A few gazes flick to Isaac as he steps in. He lowers his rear arm guard slightly to push himself left as he steps forward. A return to guard from his rear as his lead hand extends outward with a twist of the right foot to load up the power. Then the strike of the lead hook alongside the twist of his hips to carry the chain of motion upwards for knockout power, even in a smaller body.
"WUAGH!" Isaac shouted unnecessarily loudly.
THWACK!
The B.O.B Dummy rattled as a direct hit to the liver knocked it solid.
Now, what I failed to do was escape after the hook.
So as I draw my lead hand back, cheque hook, I roll and pivot clockwise before throwing two stiff jabs.
L-Step and then reset.
Executed as intended, in fact, too well.
Good. My fight IQ hasn't diminished one bit in a new body.
"Yo, bro! Look at his technique! That's really good for someone so skinny, what the hell?"
"Babe! Dude, he has to have some amateur experience at least. You think you could beat him?"
"Of course, babe."
"Hey… But he's only a First Year tho? Has he really competed that young? And even if he did… He wouldn't be as confident as he is now, no?"
"Hey… whatever the fuck experience he has… Lowkey, let's try sparring him."
Yeah, no, fuck off.
I'm gonna get destroyed in this body. They're gonna put me in a Kimura and rip my arms off.
A few students quickly head over to Isaac, who had already placed his gloves down and ran for his life.
He regrouped with his tour sooner or later after dusting the students who chased him for answers. Some were doing pull-ups, some were doing preacher curls, and all of them were physically active.
What good students, they seemed science-based as well, with how perfect their forms are.
FUCK! OWWWW! MY WRIST!
Except for Isaac, who had a naturally weak wrist, even back on Earth. The headache he suffered, supplemented by this new wrist pain, started to really tick his clock.
I need to do knuckle pushups and wrist conditioning—
"Yo! What's your name, bro?"
This guy…
"Isaac."
"Man! What did you do just now? You're sweaty as hell! Must've worked out hard, right?"
"Combat sports…"
"Oh? You do a striking sport, yes?"
"Yeah… How did you know?"
"You're holding your wrist so tight, I think you're cutting off blood flow, haha!"
Screw you, dude… It fucking hurts…
"Hahaha…"
"Oh, wait! Your THE Isaac Mun, yes? Ho一"
Turaiya yelps as Caelum suddenly stumbles onto her.
"Damn… Look at those lovebirds. Anyways, ho—"
"I don't know, dude. Don't even ask me."
"Bu一"
"Sorry… No. I really don't know, man."
"Hmmm… Okay. At least answer me this, then."
"Sure."
"You're not from around here, are you?"
So… Hmm… Should I play into the trap?
"Huh? Yeah, I'm not from here."
Ah… I see.
That same temporal vein was now sticking out ever more so.
"I see, I see. Where you from? Knyagatyrsk?"
Too specific.
"Nah, nah, native, just not from the Capital."
"Really? From a rural village then?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Well, I mean, you seemed like it, y'know? I've got a few friends who act as you do."
"Fair enough, I do act like a bum sometimes."
"Oh, c'mon, man! Don't degrade yourself like that. Hey man. It's nice to meet you."
"Right. Nice to meet you to, Marcus Kim."
The upperclassman gives a friendly grin while shaking Isaac's hand. Once the 10 minutes were up, all the students returned to Marcus, who gave them all pleasantries.
Phew… This motherfucker.
Praising me, treating everything as a joke, settling for less by asking a question he knows I won't answer to get me to be more willing to answer his second question, and most fucking importantly, using hasty generalizations and summing up other fucking fallacies to lower my guard.
What a sneaky bastard, this fucker Marcus Kim.
Also, this fucking Clanker.
What a good actor. Why, out of all times, were you near Marcus and me? I only went to regroup early because I wanted to get away from those other fighters. Going by your psychology from the Original Plot, you were a curious little fucker who wanted to explore the whole gym and was late to the 10-minute mark.
I don't think Turaiya would have brought you back earlier, seeing as she had her plate full as well. You wouldn't bring her to the main entrance cuz that would draw even more interviewing students to her.
So why were you here?
