"I... can't breath…captain…please…" the guard managed to say, having difficulty to even take a breath in.
But Clarc didn't let go and, while continuing to hold him in the air with one arm, used his other hand to wipe his face.
"Let go? My pleasure."
Still with one hand, and without the slightest effort, Clarc threw the guard across the entire training room. He ends up falling through the door of one of the toilets and lands unconscious with his head in the bowl.
"Anyone else have any complaints or jokes to make?" he asked the other guards who were laughing at him a few seconds earlier.
None responded.
"Good, so now for the sake of it, you're going to do all the exercises you've done so far three times, and let's go!"
No one dared to contradict him, the guards being terrified by what he had just done, and they went back to work. Clarc then returned to Mike, offering his hand to help him up, which Mike happily accepted.
"Sorry about that, and also sorry if I seemed too rough" Clarc said. "I got carried away"
"It's nothing" Mike said. "Actually no, it wasn't nothing, because it was totally super cool!" he exclaimed.
"Really? But I just failed to control my anger, again"
"It has nothing to do with it, this time it was well deserved. In fact, this guy totally deserved worse"
"Haha, you say that because you haven't seen the state of the toilets"
"Ugh, let's switch topics, all this effort is making me nauseous enough as it is" Mike concluded.
He felt that it was now or never that he could reconcile with Clarc.
"Clarc I-"
But he was interrupted by Clarc:
"If it's to apologize, there's no point" the latter said.
Mike lowered his head. After what he'd said to Clarc, an apology probably wasn't going to be enough anyway.
"I'm the one who owes you an apology" Clarc said. "I lied to you, forced your hand to get you to confess everything to me and I complained about my problems when yours are much more serious. These last few weeks were already very difficult for me, but I heard that Sora didn't even want to talk to you since he saw me with you. So, I can't even imagine what you went through. I'm sorry, really sorry"
Mike didn't think long about whether he should forgive him or not, since he had been waiting for this moment for several weeks.
"I accept your apology" he said. "However, I have two conditions"
"Which ones?" Clark asked.
He was willing to accept almost anything, but luckily Mike didn't ask for that much:
"First of all, you don't play tricks like this on me anymore. I know you already can guess it, but it really hurt me that the friend I trusted was forcing me to get information"
"Of course I won't ever do that again, I'm really sorry" Clarc said with a guilty look. "And what is the second condition?"
"Stop apologizing all the time, when you do this I'm the one who feels guilty" Mike replied.
"Um, okay" Clarc said, confused that it was resolved so easily.
"Come on, let's forget all that with a friendly hug" Mike said, spreading his arms.
"Haha, that's the kind of thing kids Sora's age would do" Clarc said before correcting himself. "But hey, if you want that, I don't mind"
As Clarc advanced towards him, Mike used Imagination to create chains on Clarc's ankles, causing him to stumble.
"Ouch!" Clarc cried, picking himself up from the ground, more because of surprise than because of pain.
"There, now we're even" Mike laughed.
For a moment he feared he had gone too far while they were in front of the guards, but the guards were too busy training to pay any attention to the scene, afraid of ending up like their colleague. Clarc started laughing too, and, barely after getting up, hugged Mike.
"I missed you, buddy, he said.
"I did too" Mike replied, also taking Clarc in his arms, although he had difficulty going around his chest with his arms.
After two or three minutes, Mike released Clarc:
"Well, it's not that I don't like hugs, but I think you're going to end up suffocating me" he said, coughing a little. "Admit it would be a bit stupid after all this time, huh?"
"Haha, you're right" Clarc replied, letting go of him. "Okay, what if we change our training a little from now on?"
"How so?" Mike asked, confused.
Clarc returned to the guards and shouted to them:
"That's enough, stop, you good-for-nothings! In a row!"
They immediately stopped what they were doing and, panting, lined up perfectly in front of him.
"You're lucky today! As I am in a good mood today, I will forgive your insolence" Clarc said. "On the other hand, in return, one of you will have to come forward and have a warm-up fight with our guest here. Is there anyone who is still somewhat fit to fight who wishes to dedicate themselves?"
Everyone around was unsure of the situation, whether it was the guards or Mike himself. The latter had doubts about fighting one-on-one for the first time in front of everyone, but was confident enough in his progress to move on. The guards were especially afraid of being too tired to move properly, and of humiliating themselves in front of everyone.
None of them seriously thought they could have lost to Mike in a fair situation, but since they were barely standing, they were all very hesitant. Finally, only two guards came forward. They were the ones who seemed the least tired of the lot, so Mike deduced that they were probably among the strongest.
"Well, I see we have several volunteers? That's great, but you don't look like you're in great shape" Clarc said. "Therefore, you will go in pairs against Mike, to make the confrontation fairer. Any objections?"
The guards looked at each other for a moment, but did not dare to contradict him. Mike gave Clarc a worried look, who reassured him with a short wink.
So the duel, if you could call it that, took place: in a square of about ten meters on a side, demarcated by red bands, Mike and the guards each stood in a corner.
"You'll start at three" Clarc told them. "One, two... three!"
Barely had he finished counting when one of Mike's two adversaries lunged at him, brandishing a real sword without the slightest hesitation. The other didn't even make the effort to move, because he thought Mike would simply give up, leave the square, or even be knocked out on the spot.
But contrary to his expectations, Mike dodged the first guard's sword strike without any difficulty, flinching nonetheless when the blade grazed his cheek, and responded by throwing a big punch at his face, using Imagination to make appear a brass knuckle on his knuckles, made of the same metal as the one that had hurt Clarc.
The guard fell backwards on the spot while the one who had remained behind displayed a shocked expression as he observed the scene.
"Next" Mike said, trying to look intimidating.
He himself wasn't very sure he could reproduce this instant knockout with the second guard but didn't let it show. It seemed to have a small effect as those watching the scene also displayed astonished expressions. The second guard moved towards him more cautiously than his colleague, holding his sword out in front of him to prevent any possible attack.
Mike changed his brass knuckles for a bar of this metal which was so successful for him. Now that he thought about it, Mike hadn't come up with a name for it yet, even though it was the basis of his fighting style. A name…
"Fear the power of the orichus" he said, randomly finding a name.
He immediately regretted his choice, but it was already too late as he parried the opponent's first blow with his bar. For a moment they continued their fencing duel, iron blade against orichus bar, and the guard seemed to gain the advantage. It was then that, by surprise, he feinted and disarmed Mike, causing him to fall to the ground. He could have stopped there and declared victory, but instead he chose to raise his sword with a grim expression.
"NO!" Clarc shouted as he rushed into the square.
But it was too late, the guard had already brought down his sword.