"Great," Elvis scoffed, "another one of these loudmouthed bimbos."
Natasha fumbled for something in her pockets and found a marker, Lucas thought it strange as teaching combat wouldn't require her to use markers.
"I heard that!" She screamed at the top of her voice as she hurled the marker at Elvis with so much force that it made a sonic boom as it flew through the air, it whooshed past him, narrowly missing his head by a few millimeters.
Elvis didn't flinch, but his facial expression changed. He had a look of absolute fear and at that instant he knew, never to cross Natasha Solaris again.
The marker crashed into the wall behind him, boring a hole in it as it moved through.
Natasha covered her mouth with both hands. "I overdid it again." She mumbled as she raised her hands and sifted them through her hair.
The entire classroom was hushed by this display of strength that clearly eclipsed their own, strength that made them seem like insignificant ants to Natasha, nothing more nothing less.
Natasha coughed. "Well anyway, who wants to fight first?"
The students all looked at each other in surprise, what did she mean to fight first?
Lucas was shocked as well, he had expected her to at least teach the basics of combat but here she is asking which of them gathered here wants to beat the other.
"What?" Natasha raised an eyebrow. "This is a practical class. I know Asher's class should be practical as well but it deals with a lot of explanations which I'm not good at. However, this is more practical. You learn by losing or by winning or by me beating the crap out of you."
Sonya closed her book with such a loud thud that the entire class turned their attention to her.
'What's she thinking?' Lucas asked, his eyes shifted to the book. He wondered what she was reading about and why she had this aura of confidence around her.
"I'll go." Sonya said plainly as she stood up from her seat and walked down the stairs, standing beside Natasha. Her entire demeanor was similar to that of someone who had already won.
The hotheaded instructor smiled and then looked into the crowd. "Anyone else wanna join in?"
Zed stood up, his headphones still on, his phone in his pocket and his uninterested look still visible for all to see.
"Well what do we have here?" Natasha asked. "I thought people of your status didn't meddle with the affairs of peasants?"
Zed's expression changed, Lucas was shocked. Most of the girls in the class squealed. Zed smiled, his beautiful face highlighted and made even more beautiful by his radiating smile.
"That might be true for Elvis, but not for me." Zed replied. "I know someone strong when I see them so I wanna fight her."
This was the first time Lucas, Karl or anyone besides Elvis had heard Zed speak. His voice was similar to that of a million angels singing, so sweet, so divine. It was like a breath of fresh air.
'So he thinks she's stronger than I am?' Karl, who had been watching intently, thought to himself as he laid his head back on his seat and stared at the ceiling. He needs to get stronger, he wants to get stronger. There was a difference but right now both desires burned brightly within his very soul.
Natasha clasped her hands together. "Well, seeing as we've gotten our fighters, let's go to the gym."
Natasha walked out with Sonya and Zed following closely behind her. The entire class stood up, Lucas and Karl made their way down the stairs. Elvis pushed past them as he walked briskly down the stairs, he stopped and then turned around.
"If you're friends with that girl let her know this, Zed won't hold back and he's far stronger than I am." Elvis said before turning around and walking away.
'Far stronger than you are!? But you've barely done anything to show that you're strong in any way.' Lucas thought to himself.
They all made their way to the gym which was the last room on that particular floor. It was extremely large with training equipment at almost every corner and in the middle was a boxing ring.
Lucas stared at it for a while before a door at the back of the gym opened and out came Sonya putting on a tracksuit contrast to her uniform which had her in a skirt.
Lucas searched for Zed and saw him in the corner of a room talking to Elvis, he was still in his uniform, his face back to being indifferent, his only interest being in Sonya.
Natasha clapped her hands, and the gym equipment all went into what seemed like underground hatches and in their place came a long line of benches all lined up throughout the room.
Zed beckoned to Elvis for him to have his seat and then made his way to the ring where Natasha and Sonya were already waiting for him.
"Now, the rules are simple. Thirty minutes is the time, the first one to put their opponent on their back wins. No Faculties, no artifacts, just Ruin amplification beyond the physical augmentation and straight hands." Natasha declared and then got out of the ring.
