"Nice to see you again, Annabelle".
Michael words broke the tense silence that had been imposed by her presence. The young woman turned towards him, and only then did a trace of a smile appear on her face.
It was, barely noticeable but still visible to him.
Michael then returned his focus to Frank :
"What do you say? What do you want to do ?". He asked calmly.
Frank's mind meanwhile was in turmoil. This girl was as young as him. How the hell did Mike know a woman this strong at this age.
Her presence make him feel dread and all the cells of his body were screaming danger. He knew he had kicked an iron plate.
Unfortunately, he felt it was too late to get out of this horse, and he had to continue the momentum. He had brought his friends and they were watching him.
Some practitioners were even peering, curious about the clamor they had created.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, gritting his teeth, he decided to bite the bullet : "I accept to fight you in 15 days, Michael. Don't worry, I will prepare the credits".
He threw one last glare at Michael, then turned around and left.
100,000 was a large sum even to him. But he didn't have a choice, or words would get out that he had ran away as soon as he saw that girl.
That could make him a laughingstock among people of the same class as him.
His ego couldn't take it. Not to mention, it would affect his family's reputation and his family's opinion towards him.
First thing he would do when he returned home, he would have to investigate that 'Anabelle'.
There was no way a girl that strong at that age would be unknown.
He also didn't understand why Michael asked to wait for 15 days. From what he understood, he didn't have a great talent blessing.
No matter how he thought about it, nothing made sense, and he knew Michael wasn't an idiot. In the end, he gave up inferring. All would be revealed in due time.
'With my strength, there is no way I am going to lose. He should be one to be worried' he thought.
His 'goons' and friends meanwhile were stunned by this development. Weren't they going to teach him a lesson? What happened ?
Defeating Michael in front of this nice looking lady would have been a perfect humiliation. Why the hell did Frank accept this 15 days delay ?
But they couldn't be blamed by this misunderstanding. Anabelle killing intent wasn't focused on them after all. Otherwise, they would have understood.
In the end they ended up following Frank who left the gym, his mind shaken by what he had just felt from Anabelle.
"Your timing was impeccable" said Michael addressing Annabelle.
"Thank you. Nice to see you too, Michael. How are you, man ? I haven't seen you in a minute. You look great."
"I am fine, thank you. But looks like you are doing better than me? There is no way he would have left without your help".
"Hmph, So you know you should be thankful ?" Annabelle feigned a tone of superiority, raising her head high and the back of her hand under a chin like an exaggerated noble in an anime or medieval TV show.
Michael laughed at her comical imitation. Happy to see his childhood friend after so many years.
"I have to incline myself before your might indeed" he replied with a smile. Laughing and joking with each other, the atmosphere turned harmonious.
Michael meanwhile was surprise by the beauty of his friend. He hadn't seen her in years, only playing with her from time to time in online games.
She didn't have a social media account, nor did he.
'Looks like puberty was a blessing for her' he thought in his mind.
They rented a sparring room for themselves.
"I have to warn you, Michael. My parents are powerful. They helped me level up and left me a lot of good skills. So when you fight give me all you got without holding anything" she warned.
"What is your level ?".
"I am level 12." She proudly replied.
This answer greatly surprised Michael. 12 level in 3 days was an amazing achievement.
She had a mysterious background and was very powerful, but he couldn't underestimate her hard work and her will power, either.
With everything he had, he could only match level 7 while in level 5. Defeating her would indeed be close to impossible for him right now.
Fortunately, they weren't there to defeat each other. They were friends, after all.
Nodding at her to indicate that he understood, he took a fighting stance. He then threw a punch right to her chest.
His exertion proved that he was giving his all.
Annabelle meanwhile was happy to see Michael strike at full force. She was a proud woman, after all.
She didn't want to be underestimated, especially by one she liked. Had he held back, her opinion of him would have decreased significantly.
She parried his punch without much efforts.
Michael then threw a combo of moves. He tried to vary his approach by mixing in kicks, feints even elbow strikes with his jabs.
All was in vain. She had complete control.
Her footwork was amazing. Whether in terms of stability or to avoid a strike, her foot placements was always what she needed.
It was obvious she was using a martial art of higher level than E.S.M.A.
She took the time to ascertain his level. After a few strikes, she understood and started to retaliate.
Michael in response tried to parry, counter or block, but he couldn't avoid any of her strike. She was faster than him.
Some strikes even came at angles he couldn't see. They made few exchanges going at each others, testing moves after moves until he felt tired and asked her to stop.
Michael felt happy. She had a higher level of martial arts than him, and her stats were higher than his. Losing to her wasn't a shame at all.
With the advent of Stellarion women who were generally weaker than their counterparts could in fact surpass men with some talent and efforts.
What mattered was stats, and of course at the beginning men had higher attributes. But that was just the beginning. Lvl 12 would have stats that would completely suppress lvl 7.
You would receive stats to every attribute after every level up and 5 free attributes points to distribute. They didn't use game skills either, otherwise with the skills her relatives gave her the difference would have been even bigger.
Underestimating women for their gender could cost you your life, and that would be an idiotic death.
Michael was happy and proud to see her this strong. Not only that, but training with her would indeed make him progress. Her well intention didn't escape him either.
With her strength she could easily find stronger opponents, or even hire amazing instructors either from the Martial Gym or from her family. But she still chose to train with him.
Her gain would obviously be lowered, but she still made that decision without hesitation over a game chat. He truly cherished her and her efforts for what she did.
"Thanks a lot for coming here. I appreciate this a lot". He said making his appreciation known.
Taken aback by his gratitude, Annabelle blushed, and turned her head around.
"Don't mention it" She replied.