Counterattack

~Abilities evolve over time and constant practice. There are three stages in an Ability's evolution. The Base stage, The Advanced stage, and finally, the Pinnacle stage~

TIME PASSED: 11 hrs. 50 mins.

LOCATION: Valeria (Ruined World)

"Interesting" Michael thought to himself.

Kyron had potential for growth, however, he was not sure if this fact applied to all Grandmasters, or it was unique to Kyron. He had no way to find that out at the present but he was sure to keep that in mind and explore more on it in the events to unfold.

"That's unfair," Tenny said gritting his teeth.

Michael looked at Tenny, who was sitting on the floor with a defeated look on his face.

"What do you mean by that?" Michael asked.

"He read your mind, that's not fair... You're not part of this" Tenny protested, refusing to acknowledge defeat.

"How is that unfair?" Michael further inquired.

"Eh? What are you saying?" Tenny said with his widened.

"I'm saying Kyron was within his bounds. There are no rules in combat, the strong win and the weak perish. Blame your own weakness"

Tenny winced at Michael's words, and though he knew his they certain truth to them, he could not take it.

"Oh yeah? What did I expect you to say in the first place? You've always looked down on me." Tenny burst out.

He knew he was wrong, and he knew Michael was only speaking the truth, but he could not help himself from throwing a fit. His frustration would not allow him to objectively think.

"Say what you will, but you know I'm right." Michael's seemingly words pierced Tenny's heart, and his tantrum stopped.

"Besides, I clearly stated the rules to follow and told you to run wild. Anything was allowed, so Kyron validly has one point out of three."

Tenny's face fell, he could not look at anyone, he just kept staring at the ground. He knew already, but he had tried convincing himself otherwise. Compared to Kyron, compared to Michael... he was weak.

"That's enough for today, let's head back," Michael said, finally breaking the silence.

Kyron, who had been standing awkwardly beside Tenny finally spoke.

"But we still have time..."

"Today was a test run, and it has served its objective" Michael quickly snapped.

"Plus, pushing it right now would be a bad idea. The best course of action we should undertake is to return and the both of you should evaluate yourselves."

"Evaluate... ourselves?" Kyron asked with a bit of hesitation.

"Yes. Ask yourselves, 'What do I lack?' What do I need?' and most importantly 'How can I win?'" Michael said.

Suddenly, Tenny started mumbling to himself, and started grinning. He let out a little chuckle which then escalated to laughs.

Michael and Kyron looked at Tenny, confused until finally, he stopped. Tenny stood up from the ground, dusted his behind, and looked at the two other boys before him.

"Like I said in the beginning..." Tenny said, speaking slowly "... I won't LOSE"

Michael smiled, having a sense of relief. Tenny's eyes were determined, and he was going to try his hardest, that was for sure.

Though he knew it would take more than some confident words and determination to win, Michael was still happy at the fact that Tenny had gained the true determination to win.

"Now, Let's go... Tenny if you please?" Michael said, expecting Tenny to once again grumble about the pain of the forceful activation of his Ability, but Tenny did no such thing.

"Sure, I'm ready when you are!" Tenny said, bracing himself for impact.

Michael was once again impressed by how much his brother has grown.

**************************************

"GAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

YEAR: 2161

LOCATION: Adele Street, Lagos

The boys safely arrived at their home, and had a rest. Then since they had a bit of free time, Michael lay down to ruminate on the recent events and his next step.

"...Come find me" He remembered the person he had heard during his stay in the ruined world.

"Just you wait... I'm coming for you" Michael said to himself, with determination as well.

Kyron went to the study to read, while Tenny shut himself up in his room, his actions and motive within were unknown.

**********************************

[THE NEXT DAY]

LOCATION: Valeria (Ruined World)

TIME PASSED: Approximately 12 hrs. 15 mins. (Day 2)

"Same rule as before, gain 3 strikes to move up on the challenge," Michael said.

"Any method is allowed. Go wild"

His eyes moved to Tenny, who was unfazed and determined. This would not be like the last time.

TIME PASSED: Approximately 30 hrs. 15 mins.

Michael was surprised. Kyron had not hit Tenny once since the match started, and not only that... Tenny had actually hit Kyron once. Everyone was surprised. Michael had his theory on what went down and he was almost always right.

During the first few hours, Kyron had gone on the offensive since he knew Tenny's pattern, and since Tenny's reaction was slow compared to Kyron's he would rely on the automatic teleportation.

However, Kyron made a huge miscalculation. Tenny knew about Kyron's plan and so he had already decided on his destination before the start of the fight, so as soon as Kyron lunged for him, he was already gone.

This worked on Kyron for a while until he decided to launch multiple chain attacks, not slowing down his momentum in order not to give Tenny a chance to catch his breath. So as soon as Tenny teleported, Kyron kept moving and attacking wherever Tenny appeared.

Though he kept missing, it was only a matter of time before exhaustion caught up with Tenny and he faltered, since he would need to consistently decide on his location and blink every time he teleported, unlike his automatic transportation.

Tenny also knew this fact, and he had already planned his next approach. He knew he would slip up soon enough, but that was when the fun would really start.

It took a few more tries until Tenny hesitated, giving Kyron the chance he needed. He didn't have time to think, all he had was time just enough to blink.

"There it is... The Automatic Teleportation" Kyron thought.

Since he knew the pattern he knew where Tenny would appear.

"41 degrees northeast, exactly 11.5 meters, in 1 second" Kyron's thought rang as he immediately lunged to the location at top speed.

He did not appear there. He instead appeared at Kyron's previous location. Time seemed to freeze as Kyron's shocked face was evident, Michael was also surprised but did not show it, and Tenny let out a smug smile.

"Well... What will you do now?" Tenny asked Kyron who had stopped moving and was still frozen with shock.

"H...How?" Kyron let out.

"As If I would tell you!" Tenny said as he kept evading Kyron, even with his automatic teleportation.

This continued for hours, and during that period, Michael finally figured out what was going on.

"Tenny altered his automatic teleportation's pattern... no, that's not it. He keeps altering the pattern at intervals so it doesn't become an established one."

Michael was impressed!

"To achieve this, he must have memorized all 201 combinations of his teleportation."

'But when?' Michael thought to himself.

"Don't tell me..."

He realized that Tenny must have not rested when they got home, but must have kept training on his own.

"Well, I guess you have more than just determination to win" Michael muttered to himself, smiling.

Kyron, on the other hand, could not figure out what was going on. For someone as sharp as he was, under pressure, his instincts took over and he lost his ability to rationally analyze the situation, which meant only one thing. He would have to use his mind-reading ability.

Since Tenny was a moving target, he could not get what he needed from Tenny, so the best alternative was to read Michael's mind and find out.

His mind went into overdrive and his focus moved to Michael. In a few moments, he would find out the truth, and then he would win. However, those few moments were all Tenny needed to land his decisive blow.

In the blink of an eye, Tenny teleported to the back of Kyron, the opposite direction of which Kyron was facing, and kicked him in the face. He also instantly teleported exactly 20 meters from Kyron's location, and so he made his safe escape.

Kyron's mind was in shock from the sudden attack, and it took him a few seconds for him to realize what had happened, and the discovery of a weakness of his.

His heightened senses went null whenever he activated his Mind Reading Ability, and all his attention was focused on his target, rendering everything else out of focus!

Since it took a minute to fully capture the mind of his target, that would mean Kyron would be vulnerable for a whole minute, which served more than enough time for Tenny.

"Time for my Counterattack" Tenny said, smiling, with confidence written all over his face.

TO BE CONTINUED...