[Bonus chapter] - Ally vs Ally

Turning around, Gus saw that the voice was Lianna's. She was accompanied by Timber, and another boy of similar size that he recognised from the game.

"So?" she asked, pressing the question. "Can we?"

"Uhm, sure."

'It can't hurt, can it?' Gus thought.

"Great!" she said, her expression shifting to a brighter one.

"So, what kind of training are you doing?" Timber asked, shaking his light hair as he spoke. "Anything in particular?"

"Not really," Gus responded. "Right now, I'm testing two of mine against each other."

"Funny enough, that's what we were going to do," the other boy said in a thick, Australian accent. "Oh, I don't think we've been properly introduced," he said, extending a hand to Gus. "Duncan Wattell."

"Gus," Gus said as he took his hand.

He was dark haired, and had a stern look in his blue eyes. His arms were covered in small, light scars that seemed to have been collected over a number of years. He wore the academy's combat uniform but the sleeves had been removed, seemingly by hand as opposed to with a blade of some kind.

"Which one of them should we be rooting for?" Lianna asked, turning her attention to the fight between Connor and Joel.

"Well, the other day when we were down here, Connor got put on the floor while Joel won his fight. But Connor might have improved. Personally, I'm not going to pick a side, but you three are welcome to."

"Were you fighting another group or something?" Timber asked. "Or were they going against you? Because if Joel beat you then I've got to improve myself. Joel is the bigger one, right?"

"Yeah, he is. And we were against another group, but not by choice. There was this guy, William Dean, in our group for the simulated exam. He and someone else were bickering about the plan, so I took charge and kept his plan as a backup. Well, he didn't like that, and so kind of has a vendetta against us now, or at least against me. He and two of his lackeys challenged us in here, and that's what happened," Gus explained.

"So, we know how they did, but how was your fight that time?" Lianna asked.

"Mine? Oh, easy. William Dean is very weak, but somewhere along the line something happened that gave him an overinflated ego, so he thinks of himself as some kind of ruler of men, with the intellect to rule over everyone and dictate everything about the lives of others. Honestly, if you encounter him just stay on your guard. He seems pathetic, but I don't know enough about him to make a confident assessment."

With the pleasantries dealt with, the attention turned to the fight at hand. It started off just as Gus expected, with Connor relying on his agility advantage over Joel and Joel focusing on his strength advantage, trying to land a single blow on Connor.

Gus saw little improvement from Joel's fighting skills, not that they needed improvement at the moment. His fighting style was refined, and complemented his size and cybernetic enhancement perfectly. The only issue was that it was too one dimensional. Punching things with force was useful, but any seasoned opponent would be able to exploit the directness of the attack to create openings with which they could counter.

Connor, however, looked a lot better than the last time they had been down in the Pit. While his dodging had not needed much improvement, everything about his offensive capability had seen improvements. His timing of attacks, along with the force of his blows and their placement, had improved. In the future, he would need to improve a lot more, but for now he performed at a substantial level.

Strangely enough, the fight progressed much like Connor's last. Connor dodged blows that would surely put him down, while taking opportunities to strike back. There were some slight differences to the last time, though. Connor seemed less like a fly, and more like a starving hyena. While his strength was not much better in the grand scheme of strength, the difference was noticeable.

Connor's fighting style also exposed the flaws in Joel's style. If he could land blows, then he was dangerous. But when fighting an agile opponent, one that did not allow themselves to be struck easily, then he was comparable to an unloaded gun, something that looks threatening but is pretty harmless.

Slowly but surely, throughout the fight, Connor began to bring Joel down. By ducking under blows and driving attacks into Joel's side, or by striking his torso when he overextended in an attack.

As soon as a large enough opportunity presented itself, Connor fully committed to the attack. Dodging under an over committed strike from Joel, he noticed that Joel's body was entirely exposed. He let all ideas of defence leave his mind, and committed all of his strength into one, singular blow.

His fist connected with Joel's chest, with the force of the blow driving Joel down onto one knee. The blow causing his chest to sting, Joel immediately raised a hand to his body in a reflexive action.

A smirk grew on Connor's face as his confidence rapidly swelled up. He brought back a fist, preparing for one, final blow to end the fight.

Seeing the opportunity blatantly presented to him, Joel took advantage of Connor's confidence. Rising to his feet, he used his momentum to drive a fist into Connor's chin, throwing him off his feet and into the air for a moment, before he quickly fell back into the ground.

Sympathetic winces emerged from the mouths of those surrounding Gus. Instead of being surprised, Gus was disappointed. While he could not blame Connor for being excited to win a fight, he had at least expected him to keep his composure until the fight was finished.

'Not too bad,' Gus thought, as he turned to Lianna. "So, how do you want to do this training?"