A traditional weapon, like a Katana, can't really compare to modern weapons in terms of damage, and, if you're wearing armour like Lt. Dan's, you might feel emboldened to act even if you're disadvantaged. Rather than moving away from the blade, he moved his armoured neck into it. This reduced Shin's ability to build speed and strike, and gave Lt. Dan enough room to swing his arm with his electrified weapon. Though it telescoped out from the handle, the shaft is smooth and about 40 cm long with a small pronged hook at the bottom near the guard. It resembled a jitte from the Edo period, except it was covered in lightning.
"Haaaaah," Dan yelled. Not quite a kiai, but he believed in using every advantage to overpower an enemy. His jitte swung in short vicious arc, but he had to follow through by twisting his body to reach Shin. The katana blade dragged across the armour on his throat while he turned, but then he couldn't feel the pressure any longer. Dan's weapon hit nothing but air as he completed his spin and faced Shin, now nearly 5 metres away.
'He's fast. Really, really fast for a 0 potential. Is it all training?' Dan wondered, while resetting into a fighting stance. He knew to expect something from this kid, the interest from the higher ups couldn't have been for nothing, but maybe he underestimated him a little. Still, pulling a firearm at this point seemed a little like cheating. He noticed that Shin wasn't wearing his Academy uniform, it looked more like a cross between tactical and dojo gear, all in black and covered in straps and pockets. It didn't look armoured though, and Dan wondered if he was crazy or just knew that armour wouldn't protect him from the ordinance the Ashigaru used anyway?
"Ok Private Shin. It is time to come in out of the cold. We both know how this will end, so do the smart thing and come in willingly now," Lt. Dan said. He meant what he said, it was the smart move now that he was facing an officer... Lt. Dan was interested in seeing more of his ability though, and hoped Shin wouldn't do the smart thing. He raised his jitte slightly, ready to launch forward and strike.
"Sometimes it is not the destination, but the journey itself that is the reward. Right Lieutenant?" Shin said, a small grin on his face.
Lt. Dan wasn't sure if that smile came from confidence or resignation. He was happy to fight, and he smiled too.
Shin's left hand whipped out, so fast that Dan only realized after the motion was complete, and because he felt a slight pain in the side facing Shin. He looked down and saw a small throwing blade protruding from near his rib cage. Protruding wasn't the right word, just the very tip had breached his armour. He probably barely had a scratch, but, to penetrate his armour at all it must have a nanometre tip or some other tech advantage. 'Dangerous for a student to even use a weapon like that,' he thought as he knocked it aside.
The katana blade arced straight at his neck again, he could hear the sound it made splitting the air. Which was lucky, as his eyes had moved to the throwing blade. This time, Dan fell backwards and down, not willing to test the blade with his neck at this speed and force. If he had nanometre tips on his throwing blades, what was his katana like?
He didn't fall on his ass though, he rolled back incredibly fast into a full somersault, jumped to his feet and then launched himself forward. Lt Dan was a lot stronger than an average human, and faster. He lead with the jitte, trapping the katana in the hook to get control of the blade. He needn't have bothered, as soon as he touched the blade, Shin dropped it. 'Impressive. Did he overcome the voltage to unconstict his hand, or does the hilt have enough insulation that he had time to let go?'.
Lt. Dan threw a straight punch at Shin's torso, fast enough to be unavoidable, but he pulled his power down as much as possible. He didn't want to crush his organs. He felt his fist connect, the knuckles sinking in slightly. It felt wrong though, and Shin didn't go flying backwards, rather he seemed to slide around the blow. He spun along Dan's outstretched arm and hit him with an elbow into the base of his neck. Shin spun again, ducked low, and retrieved his sword from the ground.
'Damn, I felt that,' Lt. Dan thought. His neck was well armoured, but, compared to his head, it was vulnerable. He turned to face the kid again, and he noticed that Shin wasn't smiling anymore, his face was serious and calm. Dan was more than impressed, this kid's presence would be a little intimidating if he didn't already know that he was a 0. 'Time to end this, I can't let a student think they can fight the Super Buster Plattoon's Lieutenant.'
Lt. Dan's suit glowed a deep red along all the armour edges, as all of his passive systems engaged. The Super Buster Platoon used the best tech in the Northern Empire, and this was his training and recon suit. With the suit engaged, his speed was increased by 25% and his strength was almost doubled. Some panels reoriented themselves on his chest, and the forearm guards reconfigured to reveal projectile barrels.
Dan raised his free hand and fired. The ground exploded just in front of Shin's feet. He jumped back, but Dan had already thrown his jitte, hitting Shin's arm hard enough to release his grip on the Katana. Unarmed and disoriented, Shin barely perceived the near Super speed the Lieutenant used to approach and deliver a double punch to his gut.
This time Shin flew back almost 10 metres, landing on his back. Hard. The wind was knocked out of him so badly he couldn't even cough in any air. He was reduced to choked gasps.
'Huh, maybe I hit him too hard,' Lt. Dan thought to himself. 'What did he do against my earlier attack then? He definitely protected himself from my other punch way better.'
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Shin was barely able to hold onto consciousness, his mouth opened, but only strained sounds emerged. His diagphram hadn't engaged yet so he was asphyxiating. 'Panicing won't help, calm the fuck down,' he thought to himself. Shin closed his eyse, calmed his mind and relaxed his muscles, going completely limp. The release of tension in his muscles finally allowed his diagphram to work, and he pulled in a deep, shuddering breath.
He thought back to that last blow from the Lieutenant. 'He was so fast, I didn't have time to even think. This is the kind of power that high potentials have.' Though Shin was in pain, he relished seeing what non supers were capable of. It gave him hope that his own growth could go further.
After a few more deep breaths, he was able to roll onto his side and see the approaching Lieutenant. Despite the pain, he didn't thing anything was broken, though the ribs might be fractured.
"Decided not to take it easy on me, Sir." Shin said, a little breathlessly.
"Welcome to day one of Super Buster training, Private. Better get used to it," Lt. Dan said, extending his hand to help Shin to his feet. "You're in for some fun, trust me." Dan was starting to see why everyone was interested in this kid. Supervising his training might be good for Dan.
"Yes Sir," Shin said, a hint of a smile back on his face.