Claire admits defeat despite her obvious win on this match.
Bernadette's grin widens to an extent that showed interest on Claire greater than ever. When their eyes met, she quickly understood what Claire was up to. "Ohoho!!"
"Commander, i-is this valid?" Terrence asked.
"As long as the conditions are met, I have nothing else to say on this matter."
"Err, very well then. For the 11th match, rank number 98 admits defeat."
And by following the conditions, Bernadette has to punish the loser by whipping them 3 times. Claire turns her back on the commander without complaint and received 3 harsh whips without flinching.
"You better know what you're doing." Bernadette warned, but Claire remains confident about what she's planning to do. "You can bet I do."
The combat training session continues with the next pair. And the scumbag trio of the 3rd Platoon gathers at a corner of the training grounds, helping Horris with his twisted foot. "Well that was disappointing, Horris. I can't believe you lost against someone ranking lower than you." Lewin said.
"Hmmp mmp mm—"
"I think it's better if you just shut up and rest. You can't even talk properly right now with your whole face swollen like that." Weng sighs and glanced at Claire Duvent from afar. Most people would assume that the person he's looking at right now is a weak and fragile woman, but just now, Weng was proven that it's a mistake to underestimate a person from an assumption of what they appear to be.
Lewin clicks his tongue and suggested, "Hey, should we teach that girl a lesson?" And the battered Horris nods his head to the idea, wanting revenge on that woman.
"Forget it—" they were surprised by Weng's words. "—shouldn't it be obvious by now that she's someone not to be messed with?"
"Ha?! Weng, are you scared of that bitch!? She just got lucky, that's all."
"No you fucking moron, have you ever heard of the 'top ranker signs'?"
Weng got Lewin's eyebrows furrowed. "Top ranker signs?"
"Yeah, it's the common signs that's been observed over the special troop soldiers that got high rankings." Weng explains, "and rank number 98 over there showed all 5 signs that a future top ranker would have."
Lewin scoffs, "You're making that up!"
"Believe what you want, I'm only sharing what I've experienced long ago that proved the top ranker signs to be true." Since Weng was the oldest of the trio, he was able to witness how some of the current top ranking fighters used to be like and how they got on the top rank.
"Whatever man! If you're too scared to beat rank number 98, then suit yourself."
Weng shakes his head at the stubborness of his peers, but he continues to believe on what he knows. The top ranker signs, as Weng said, is the common signs that's been observed over the special troop soldiers that got high rankings. Weng can clearly remember a day from a few years ago that was similar to this very day.
He used to be rank number 124 and was up against a newbie that have been ranked number 160. Weng was just as confident as Horris back then, thinking he can easily bring this person down and have fun beating them, but he didn't expect that his sparring partner got to turn their situation around. Weng ended up getting battered just like Horris. From then on, he makes sure to choose weaker targets to pick on.
Then it hasn't even been a year when Weng heard news of a new top 1 fighter emerged, the guy that beat Weng despite ranking below him have become the E.D.L.'s top 1 fighter. And whenever Weng hears of 'Raphael Novick', he can't help but shiver from the memories he got from Raphael.
Raphael Novick, E.D.L.'s top dog, the beast of the battlefield, the man that can't be approached, and so on—he had gathered a lot of nicknames for himself and built a reputation that only he was known for.
But as Weng watches over this woman named Claire Duvent, he thinks that she might even surpass Raphael.
They were already watching the third round of losers pairing up to spar, when it was Claire's turn, she was first to attack rank number 112. "Whoa!!" She kicked her sparring partner like it was throwing rock on the lake.
This was the first obvious sign of a future top ranker, they possess unimaginable strength and perfect control over their shifters.
"Arghh!! Damn it!" When rank number 112 fell, he aims his shifter rifle at Claire but she was able to evade his attacks with her incredible agility and closed their gap.
This was the second sign, they are reckless despite the danger they face.
"Is that all you got?" Claire smirks and grabs rank number 112 by the collar and punched him in the face, though rank number 112 got to repay her with punch on her stomach. "Ack!!" But that didn't stop her from punching his face over and over.
This was the third sign, they are ruthless to their opponents.
Rank number 112 could no longer retaliate and have lost consciousness. Claire drops him on the ground and rubs on her stomach. "That hurt a bit."
This was the fourth sign, they won't stop until their opponent is down or good as dead.
"For the 3rd round and 5th match, rank number 112—" the vice commander gets cut off by Claire for the 3rd time.
"I admit defeat!" She says.
Terrence saw it coming and sighed once again. "Okay, for the 3rd round and 5th match, rank number 98 admits defeat."
Claire then instantly receives her punishment from the platoon commander, already accumulating 3 punishments or 9 lashes. Little blood is already staining her uniform from behind.
Her fellow subordinates begins to talk about her. "What a crazy woman!"
"She really is! But why does she keeps admitting defeat when she obviously won 3 times already!?"
"I don't know what's going on with that head of hers, but I'm sure that she's aiming for something here."
"And what would that be?"
"I think she's aiming for 'the loser of loser' title."
"But if she gets that title, wouldn't she be punished by sparring with the commander?"
"Exactly."
"What the hell. Something is clearly wrong with rank number 98 head. No one's crazy enough to want a spar with her, the people she spars with always ends up at the medics for a few days."
And that was the fifth sign of a future top ranker, they are absolutely insane.