~ Ayano's Pov, a few hours later... ~
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"Huff~ Huff~ Damn it... 'Beat up a hundred guys, I said. It'll be easy, I said.' None of it was truly easy. Fighting a hundred guys was tiring. I am human, and I had my physical limits too. The only reason I've managed to accomplish the damn task was because I knew how to actually fight relatively well...
Now? I'm just a bleeding mess, I think I must have gotten stabbed at least three or four times, not enough to gravely injure me, but damn near enough to wear me down after a night like tonight. I still lacked a bit of experience too... I could've been far more efficient with my moves in the beginning, and not only that, I'm also limited to those same moves I've learned.
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"He has to be here somewhere! Find his ass and kill em'!"
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'They're really going at it to find me...'
I peeked outside the building I had found after the scuffle, seeing a relatively large group of men... More like overgrown high school kids. Yes, the people I've been fighting with are just shitty high school kids, or soon-to-be-thugs, hilarious right? Either way... I'm glad I did all this. It'll only make me get better and better at fighting and dealing with bigger groups.
Thanks to my passive, learning and memorizing also triggers with myself. Meaning, I didn't have to necessarily watch videos, or even get myself tutored to learn/improve a martial art, If I practice it, I can improve what I have. So far, I've managed to use a bit of everything I've learned over the last month toda-
"Urrmm..."
...Ok, maybe the wounds are a slightly worse than I thought...
I nestled myself to a corner; since the building is abandoned, it shouldn't be that difficult to find a dark spot to recoup myself. I only needed an hour to fully replenish myself...
'This should give me enough breathing room to think a little.' What I know so far is that I have four (4) martial arts under my belt being; Judo, Brazilian-Jiu-jitsu, Boxing and Muay-Thai. None in particular was good for crowed control, and mainly focused on dealing with one opponent at a time, maximum two, maybe even three...
Boxing was the best in terms of dealing with two to three at once, but it get's infinitely more tedious when even one more person shows up to the mix, and boxing isn't a style with kicks, or grapples either.
B.J.J was mainly a one at a time technique, Judo was the same as well but slightly more versatile in how to throw, still not as effective in taking multiple guys down. With the both of them leaving me open after I throw, or even tackle someone to the ground.
Muay-Thai was very solid, but the slow wind-up and types of kicks I've learned were focused heavily on power, so even if I tagged one or two guys, that leaves me open at other angles for other men to exploit as well...
What's worse for me, is that practically all of what I've learned are mainly for single opponent fighting, that's it. Of course, I attempted to combine martial arts, which had actually worked out for me in the middle of a fight. But other than martial arts as my problem. there was also my stamina to consider.
'Though... I guess the stamina problem wasn't that bad.'
I was basically untouched up until the 60th-70th person; but exhaustion can be an endearing thing, especially when I'm trying to be careful in not crippling these guys or even killing them, and I've had more than a few close encounters with that today. I had to hit them with enough force to paralyze them, but also with enough for to not end their lives. All of this while fighting a dozen at a time with weapons coming at me from all angles...
'Still, I had gotten a lot better from all this, much better than I was at the beginning of the fight.' If I had the experience I had now, I wouldn't have been injured much and even if I was, it'd probably be a graze, at best... but, I still think I'd definitely be a bit tired from the constant running away from generally disadvantageous positions I found myself in.
Regardless of everything so far, I think I've gotten a great grasp on how my martial arts passive skill had worked; at least to a much greater extent.
If I learned from someone, I can generally absorb information much faster than a normal person would, and absorb that martial art over time... Additionally, I also think there's definitely a sharper rate of improvement with my techniques in straight up dire situations; like with what I've experienced today.
I felt myself actively getting more skilled the more I was pushed in positions where I was in actual danger. Plus, that isn't the only passive I got to understand a bit... Critical hit was the other, which I saw in full effect today, more than once too. And, it was damn powerful.
Earlier, I had barely touched a guy once, yet he was sent flying multiple feet away from me, and like I had thought before, the main problem was when it triggered. I didn't have control over that, but I could tell it was extremely powerful, especially if used with my full strength...
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I sighed, mentally drained from the thinking in the situation I'm in... 'With that little analysis out of the way... I think It's time to rest, myself...' I closed my eyes to get some well needed sleep.
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"Hrmm~"
'It feels like I've gotten a pretty great rest...' In fact... I clenched my fists and flexed a bit. I've woke up, feeling… surprisingly great.
That damned dull ache that had settled into my muscles were practically all gone, and the wounds that should have been nagging at me barely stung. I checked my side where I knew I had taken a blade earlier—nothing but dried blood... No fresh pain, no tearing when I moved at all. It wasn't perfect, but compared to how I felt before, it was night and day.
I rolled my shoulders a bit, testing my range of motion. A little stiffness, sure, but nothing that would slow me down in a fight at all. I wasn't just better—I was practically ready here. I exhaled, pushing myself to my feet. My body responded instantly, no hesitation, no sluggishness at all.
'Damn… this recovery passive really issomething else...'
I flexed my fingers, clenching and unclenching my fists again. Even after taking on a hundred guys, I was back on my feet like it had never happened to me. My stamina had fully returned, my muscles felt extremely refreshed, but... My mind, I was still a little sluggish, not entirely, but I could tell the passive didn't really affect my mental state, at least not by much.
'I guess that means mental exhaustion likely isn't on that recovery list.' Nothing that aspect to myself from now on.
And, it makes a bit of sense... Still, Recovery washes away all my physical pain, fatigue and injuries within an hour perfectly. Thankfully, it doesn't just work for stamina like I thought it did, but everything else; still, maybe it wasn't wise to take that gamble here, but better now than ever I guess...
I stepped toward the window, peering outside for a bit.
'These guys are... desperate.'
I could see the remaining thugs were still flocking around, standing in small groups, grumbling and talking amongst themselves. They must have thought I was down for the count, probably bleeding out somewhere in this abandoned building, or I had escaped...
'Too bad for them.' I cracked my neck, 'I'll make sure that these are the last guys I deal with before I go.' I jumped out the window, and landed near the pavement...
"HEY!" I shouted, "I don't have all night... So~ let's hurry this up."
The moment my voice reached them, every head in the vicinity snapped in my direction. Their expressions, twisted—from sheer confusion to shock, then straight into annoyance and anger.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" One of them shouted, gripping a rusted pipe. "How the hell are you still standing?!"
Another one took a step back, stuttering under his breath. "He... He was supposed to be done for… no one should be moving after takin' that kind of beating."
I shook my head, laughing a bit... "Doesn't matter how now, does it?" I said, cracking my knuckles...
"What matters is that I'm still here, and you lot are still in my way."
That was all it really took from me.
One of them lunged at me, swinging a bat straight for my ribs. I shifted my weight, weaving past it effortlessly before driving my fist straight into his gut. The impact sent him crumpling, gasping for air before he hit the ground.
The others hesitated for just a second—just long enough for me to step forward. I wasn't going to drag this out.
A fist from the right came flying toward me—I caught the wrist, twisted it, and slammed the guy into the pavement. Another rushed from the side—I ducked under his swing, delivering a sharp elbow straight to his jaw. He staggered, barely staying on his feet.
I didn't let him recover. A clean hook to the side of his head, and he was out...
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I looked up towards the rest of them, "All of you should just come at once; it'll be a little better for you all then..."
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END