Chapter 61: Testing The New Implant Part Two

Kladirex’s elbow came toward Arthur’s jaw.

Arthur tilted his head.

The attack missed by less than an inch.

Before Kladirex could retract his arm, Arthur’s left hand caught his wrist.

He twisted.

Kladirex’s balance broke.

BAM!

Arthur drove his knee into Kladirex’s abdomen.

The impact forced the air from Kladirex’s lungs.

"Urgh!"

Arthur didn’t give him time to recover.

He released Kladirex’s wrist and immediately followed with a fist.

Kladirex raised his arm.

BANG!

Arthur’s fist slammed against his guard.

The force sent Kladirex skidding backward.

His boots scraped violently against the floor.

The crowd fell silent.

Kladirex looked at his arm.

His mechanical implant was trembling slightly.

"What... What the hell?"

Kladirex raised his head to face him, his eyes narrowed.

He rushed forward again.

Arthur waited.

Kladirex threw a straight punch.

Arthur leaned backward.

The fist passed over his nose.

A second punch came immediately.

Arthur shifted his head.

Missed.

A kick followed.

Arthur stepped aside.

Missed.

Kladirex spun.

An elbow.

Arthur ducked.

Missed.

Kladirex’s eyes widened.

How the hell is he reading me this quickly?

Is it the new implant he got? Should I have asked what it was? No, that wouldn’t change the fact I was still going to fight him.

Damnit, I’m going to have to constantly switch things up.

He changed his rhythm.

He feinted toward Arthur’s chest before suddenly dropping low.

His leg swept toward Arthur’s knee.

Arthur’s leg lifted.

The sweep passed beneath him.

Arthur stepped forward.

His fist drove into Kladirex’s shoulder.

BOOM!

Kladirex’s body twisted from the impact.

Another punch.

Kladirex blocked.

Another.

He blocked again.

A third.

BAM!

Kladirex’s guard was open.

Arthur’s fist struck his chest.

Kladirex flew backward.

He landed heavily on his feet, but his knees buckled.

The crowd erupted.

"He’s getting destroyed!"

"Kladirex can’t touch him!"

"How is Arthur dodging everything?!"

"Forget that. How is he using flesh and blood arms and legs to give Kladirex a hard time like this?"

Kladirex gritted his teeth.

"You are a freak, 81."

Arthur smiled.

"Thanks for the compliment."

His eyes narrowed, a smug grin spread on his face.

"Now, are you going to continue, or should I assume you surrender..."

He tilted his head to the left.

"I mean, since you decided to remain on your knees like that."

Kladirex gritted his teeth.

"Shut the fuck up."

He forced himself upright.

Arthur watched him.

There was no mockery in his expression.

Only calm confidence.

Kladirex wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Should I assume your new implant made you faster?"

Arthur smiled.

"That’s one way to put it."

Kladirex stared at him for several seconds.

Then he laughed.

It was low, bitter, and almost amused.

"So that’s what this is."

His shoulders relaxed.

His stance changed.

Until now, Kladirex had been fighting like someone trying to prove a point.

Now, he looked like someone who had decided the point no longer mattered.

His mechanical arms and legs gave a faint metallic whine as the implants inside his body began shifting into a different configuration. Small panels along his forearm separated, exposing glowing components beneath his synthetic skin.

Several cadets in the crowd noticed immediately.

"Wait..."

"I thought it was supposed to be a non-lethal spar?"

"Then why is Kladirex activating his combat implants?"

Arthur’s expression became slightly more serious.

Kladirex grinned.

"You’ve been dodging everything I’ve thrown at you. 81, it’s becoming really annoying."

He lowered his body.

"Let’s see how long that lasts."

BOOM!

Kladirex exploded forward.

Arthur’s eyes widened in shock.

...He got faster?!

The acceleration was completely different from before.

Kladirex’s fist came toward his face with enough force to create a sharp crack through the air.

Arthur tilted his head.

The fist passed beside his cheek, but the gust of wind it created left a small cut across his cheek.

Before Arthur could counter, Kladirex twisted his waist and brought his opposite elbow toward Arthur’s ribs.

Arthur stepped backward.

The elbow missed by a fraction.

Kladirex didn’t slow down for even a moment.

His knee came upward.

Arthur shifted his body sideways.

The knee passed through empty air.

Kladirex immediately planted his foot and spun, his mechanical leg whipping toward Arthur’s head.

Arthur ducked beneath it.

The attack passed over him.

Kladirex’s foot slammed into the floor.

BANG!

The impact cracked the training surface.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

He’s faster.

Not slightly.

Significantly.

Kladirex turned toward him with a savage grin.

"What’s wrong, 81? Won’t you fight back, or are you just going to keep dodging like a coward?"

Arthur didn’t answer.

