Once Kai got home, he went upstairs to go train. This time he didn't rig himself up as the equipment wouldn't be able to withstand the external source of electricity. Standing in his combat gear, Kai took the kickstarter out of its holster and held it in his right hand. Then he squeezed it and the electricity flowed inside him. Currently, Kai was just letting the electricity pass through his body. But that was not how you used your powers. Once the electricity passed through your body it could be amplified and then redirected, in the form of a projectile, or you could coat yourself in lightning aura. Coating could be used offensively or defensively. However, because of Kai's level the most he would be able to coat fully was a fist.
Letting the electricity pass through him, Kai felt a warm sensation in his stomach area. It turned and turned as it cycled in a circular formation. As it did he felt it getting stronger and stronger. He continued to cycle the electricity in his body until he knew that it was the strongest charge he could currently handle. The nature of the lightning changed completely to when it came out of the kickstarter. Not only was it a lot stronger but Kai also felt he had a stronger bond with the lightning, it felt like it was his child. Like it was his creation, flowing naturally but rambunctiously. Now that Kai had stopped amassing the power, he felt bloated because the lightning just wanted to leave his body. Amateurs and Beginners could not store lightning inside them, they could only amplify it. If they did not use the lightning it would soon dissipate into nothingness.
Kai slowly released the lightning from his stomach area relieving him from the oversaturated feeling. Slowly but surely more and more amplified lightning was coursing rampantly through his body. Now that he had successfully amplified the lightning he wanted to give it purpose. Kai began concentrating on his right fist. According to a video he had watched on how to coat lightning. You had to concentrate on the part of your body you wanted it to go to. Then you had to move all the lightning there and change its nature to that of an aura. After that, you coat the body part you wished to coat. The more you understood lightning and the more you practised coating the stronger the coating would be. The only thing Kai knew about natural lightning was that it was formed by an electrostatic build up between a positive and a negative charge. He knew that it had a stunning effect on living organisms. He knew it was extremely hot and that it had a piercing effect. He knew lightning was fast, hence the saying lightning quick. He knew that there were different forms of lightning like sheet lightning and forked lightning. As well as different colours of lightning ranging from red to white depending on the environment lightning occurred. However, knowing all this seemed to be of no use.
Kai had tried over and over again but he was struggling to change the lightning to lightning aura. After much work, he would redirect the amplified lightning to his hand. Then he would try changing its nature but instead, the lightning would shoot out his body in an uncontrolled manner. It was like it didn't want to do what he wanted and in return, it threw a tantrum. The same thing kept happening no matter how he tried until he finally realized the reason he was having such a hard time. It was because he didn't have complete control over the amplified lightning. If he could gain control over the amplified lightning then changing it to lightning aura should be significantly easier. Now with a change of plan Kai pressed the kickstarter again and then he let the electricity course through his body. Then he pulled it all to his stomach area. After four cycles the lightning was ready. Now that Kai was used to this amount he realized he could create more lightning but that would make gaining control much harder so he kept it to the usual amount.
After amplifying it Kai drew it from his stomach area and yet again he could feel it coursing through his body in a violent manner, very unrefined and majestic until he increased his concentration and focused on the lightning. Instead of thinking of the lightning as a tool or a power, Kai began thinking of it as a part of his body. When he received that revelation the rambunctious lightning slowly came under his control. However, it took multiple tries before he could control fully control the lightning. In fact, it took a full day.
Kai continued to train like this and in a blink of an eye, the appointed time was tomorrow.
...
"Well done! You are coming along nicely. Soon your body will be ready to go to rank 1." A man said.
"Thanks dad, it feels good to finally reach this point, "As Lexi Montreal said that she received a message.
She read the message aloud, "Tomorrow at the Training Centre. Spar court B4. Time 10 am."
Her dad looked at her and detected no emotional change, "How are you feeling about tomorrow?"
Lexi took a deep breath, "Well he is physically strong and he is confident and so am I. But if what you are really asking is if I'm excited, I am not."
He pursed lips and nodded his head, "Okay, I would have thought you would be considering that this is the first one you have chosen yourself."
"Even so, I have been through this 100's of times and everyone fell short. I am not saying he will too but I'm not saying he won't…But don't worry I won't underestimate him and I won't hold back!"
.....
"Spar court B4, it's this one." Lexi Montreal said.