Zed smiled at Sonya and then nodded at her, she frowned a little bit before shrugging it off and took a boxer's stance but Zed stood still with both hands in his pockets and his headphones still on his ears.
"Let the fight. Begin!" Natasha clapped loudly.
Zed moved first, he crossed the distance in a blur, his fist aiming for Sonya's chest. She pivoted, letting his hand move past her and then went for an immediate counter with a kick to his ribs, Zed caught it.
With his arm wrapped around her ankle he pulled her towards himself trying to get her off balance but she didn't resist, instead she used the momentum to propel herself upwards, turning her body upside down and nearly connected with her foot to his chin.
Zed moved back a little, staring at her as she landed in a crouch. Both were unharmed, Zed smiled at her.
"You're quite skilled and fast as well." He complimented as they circled each other.
She shrugged. Elvis stared with a serious expression on his face, Lucas was in awe as to how people could fight with such precision. Karl on the other hand was watching intently, studying their every move for weaknesses.
Zed attacked again, a combination of punches and kicks, each one executed with precision, each one meant to force a vital opening. Sonya weaved through the attacks like water moved around one's feet.
Then she struck.
Her open palm struck dead at Zed's chest, sending him sliding backwards, the first clean hit landed. The entire class gasped, Elvis nearly cursed, no one knew she was this strong and she was showing it.
Zed looked at the spot where she had hit him, he had instinctively covered his entire body in Ruin to minimize damage and she had hit him with enough force to level a skyscraper but he was able to scale through unscathed.
"You're strong." She said as he dusted his shirt.
His gesture aggravated her, she nodded at him with a frown and then attacked first this time. Her movements amplified with Ruin.
"Now class," Natasha started, seeing this as a perfect teaching moment, "augmenting your body with Ruin gives you a two hundred times boost to your original stats."
Lucas's eyes widened at this information, two hundred times was a very huge upgrade in strength but that meant that the Cursed Creatures they faced were at a comparable level or stronger.
Sonya attacked, not with intense speed but with careful precision. Each attack was a question. How will you dodge this? And Zed answered every single one of them.
A hook to the jaw, he ducked. A kick to the knee, he jumped over it. A grab for the wrist, he parried and used the ongoing momentum to throw her off balance which nearly caused her to fall but she caught herself just in time.
Lucas gripped the edge of his seat, this wasn't just a normal spar, this was the kind of match you paid heavy money to watch and here he was witnessing a matchup of the elites.
Zed reset, his expression had changed. He was no longer smiling, in its place was something Lucas had never seen on him before. Genuine focus.
He came forward again, this time he didn't stop. Punch after punch, kick after kick. Each one is faster than the last. Sonya blocked, dodged and parried but she was being pushed back, step by step.
Sonya went for a counter attack of her own, aiming squarely for his temple. Zed caught the punch and then spun her around, she used the spinning momentum to go for a backfist to the side of his head.
But it was too late, he ducked under her attack and delivered a devastating uppercut, which sent her flying upwards and out of the ring, her back hitting the ground with a thump.
"Um… Zed wins." Natasha said, pointing at the boy standing in the middle of the ring.
The entire class was silent and then the girls erupted, they all wanted to run into the ring to give Zed a hug.
"The idiot won." Elvis scoffed and walked to the ring to congratulate his brother.
Zed walked out of the ring and over to Sonya who lay down on the ground breathing heavily, her chest heaving.
"You lost." He said to her, offering her his hand.
"I know." She replied and took it, allowing him to pull her up.
"You're strong." He complimented her, meaning it with every fibre of his being.
"You too." She replied nodding at him and then waking to the room at the back of the gym.
Lucas and Karl couldn't keep their eyes off the fight and now they had a whole lot to ponder on.
"They never seemed like they took it seriously." Karl said. "Moreover, Zed seemed to be holding back."
"Yeah. Somehow I feel like both of them were." Lucas replied.
They looked at each other, both of them realizing the same thing. This wasn't a fight, it was a demonstration from the strongest to show them all their difference in power.
And neither of them had actually shown them anything.