Transcendent Gene
Chapter 91: Guided Training [7]

Chapter 91: Guided Training [7]

Jax moved first, and when he reached Gio, he didn’t let it end with one strong attack. This time, instead of fighting a trainer, Gio was fighting Jax.

He was moving like himself, using his own instincts, and only holding himself back enough to make the battle worth fighting for Gio.

In a single moment, he let forth so many strikes that Gio couldn’t count them. He desperately put his blade up to block, only tracking those attacks by the feeling of them striking.

He pushed back step by step, but Jax followed him with the same unceasing movements. It only took a second for him to establish a sense of helplessness in Gio’s mind, but it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Gio could already see what he was doing. He wouldn’t lose this battle because he let himself get mentally overwhelmed.

’There has to be an opening.’

This was a unique situation. No matter how real Jax wanted to make it feel, it was training that was meant to help him improve.

Gio knew that somewhere within his movements, Jax left an opening for him to find. That was how he always was.

Gio kept his eyes peeled. He didn’t move his sword much, keeping it in front of his body in the best defensive stance he could take.

He felt the wooden blade slap against his arms, leaving him with what would have been minor cuts and scrapes if it were an ordinary sword. However, any strike that would leave lasting damage was blocked.

Gio’s eyes were adapting.

No, his eyes had already adapted. He was used to seeing Jax at this speed.

’He uses his upper body to support his power more than most people because the energy in his legs needs to be used elsewhere.’

The weaknesses in his form revolved around his waist.

It was impossible for Gio to take his eyes off the man’s upper torso if he didn’t want to miss the blade trajectories, but he could see his target through his peripheral.

Every time Jax swung his sword, his waist twisted at a wild angle that most people’s bodies couldn’t replicate. It allowed him to maintain power without having to multitask, but if one was just a little more skilled than him, or if one was presented with the perfect opportunity...

Gio waited until Jax was in the middle of his swing and acted. He lowered his body and pounced forward, wrapping his arms around Jax’s waist.

"You...!"

He quickly brought his elbow down onto Gio’s back, but it was barely able to make contact. Gio used Jax’s own weight against him and flipped him onto the ground. He kicked his feet, moving before Gio could get on top of him, but that was also expected.

It was fine as long as GIo could gain the momentum back.

He charged and swung his sword, forcing Jax on the defensive. This time, he was the one letting loose a flurry of attacks.

It was as Jax observed before. When he was in control, Gio’s perception went into overdrive. His natural instinct to control all possibilities leaked into his sword style, somewhat boosting his performance.

He felt like he could see every little change in Jax’s body even though that wasn’t true at all.

He wasn’t seeing those movements at all.

It was purely "instinct."

He had fought Jax so many times over the past month. When he wasn’t fighting Jax, he watched their fights in the [Memory Book] and analyzed every little piece until he could finish the puzzle and have a complete picture of how Jax fought.

The picture wasn’t complete, but it was close enough. His mind couldn’t keep up with Jax’s movements, but his body’s natural instinct helped him move to control them.

His sword appeared where Jax wanted his to go. If Jax made a move to take back the momentum, he found his swords being directed into the ground, leaving him defenseless.

His eyes widened in surprise even as he entertained the battle with his complete focus.

’There’s no way he’s grown this much, right?’

Because Jax was strong.

Because Jax was strong, these were still like the attacks of a child.

’But if he went to one of those fancy universities in the Upper Strata...?’

Jax really wanted to see what it was like when Gio fought against people his own age.

’Alright. Consider me impressed already but...I’ll let you keep going until you wear yourself out.’

Jax fought back with a grin. He stayed on the defensive longer than Gio expected, giving him plenty of chances to experiment.

He flung sand into the air and slipped behind Jax’s back, trying to slit his neck in a single strike. As if he was playing with him, Jax suddenly dropped his upper body and locked eyes with him with his face through his legs, giving a slight smile before dodging the sword that stabbed towards his nose.

Gio pulled the blade up for a merciless attack on Jax’s most important area, forcing the man to jump in panic.

"Hey! That’s too dirty!"

"You’re using way more strength than I am. Nothing is too dirty."

It was hard to dodge attacks in the air, even for a flexible guy like Jax. Maybe he could twist his body and narrowly dodge when Gio stabbed his sword at him, but when he pulled his arm down...

Well, there was nothing he could do.

Thwack!

The sound was loud in the quiet desert, accompanied only by the panting of two men and the light brush of sand being displaced by the breeze. It would have been easy for Jax to right himself and keep fighting, but he allowed himself to faceplant into the ground.

"That’s death."

"Super death."

Gio grinned.

"I wouldn’t have been much better off, but I would’ve had time to give you a nice send-off before kicking it."

"Sure, but that’s if you actually chose to send me off instead of finding a Healer."

Jax stood up with a sigh, rubbing the sand off his front.

"I was planning to let you go until you got exhausted, but you actually managed to hit me. Aiming for my di– fu–!"

Two words that had been abruptly halted far too late. He’d basically already said what he wanted to say.

Jax sighed and stopped talking for a second.

"Natalia will kill me if she learns that I’m cursing in front of you, but it’s too hard. It’s not like I can stop myself before I say enough of the word for you to get it."

"Do you have ADHD?"

"Rude."

Jax frowned and shook his head.

"Anyway, cheap tricks aside, it was an impressive performance. I didn’t think you’d improve so much in just a month."

Gio’s grin widened.

"Yeah. I didn’t think so either."

It was all because he had a good teacher.

Because Jax was an instinctual fighter, someone whose body moved before his mind. By watching his movements for hours and studying how his instincts functioned, Gio was able to sharpen his own battle sense.

As he sharpened his battle sense, things became easier to see. As things became easier to see, he was able to draw out more of his strength and act with more versatility.

He could truly see the battlefield now. He wouldn’t be caught off-guard easily by things near his level.

At the end of the day, everything came back to Jax’s teachings.

Gio held his hand out, a gesture of making peace.

Jax looked at it with a raised eyebrow and smiled.

"I’m not that dumb."

Though he said that, he firmly shook Gio’s hand anyway.

"But I’ll do as I promised. You never actually blocked that attack, but the only reason I didn’t use it is because you didn’t give me the chance. If I said I wasn’t impressed at this point, I’d just be an asshole."

Jax’s brows immediately wrinkled as he realized he’d cursed again, but his expression returned to normal soon after.

It seemed he’d completely given up on censoring himself after trying once.

Not that Gio minded. His mouth wasn’t much better, after all.

’Plus, he said he’d do as he promised.’

Gio didn’t need to hear more to guarantee that Natalia would never find out about Jax’s troubles.

That was one member convinced.

Now, he only needed to do the same with the ones who’d come next.