Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd In The Apocalypse!

Chapter 1396 Semantics - Hard Truth

Alright, I did hold back a tiny~ bit since we were just sparring and going all out would just yield a lot of injuries—but the way I held back was right as the other end of my staff was about to connect with Kaley's shoulder, I let go from my end and made it "bounce" haphazardly.

It moved in a way as if you let go of it and fell to the ground—but I easily caught the same end of it again, and this time, I was holding it with my fingertips.

At that point, Kaley was still enduring the pain and trying her best not to fall on her knees but I had already wound up and twisted my arm to send a different "drilling" thrust toward the same shoulder.

And before anyone said anything, I hit it in a place in between her shoulder and her chest so she would feel the hit instead of getting knocked down—and not only was it evident through her facial expression but also from the way her clothes twisted and followed the direction I drilled my arm counter-clockwise.

"Ghk—"

Kaley could only grimace and bear through it with sheer fucking grit—because this was one of the few times I didn't end the match with one blow, so as to not hurt her that much—but yeah, I needed to show her the difference between her and Aoi, not to put her down, but so that she'd have a frame of reference to her current goal.

While it was true that she already made me her goal, it was unrealistic in a sense—and it'd be more in line if she followed or used the steps of someone with almost the same body type as hers instead of mine.

She could probably match me in shooting skill but it would really be a different story if we compare our physical abilities.

And not to be political but science-based, there was just a difference between our bodies which couldn't be bridged unless they were really physically gifted and had been training all their life. And despite those two things, men and women had different strengths and weaknesses—but men had a distinct advantage when it comes to physicality.

With that said, as we go back to our current programming—Kaley managed to grab hold of my staff with much effort, but the look on her face when I closed the distance, as I let my hand slide all the way to the other end—close to hers—was fucking priceless.

"Wha—"

"Let go."

"N-No!"

"Alright."

"What are you— HcgjK!!!"

All of a sudden, I kick-pushed Kaley's right foot so her stance would wobble—and as she shifted to maintain her stability, I had already slid behind her and grabbed her wrist which was holding onto my staff and had wrapped it around the opposite side of her neck, essentially using her own arm to choke her from behind.

And right after that, I used my other foot to kick-pull her other foot opposite her right so she'd lose more footing while going deeper in my lock at the same time.

Of course, Kaley still tried to struggle but it only took a few seconds before she passed out.

Tatiana commented, "Well, that was different."

"Haven't seen that before, huh?"

"So, that's how she moves?"

"She's more... elegant... but bold. I can only copy so much but—"

"Have you shown everything you can copy though?"

"..."

"T-That's it?"

"Care to elaborate?"

"I mean... I grabbed on her wrist and on her clothes before throwing her—and after that I got on top of her and started to choke her."

Kaley was shaking her head, "Didn't you... y-you know, go on spiels like maybe a few paragraphs worth of explanation?"

"Eh. It's literally what happened—but yeah, what's the key point for this move to succeed?"

Tatiana quickly answered, "I know."

"Then shoot."

"Matching my sword path—"

"Technically wrong since you can't match someone else's sword path because your opponent's body is in the way. However, the right term is following one's sword path AND THEN matching it at the critical point. I did say 'follow' earlier, right? It's a different setup compared to landing a counter or dodging an attack."

"Semantics."

"Heh, but that's the hard part. You gotta see it and react to it by following, matching, and then doing your own thing to finish it. Take note, it all should happen in a second or in a fraction of it."

"So... Just get inhumanly faster is your solution?"

I shook my head, "Not exactly. That move only succeeded since we've sparred a whole lot. I know how you move but she doesn't. And in time, she'll know your moves too so the boring answer to that is more variety and yeah, getting faster either by working hard on it more and more or making her slower either by accumulated damage or with a brilliant setup.

I really shouldn't explain how a fight works, right?"

"If anything, I still feel like fighting you, not your older sister."

"Hah? Of course, you're still fighting me— duh!"

"You—"

"But yeah, don't just focus on Aoi-san—though she's one of the greats. We still have Arashi-san, Mashiro-san, and a few others to worry about but at the same time, we really shouldn't worry about it since we're all friends."

"I still want to have a chance to beat her though..." Kaley trailed.

"I dunno what to say but trust the process. You'll lose nine times out of ten—I'm being generous here—but even though anything can happen in a fight, the more experienced and skilled one tends to come out on top. You'll never really know until you come to blows with her."

At that point, not only did Kaley shower while in a sullen mood but even the ones who didn't spar with me had already put Aoi-san on a pedestal after that display.

But yeah, as hard as it may be to hear, I'd rather not get their hopes up by lying to them and telling them they have a high chance of winning against her but instead, it would be better to tell them that there's a small chance but the path to it was fucking perilous.