"Good, we are 5 minutes early," Jacques Montreal said as they both walked into the building.
Walking in they saw Kai standing in the ring with his arms folded. He was wearing his combat gear but without his tactical vest and weapons. He only wore his shoes, revo cyber joggers and his lightweight techwear wraith hoodie. Lexi was lightly equipped too. She had her kickstarter and was wearing a black tight fit lightweight windbreaker. On the one arm was a white G and a white Q on the other. She also wore black techwear ninja trousers and her GQ presto mid utility shoes.
The ring was nothing fancy it was a white square painted on wood. The sides were 7m each. The interior of the place was made from wood, it looked very much like a dojo made from golden oak. However, the wood was a special type of wood, it was Tempe wood. Tempe wood requires a force of over 12000 kg's to crack. There were wooden weapons of all sorts on racks by the walls. The floor had just been polished so the place had a sheen that made it look beautiful.
Looking at Kai from the other side of the room, "Are you ready?"
"I came here before you, I should be asking you that," Kai said with his arms folded.
Looking at Lexi, Kai saw that she also came prepared and was wearing her combat gear. Then he looked to her right and saw her dad. He was the referee for this sparring session. As the former Duke of The Lightning Clan, he was more than qualified to do so.
Then Lexi and her dad walked up to Kai and they greeted each other via a handshake.
"So let's get this show on the road," Lexi said.
"I'm ready," Kai said.
Then the two made their way to the opposite sides of the ring. Then they closed the distance. They were now 3 meters apart in the middle of them was Jacques Montreal.
"This is the rules of this match listen carefully. Failure to abide is an immediate loss. First, the use of weapons is permitted. Second, there are no immediate ring outs only if you out the marked area for more than 15 seconds. The way to win is by surrender or K.O. Of course, I don't need to tell you this because the aim is to partner up but killing is forbidden. If any of you attempt it I will intervene. Lastly, have fun… I will now commence the battle in 5, 4, 3…"
As the countdown decreased their respiratory rate increased. Then the countdown reached 0. When it did Jacques Montreal removed himself from the ring and the two stood in their fighting stance. Nobody took a weapon and nobody took out their kickstarters. The two stared at each other intently looking for openings in their form as they circled around one another. Deep in focus, the two stared each other until Lexi saw a breach in the way Kai moved. When they circled each other they would often change directions. Going clockwise and then anti-clockwise. When that happened Kai would cross his one foot over the other and then go back to a crab-like walk, 'In that cross-overed state his defence should be a lot weaker as he won't be able to move as he pleases. That will be the best time to attack.'
Lexi did wonder if it was a trap to get her to attack but it looked like a genuine flaw. She assumed a 70% flaw and 30% trap. Taking her chances she changed the direction from clockwise to anti. That's when Kai crossed his leg. At that moment, she instantly closed the gap and came in fast and powerful to the torso.
Seeing her attack so suddenly startled Kai but it wasn't completely unexpected as this was a fight. Seeing the incoming fist Kai tried to move out its way when he realised he was crossed foot. Noticing that he couldn't fully dodge the punch he untwisted his leg and then moved his body. So that the punch hit his six-pack instead of his solar plexus like it was intended to.
Lexi was surprised by how fast he reacted to her surprise attack and how quickly he decided to opt for little damage over big. But even so, she had the opportunity to punch him as hard as she could so she did not hold back. She pulled her shoulder all the way back and then launched her fist forward. Feeling the material of Kai's combat gear she drilled her fist even further forward.
There was so much force in this punch that off balance Kai couldn't handle it so he flew back a meter and half. Then he got up quickly not wincing at the throbbing pain he was feeling. But as he got up she was already right in front of him ready to swing again. However, he expected this and dodged to the left barely escaping as her fist skimmed his outfit.
'He has great instincts and good footwork but right now it feels like an unguided missile.' Jacques Montreal thought shaking his head.
"What do you say, Kai, don't you want to increase your strength? We are currently fighting at 800 PI that's not even half our strength."
Laughing, "Definitely, I've just been waiting for you to catch up."
"Says the guy who hasn't even landed a hit on me," She teased.
"You could hardly touch me when I was still unaware. How do you plan on doing that now that I am?" Kai said as they began circling each other again.
