Chapter 6 - Combat Practice (2)

"Begin!"

The match had begun, yet neither Jon nor Sarina moved.

"It seems that we have been blessed with an opportunity to face off against each other, and so soon as well." Sarina with a subtle smile on her gorgeous tanned face, "Jon Bacardi I'm very much interested in what you are capable of." She winked and her smile widened, expressing clear excitement.

"It seems lady luck has been generous to us. And likewise, I too want to see what you can do, before obtaining my victory. Miss Martinez please don't disappoint me." Jon replied with evident confidence. And so the match had truly begun.

A surge of pressure pushed down on Jon, Sarina had made the first move. The immense pressure was incomparable to what she used in her previous matches, cracking and forming a crater on the platform where Jon was standing. The pressure continued to increase, the crater deepened almost crushing all the way through the platform. 

The pressure was enough to thoroughly defeat almost any of the students had they been hit with it. Though Jon was not ordinary student. He was unharmed, absolutely unaffected. The pressure didn't even reach him, for he had manipulated a layer of space surrounding him, creating a protective membrane that mitigated even the increased gravity. Jon floated above the crater, creating a platform of invisible space for him to step on.

"If it was anybody else, that attack would have sealed the deal. Unfortunately for you, I'm different." Confidence and an ethereal tone conveyed Jon's words. His already green eyes somehow grew even more so, the whites and pupils of his eyes now dyed the same emerald as his iris'. He had now truly activated his 'eyes' allowing him to see much more than before. He was now bringing out more of his power, whilst still restraining himself due to this being a sparring match.

"I'd expect nothing less from you. If that was enough to beat you, then I'd be seriously disappointed." Sarina kept the same smile on her face, her eyes an exotic violet and her hair a luscious brown. She was a real battle junkie, much like Jon himself.

"Is it my turn now?" Jon withdrew his spatial barrier and stepped back onto the platform. His voice carried his confidence in a somewhat menacing yet smooth tone. His 'eyes' still active, giving him a somewhat alien appearance like he was some evolved being.

Jon dashed towards Sarina at an absurd speed, faster than the eye could see. He landed a heavy punch upon her, connecting with her face. The blow was powerful, though no where near the best Jon could do, after all it was only sparring and using full force would be ridiculous.

The impact almost sent Sarina flying off the platform, had she not applied her power on herself to regain her footing that very well would have been the case. The attack had caught her completely by surprise, Jon had travelled much quicker than in any of the previous spars that she saw, meaning she couldn't even activate her phasing ability. "Fucking hell that hurts!" She still fashioned her smile whilst expressing her pain, which made the spectators pretty uncomfortable. "That'll be the only time you actually land a hit on me." Wiping the blood from her nose she walked further from the edge of the platform.

"Sure, if you say so." 

Jon saw that she was activating her ability and prepared himself for it, creating the same spatial membrane around himself. He didn't expect that she would crush the platform down the middle, creating a chasm a few meters in width. This limited Jon from attacking in the same manner as last time, as he would need to jump the chasm or create a platform to cross it, this would give her time to activate her phasing.

They were in a stalemate, neither of them would be able to damage the other unless they caught them off guard or by surprise. "Let's say we ditch the powers and just fight barehanded." Jon offered a compromise to end the stagnation.

"I would, if it weren't so in your favour." Shaking her head and sighing, Sarina rejected that offer. She knew well of Jon's proficiency in martial arts and his innate physiological advantage, it wouldn't even be close.

"A shame, so what now?" 

"Well of course, we continue fighting with powers. I'll even take the initiative here, since you're being such a coward."

Sarina advanced, altering the gravitational strength, reducing the force on herself and allowing her to travel with greater ease. She jumped across the chasm. Jon ready to get another blitz hit on her, dashed forward at an even greater speed than before. He aimed to connect a flying knee on her just as she landed, yet his hit was met with nothing but air. His eyes saw her activating her phasing, though he was unsure of where she was, Sarina seemed to have vanished completely.

Then he felt a great force pushing him down, even with his superhuman durability the force was still troublesome. The area where Jon stood on the platform, yet again succumbing to the immense force, was crushed. Jon leaped up, escaping the now formed crater, and was met with a heavy blow to the head. Sarina had stopped her phasing, having hidden inside the platform whilst incorporeal, and landed a flawless roundhouse kick straight to Jon's temple. 

Jon was a little dazed, though the damage wasn't anything that troublesome. Stepping back 10 or so meters, he assessed the situation. 'She can remain phased for longer than expected. The fact that I couldn't see her using my 'eyes' must be due to her being hidden in this thick platform. I must take back control of this fight.' 

Jon further activated his 'eyes', causing him some mental strain as he hadn't completely mastered this ability. With this he'd be able to see and accomplish a lot more than before. Once again surrounding himself with the spatial wall, not wanting to be caught of guard another time, he proceeded to walk forward with his smile having returned. 'That was a good hit, I'll have to pay her back tenfold.'

