Predator
"... Huh?" Mike blinked.
"You heard me," Theresa said flatly and Mike quickly waved his hands.
"W-Woah, let's calm down now." He said a bit anxiously. "I don't actually know how to fight... that's why I picked combat courses." He explained quickly.
Theresa just raised a brow.
"Even more reason to spar with me. If you can't fight then you can start learning." She said and grabbed the string of fire on her bow.
"H-Hey! Are you listening to me?" Mike took a step back, his eyes widening. Theresa simply drew the bow, and as she did so, flames coalesced where her fingers drew and started to take the shape of a flaming arrow.
"I'm just gonna say it now. I won't listen to your protests, so I suggest you prepare yourself." She said flatly as she aimed the arrow right at him.
Mike was about to say something else when his instincts suddenly warned him, and he moved out of the way just as Theresa let the arrow fly. Mike felt a flash of heat on the side of his head as the arrow whizzed past him with speed that wasn't normal for arrows.
There was a loud bang as the arrow struck the raised wall at the edge of the arena, and Mike felt his heart start to race.
'... She's serious.' Mike thought as realization dawned on him. His nervous expression slowly faded as his eyes sharpened.
He was no expert in combat. Heck, the only times he'd fought in his life could be counted on one hand, and he didn't count the feral state he'd been in after he got the system as he wasn't conscious then.
Needless to say, he truly lacked combat experience, but if Theresa was so adamant...
"There we go," Theresa said as she drew her bow once more, another arrow condensing as she prepared to fire.
Mike stopped hesitating and activated his aura. His stats immediately surged and he squatted slightly before dashing forward. As soon as he did, his instincts warned him again and he dodged to the side, a fire arrow impacting the ground where he'd been and scorching it.
In the time it took him to dodge, Theresa had drawn her down once more while rapidly retreating, her gaze calm as she fired again and again.
Mike let his instincts guide him as he dodged arrow after arrow, doing his best to close the distance, but Theresa was doing a great job at keeping him away from her.
Things continued like this for a while, and Mike found himself growing increasingly annoyed as he tried and failed to get closer to her.
Then again, she hadn't managed to land any hits on him either, so as things stood, they were in a stalemate. However, Mike got the feeling that she wasn't being too serious yet.
He wracked his brain as he searched for a way to turn the tide.
'Should I just risk it?' He thought as he stared at her intently, then he realized something.
'Draw, condense, fire.' He stated inwardly as he watched her go through the motions of using her bow. As soon as she prepared to fire, he felt his instincts flare up.
'Could I...?' Time almost seemed to slow down as he focused on the arrow as well as his instincts.
His body tensed as his instincts rang louder, wanting him to dodge, but he kept focusing, watching the arrow while paying attention to his instincts.
Then, just as Theresa let the arrow fly, he felt his right shoulder tingle oddly.
Without hesitation, he shifted his body. He didn't move out of the way completely, he simply leaned a bit to the side, and just as he did, the arrow flew by him. Specifically, it flew by the shoulder he'd moved out of the way.
Mike heard a faint chime, but he didn't pay attention to it. His experiment worked.
In that short moment, he'd considered how his instincts worked in a battle instance. He could sense the danger level someone posed as well as their intent towards him. He could also sense when a dangerous attack was heading his way.
So far, Mike had been dodging by moving his entire body. While it got the job done, it still took him a moment to orient himself. A moment Theresa exploited by firing another arrow quickly. This put him on the back foot as he spent more time dodging than advancing, stopping him from making any headway.
However, why couldn't he make his instincts more precise about the danger?
That's what he thought, and he tested his theory with what he just did. He made his instincts more specific on the sort of danger he was facing and which part of his body was going the face the incoming attack.
It had been a gamble, but it paid off.
Now, instead of wasting so much time moving his entire body out of the way, he could simply lean a bit to the side or do something similar.
The results of this were tangible, as when G hgeresa unleashed several more arrows in quick succession, Mike was able to dodge in quick succession by simply moving the part of his body in danger out of the way. As such, he had a far easier time getting closer.
He saw a flash of surprise in Theresa's eyes as he started closing the distance.
He almost grinned as he got closer and closer, and soon enough, only a few meters separated the two of them.
'I'm so close! Come on!' He yelled inwardly as he tried to press his advantage. He was so close! He just needed to-
His instincts suddenly flared up, his back tingling, and without thinking, he increased the output of his Aura, temporarily boosting his stats even more.
As soon as he did, he felt a bit of pain as something struck his back hard, followed by a flash of heat.
Before he could process what just happened, his instincts acted up again, and he poured his Aura into fortifying his back as several more blasts struck him.
