Chapter 141: A Hit Is A Hit
Chapter 141
The moment he agreed, the atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted. Doris took a deep breath, and all the previous emotions completely vanished from her face.
Then right before Alex’s eyes, Doris’s eyes turned into a deep, light purple color. Inside her pupils, the faint but distinct clock-like patterns began to manifest.
Paying close attention, Alex noticed that the circular patterns were vastly more visible and defined now than they ever were when she was still an Early Realm Awakened.
Hmmm. Interesting.
It looked like her breakthrough had improved her ability far more than he had initially expected. But it was too quick to jump to conclusions, especially since they hadn’t started fighting yet.
The next second, Doris moved. Alex tracked her path easily, and raised his left fist to throw a heavy counter punch toward where she was about to step.
He expected to catch her off guard, but knew that was going to be a bit impossible because of her Eye Of Chronos ability.
And as expected, just as his fist cut through the air, Doris twisted her body at an impossible angle. It was as if she already knew exactly where his punch would travel before he even fully extended his arm, all thanks to those eyes.
She slid effortlessly underneath his guard, and Alex’s eyes widened slightly as she delivered a tricky punch straight toward his chest. Her tiny fist was backed by the dense force of her new realm, forcing him to quickly drop his elbow to absorb the impact.
Just because his physical aspects were off the charts against other Vanguard Realm Awakened didn’t exactly mean he was reckless enough to tank their blows.
The collision sent a strong gust of wind across the room, but before Alex could even capitalize on the close distance to grab her, Doris had already spun away, dodging a sweeping backhand that she seemed to have anticipated a second before he even tensed his shoulder muscles.
’Ok, so this is the true power of her Ability at the Vanguard Realm,’ Alex thought, a grin spreading across his face.
Her ability to briefly see into the future made her incredibly slippery. That, at a point he couldn’t help but wonder how she would fare against an Ascendant Realm expert.
Every single attack he threw at her was met with a perfectly timed evasion, followed by unexpected attacks from angles he didn’t think she could manage. Most times, his reaction time barely managed to catch her strikes.
She was essentially playing a game of chess where she was always one move ahead. No matter how fast he sped up his movements, Doris, who had already seen it beforehand, would lean out of the way just a millimeter clear of his fist.
At one point he even considered using his own Eyes Of Chronos but decided against it. It wouldn’t be good if she found out that he had the exact same ability as her. But on the bright side, at least sparring with her was helping him.
"I’ll admit you’re pretty fast Alex, but I can see where you’re going before your legs even think of moving!" Doris teased, her voice echoing as she moved to his left, launching a swift kick aimed right at his knees.
Alex hurriedly snapped his legs back, with his foot stomping onto the ground to create a minor tremor that ended just as fast as it came.
Crap! That was a close one.
He realized that trying to match her in a standard trading of blows was as pointless as trying to catch air, as long as she could see what would happen.
There were only two ways to bring her down. One was a war of attrition. Where he could just try and hold on until she used up all of her primordial essence.
And the other was to form a strategy that left her with absolutely no room to escape, no matter how much of the future she could see.
Feigning a heavy overhand right, Alex watched Doris immediately prepare to slip to the inside. Anticipating her reaction, Alex completely altered his trajectory midway through the strike, abandoning the punch entirely.
Instead, he threw his entire body forward, opening his arms wide in a plan to hold her down with a tight bear hug.
Even if she saw it coming, his long arms and sheer physical surface area should be able to lock down every available exit, right? He wasn’t entirely sure but he was still willing to give it a try.
Doris’s clock patterned eyes widened wildly as she witnessed the upcoming future in her mind. Her face paled slightly at the thought of being trapped in the suffocating grip.
So realizing she couldn’t block or duck out of this one, she forcefully broke the flow of her momentum with great difficulty and suddenly leaped back across the room, landing a good eight meters away from him just as Alex’s arms slammed shut on the empty air.
Doris then leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees as she panted heavily. The strain of repeatedly using her ability against someone as monstrously strong and fast as Alex was taking a toll on her stamina.
