Chapter 5 - Combat Practice (1)

Three Instructors entered the building.

The first one was a woman of somewhat average height, wearing a tight and flexible body suit that accentuated her figure, the suit had some thin plating on vital areas serving as a form of armour. She looked to be in her late twenties and had blonde hair going down to her shoulders. She had an unreadable expression and even Jon couldn't get a grasp on her personality.

The second instructor was a beast of a man, fashioning a spectacular thick beard and standing at a whopping 8 feet tall. He also wore a body suit, but his had much thicker and more frequent armour plating, he had a tremendous physique that radiated strength. Jon could tell from a glance that this man had a fiery personality and that he was full of vigour and enthusiasm.

The third instructor was someone that all students present knew, a real celebrity. The famous Iron Lady, a semi-active superhero who had racked up numerous accomplishments during the past decade. She had long glossy brown hair and eyes a shade of green reminiscent of a forest of trees during springtime. She took slow confident steps, with a professional business-like smile, her figure was the same as what you'd expect from a professional sprinter. She was confident in her strength, everyone there could tell that, and for good reason.

The instructors stood up on a podium made of stainless steel, that had just been conjured by the Iron Lady herself. A microphone appeared in the hand of the Beast of a man, Jon noticed that this was the work of the first instructor, he noted that she had an unusual ability. The man spoke into the microphone with a booming voice.

"Welcome supers of the future! It's good to see our new fourth years again, it looks like all of you have grown! And our new third years all looking strong, that's good. Really good. My name is Dylan Powers, but you can refer to me as the 'Beast'. I will be one of the permanent instructors for your combat training, I expect a lot from all of you!"

With a massive smile on his face he looked like a child on Christmas day about to open his presents. His voice was loud enough to be heard, even without the need of the microphone, and when amplified by the microphone it was almost deafening.

"Same as my beastly colleague, I am also a permanent instructor for your combat training. My name is Natalia Midrib, but you will refer to me as 'Instructor Midrib', I expect big things from you all!" In a monotonous almost robotic tone, she introduced herself keeping it short and punctual.

"Hello everyone! You might know me, but if not, allow me to introduce myself. I am the 'Iron Lady' you will refer to me as such, and I will be working here as a part time instructor as I have other responsibilities. I am excited to see what you talented seniors are capable of and maybe in the future we could work alongside each other!" Not even using a microphone, the Iron Lady introduced herself with exuberance and gusto. She left a strong impression on all the students present, her attempt at motivating them was successful.

"Now that we've got the introductions out the way, let's get started then!" The 'Beast' exclaimed, a toothy smile plastered on his face. "Today we'll be doing individual combat! Fourth years will be sparring third years and obviously vice versa! You'll each fight 4 times, with 4 different opponents! You'll be sorted into groups of 8, 4 from the third year and 4 from the fourth year, at random!" Whilst shouting every single word, he explained to them what was going to happen.

A screen appeared, again Jon noticed that this was due to instructor Midrib's power which peaked his curiosity. On this screen a randomiser including all the student's names was present, and the groups of 8 were formed.

He recognised the three other third years that were a part of his group, though they weren't exactly the most notable of them, Jon still made a point of remembering the names and faces of his classmates.

He also recognised two of the fourth years, one of them being a member of the ice princess' team. 'He's extremely strong, I don't even need to use my 'eyes' to know that.' The other fourth year he recognised was, funnily enough Sarina Martinez. 'It seems like fate has brought us together... Shit! Not in that way!'

The two other fourth years were people that Jon did not recognise whatsoever, but he could tell they were both pretty competent in their own right. 'I'm sure they'll have some tricks up their sleeve. Best not let my guard down.' Having assessed his opponents Jon waited for the match-ups to be decided.

After a couple of minutes, screens appeared in front of each group, 'Yet again, I really wonder about the nature of Instructor Midrib's power.' On the screens were the order of matches for the group, the matches were set out to take place one at a time, meaning that the rest of the group could spectate the sparring matches.

The order of sparring matches on the screen were shown:

1st Round

Jon  Bacardi vs Jason Bjorn 

Ryan Boffins vs Sarina Martinez

Alexa Smirnoff vs Torren Davis

Sophie Bakers vs Sandra Sandwort

2nd Round

Jon Bacardi vs Sandra Sandwort

Ryan Boffins vs Torren Davis

Alexa Smirnoff vs Jason Bjorn

Sophie Bakers vs Sarina Martinez

3rd Round 

Jon Bacardi vs Sarina Martinez

Ryan Boffins vs Jason Bjorn

Alexa Smirnoff vs Sandra Sandwort

Sophie Bakers vs Torren Davis

4th Round

Jon Bacardi vs Torren Davis

Ryan Boffins vs Sandra Sandwort

Alexa Smirnoff vs Sarina Martinez

Sophie Bakers vs Jason Bjorn

*** 

Having read through the ordering, the groups were preparing for the first round. 