The two stared each other down as they walked around one another. By now Kai had already fixed his flaw. However, since it was a flaw that was ingrained in him it was a conscious effort.
While circling Kai felt his body was feeling really good today. As if this battle or mock battle was exactly what he needed to train. Kai continued to circle her and until he charged in at 1500 PI. The first strike was blocked with both hands but Lexi could feel the weight of the attack. Then Kai unleashed a barrage of quick jabs followed by heavy hits. Slowly she could feel her arms numbing which decreased her reaction rate. On the other hand, Kai punches were coming in faster and heavier.
Block after block she guarded against the incoming storm. PA! PA! PA! The rain pattered against the roof. It seemed like the storm would never win until the water found a leak in the roof. Slowly but surely the water leaked into the interior.
Kai kept jabbing, he had the upper hand right now and he was not going to let this momentum go. His attacks were getting stronger where her defence was getting weaker. Kai kept swinging and getting blocked until he noticed that his attack had no defence to speak of. It was wide open. Kai didn't waste the opportunity and struck her just below her solar plexus as above was guarded. The force of the strike put her off balance. Kai didn't let the opening go to waste so he closed the distance and then struck her on the lift rib followed by a right punch to the right rib. Then a front kick to create distance and repeat. Kai lifted his right leg lifting creating a 90-degree angle and then he launched his foot forward hitting her in the torso. The kick was powerful and so it knocked her off the ground.
'What are you doing!?' Jacques Montreal was screaming in his mind.
Despite how the situation looked Lexi had plenty fight in her eyes. She stood up and then she dusted herself off, "I admit you are stronger than I thought. But we are surpassers so let's fight like surpassers. Use all 2400 of your PI." She said with her eyes beaming with excitement and took out her kickstarter.
Then she let the electricity coarse inside her and then she amplified it. Kai did the same thing. With electricity running inside her she charged forward.
Kai kept a firm eye on her, he saw her push her legs against the ground as she launched off. However, that was all he saw. In the next moment, she was gone. Surprised by what happened Kai opened his eyes wider trying to see where she went but he couldn't see her at all until he felt an ominous presence behind him. He could not see it but he felt it. So Kai increased the speed of his nerve impulses and dodged the chop that was aimed for his neck by moving forward. Kai dodged the attack relying solely on battle instincts and footwork.
Lexi Montreal chopped down with force until she realized her target had escaped and she was chopping air. She was surprised by what happened but she knew that was just instinct. She could tell by Kai's face, he looked more surprised than her that he dodged it.
"Why aren't you increasing your PI? This is only 1600. That is just 400 over your graduations results. I see you slowly increasing it and I thought maybe you wanted to test my strength so I played along with your game. But now I see this about all the strength you can control properly. You can't control 1700 PI of strength, can you? So you were hoping to defeat me before. And even if you didn't, you hoped that if you kept fighting you would gradually be able to increase your PI. However, I'm done holding back." She said looking at Kai like a lioness a gazelle.
"You barely escaped 1600 PI, let's see how you handle 2000." She added dimming her eyes as she focused on Kai.
Then she grabbed her kickstarter and again the lightning coursed through her body. Moments later underneath her shoes was glowing with a blue light. This was her lightning aura.
Seeing her pull out all the stops Kai knew he had to be as defensive as possible. There were no games being played, it was all or nothing. However, he was at a disadvantage. She had speed that he could not deal with. He couldn't rely on instinct alone there was no telling when it would be beaten. Going through a series of plans he realized there was nothing he could do. Her speed was too problematic until he came up with a plan. By means of probability, she seemed to like punching people in the celiac plexus. So Kai thought the instant she disappeared, he would coat his coeliac plexus with lightning aura for defence. Then when her attack fails, he would have her right in front of him. Then he would deal the finishing blow amidst her confusion and surprise. The plan wasn't full proof but it was all he could think of. So with determination Kai started preparing the groundwork. Giving up was and had never been an option!
1-Solar, celiac, coeliac plexus is all one the different names for the same part of the body. It's the region located in the abdomen. The solar is an essential part of the body's nervous system, the solar plexus plays a large role in keeping our organs functioning smoothly and preparing the body to respond to stress. When hit it can make you feel as if all the wind in your body has been hit out. That's because the diaphragm spasms, as a result, the person can't breathe causing a lot of pain.