Jon began levitating, ascending further and further into the air, looking down at Sarina whilst maintaining constant eye contact. His eyes now a vibrant hue of colours, the green still remained the most prominent but now purples, reds, blues, and more were mixed in, further alienating him from the realm of humans. He truly looked superhuman. The gazes of the spectators were solely on him. 

Sarina tried to use her ability to drag him down, hoping the increase in gravity would be enough. Yet it did nothing, Jon had isolated the gravitational force within an invisible spatial container. 

"What on Earth!?! That's absurd!" Sarina vocalized her frustrations, she had no other methods of bringing him down from the air. Though Jon wasn't attacking her either, it seemed that Jon had decided to trade one stalemate for another.

But then all of a sudden Jon descended, releasing the prison he put on the increased gravity, that still remained even after Sarina released her usage of the ability. He used that increase in gravity to speed up his descent, landing on the ground within an instant. Sarina was startled, unsure of what was happening. Jon took the opportunity and darted towards her at an even faster speed than before, he charged back his right fist and swung at her. He landed a devastating straight enhanced with super strength, boosted with the momentum of his super speed. Sarina was sent flying straight off the platform, crashing on the artificial grass behind and rolling multiple times. 

Jon had won. Sarina was defeated. 

The first match of the third round had ended.

***

The other matches of the third round went by.

With Jason Bjorn coming victorious against Ryan Boffins, using his stone conjuring ability to overpower his opponent, who possessed a strength based power, not allowing them to get close. Jason Bjorn was very capable at a distance, he was unlucky in the first round since his opponent, Jon, had incredible defence and had taken him by surprise.

In the third match of the third round Alexa Smirnoff came out the winner. Sandra Sandwort's light generation ability didn't have many combat applications, and was overwhelmed by miss Smirnoff's extendable limbs. Alexa Smirnoff used her extendable limbs, which possessed a flexible elasticity allowing her to launch unpredictable attacks from various angles, to trump miss Sandwort at a distance.

The fourth match wasn't even a contest, more of an execution as Torren Davis decimated Sophie Bakers. Steam rolling her before she could even use her ability, again without any usage of his ability. Torren Davis was very tall standing at a similar height to Jon, though Torren had a lot more mass. Possessing the physique you'd expect of a professional bodybuilder with the mass and strength of a powerlifter. He was fast and flexible as well, taking his opponents out with efficiency and utilizing a variety of angles for his strikes and wrestling. 

Jon really wanted to know this man's ability, and he would soon find out. After all, Torren Davis was his next and final opponent. 'This is going to be much more difficult than the Sarina fight. I'm completely in the dark in what ability he possesses and he's been conquering each match with incredible efficiency. His martial arts proficiency is comparable, maybe even better than my own. I expect we'll be having a physical and close range match.'

Jon assessed what he thought the next match would entail, though he couldn't be fully confident in his judgement, as he knew far too little about his opponent. Torren knew about him and what he was capable of, giving him a tactical advantage and allowing him to plan and prepare for fighting Jon. 

***

The fourth and final round was about to begin. Jon stepped up to the platform, which was repaired after every match so none of the damage caused by his bout with Sarina lingered in the following spars. He wore the same smile he always wears before and during fights, he found sparring and competing with other supers extremely thrilling and revelled at the thought of facing a challenge. Torren Davis was certainly a challenge, Jon knew that this fight was going to be exciting and that there was an actually strong possibility of him being defeated.

He looked at his opponent, he saw a young man who looked older than he actually was, appearing to be in his twenties when he was only 19 years of age. Not a blemish could be seen on his face, his dark skin was smooth and clear, his features were sharp; an extremely strong jawline lined with a well kept beard, and piercing brown eyes. He looked formidable and he really was formidable, conquering all his previous opponents within 20 seconds.

'He seems like a man of few words, I haven't seen him talking to anyone during this whole practical.'

Torren was also staring back at Jon, maintaining constant eye contact. He looked extremely focused, seeming to have a plan laid out for this fight or at least a clear understanding on what he was going to do. The fire in his eyes caused Jon's smile to widen. 'Let's see what you're made of Torren Davis. I'm going to uncover that mysterious ability of yours, and crush you after exposing it.'

"The final round will begin after the countdown! This will be your last sparring match of the day, so make sure to try your best." The Iron Lady was speaking, into a microphone this time, her voice was melodic and carried great enthusiasm. She and the other instructors were still on their podium that was conjured at the start, they had screens displaying each group's platform, allowing them to spectate every single match.

"COUNTDOWN STARTING...5...4...3...2...1...0...BEGIN!!!" The Iron Lady screamed with cheer into the microphone, signalling the beginning of the match.