She looked up at him with a weary smile on her face and said.
"Whew... You really are good, I’ll admit that," Doris managed to say, wiping the sweat from her baby face. "Even when I know what you’re going to do, I still can’t take you down. Ahh.. I really wish we could fight more seriously but Miss Nyx will kill us if we destroy the mansion."
She shook her head, turning her gaze toward Jade’s direction.
"Hey Jade how about you have a go at him? I need a breather before my legs give out."
Jade, who had been watching the entire exchange all this while without a single sound, gave a calm nod.
"Alright then." Jade agreed smoothly, walking toward Alex.
Then without so much as a single word, she suddenly rushed forward. Her style was completely different from that of Doris’s. While Doris relied on trickery and prediction, Jade was all about raw piercing aggression and blinding speed.
She launched a flurry of straight punches and high kicks, all aimed at bringing him down as quickly as possible.
Alex smiled with confidence. Though she was fast and lethal, it was kind of better than fighting someone who could anticipate your attacks before you even thought of throwing it.
He stood his ground, expertly blocking and countering her insane attacks. He was able to parry whatever she threw at him, though not as easily as when she was still in Early Realm.
But nonetheless, even though Jade had entered the Vanguard Realm, his raw attributes still gave him an edge in a straight up physical confrontation.
After a brief intense exchange of blows, Jade threw a heavy right hook. Seeing an opening, Alex decided to end the spar right there. It had gone on long enough and what he really wanted to do now was to go chow down on some food.
He reached out his hand, his fingers curling as he prepared to grab another of her attacks, intending to lock her wrist and pin her down. But just as his palms was about to wrap around her wrist, Jade’s figure suddenly distorted and vanished into thin air.
Alex’s eyes widened. Oh shit! She was using her teleportation ability.
Then all of a sudden he could feel her presence behind him.
Before he could even fully turn around or at least attempt to push himself away, Jade pushed her palm, sparkling with faint traces of electricity, directly against the center of his back.
A mild shock traveled through his shirt, causing his body to tingle slightly, though it didn’t do any real damage since this was only a training session and not a life and death situation.
Jade pulled her hand back, stepping away as her long dark brown hair settled over her shoulders. A rare, small smirk touched her lips as she looked at him.
"I guess I win this one," she said calmly, but there was still a clear hint of satisfaction hidden underneath.
Alex turned around, rubbing the spot on his back where the accursed electricity had nipped him. He let out a breathless chuckle, shaking his head.
"All because you used your powers. If not I would have won."
Jade didn’t back down. She raised an eyebrow, her ocean blue eyes staring directly into his.
"There’s no rule against using our abilities since you allowed Doris to use hers. Besides, an Awakened must utilize everything at their disposal to achieve victory."
From the edge of the room, Doris immediately chimed in, waving her water bottle in the air to support her fellow girl.
"Yeah, she’s completely right! Don’t be such a sore loser, Alex. A hit is a hit, even if she had to get dirty to do it."
Alex looked at the two of them ganging up on him and simply gave a small smile. He chose not to argue any further. In reality, he knew that if he truly wanted to win, he could have easily dominated this spar using his own abilities.
Heck, he had just copied her own Void Step and Celestial lightning Ability not too long. So if he had turned those exact same powers back on her, the look on her face would have been priceless.
’Sigh. Let them just have it,’ Alex thought to himself, feeling a sense of deep satisfaction. There was no need to crush their spirit when they were both celebrating their hard earned progress. Besides, seeing his women get stronger only made things better.
Doris walked over, checking the time on her watch.
"Well, would you look at the time, it’s already 7 o’clock," Doris said looking up. "Let’s go for breakfast, I’m absolutely famished to the point that I could just about eat a horse."
Alex and Jade both agreed. Most especially Alex. The intense physical exertion from the long intimate hours of sex, and the high level sparring had left him feeling hungry.
They grabbed some fresh towels to quickly wipe off the worst of the sweat, and walked out of the training room toward the main dining area of the residence.
As they entered the spacious dining room, they immediately spotted a familiar, breathtaking figure sitting at the head of the long table.