And your stupid trip.
Whilst talking to Marcus, I saw no fucking bump on that perfectly smooth surface.
So why would you trip, Caelum Veldt?
Argh fuck… Everyone is acting so weird and cunning.
They must think they're in some elite classroom or smth.
The group exited the gym and started travelling eastward. The air grew all the more humid. For Isaac, though, the atmosphere grew more intense. Marcus, however, was stopped by one of his friends who whispered something into his ear.
"Dude… That Isaac Mun guy is as good as you foresaw. The way he hit the bag makes it seem like he has some sort of experience competing previously. I had an amateur boxer friend to analyze his subconscious habits and movements. First, he's never heard of this guy on any news or boxing index; second, the habits of his boxing are uniquely his. Your theory might actually be right… Warn your sister about him in hand-to-hand combat. Get her to spar with us more often. She needs it if she is to compete against him."
"I know. Thank you."
Student No.137.
Isaac Mun.
'It' is also good at fighting, huh?
.
.
.
Oh come on… Don't make your whispering so obvious.
Topological Anchor Version 2
Isaac was looking over his shoulder; if he couldn't hear it, he would then actively filter the binary of the world down to their conversation alone. Their entire conversation was assimilated by him through his fluorescent green eyes.
Poor thing~ What do your friends think of my display of skill?
Heh… I know I'm good…
Okay cringe… Nevertheless, Marcus should have been implicitly threatened by my skill through word of mouth. I made sure to hit that heavy bag and grunt as LOUD as possible.
Once they reach the foot of the House of Meris, Marcus catches up.
"House Meris, as you know." Marcus gestured to a shimmering aqueduct system.
"Water Resonance Archetype Students. Their sports complex is huge, especially the pool. The water density is increased to simulate ocean trenches for those who wanna be ocean explorers or marine biologists."
Aw man~ Aveline would love it here… I should hang out with her on the weekends.
What do brothers and sisters do, though? Never had someone as close to me as a sibling.
But yeesh… Chill out, dude.
Marcus stared at him, and a series of thoughts floated in his mind. Isaac could predict the majority of them; the primary one was why he was acting so emotionally here. What drives that emotion out of him?
I didn't know that thinking about family could so automatically change my facial expression.
My main weaknesses in my FSIQ and FSEQ are my VCI, WMI, self-awareness, and self-management. As I slowly progress through these Acts and Arcs, especially if that fucker Caelum the Clanker keeps making these psychological puzzle room debacles, I should be able to Star Up my intelligence faster than everyone else.
I'll be a top tier!
Cringe…
But it's good to know that when I think of family selectively, I can feign this body's emotions.
A First-Year whispered, "Do they really fight sharks in there?"
"Well… You go find out," a mischievous chuckle leaves Marcus's mouth.
A flick of his wrist and a 'light' blow of wind trips the student and nearly causes his body to fall into the water. As his head entered the water, the student opened his eyes and noticed the sheer depth of the pool.
It was a pool of approximately 100 meters in length, 65 meters in width, and 225 meters in depth with 1.5~ Billion litres of water.
Deep Dive Dubai was only 27m x 17m x 60.2m, I think.
What the FUCK are you letting students dive into???
If this is what 'students' use, then how deep is the deepest pool on this planet?
The fuck is wrong with the people in this world?
As the student opened his eyes, he saw a sudden rush of shadows toward him. It was a Water Wave Binder and her companions, fleeing in desperation from an entity beastly pursuing them. With instinctive haste, he removed his head from the water after realizing what was approaching.
Before the group's astonished eyes, a semi-translucent shark of colossal scale burst from the water, clamped around a student in its maw before spitting her out.
"HAHAHA! There it is! That's the shark you spoke of yea?"
Marcus, with practiced composure, In-Threaded a Synthesis Clause-Construct of Fire and Wind Noësis to dry his hair. The frightened student nodded frantically, just as another resounding splash flew the shark re-entry into the pool.
Yet Marcus, already anticipating the water, Out-Threaded a Pentagonal Barrier, shielding the entire group as he stood with his back to the pool.
Aura farmer… Stop it… If he's that good, then I'd better not fuck with him directly.
