[3rd person POV] [Two weeks later] [Training arena]
Gamora was watching over the arena. Her eyes were fixed on the duo, Jack and Fiona. Jack was trying his best to fight back, but he was always on the defensive side, and Fiona kept attacking him, pushing him to the edge of the arena. But every time he was on the verge of stepping out of the arena, he somehow dodged Fiona's attack, barely, and escaped.
However, she noticed something else in Jack's movements and the way he parried all the attacks. It was something familiar.
'Interesting,' She smiled. Their last conversation didn't go well thanks to her sister Nebula, who ruined everything. She was so close to recruiting him as a cadet for the new team, but alas, her sister had to ruin it all and he rejected her proposal. She wondered if there was anyone in Knowhere who would reject a Guardian's proposal to join their team and receive special training.
Not everyone gets the chance to train with a Guardian. That's the reason Gamora was interested in Jack, the first person to reject such an offer. She wanted to know why, what was it that made him reject her offer, and how far could he go with that level of talent. And most importantly, 'Why is he adapting to his opponents' moves that fast? This is abnormal.'
She watched as Fiona lunged forward to hit Jack with her training dagger. She slashed it, targeting his throat, but he simply stomped on her feet, making her scream in pain. The tip of her blade was merely an inch away from the flesh on his neck. Her eyes were glued to his neck and the dagger was unmoving, despite being a centimeter away from touching him.
"Wha-" Fiona looked surprised. She couldn't move her right arm anymore, "What the fuck?" The dagger fell from her hand as a throbbing pain swept over her wrist.
Jack took a step back.
Fiona grabbed her wrist and noticed it was swollen. She looked at the dagger on the ground in front of her, then she stared at her right hand.
"What did you do?" She screamed and picked up the dagger with her left hand. She slashed again but he easily dodged, took a couple of steps back, and Fiona in rage dashed forward to stab his neck.
"Wow, calm down," Jack barely dodged the oncoming attack as it grazed passed his cheek, leaving a small cut, "You remember what I said before? You are really good at close combat, and that is why you are too arrogant, and probably a little too overconfident. But when it comes to keeping a level head, you lose your control, and because of that you leave enough openings in your defense." He threw his dagger aiming her right knee.
"Ahh!!!" She screamed in pain as the dagger struck her knee. Although it's a training dagger, the armor they were wearing has a pain regulator, which transfers a pain equivalent to a real injury to the part that takes the impact.
"Geez, you okay?" He asked as Fiona slowly slid down while holding her right knee. She dropped the dagger in her other hand, bent down, and tried to alleviate the pain.
"Fuck it! I give up," Fiona surrendered. This is the first time Jack won against her out of their 50 duels. "So, how did you do it? You were only dodging and parrying from the start, never saw you throw an attack." She stood up, albeit, using her good leg to support her weight, and switched off the armor. The nanites shifted, returning back to her bracelet.
Gamora jumped down from the balcony to the arena.
"It's not that he didn't attack," Gamora intervened, "It is the fact that he hid the nature and timing of the attacks very well and misled you with his movement. Also, he purposely made you lose focus to distract you and lowered your concentration on the actual attack," Gamora praised, "He did it very well. Well, you can't really call it an attack, but a complex defense technique that redirects an incoming attack back onto their opponent, forcing them to attack themselves. Although the power gets depleted, but if pent up over time..." She pointed at Fiona's wrist.
"Fuck," Fiona frowned while examining the swelling and said, "Is that why you were dodging for the last freaking hour to make me angry? Man, I've lost. Ughh. Goddammit."
"Nice job, Jack," Gamora said with a slight grin, "And now, I am even more interested in you," She smirked.
"My answer remains the same. I ain't looking to be a hero and save the day out there," Jack rejected, pointing outside, "I don't want a life where I have to live up to everyone's expectations by sacrificing my own happiness and what I want to do, I, not you, not anyone else," He crossed his hands and answered. "I'll earn a shit ton of credits and leave this dead titan head with my family and live a happy life. It's as simple as that."
"Who told you heroes have to give up their happiness?" Gamora chuckled as she questioned him.
"Really? You are asking me that? Why don't you go and look yourself in a mirror and ask yourself the same question?" Jack replied to Gamora with a frown, "You need a reality check... From what I see, this team is nothing but a broken band. You left the Guardians for Ravagers, then you left the Ravagers and came back, but surprise, the man who chased after this version of you, already retired to Earth. Mantis left, Rocket and Groot missing... So, yeah, if this is what you meant by happy life, nope. No thanks, I'll pass," He blurted everything he knew from his memories and felt refreshed.
"True," Gamora didn't have any reasons to rebuke, but she added, "And that's why I'm trying my best to create a new team so that they can take over the mantle of being the Guardians. So, I won't give up on you, Jack. I'll get you one way or the other, even if it's credits that you want, I'll hire you." She grinned.
"Nah! I changed my mind. I won't risk my neck out there even for credits, so give up," Jack once again rejected Gamora. "If you want someone, take her..." He grabbed Fiona's arm and pushed her forward, "I simply don't want anything to do with being a Guardian and whatnot. I have more important things to do." He moved to grab his shirt, which was lying on the ground nearby, and left the arena.
---
[Shower room] [Jack's First person POV]
The quest screen popped up once again...
****
Sub-quest[2/5]: Train and master the basic melee combat>> Completed.
Reward: 1x Passive Skill card added to the inventory
Additional reward for completing the quest before the time limit: 20k Credits.
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Sub-quest[3/5]: Master weapons
Time limit: 3 months
Reward: 2x attack skill cards
****
Nice, just as I thought. I'll get an additional reward for completing quests before their time period. An extra 20k credits, dang, it was worth it. Spending 10k on online books about CQC was really worth it. I just had to read the four books and my body absorbed that knowledge and adapted itself to it, enabling my subconsciousness to reproduce it by instinct and learn.
I don't know whether to call the power 'Enhanced Photographic Memory' or 'Instant Memory Adaption' or 'Instant Evolution' but whatever it is, it's better than a cheat. The power of adaptation and evolution just from reading, huh? Humm... Maybe, I'll hit the library next.
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