Kladirex rushed forward again with that same absurd speed.

Arthur’s pupils contracted.

Reddish circuitry suddenly spread around his right eye.

〘Battle Foresight Activated.〙

The world seemed to slow.

Not actually slow.

Arthur simply began seeing what was about to happen.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Five.

The future unfolded before him.

Kladirex’s punch.

A follow-up elbow.

A low kick.

A feint.

A second punch from the opposite side.

Arthur moved.

He stepped outside the first punch before it was thrown.

Kladirex’s fist tore through empty air.

Arthur ducked beneath the elbow.

His foot lifted before the low kick arrived.

The kick passed underneath him.

Arthur rotated his body and allowed the second punch to slide past his shoulder.

Then he stepped forward.

His fist slammed into Kladirex’s abdomen.

BOOM!

Kladirex’s body bent slightly.

But instead of retreating, he grabbed Arthur’s wrist.

"Got you."

His mechanical arm tightened.

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

Kladirex swung him sideways.

Arthur twisted in midair.

His feet struck the ground.

He immediately rolled with the momentum and came back up.

Kladirex was already waiting.

The two rushed toward each other.

BANG!

Their fists collided.

The impact sent a shock through the ring.

Kladirex followed with a knee.

Arthur turned his body.

The knee missed.

Arthur grabbed Kladirex’s shoulder and attempted to throw him.

Kladirex planted his mechanical leg.

The artificial limb locked into the floor with a sharp metallic click.

Instead of being thrown, Kladirex used the resistance to pivot around Arthur.

His elbow came toward Arthur’s temple.

Arthur saw it coming five seconds before it happened.

He ducked.

The elbow passed over his head.

Arthur spun around.

Kladirex was already charging him.

Their eyes met.

Kladirex’s grin widened.

"You really are something."

Arthur said nothing.

"You know what?"

Arthur avoided another punch.

"You’ve been getting on my nerves."

Arthur slipped beneath a hook.

"And I hate people who look down on me."

Arthur stepped around a kick.

"You walk around here like you’re some kind of genius."

Arthur blocked nothing.

He didn’t need to.

Every attack missed.

"You’ve got the bloodline."

Arthur ducked.

"The name."

He stepped aside.

"The reputation."

He leaned backward.

"But what do you actually have?"

Arthur’s eyes hardened.

Kladirex’s mechanical fist passed inches from his face.

"Nothing."

Arthur’s expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Genesis noticed.

〘Master...〙

Kladirex continued.

"If you were some slum rat like me, born with nothing, without a famous family name protecting you, do you really think you’d be performing this well?"

Arthur’s movement stopped for the briefest moment.

Not because Kladirex had hit him.

Because the words had.

Kladirex didn’t notice.

Or perhaps he didn’t care.

"You think... you’re better than me?"

He rushed forward.

"No one is better than me!"

BOOM!

Arthur dodged the punch.

Kladirex’s fist smashed into the ground.

The floor cracked beneath it.

"I worked for everything!"

Another attack.

Arthur leaned away.

"I didn’t have some famous House Ashbourne waiting behind me!"

Another.

Arthur ducked.

"I didn’t have people calling me talented before I’d even done anything!"

Another.

Arthur stepped aside.

"I had to fight for every damn thing!"

Arthur’s eyes remained fixed on him.

But something inside him was changing.

The words dragged memories out of a place Arthur hadn’t thought about in a long time.

Earth.

His old life.

The years when nothing seemed to work.

The plans that collapsed.

The opportunities that disappeared.

The constant struggle.

Trying again.

Failing again.

Trying harder.

Failing differently.

Watching other people move forward while he remained stuck in the same place.

Every time he thought he had finally found a way out, something else came crashing down.

Money.

Family.

Responsibilities.

Dreams.

Everything had felt like an uphill battle.

And somehow, no matter how hard he pushed, the mountain only seemed to grow taller.

Kladirex’s voice pulled him back.

"You think you’re special because you were born into a powerful family?"

His fist came toward Arthur’s jaw.

Genesis showed Arthur the future.

Arthur moved before the punch even began.

Kladirex missed.

"You think you’re amazing?!"

Another attack.

Arthur dodged.

"You haven’t earned shit!"

Another.

Arthur stepped aside.

"Everything was handed to you!"

Arthur’s expression went completely blank.

Kladirex attacked again.

Genesis showed him the next five seconds.

Arthur saw every movement.

Every angle.

Every possible combination.

For the first time since the fight began, Arthur stopped merely defending.

He started advancing.

Kladirex threw a punch.

Arthur slipped inside it.

His palm struck Kladirex’s chest.

BAM!

The impact forced Kladirex backward.

Before he could recover, Arthur was already there.

A fist struck his ribs.

CRACK!