Jon would be fighting first, his first opponent was someone he had never heard of before, meaning he had no clue on what to expect from them. 'When it comes to information I'm at a disadvantage, my combat abilities are pretty well known due to my performance in last year's tournament. I'll have to overwhelm them completely during the fight, whilst figuring out what they're capable of.'

"First match will begin in a few minutes! Those of you fighting first get into position!" The Beast yelled even louder then before, causing some of the students to wince.

 As Jon was up first he walked up to his group's metallic platform, which was made by the Iron Lady. The platform was of a decent size and possessed a reflective metallic appearance, which seemed fitting considering who made it. Since it was only sparring a great amount of space wasn't needed, though the platforms were still extremely durable, enough to tank heavy attacks. Dozens of these platforms were laid out throughout the massive building, the Iron Lady made them all appear simultaneously. 

Jon started following his usual stretching routine whilst eyeing up his opponent. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, with an athletic build, dressed in the same standard combat suit as all the students here. He could tell he was somewhat capable and had some inkling that they were a ranged combatant, that was his gut feeling and his gut was rarely wrong. 

"First matches will now be commencing! After the count of 5, you will begin" Instructor Midrib signalled for the start of the matches, with the same robotic tone.

"5!...4!...3!...2!...1!...Begin!!!" And with that, the first sparring battle began. 

Wasting no time, Jon bolted his way to his opponent. Right when he was a couple meters away from his foe he, a stone spike shot up at an angle. Missing Jon's face by a hairs breadth, as he manoeuvred his body, barely avoiding the spike aimed for him, having detected the usage of their ability. He then furthered the distance between them.

'That appeared out of thin air. A stone conjuring ability huh, it seems he was prepared for my superspeed.' Jon gathering an understanding of what his opponent could do. 'Let's change my approach a little then.'

In the next moment four stone spike projectiles came Jon's way. He didn't dodge. He didn't need to. Just as the spikes were about to reach Jon, they disappeared. Those same projectiles were now behind his opponent, maintaining the same momentum. Having realized what had happened, the boy dove out of the way in a desperate attempt to avoid being hit.

As the spikes reappeared, Jon took the opportunity to blitz his foe whilst their guard was down. Landing a devastating kick to the head of his opponent. The force of the blow caused a violent boom to reverberate throughout the building, leaving the boy unconscious. With that, Jon won his first match in a whopping 8 seconds.

***

The first round went by as expected. Sarina defeated her opponent without much struggle. Jon was surprised to find out that she has two abilities: one of which is the ability to phase through any substance, the other is some form of gravity manipulation. What really impressed Jon was her combat intelligence, utilizing her abilities with devastating proficiency, using them together for combination attacks.

 Torren Davis, the fourth year in the same team as the revered Ice Princess, absolutely demolished his opponent. He hadn't even used his ability once yet still possessing immense physical strength, using only pure hand-to-hand combat to dismantle the unfortunate Miss Smirnoff. Jon was absolutely clueless on what sort of power this absolute unit of a fighter possessed. 

The fourth match was less noteworthy both students, whilst capable, were no threat to Jon. This wasn't arrogance, but a fact. Jon had long since cemented his place as a genius, and had now truly grown into the role with there being only a few students within the fourth year he'd consider his betters in combat. 

***

The second round went by, and much like the first Jon was victorious, the opponent had a light generation ability which wasn't exactly suited for combat. Though they were fairly creative in how they used it, trying to blind Jon to get in some sneaky hits, they were quickly defeated nonetheless. 

Torren Davis once again demolished his opponent without using his ability. Which really caught Jon's interest, 'I really want to see what he's capable of, if he's this strong with just his martial arts. If he used his power, which one of us would come out on top?! I can't wait to find out.'

The next match was won by Jon's previous opponent, Jason Bjorn. Whilst Jon made quick work of the boy not letting him show what he was truly capable of. In this match he really got to show what he was made of, using stone spikes and pillars to trap his opponent, he ended the match with a series of stone pillars connecting and earning himself victory. 

In the final match of the second round, Sarina Martinez claimed another victory. Much like the first round, she cleverly used her abilities in unison. Whittling her opponent down with a high gravitational force, whilst being impossible to hit as she entered a phased state whenever her opponent tried to fight back.

***

Now that the 2nd round had ended, it was time for the penultimate 3rd round. Jon would be facing off against Sarina.

Both stepping up to the platform, they assessed one another. 'We both have abilities that make us tricky to hit. I can use my superspeed to avoid her gravitational fields, and even if I am caught I could endure it. The tricky part is actually inflicting damage. I'll have to catch her off guard.'

Having finished setting up his plan, his 3rd match was about to begin.

"5...4...3...2...1...Begin!"

And so it started.