After about an hour, Astrick was finally able to leave the clinic, his regeneration ability played a big role in his quick healing, and the nurse responsible for him didn't say or suspect anything because her ability was what healed Astrick for the most part...
After leaving the clinic, Astrick went to the training hall where they took their very first fighting class although there were no more classes today as they were all already done, Astrick was planning to use the hall to train on and test his new ability cause this place is completely empty, making it perfect for Astrick who didn't want anyone to find out about him having two abilities....
Afterall having two abilities is something that has never been heard of, and Astrick is pretty sure that if people know he has a second ability he will be used as a lab rat and they'll probably dissect his body and do anything to understand how he got two abilities...
Thinking about all the sorts of things that'll happen to him if anyone ever finds out about his secret, Astrick felt shivers coming down his spine as he promised himself to hide this the best way can...
Looking around him to make sure nobody's around he went to one of these training mannequins...
After admiring its quality for a little bit he finally activated it on the peak mortal strength, making the machine has the strength of a human one rank higher than him...
After living in Lilith's world for a while, Astrick knew that the only way to get stronger quickly was by risking his life and fighting stronger opponents...
The mannequin Astrick chose used a medieval two handed dark sword while Astrick himself picked a regular katana off the side of the wall.
Standing infront of each other Astrick took his stance as the mannequin did the same thing...
Not even two seconds later the mannequin disappeared from its position appearing infront of Astrick out of nowhere, its dark blade was already halfway to reach Astrick's head and cut him completely in half...
Astrick's body reacted before his mind as he dodged the upcoming sword , but before he was able to install his foot the mannequin was already back on him preparing to slice him in half...
Unlike most of the mannequins in the room which used wooden weapons , this one used a real weapon creating the real danger of losing your life and the feeling of a real battle.
Normally students who use these mannequins set its difficulty to something similar or lower than their rank, afterall they aren't crazy enough to fight a higher rank than them as it's nearly impossible to beat someone with a higher rank than you and those who can actually do it are considered to be complete monsters, the best of the best of the best...
But Astrick wasn't afraid of death as he already faced it many times in Lilith's world, and if facing it once again is what it takes for him to get stronger, he'll gladly do it again and again and again...
Other than that, Astrick had a soul related ability, if he can't beat someone that's only one rank higher than him even with all that , then maybe he doesn't deserve to get stronger anyway...
At that point the dark sword was just a hair away from cutting through Astrick's head, if anyone was watching this fight they would say that Astrick has no way of dodging this attack, but somehow through raw instinct Astrick lowerd his back in a humanly impossible way barely dodging the attack as the tip of the sword was able to cut a bit of the front of his hair.
Astrick then somehow put his hands on the ground as one of his legs reached the mannequin's chin with Astrick's full power behind it hitting the mannequin directly on his face..
But even with Astrick's full power it wasn't enough as it barely left any scratch due to the mannequin's act of making an insane backflip while being in air because of Astrick's kick....
Astrick and the mannequin both took a few moments to reposition themselves as they looked at each other with caution trying to find any opening while planning for their next move...
Sadly, before Astrick was able to fully recover the mannequin was back at him again swinging its sword with its full force with the intention of ending Astrick's life.
But this time Astrick was able to barely see the attack as he used his katana to deflect the mannequins attack..
*CLANG
The sounds of the two swords clashing into each other could be heard echoing all over the hall as Astrick and the mannequin kept exchanging blows.
Astrick's blows although not that strong they were pretty fast and swift, and using this speed Astrick gave the mannequin a really hard time, while on the other hand the mannequin used raw power in its attacks making Astrick's hand numb from all the blocking he did, but even though it used raw power its higher rank made it so fast making it very hard for Astrick to keep up...
At this point sweat was dripping down Astrick's forehead as he was finding it harder and harder to block hits by now, Astrick knew that if something doesn't change soon he'll probably lose miserably.
'Damn this..' Astrick muttered under his breath as he started moving his mana activating his [Fighting Grandmaster] ability when suddenly he felt all the stress and nervousness being washed away and replaced with a strange sense of calm as everything became crystal clear to his eyes.
The mannequin's moves that seemed unpredictable to him before was now so clear he could see right through it.
Dodging another attack Astrick's movement suddenly changed as his blows became less defensive and more aggressive while the mannequin on the other hand was the complete opposite as it started losing its upper hand.
"Gotcha..." after a while of exchanging hits, Astrick's face was suddenly painted with a smile after he finally found an opening in the mannequin's defense as he started to spread mana around his body.
Not too long after that Astrick disappeared out of nowhere just to appear instantly after that behind the mannequin...
The mannequin seemed like it still haven't gotten out of its confused state as the human it was fighting suddenly disappeared.
Using the mannequin's astonishment Astrick swung his katana slicing right through the mannequin's neck ending this tough , dangerous battle.
After the mannequin's head rolled on the ground for a while, it suddenly moved again grabbing its head, reattaching it then going back to the same place it was at before the battle had begun.
While so Astrick was laying on the ground gasping for air as his body was covered in sweat same as his clothes.
Closing his eyes enjoying the taste of win Astrick mumbled a few words under his breath...
"Haaah, guess I'm gonna need to take a bath"
.....
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