My Tribrid System: More than a Monster-Chapter 100: A Sparring Session (3)

Chapter 98

"First participant? You! Come up here." Jake called out as he calmly surveyed the small group of Aspirants who had stepped forward, randomly selecting a boy from the middle of the line.

Taking in a series of sharp, nervous breaths, the Aspirant stepped out and climbed the raised platform where the Captain stood waiting.

Standing exactly three meters away from the man, he shifted into a combat stance and readied himself for the challenge of a lifetime.

Beep, Beep!

Jake’s watch emitted a crisp electronic tone as he finished tapping on the interface.

"And your two minutes starts..."

Beep!

"Now!"

Immediately, the Aspirant bolted forward.

He was a Grade 2.5 meta-human, but since the rules strictly forbade the use of his supernatural abilities, he had to rely solely on his raw physical conditioning and martial training.

To Ray, the Captain, and even Trisha, his speed wasn’t particularly overwhelming.

However, it was still commendable, as he managed to close the distance and appear in front of Jake within a few fleeting seconds.

In a blur, the boy’s leg shot into the air, arcing upward before slamming back down toward the Captain’s head in a powerful vertical strike.

"The crescent kick, eh? Nice," Jake commented casually.

With a smooth, economical movement, the Captain sidestepped the attack.

He easily dodged the limb, which crashed into the floor with a heavy thud—hard enough to echo through the hall, though the reinforced surface remained undamaged.

Twirling on his heels, the Aspirant jumped a foot back, his heart racing in fear of an immediate counter, yet there was none.

Jake simply stood there, waiting.

Emboldened, the student bolted forward again, reaching the Captain, who still maintained his relaxed position with his arms crossed over his chest.

An overhead kick streaked toward Jake’s temple, but the man simply ducked, the foot whistling through the air just inches above him.

Then came a downward sweeping kick from below, yet Jake merely leaned his head back, avoiding the contact with insulting ease.

The Aspirant, growing visibly frustrated and desperate, transitioned into a flurry of punches, yet he couldn’t land a single hit.

Forget about scoring a point; he wasn’t even able to force the Captain to move from the small patch of floor he had claimed for himself.

Ray watched in genuine awe as beads of sweat began to trickle down the Aspirant’s face until the boy was fully soaked in perspiration.

’Is this guy being serious right now? This is just two percent of his full power? Damn,’ Ray thought, his mind racing to calculate the sheer gap in their capabilities.

Trisha, on the other hand, didn’t look the least bit surprised.

She remained as still as a statue, staring ahead with her hands crossed over her chest and her expression unreadable.

Ray cast a quick, sideways glance her way to see if she was shocked, surprised, or even in awe as he was.

Yet, he saw nothing but cold indifference.

’Can her expression even be changed at all?’

Beep, Beep!

"Time. You failed to land a hit. Go back," Jake said, effortlessly catching a final, desperate punch heading for his face mid-air.

The student looked to be on the verge of total despair.

With a sharp suck of air, he huffed in disappointment and walked away from the platform, his shoulders slung low in defeat.

’Poor guy. It’s evident that he worked hard, wanting to claim those rewards. But unfortunately, life isn’t fair. You just have to suck it up and try again.’

"Next," Jake called out, selecting another random dude from the challengers.

Yet, when the next Aspirant climbed onto the stage, the exact same scenario played out.

This attempt was arguably even worse; the Captain didn’t even look like he was trying, simply swaying his body to let the attacks pass by.

But in Jake’s eyes, something subtle could be seen—the gaze of someone who was calculating and analyzing every movement.

What he was looking for, no one truly knew.

But Ray was certain of one thing...

’I need someone better to push him. I need to see him actually work so I can study his defensive patterns and find a viable counter for them. I feel like Trisha will be the one to do the trick. If only I’m not called out before her turn, though.’

The beep from the Captain’s watch signaled the end of the spar, with the Aspirant dejectedly walking back toward the crowd.

Nobody mocked him; none said a word because, deep down, they all understood that they couldn’t have performed any better.

If they couldn’t even make it past the preliminary stage, what made them think they had even a remote shot of touching a Captain?

"Next! You!" Jake called out, his finger pointing directly toward Flinn.

The bully smiled widely, his eyes glinting with unearned confidence. "Time to show you losers how it’s actually done."

’Fool.’

Ray crossed his arms as he watched the bully climb onto the stage.

For some reason, the title ’bully’ wouldn’t leave the Tribrid’s head whenever he spotted Flinn.

He still couldn’t bring himself to forgive the Aspirant for the cruelty he had shown Van.

If he ever had the chance, he would—

’The fuck are you thinking? Get yourself together, fool,’ Ray chided himself, shaking the dark thoughts away.

"Begin."

The moment the words left the Captain’s mouth, Flinn darted forward.

His speed was notably better than the previous two participants, yet it was still quite sluggish compared to what Ray knew was possible.

He crossed the distance between them within a few short seconds and quickly launched a violent uppercut toward the Captain.

"Going hard from the get-go? I like that spirit," Jake remarked.

With practiced, professional ease, Jake swerved around the blow, dodging the attack by a wide margin.

Yet, Flinn smiled as he dug his feet deep into the ground, then spun sharply like a broken arrow.

His leg flew out in a powerful roundhouse kick targeted at the Captain’s ribs.

With a raised brow, Jake quickly vaulted into the air, gracefully dodging the kick.

He then landed back exactly in the position where he had stood moments before.

The movements replayed themselves in a frustrating loop.

Though Flinn was clearly more skilled than the other two, he was still unable to accomplish anything major.

His movements were either anticipated or simply evaded without much effort at all.

Soon enough, the time was up, and he was left panting like a runner who had just finished a hundred-meter race.

’What a complete fool.’

«At that comment, he suddenly makes me feel like he is just your long-lost brother or something,» Bruce chuckled loudly in Ray’s head.

"Next! You!" Jake said, pointing at Trisha, who still didn’t elicit any visible emotion.

She just calmly walked toward the platform, stepped onto it, and simply waited for the Captain to make the call.

’Can anything even phase her at all?’ Ray wondered as he narrowed his eyes at her.

’And come to think of it; how did she and Kai manage to kill an advanced beast while low on MF and energy at that?’

"And your time starts now..." Jake called out.

He had just finished setting the timer and lifted his head, only to find that Trisha had completely vanished from his direct field of vision.

’Eh?’

Quickly, he tilted his head up to see the girl suspended in the air, her leg cocked back in a lethal arc, and then....

BANG—!

The strike was swung at such a deadly velocity at the Captain that his eyes widened for a split second.

There were mere inches separating his face from the impact of that blistering kick.