He winced as his mind spun. Was she attacking him from behind? But how?
'Wait...!' His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered.
Theresa's arrows always released a bit of an explosion whenever they struck something. But ONLY when they struck something, and when they exploded, the sound was pretty loud.
'When had I stopped hearing these explosions? Did she start controlling them manually? How did I not notice?' He questioned as he started panicking internally.
That's when his instincts flared up again, with far more intensity than before.
Only this time, it came from the front.
He paid attention to his aggressor once more and saw Theresa standing in front of him, bow drawn. However, the arrow on the string was far more potent than the previous ones.
And it was aimed straight at his head.
THUMP
THUMP
THUMP
'I can't dodge that.' His heart pounded in his ears.
Ferocity: 12%
Ferocity: 19%
Ferocity: 23%
'Am I about to lose?' That possibility didn't appeal to Mike.
It didn't appeal to him at all.
Ferocity: 29%
Ferocity: 35%
Ferocity: 40%
[Warning! Host's emotions are becoming too volatile!]
Mike barely paid the message any heed as he stared Theresa in the eyes.
'That's the end of tha-' Theresa was about to conclude, but her body suddenly shivered.
It was for a brief moment, but she locked eyes with Mike, and at that moment, she felt like she wasn't confronting a person...
Instead, it was like she was in the presence of an Apex predator, one she had unintentionally offended.
Without thinking, she released her arrow at nearly point blank. With how condensed it was, the power it contained was significantly higher than her previous arrows. Moreover, from this distance, Mike shouldn't have been able to-
With speed surpassing anything he'd shown so far, Mike's arm suddenly lashed out... and GRABBED the arrow.
'What the...?!' Theresa watched in shock and horror as Mike's Aura condensed around his arm that caught the arrow, and she watched as the construct strained before it was crushed, reduced into small sparks of flames.
Before she could dwell on it, though, a fist shot towards her, and she held her bow in front of her chest unconsciously.
What happened next was her bow bending backwards—which shouldn't happen by the way—and the bones in her arms feeling like a spaceship had just rammed into them at maximum speed.
She tasted blood as her entire body was thrown back by the force, and she barely managed to keep her footing as she slid across the ground for dozens of meters.
Before she could regain her bearings properly, she heard the wind part and ducked instinctively, barely avoiding having a face-full of claws as Mike swiped his hand across the air.
She jumped away at the next moment, his other arm smashing into the floor of the arena with enough force the shatter it.
Theresa was flabbergasted.
"H-Hey!" She called out, but Mike didn't listen to her as he shot forward, far faster than he had previously.
Theresa grit her teeth as she quickly fired a few arrows, trying to buy some time. But to her terror, Mike didn't even look at the arrows as they struck his body and exploded against him.
His shirt started to get shredded, revealing his toned body beneath, but he couldn't care less as he charged forward again.
'His movements are... pretty straightforward.' Theresa suddenly noticed.
The power he was unleashing was quite a bit higher than before. But there was no finesse to his blows.
That hit she blocked was powerful, but if he had any proper technique, it should have broken her arms, or at least her bow, but it was too wild. Too beast-like.
The same applied here. His attacks were too straightforward with rarely any follow-ups. No feints or anything like that.
'Calm down Theresa.' She told herself as Mike neared once more. His body was leaning forward slightly, sharp fingernails brandished like claws.
She feinted in one direction, and true to her expectations, he bought it as he lunged in that direction, only for her to move to the side and draw her bow, aiming it at him as he was still mid-lunge.
'Can't dodge while midair.' She thought and let the arrow fly.
In response, Mike somehow managed to spin his entire body midair, causing the arrow to just narrowly avoid him despite it having been shot at point-blank, and he landed on one hand before pivoting himself on it and swiping with his claws, catching Theresa on the ankles, and drawing blood.
She cried out and lost her balance, falling on her back with a hard THUD.
Just as she regained her bearings, Mike was already jumping on her, claws aimed at her head.
She managed to put her bow up it time, barely blocking the vicious attack. However, the sheer intensity of it was too much, and her arms started to get pressed down as Mike increased the pressure, his glowing blue eyes glaring down at her fiercely, a low, rumbling growl constantly leaving his throat.
"Guh! Mike!" Theresa strained, but he didn't listen as his claws soon reached her shoulders and started to dig into them, once more drawing blood.
Theresa grit her teeth hard, and her energy started to surge as she prepared to use a certain technique.
Then, just as quickly as it began, it ended.
Mike suddenly got off her and scrambled backwards, his eyes wide and chest heaving. Clarity returned to his gaze as he stared at her, his expression a mix of shock and immense guilt.