'Amazing.'
Julia praised as the spar continued. When the second round began, Alex's movements were rigid and there were a lot of wasteful movements. His feints were not feints as she could see through them quite easily. The amount of power he put into his punches and kicks was sometimes too much or too little.
But now, he was adapting to his power and controlling how much was released as and when needed. This resulted in a situation where they were matched in speed and strength. While not without its flaws, his ability to quickly pick up what he was learning amazed her.
While she was lost in thought and going with the flow of the battle that was somehow seamlessly created, Alex threw a roundhouse kick to her head. Quickly reigning in her thoughts, she backstepped, allowing the kick to fly past her face.
But the force of the strike still created a gust of wind that blew against her face. Using the momentum created, Alex turned to his other leg to deliver a backkick. In the flurry of kicks and punches that followed suit, Julia calmly evaded all those she could and blocked the ones she couldn't.
In each of those attacks, she noticed how Alex controlled the amount of strength he put in them, resulting in powerful attacks that caused her hands to ache slightly.
Not wanting to be outdone, Julia responded by closing in when she saw an opening. She sidestepped to evade one of Alex's kicks and threw an elbow to his side. Before he could even experience the pain that came with that attack, Julia finished him off by performing a manoeuvre that put her behind Alex.
'Checkmate…'
She grabbed him by the head from behind and delivered a chill-inducing break to his neck that resounded around them.
CRACK!
Alex ended up on the ground, not understanding what went wrong. Their spar concluded the moment the system determined the move Julia made was a killer move.
When he looked up from his position on the floor, Julia was smiling down at him.
'That's one crazy woman.' Alex thought and checked the condition of his neck, swallowing nervously. She did not hesitate to break his neck, and honestly, the thought scared him.
'Moral lesson, never piss her off.'
"So, did you enjoy the fight?" She asked innocently as if she was not the one who a moment ago broke his neck like a twig. She stretched out a hand for Alex to grab a hold of, lifting him up to his feet.
Sighing to himself, he responded, "It was a good fight, not going to lie. And I must admit, you're a really good fighter. Even with all my strength and speed, I still couldn't beat you."
"What did you expect? As we said earlier, strength isn't the only determining factor in a fight. Experience and skills play a major role."
Alex nodded, appreciating her words. He had really learned a lot from his fight with Julia. Unlike Ross, with whom he sometimes won and sometimes tied, Julia's skills were just superior.
As he was digesting her words, Ross approached the two.
"I'm impressed. Never thought you'd be so brutal in a spar. I hate to see the person that makes you angry in real life." He commented, looking at Julia and feeling a bit of a chill in his back. The last move Julia performed on Alex made him swallow nervously.
"Agreed. You were brutal."
Julia simply shrugged off the praise. She was thought to never show mercy in a fight. The world out there was no sunshine and rainbows, especially among hunters.
"Well, now you know where your abilities lie. What are your plans?" Hearing her question, Alex pondered for a bit and responded.
"There are multiple forms of martial arts simulations in the VR. And I plan to learn and practice whenever I get the chance. Then once in a while, we have to spar to determine how much progress I'm making."
Ross and Julia had to agree. Though the arts stored in the VR were basic arts, the variety allows a user to pick one that suited their style and complemented their skill.
The instructions were also clear enough to grasp the concept behind each move, and just as Alex was learning now, instructions on how to use your strength, speed and reaction times in the most optimal way to avoid wasteful movements.
"That's a good idea. Would you be doing the same?" Ross asked, looking at Julia.
"No. I completed my training a long time ago. So, lessons on combat won't really make a difference." She replied with a shrug.
She had been trained in the martial arts since young and had no further need for training. That was not to say she wouldn't be joining the class lessons, but that she would learn nothing from them as those lessons only covered the basics.
'Indeed. With skills like hers, I bet she could take on any first year and maybe even the students in their second year,' The thought made Alex resolve to quickly learn as fast as he could.
"Oh… Alex, do you realize the speed at which you were improving during our fight?"
The question broke him out of his thoughts. He furrowed his brows slightly, not understanding why she would say something like that. He was clearly getting his ass handed to him, was he not?
Seeing his confusion almost made Julia laugh. "Well, now you know. And it's going to help you learn quickly."
Alex looked at Ross, wanting to see if he was of the same opinion as he was the only one observing their fight from start to finish.
"She's right. Initially, your moves were all over the place, but as the fight progressed, your moves became more polished and the control over your movements also improved. I never knew you were a genius in combat applications."
He said and Julia nodded. Seeing as both of his friends were saying the same thing made his mind go back to the fight. He began noticing how he wasn't taking a lot of hits as when the fight started initially.
'I see… But was that really impressive?'
As far as he was concerned, he was just following his instincts and trying to replicate what Julia was doing.
"Noted." He acknowledged, already making plans to test that out. After that, the trio decided to continue their sparring, testing the skill levels of one another.