"What do you mean?" I asked Koto and he kept smiling at me.
"Well, Senpai, if I am to teach someone how to protect themselves to fight a threat. What I would like to do is take it up one stage at a time. Now the problem is I am not like Sensei who knows how to hold back enough to not seriously hurt someone. That is also why she is a lot better and stronger than me, having the power to hurt someone is something all S-class hunters have but, a few of them who are at the bottom of that power level do not know how to really hold back. This is why the ones who know how to hold back are one of the most dangerous hunters to go against. You never know when or how they will lash out at you in one go," Koto explained. So that meant he was not holding back a single time when we were fighting each other. "I just wanted to go all out for like two minutes so that you both can warm up your body before the actual training. The best way to learn how to fight is actually to fight with some tips on the side. You can be taught how to throw a punch properly or a kick but how to use it to your advantage is something you need to understand on your own. And that comes through actual fights. This is also why sparring is a big part of training for professional fighters. You need to practice in the real-life simulations with an actual opponent who will at the very least not hurt you very badly."
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We nod listening to Koto and he did have a point. If we were asked to go against an S-class hunter who wasnāt even going to hold back against us taking into consideration that we, or more so, I was not that well trained in combat, it would end up being just a mere slaughter fest than a training. In most of the cases in which I won against actual strong enemies, I needed heavy assistance from Ai and Akira. So on my own, I donāt really know how strong I really am and what level of the enemy I can take on.
"Okay then Senpai, get ready and Ai-senpai, please step aside. This part of the training is mainly for Senpai. For you, we will kick things up a notch with a lot stronger and faster enemies since you have more experience in battles than Senpai," Koto said and pulled out a little screen and started fiddling with it. Soon, the ground changed and eight dummies popped out of it. They all were equipped with weapons and some were even without those. "Some vampires have been anecdote to even use weapons of their own kind but these are mainly vampires with a lot of influence and power and the subordinates of these vampires down to even a critter so I added that to the mix too."
Wait, so that mean, even Dominic may have weapons he can use.
"Okay, Senpai. Get in place," Koto instructed and I got in my fighting stance. "And, go!"
The vampires rushed at me altogether in a group and I started running in the opposite direction. The room was pretty big so I should be using the space to my advantage. They were a group so running headfirst into them would be pretty idiotic. I changed my direction to the right keeping my eyes on the dummies but they were not breaking out from the group.
"They are pretty intelligent in combat so you need to really use your brain here Senpai," Koto explained from behind a barrier standing next to Ai.
Knowing that I started really racking my brain for ideas on how to go about this. They were in a group attacking me so it would be in my best interest to break the group but how do I do that? They all seem pretty coordinated so my main objective was to break this coordination first. That will give me enough time to take them all down. I did realize that I was getting less and less reckless unless I had to and since I was on my own in this one, I cannot be relying on anyone to watch my back.
"Got it," I muttered and smiled and started running even faster towards the wall. The dummies also started speeding up and were almost about to catch me. Just as I was a foot close to the big wall, I kicked the ground and jumped up and then kicked the wall pushing me away from it. "Huh?"
I looked in front of me and the dummies had evaded the wall easily without much difficulty. I underestimated them.
"Nice try Senpai, but that is still not enough. Use your brain and physical abilities to their best," Koto said and I got a little confused. Isnāt that what I am doing? "No Senpai, you are using your brain but you are even underestimating your abilities. Use them to their best and let them run free. Be reckless if that is what it takes."
I decided to listen to Koto for this one and took a deep breath. The dummies got closer to me and I sliced vertically at them. The dummy parried it so I decided to put more force into it and push them back. Much to my surprise that little more force turned out to be a lot more and the dummies go slammed against the wall.
BAM
The wall had a dent in it and wasting no time, I dashed at them and stabbed two right through the chest with my blade and scabbard. They fell down now completely immobile and I ducked down dodging the blade of an axe before a long sword came at my legs. I jumped back taking out my blade and scabbard from the two dummies and I distance myself from them.
One of the dummies had a spear which the thing threw at me with great speed. I stepped to the side and leaned to dodge it and the rest six appeared right before me.
"So thatās how you want this huh," I said starting to get a bit more in the feel of it. "Been a little while since I got a nice fight."
"Keep your head in the game Senpai," Koto said. "No need to speak unnecessarily. It will only give your enemy a chance to attack you with your guard a little low. Remember, getting cocky is the worst thing you can do on the battlefield."
"I know," I said and suddenly everything around me slowed down. I looked at the dummies and their attacks were all coming at me at once. I took advantage of this and moved around them slicing two right in half and stabbing the other in the chest with the scabbard.
This is fun.
I kicked the body of one of the dummies propelling me up in the air and I looked down at the three left. A big grin formed on my face and when I reached the roof, I kicked them a second later, all three of their puny little face came into sight. I slashed vertically cutting straight through their heart. Their body of scraps fell on the ground and I used the scabbard to stop my fall and held it to keep me up in a handstand position.
I looked at Ai and Koto and gave them a thumbs up. They looked at me with surprised looks on their face which confused me a bit. I didnāt really understand why they were giving me that look though.
The barrier came down and they walked towards me and I got off the scabbard and sheath my blade. "I must say Senpai, I am surprised," Koto said while clapping his hands and Ai hugged me.
"Hehe, Kazu-kun looked so cool. I even videotaped everything," she said and kissed my cheeks.
"But honestly, you did have a drastic change in your way of fighting mid-battle," Koto said and I looked at him confused. "At the beginning of this, you were being more cautious and were finding a way to separate them so you could take one or at least two dummies at once but I donāt really understand why you changed that and just started attacking them head first. Rather than reckless, you were more upfront with the battle. More fearless might I say. B-class hunters would have some trouble with these dummies, but you made it look really easy."
"If it comes to hunters, where will you put me?" I asked Koto and he looked at me and then thought about it for a minute.
"I think somewhere in the A class," he said and I smiled contented with the answer for now. I mean, of course, I was happy with this answer, some months ago I wonāt even up to become a vampire hunter but after about two months I am bumped up to A class. That is a feat of its own. "You really are something else Senpai, I must say."
"Iām nothing special," I said and I honestly believed it for some reason. It all just felt so normal for me that nothing about what I just did felt like it was a great or difficult task.
"Donāt believe me? Iāll show you," Koto said and fiddled on the little screen in his hand and a monitor came down from the roof. It showed me from a third-person point of view which honestly was pretty helpful to see what I did.
I was running towards the wall and jumped down. The dummies did the same thing as I did. I intercepted the blade of the dummy and what I thought was a little push sent the dummies across the room a lot faster than I thought it did. I charged at them but what I thought was a normal speed for me looked a lot faster in the video.
I slashed the dummies and jumped back and as soon as I dodged the attacks even faster and when all six of them attacked me.
I moved too fast to track from the camera.
"What? Are you sure this is not fast-forwarded?" I asked Koto and he shook his head.
"No Senpai, the entire video is pixel-perfect with what happened," he said and looked back at the monitor. "I was surprised how you got this fast out of nowhere that I really had to concentrate to track your movement. Still no match for my speed though."
"Because you move too damn fast," I said to him and he giggled.
"Hehe, is that a compliment Senpai?" Koto said and I ignored him. "Well, now that I have seen what you can do, itās time for your to fight Ai-senpai."
"Iām sorry what?"
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