Reflection.
"I-I'm sorry..." Mike stammered and retreated, his eyes wide as he looked genuinely distraught.
Theresa gulped and sat up with a grunt. Her shoulders stung from where Mike's fingernails had dug in, and her ankles felt like they were burning from where they had been slashed. Her arms still ached from the terrible impact they had endured before.
She looked at Mike who, compared to her, was virtually unscathed. His shirt was pretty much destroyed, but other than some parts of his skin that looked a bit red from the heat, he looked far better than she did.
Theresa stared at him for a while, trying to reconcile the wild and primal being that had charged at her with abandon to this boy who looked meek and apologetic.
She closed her eyes and took a breath.
'Well, I kinda had it coming to be honest.' She sighed. She was the one who insisted they sparred, and she was suffering the consequences.
"Don't worry about it, getting injured during a spar isn't odd." She huffed. Despite everything, she wasn't THAT injured.
Despite the cut on her ankles, her tendons were still intact, she'd just been taken aback by the pain which made her lose her balance.
Same with her shoulders. It's not like Mike's fingernails were actual claws, so they didn't dig that deep into her shoulders. They drew blood, sure, and moving them hurt, but it's not like it was debilitating.
She sighed and winced as she got up.
"H-Hey! Don't move-"
"It's fine." Theresa cut him off with a huff as she made sure to put most of her weight on the balls of her feet to avoid worsening the bleeding. "Just need to get to the infirmary." She regarded Mike who looked like he wanted to move forward and support her, but was scared of hurting or scaring her.
'He's kinda cute like this...' She thought vaguely before blinking and shaking her head.
"Escort me." She said simply and turned to walk out of the arena.
Mike hesitated before following after her, his brows still knit together with worry.
As he followed, he couldn't help but constantly scold himself.
'You idiot! What were you thinking! You hurt her! And you could have made it worse...' He stifled a groan as he rubbed his face and thought back to the fight. Everything had been going fine up until Theresa outsmarted him and forced him into a bad position.
Even then, while his instincts warned him, he knew he wasn't in any actual danger, just that the following attack would be less than pleasant, and that he'd lose if he got hit.
'But... why did that set me off?' He thought somberly.
It wasn't the pain from her attacks or the danger they posed that made him snap. It was the prospect of losing.
In that moment, when he stared down the arrow, Mike felt such a visceral level of defiance at the prospect, of losing.
'But that doesn't make any sense. It's not like I'm a stranger to losing. I've lost out on dozens, if not hundreds of opportunities back on Klein 4, but this was different, like the idea simply wasn't an option...' His lip curled in self-indignation. Who was he kidding, he knew the cause.
'System, what was that?' He asked, his heart heavy.
[Lupines are predators with a strong innate pride. Even if the Host hasn't realized it yet, he still possesses this innate pride, no matter how good he is at restraining it. As a predator, the prospect of losing to your prey is simply unacceptable. When the fight started, while you remained rational, you still saw her as your prey, so when you were put in a disadvantageous position, the idea of losing to a being you designated as your prey elicited a strong feeling of defiance, causing your ferocity to spike, leading to the following result.] The metaphysical construct replied in the same monotone voice as usual, and it took Mike a decent amount of willpower to stop himself from making a face.
'Prey? What the hell! She's a person! Not some animal to be hunted!' He practically hissed inwardly.
[The system cannot control how the Host behaves to certain things. It is simply informing him the reason behind why he acted the way he did, nothing more.] The system replied curtly, and Mike felt his temper spike, but he quickly took a deep breath to calm himself. Now wasn't the time to get heated, especially after he already lost it a few minutes ago.
He looked at the back of Theresa, and he felt even more guilty when he saw her trying not to lean forward too much to avoid adding too much weight on her front ankles, or how her arms hung slightly.
Meanwhile, Theresa was having a reflection of her own.
'His raw power is incredible.' She thought as her mind wandered back to the fight.
The scene where his fist impacted her bow and nearly snapped it along with her arms was vivid in her mind, as even now, her arms ached.
'What would have happened if he'd hit me directly?' The thought made her shudder a little. Being on the receiving end of such power wasn't fun, and that's when she'd blocked it.
'Now I'm starting to see why he was let inside on scholarship. His raw power alone is devastating. Moreover, his speed and reflexes are something else. Just what grade is his ability?' She continued to wonder.
She recalled when she thought she had a clean shot on him as he was midair, only for him to spin and barely avoid the arrow, or how he'd caught the condensed arrow she fired and shattered it with his bare hands, or how—despite being feral—still had considerable awareness, enough to counterattack and hurt her ankles before pouncing on her.
'He doesn't know how to fight, that much is true.' She confirmed as she thought back to the fight.
