Battle Maniac II

It seemed those two were in a silent agreement and Elena went first this time again. Using a different approach didn't sway him as he was more prepared. But Elena spiced it up with a hook.

He evaded her fist, however didn't account for her knee that followed suit. Failing to land it right, she used the momentum to jump on him, climbing on his hip and planting her elbow into his clavicle.

It seems like Elena allowed herself to be caught just to land a single hit, so what followed could only be expected. Chris grabbed her before she could slip away and ran her out of the fighting arena, right into a wall.

Force of it was frightening to Maya who was observing from the gallery and he allowed Elena to fall to the floor gasping for air he just knocked out of her. It looks like it ended rather suddenly and unceremoniously. Chris was now getting down to pin her to the floor while Elena was still trying to get her bearings.

Everyone was convinced it was a done deal when Elena's legs suddenly wrapped around his neck as he was leaning down. If she still had that much strength she could've landed a nice kick to his face, but what she did instead was far more sinister.

Caught in a snare, she directed his face straight into the concrete floor, slamming it rather brutally.

Maya gasped. They all gasped.

Technically, it was his own fault for carrying her outside the fighting area with a mat in a bloodthirsty desire to crush her into a wall. But she used no restraint with this move.

He got completely disoriented. Unable to get up, he gave up trying. It was the first time Maya saw a human behaving dazed like that… She knocked him out, and therefore, won the match.

Elena walked back to the fighting area, panting and wiping blood off her chin, where the rest of them stared in shock. She took the fighting position, ready to go again.

"Who's next?"

Everyone stared at her in bewilderment.

'S—she wants to go again!?'

The loud scratching of the hall entrance startled everyone.

'It was about time someone showed up. Weren't they left unattended for too long?'

The coach returned, oblivious to what had just transpired. All warrior trainees, except for the one on the floor and Elena, stood in a line, greeting their superior like under some military regime. The coach nodded at them and only then noticed a strange scene.

One of his trainees was passed out on the floor and an unfamiliar girl was standing barefoot in the fighting arena.

"Who did that?" the coach didn't seem pleased.

The guys seemed ready to rat her out immediately, but Elena spoke before they could.

"I did," she acknowledged it. "I would like to be trained by a master."

He blinked at her confused. "You're a girl."

"I see that as an advantage. Harder to kick me in the nuts."

The coach chuckled, amused. "Why do you want to be trained as a warrior?"

"Dancing isn't really my thing."

He laughed. "You're cute. I like you. But I can't accept it. We are not playing around here. You could get seriously hurt."

"I grew up on the streets. I can take getting hurt. Better than these soft guys." She gestured toward the guy on the floor while licking the blood off her lips.

"Okay," the coach was impressed. "You can hang around. But keep up with your dancing lessons, so you don't fall too far behind."

Elena frowned. She was still being underestimated.

The coach delegated two guys to take the fallen guy to the infirmary and began preparing for the lesson.

Elena approached hum. "You think I'll give up?"

"Warriors Practice is challenging, even for the ones with the strongest will."

"Isn't this demonstrating enough of my will?"

"I commend you for going against one of my strongest warriors, but don't make it a habit of hurting your comrades. I'm raising warriors, not savages. Now, wipe that blood off and start warming up."

With that, Elena became a Warrior Trainee. Despite the initial resistance, it seemed the majority of the trainees were still accepting of their new member, or at least curious.

"This will be interesting," one of the trainees commented while another patted Elena's shoulder.

Their de facto leader seemed to welcome her and instruct her on their drills. Maya was watching their training begin from above, hidden in the secret spot. After being accepted, Elena looked up and winked at her.

Maya was still in shock. Elena demonstrated an incredible amount of strength. Now it made more sense. If she was capable of defeating a guy twice her size, then what power must her boyfriend hold for her to cower in his shadow and rely on his protection? It would be rather unfair on him.

But then again, do other people know how strong Elena was? She couldn't imagine your girlfriend being stronger than you would be a desirable thing for a guy.

"You know, she brought you here out of her own selfish reasons?" Leo said.

Maya was startled, again. "Gods, Leo. How long have you been here?"

"She might've presented this as trying to make you feel better for getting a shitty job, but this audition was her goal."

"Well, obviously." Maya knew that already.

"Maya, don't let her play you like this."

"How did she play me here? Into watching her audition? She wouldn't care if I weren't here."

"Yes, exactly. She doesn't care."

"Yes. Maybe, she was planning to go to this audition all along," she pretended like she just figured it out.

"My point exactly."

"She didn't need me here. But… she brought me anyway, to try and cheer me up. Perhaps even for moral support."

Leo was stuttering.

"I'm starting to think she might actually want to be my friend," Maya said.

"No. Don't buy into this. Don't make your life into a chain of breaking rules and getting in trouble."

"Why not? I've been obeying rules my whole life. Maybe I want my life to be something more interesting."

"What rules? Please, Maya, only the ones you set yourself. You have perfect parents that gave you anything you wanted and put no restrictions on you."

"Had," Maya was hurt. "Now I have nobody but a ghost that keeps trying to parent me."