Claw & Lightning

After 2 and a half months, Ben had become proficient in both internal and externa utilization of aura. Ben's aura was of neutral nature and did not have any special effects as of now. Today, Mahaansh had asked another Martial Knight, who was in the city police department to come. This was a service requested through the school. Ben was right now an important asset to the school. While they could not squander resources for him, things like a sparring partner was easy to arrange. This police constable came from the other side of the city. This was done to eliminate any form of bias and vendetta that can occur.

Mahaansh introduced the constable to Ben : " Ben, this is Malcen Devt, a police constable from the South Sector Police station. He is arranged by the school to be your sparring partner for the day. Malcen, this is Ben. He is a beginner Martial Knight."

Both of them looked at each other. Ben had a slight smile. Malcen did not smile but had a curt node. Mahaansh said : "Ben don't underestimate Malcen. He came out from his 18 month military service with flying colours. He had been to all the borders of our country and even had a 3 month service period in another planet. Within this short period he also received 2 military honors." Ben could not help but be amazed at this. The reason was his obsession with army and his desire to be a Martial. He knew how difficult the various borders of the country was. Naturas and Metallas on either side of the country. Terrorist attacks in the north. No border was safe. Ben had an immense respect for the man in front of him. Ben also became cautious. These types of people had their guard up always. It was not easy to win against them.

Mahaansh prepared a stage for the two to spar. Then he said to them: " Get ready you two. We don't have much time." The arena was made. The space was compressed here and hence, there was a space of about 1 Km. Both Ben and Malcen took their stances. Mahaansh looked at both of them. Seeing both of them were ready, he said "Begin".

Before Ben could comprehend anything, he felt a pain in his abdomen. Then he found himself flying. 'Knights cannot fly. So how am I flying' Ben thought. He landed with a thud. Before he could get a grip of what was happening, a shadow covered him. It was Malcen. He was preparing a punch for his face. Ben dodged it with great effort. Macen's punch hit the ground which produced a huge crack, in the middle of which there was a 1 m deep crater. Ben tried to circumvent him and move to the other side. But Malcen was not going to allow it. He jumped at Ben like a predator. Ben had no choice. He had to fight now. He was cornered. He used a combination of internal and external aura utilization and did a punch. But his opponent was not a layman. He could predict the trajectory of the punch and dodged easily. While dodging, Malcen kicked Ben in his chest. Ben had the presence of mind to move back. But he did bear 80% of its strength, forcing him to move back a few steps.

They both stared at each other for a second. Suddenly Ben raced towards Malcen. Malcen sneered at him. Ben prepared a punch by channeling inner and outer aura to his right hand. Malcen seeing this, had a smile of ridicule. He also raced towards Ben. Mahaansh was observing the fight: ' He has a long way to go. I thought he was proficient in aura technique. Though not mastered he can do much better than this. What a waste… wait a minute !!' Suddenly Mahaansh noticed something. Malcen was in the air. His honed reflexes and strong body helped him land on his feet. But he was still not fully able to gain his bearing. ' What was that?' Malcen thought. 'He was aiming to punch my face. But how did he hit my chin using his palm. If I had not sensed in the last second, my neck would have broken.' Mahaansh understood what happened. ' That boy. He used aura reading against his opponents. Punches and palm strikes uses similar aura path ways. He used aura on his wrists and knuckles first and at the last minute he spread it to his palms as well and struck him. He even did a last minute feint using the palm aura pathway and then suddenly changed it to palm strike, catching Malcen off guard. Malcen of all people.'

The battle entered the next phase. Suddenly electricity crackled around Malcen. A perilous pressure surrounded Ben. He knew a massive attack was incoming. Suddenly Malcen disappeared. Ben narrowed his eyes. He expected a sudden strike, like a while ago. But nothing happened for a second. Ben heard a crackling sound above him. When he looked up, he saw Malcen in the air, like a thunder god. A powerful lightning bolt crashed down on Ben. Ben used his external aura to block it. He could not fully mitigate the power. A part of the power did fall on him giving him a numbing feeling. It lasted for 3 seconds. By that time Malcen had rushed towards Ben and punched him with lighting on his fists. This time however Ben was ready and he had covered his entire external body with his aura. The impact did make him move a few steps back. But it did not send him flying. When Ben looked Malcen was still missing. Ben activated his spatial perception. ' He is behind me and is getting ready for an attack. No now he moved towards my side and he is coming from my right side. Impact in 3, 2,1…' Ben dodged the attack at the last minute. Ben had empowered both his forearms using internal and external aura to confuse his opponent. Suddenly the aura in his right hand disappeared and the aura in his left hand flared. In a split second the aura in the left hand took the form of a wolf claw. Ben swiped it at Malcen. His reflexes were extremely high and he almost dodged it. But his hands were struck with the aura claws and bled profusely. Malcen moved back a few steps and stopped using the electricity. He was panting. So was Ben. Ben's aura amount was very less compared to Malcen. He used two of his recently developed skills as well. He also used his aura to fight as well. All these resulted in Ben's aura reserves plummeting. Malcen was not in good condition either. The claw strike and the palm strike before had made his aura reserves to go down as well. But not so much as Ben.

After about 10 seconds of stare down, Malcen activated the electricity and vanished again. Ben immediately activated his spatial perception. ' Dammit where is that guy. I can't sense him at all. Oh yes there he is.' Ben turned towards his back to intercept a strike. Both his arms flared with aura. He was about to block the attack. Suddenly an electricity empowered punch struck his chin with tremendous force. He was shocked by the impact. His brain was shocked. He staggered. Malcen unleashed a tremendous thunderstrike at Ben. He was hit by it. But he was not willing to go down without a fight. Even with his fading consciousness he empowered his hands with maximum aura and did a claw strike at the unguarded Malcen. His electricity empowered Martial Seed gave him highly developed reflexes and he did react to the claw strike. But unfortunately, he was struck by it albeit with a reduced impact. His chest was tore open. He sat on one knee and looked at the unconscious Ben. Mahaansh came near Malcen. He said " He he, how is it? " Malcen replied " Not bad. If he had a bit more experience and aura, he would have wiped me in the floor." There was silence for a while. Mahaansh activated the healing lights. Then he looked at Ben. Then he turned to Malcen with a serious expression: " How did the investigation go? Did you find anything agent HAWK?" Malcen said " No commander. The superiors are blocking information. They suspect of a spy. But they do not suspect me as of now."