walked away.

Claire squirmed a bit under the intense stare Chelsea gave but eventually folded, spilling the beans on what had transpired between her and Drake.

"He hugged you?!" Chelsea shrieked, her face turning green.

"Shhhhh!!!" Claire said hushing her, "It isn't a big deal…! I feel like he almost did it because he felt bad that I tried to kiss him…" she murmured.

"Yeah maybe but are you sure you're alright? After…." Chelsea struggled to find the words uncomfortably sitting on the end of her tongue, "After, what happened?" she finally said meekly.

Claire pursed her lips struggling to answer.

"I don't know… I wasn't even thinking about that when it happened. I just felt… safe?" Claire said her eyes relaxing as she dotingly stared out into the field watching Drake get hit in the face for the umpteenth time.

It was Chelsea's turn to squirm in her seat, feeling awkward now.

"Ahhh…. That's not fair…" she sighed, "I'm happy for you after everything. We all need something like that with what we're going through, but I can't help but be jealous…"

Claire snickered.

"You are surprisingly a pure maiden at heart huh Chelsea? It isn't like we are dating," Claire said, Chelsea's eyes brightening at the answer, "At least not yet," she smirked.

Chelsea shifted again in her seat, pulling her legs up to her chest as she pouted.

"I wish I knew how to make things better, I feel awful for all the things I said when I first met him… When he saved us, all I saw was another empty hope and hollow promises. Chris, the guy who used to lead our group…"

"What? Was he like Drake?" Claire asked.

"No... When I first met him, before I knew him. Chris was honestly better…. The picture of the perfect guy. Charismatic, charming, always knew what to say and when to say it. Firm but soft and always understanding enough to listen first," Chelsea explained, rattling off details, "But behind it, he was a monster… A real monster. And that's all I saw behind Drake when he swooped in and gave us a way out of that nightmare. It was wrong, I know, but I was afraid…" Chelsea chuckled lightly, admonishing herself.

Claire took a moment, reaching her hand out to touch Chelsea's shoulder.

"I was lucky then… I saw Drake as a monster as well," Claire began, looking again over to Drake and then back to Chelsea, "The only difference was I needed that monster to get back at those Goblins for what they did. I haven't told even Drake this yet... But my brother died protecting me from them. When we were taken into this insane godforsaken place, all I had was him. All I had was Jared. But he could only protect me for so long against the hordes of Goblins and eventually they took us…." Claire paused, her arm shaking as she pulled it away, her mouth quivering as tears quickly filled her eyes, "They put us against each other in the ring… But he refused to fight me. The Goblins… Those sick animals…. Th-they made me kill him," Claire sobbed solemnly, "It was him or me, and they would have killed us if we both refused. We saw it happen before and Jared knew. So he died… to protect me. I would have ki-killed myself but I was just too scared, too weak…"

Claire's face stiffened as her eyes burned in rage thinking back on it.

"Then he saved us. At first, when I saw him, I didn't want to believe he was real either. Just another light going to be snuffed out by those monsters no matter how strong he appeared to be. So I tried to run. But instead, he stopped me, protected me, fed me, and gave me a reason to keep going… And now. Now that he let me kill not only the Goblin that forced my brother and I to fight but the one that started it, the King. I want him, I want Drake to be my reason to keep going," Claire smiled.

"Damn it. Stop!" Chelsea said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "How am I supposed to beat that!? Let me be angry a bit, will you?! Or at least let me compete…!" she sighed, "Now I can't help but cheer for you too! Why are all the women around here so perfect? I feel so inadequate now… First Harley, then you, who's next huh?! When's my turn!" Chelsea roared, throwing her hands into the air.