Man! Why is everything coming down to my intellect?
I just wanna aura farm and spam Spells to win as well.
"That is an Advance-Class Concordee of the Sea, contracted by Professor Aldrick himself for the students to play or train with. We called her 'Galina', which means serenity. Contrary, no? Because to her, chasing and chomping students is her form of play, her serenity."
All the students looked horrified at its definition of 'play' except Turiaya, Caelum, and, surprisingly, Alyssa, who seemed ecstatic. After all, a Concordant seeing a significantly higher class Concordee would make her heart flutter.
Even Isaac understood, based on his hazy childhood memories, that she would most likely inherit the Concordance Contract from Aldrick to be the owner of Galina later down the line.
Also, this fucker Caelum again. Approx. 0.3-second headstart in his reaction of amazement to the shark, Same as his other headstart laugh at a joke.
Bloody Clanker.
Post House of Meris, Southbound, the group returned to familiar terrain, House Esyphyr's training grounds, where the NCAT took place. And it was in this moment that a weird question was proposed.
By a random of all people.
"Senior Marcus? Is it true that the Thalionic Spiral's upper floors require either flight-type Clause-Constructs or specialized climbing equipment to navigate?
Hoh? Why would she bring up Arc III? It's not mentioned in any orientation material, and it will not be proposed as a field trip location till a few days after careful deliberation by Orthellius and the other Professors.
Did this Clanker tell her to ask the question while using that Light Veil Magic? Unlikely. Caelum hasn't left Turaiya's side for the entire duration of the tour. Plus, I don't think Caelum has future information, nor the computation to predict the location of the future field trip.
Or… perhaps my interference has caused Orthellius to take action faster? He may have already started to drop hints at a field trip to the students, specifically to rile Caelum and me up, and to see how we react.
Marcus was also startled by this question.
Of course, he responded appropriately for someone who has studied the internal mechanics of the Spiral.
Hoh… Interesting… That reminds me…
Moving on, Marcus's voice turned wry after reaching the House of Esyphyr.
"You've all met this spot intimately during the NCAT. There are dueling rings, practical drills, CEC targets, and optional survival exercises like dodging nullified versions of Clause-Construct."
Definitely gotta get some training in too.
Isaac checked the corner of his eye again.
Turaiya stared at Caelum sharply.
Nobody would get the hint implied by her stare. However, Isaac could infer from the lore that Turaiya's idea of 'morning cardio' was likely war crimes disguised as sparring. The perfect test dummy? Her supposed childhood friend.
Lastly, West to House Tleli. The tour returned to the delectable scent of the dining hall through the open gates.
"Dining hall is here, as you guys know. Hot tip, literally, the spicy Dragon-Pepper Stew will melt your tongue off. But it boosts your spice tolerance greatly since the capsaicin binds to your TRPV1 receptors for longer than regular chilis."
Another biological statement, by a random extra at that.
Further confirms that they're smart as hell.
Note to self again.
Learn or steal the recipe of the dragon-pepper stew and mass-produce it for later Acts. I remember it cuz it was so odd and random, it became a core memory. It will be useful when, eventually, the Institute's clown decides to prank everyone by sneaking extra 'spice' that leads to a decrease in the relation value of the Institute and ultimately, somehow, a bad ending.
I'll make them eat more of the stew so they all build up spice tolerance.
Also super useful for splashing on monsters.
Hell, if those Kabbalists get in my way again, I'll just torture them with stew for info.
Marcus clapped again.
"Take time and go get a meal in first, I'm sure you guys haven't eaten breakfast yet. Be back at the entrance in 30 minutes."
Isaac concerned himself only with replenishing his protein intake while those around him dispersed into their friend groups. For the sake of observation, he allowed himself a single glance toward the Princesses and Caelum. Their mannerisms aligned with their counterparts from the original game.
Satisfied with those confirmations, Isaac finished his meal and departed from the dining hall ahead of the others. He passed the upperclassmen, discussing the new cohort's attitude and mannerisms. Isaac looked up towards the ceiling as a way to hide his identity. Shockingly, nobody stopped Isaac as he began to walk out.
Wow… The trick still works.
Nice.