'His movements are sloppy with no technique or finesse. He doesn't know how to properly concentrate his power, even though he managed to condense his aura to increase its effectiveness. His dodges were also too wasteful as he wasted too much energy, but that seemed to get better quickly as time passed.' She narrowed her eyes.
'His instincts are also phenomenal, and his perception is just as potent as his physical strength. Moreover...' She shivered a little as she recalled that moment where it felt like she was being stared down by an Apex predator. It was brief, but she had the urge to turn and run.
'Was that a mental attack? Can he somehow manipulate his aura and infuse it with his intent to scare people? If so, then he most likely isn't even aware of it, considering how feral he'd been. Speaking of, it seems like his aura is linked quite strongly to his emotions. Otherwise, I don't see why his prowess should have spiked so suddenly. I felt like I was facing a beast.' She huffed before frowning.
'He did this much to me despite his clear lack of combat experience and practical techniques to aid his ability. What happens when he learns proper techniques and has more battles?' It was a bit of a scary thought, but also... a bit exciting.
To be clear, Theresa didn't go all out during that fight. While she wanted to spar, she took his words about having no combat experience to heart, and it showed for a good chunk of the battle.
'I got complacent.' She sighed, acknowledging her own mistake. When she saw that Mike was barely dodging her arrows and his lack of, well, everything, she subconsciously believed that he was limited in his combat abilities, and believed she'd one when she caught him off-guard with her manually controlled arrows.
Hence, when he became feral and started blitzing her, she was too surprised to make proper use of her abilities and defend herself adequately.
'Lesson learned. You can get your ass beat by a country bumpkin if you aren't careful.' She mused.
She was still greatly intrigued by his ability, though.
It wasn't unheard of for an Aura-type ability to be so all-encompassing, but his took that to the next step with just how potent it was.
For someone who'd only gotten his ability a few weeks ago and was as clueless as he was when it came to combat, the level of potency he displayed was truly something else.
'I wonder what the grade is. A– at the very least.' She mused and glanced back at him before letting out a light huff.
Mike's face was scrunched up a little, his brows knit together as he looked frustrated with himself. But with his small stature and slightly childish features, he looked more cute than anything.
'Kinda hard to believe he was overwhelming me a few minutes ago.' She stifled a chuckle before wincing, she'd put too much pressure on her foot.
By now, the suns had well and truly dipped below the horizon, and the starry sky had taken their place.
Proxima Centauri D didn't have a moon, so what lay above was just an endless carpet of twinkling stars and distant supernovas.
The various lights within the school lit up the place quite nicely, and tiny bugs that gave off faint lights—not fireflies—buzzed around, creating a oretty serene atmosphere as some students still mulled about. Some were studying, others were chatting, a few were simply relaxing, and some who were trying to earn credits were acting like guards in certain spots.
Oddly enough, no one paid any heed to the injured Theresa and the disheveled Mike, which he found confusing, considering the attention he'd garnered when he was transporting those heavy boxes. Then again, in a school filled with superpowered students that fought each other semi-frequently, it probably wasn't strange.
Soon enough, the two of them reached the infirmary which—for all intents and purposes—was a literal hospital within the school, having the large red cross on its front with the school logo in the center.
Hover Ambulances sat prone in front of the building as some students could be seen leaving and entering, most of which had one injury or another. Some less than severe, others so bad that Mike was genyibwly concerned.
The two of them strode in without a word, and they went to the front desk.
"Hello, I'd like to book a recovery pod, please." Theresa asked the nurse who sat behind the counter.
"Alright. State your names and how long you will be using it. You look like new students, so the rate for the recovery pad is ten credits per hour for lower grade ones. 50 for mid grade ones, and 200 for high grade ones." The woman, a slightly chubby but fairly attractive female, explained.
'200 and hour?!' Mike exclaimed inwardly. His brows shooting up.
Theresa didn't seem perturbed as she just spoke.
"I'll use the low-level pod for 3 hours. What about you?" It took Mike a few moments before he realized she was talking to him.
"O-Oh. I'm alright, I don't need a recovery pod." He said quickly and waved his arms.
Theresa rolled her eyes.
"I know I didn't hurt you that much, but your skin is still raw red from—" She cut herself off as she inspected him and her eyes widened with surprise.
Previously, his skin looked red from the heat of her attacks in numerous spots. Now, though, most of the redness had receded, his skin regaining its soft appearance.
"... Huh." Theresa just said before shaking her head.
"Fine then. You can return to the dorm, I guess. No need to wait for me." She said, but Mike shook his head.
"It's the least I can do." He said, his voice firm in a way that let her realize he wouldn't back down.
She regarded him for a moment before sighing.
"Do what you want." She then paid for the services with her watch and was led to another room whole Mike went to the waiting area to sit.