Ava's Quest and the Rematch

Mark spoke with Ava a bit more and learned more about the Organisation, but many details were missing.

Ava revealed to him they were trying to go to the other Realms, although they weren't sure how they could do so. The reason behind that desire was unknown to him, but he had a few ideas.

Ava's power was limited here, but if she were to go to one of the Main Realms, who knew what abilities she could unlock in the end? She could also try to find her father as even if she didn't talk about him, Mark understood he wasn't someone in the place and was another Transcendent or a resident of the Realm that her mother used to be.

He also learned that in the group that he fought back at the warehouse, every single one of them was Transcendent, although only their leader had shown a significant development in his Talents.

'Could that be the reason behind their nicknames on the notifications? '

Mark had thought little about it back then and considered it something they used between them, and the System decided it was necessary to mention. But what if that nickname wasn't given to them by other people but by the conscience of the world?

From Ava's explanation of Transcendent before becoming actual Transcendents, people received minor Talents, which to Mark sounded the same as his Skills. Those Talents actually emitted a strange Aura when used, which Ava had developed a way to detect it. That was how they found out about him, apparently, as even if they didn't notice the effects of his <Beginner Hacking>, they still detected its existence.

'I need to be more careful in the future and hide my aura better. '

Ava informed him that other people were aware of Transcendents, but a vital rule prevented spreading that knowledge.

People who haven't reached that state, or could become Transcendent couldn't share that knowledge if somehow they came to learn about it, or the universe will try to stop them. Either they will be involved in an accident, or others will get informed that they would like to keep that knowledge a secret, like Ava's Organization.

There was a loophole in this rule, though, as Transcendent people or in similar status, like Ava, could share that knowledge with anyone without punishment. But if those people tried to share it with someone else, they would get punished.

Mark found it interesting, and he realized why Ava was so open about his 'secret. 'Even if everyone in the meeting were people of prominent position, Mark didn't think Ava was a person to blindly trust people that easily. But all of them knew what would happen if they spoke about this info elsewhere.

Mark, for now, said his goodbyes to Ava as he headed towards the Combat Department. He wanted to see if he could spar with some more people, but this time maybe knock them down to earn some EXPS. Unfortunately, his level was still too low, and only because his <Martial Art> was relatively high was he that strong.

It didn't take him long to reach that place, as even if it was his first time moving around without Claire, he remembered his way about, as there were also some signs around to help.

He headed to an open training area, where some people were there practicing in hand to hand combat.

"Well, well… look who decided to show up? Our newest 'genius honors' us with his presence, "Mark heard a familiar female voice speaking.

"Hey, Sam. Ready for round two? I came for some practice, after all. "

Mark didn't need to finish his sentence as mid-way Sam had already charged at him, but he easily avoided it while continuing speaking.

"You know you don't wear your exoskeleton, so it isn't a fair fight, "Mark said, teasing his opponent to mess with her mind.

Even if he hadn't been part of many fights, he understood that losing your cool into one is the worst that you can do.

Sam charged once more toward him while saying nothing as she tried to punch him. Her speed was clearly better now that she didn't wear the exoskeleton, but not at a degree that Mark couldn't avoid, but he needed to focus on doing so, meaning once more, he put a stop to processing his leftover knowledge. He had thought of taking some hours to focus just on finishing processing them, but he could do so at night, but he couldn't train like that then, as people would probably sleep or could be away.

Mark focused once more on defense as he avoided her attacks or used his open palms to redirect her forces in the other direction. When he did the latter, sometimes Sam lost her balance and let out an opening that he could use to end the battle, but he didn't.

After all, he was receiving the benefits he looked for from this battle.

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<Martial Art> reached level 49

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As he kept using the different primary forms of Trucko that were meant for either avoiding or deflecting an attack, his Skill level was increasing at a noticeable speed.

He kept fighting her for five minutes straights, and by that point, both of them seemed pretty tired, especially Sam. But still, it didn't seem like she was ready to give up, as she was trying everything to get a hit.

However, Mark had to admit that she wasn't an easy opponent, as she was adjusting to his move sets. If he wasn't changing it every few seconds, as there were more than a dozen forms he needed to practice, she could have been the victor by that point.

But even if Mark didn't look that tired, which seemed to anger Sam more, his SP was relatively low, and he was close to what he knew was the danger-low level.

'I guess that is enough for day one. '

At that point, Mark deflected another attack from Sam, creating another opening. Possibly because he hadn't used those opportunities till now, he caught Sam with her guard down as his open palm hit her.

He aimed right in the middle of her stomach, and his Trucki strengthened his strike, but he didn't release it on her. Instead, he just used it to reinforce his strike to increase the force of the impact, which caused Sam to let out all the air from her lung and be pushed back.

But unlike what Mark expected, Sam didn't pass out as she made a roll in the air and barely fell on her legs, but still, she was on one knee, as the hit had affected her that much, at least. Her breathing was even heavier, and she seemed to have a hard time breathing and probably used every will she could muster to keep herself from passing out.

Mark walked towards her, and all she could do was look down at the ground like she didn't have enough energy to raise her head. However, Mark didn't take long to reach her, as he stopped just out of arm's length from her.

He had his arms crossed as he looked toward her. A crowd had gathered to watch the fight, and everyone seemed curious about what would happen next and why Mark stood there like that.

"You know, we could help each other instead of fighting. After all, you technically are my senior. I am sorry for the previous remarks. I just wanted to give myself an edge in the battle. "

Sam seemed like she said something, but Mark couldn't hear her clearly as her voice was too low, probably because she was still out of breath. So he just got his face closer to hers.

"What did you say? "he asked.

She once more said something, but again Mark couldn't understand, so he got his face closer, right in front of her face.

""What was… "but before he could finish his sentence, he felt something on his left cheek.

Sam's closed fist tried to punch him, but she put almost no force into it. She just barely touched him, and Mark heard her voice say.

"Caught you… hehe, "and then she fell to the ground and passed out.

Her attack wasn't enough to cause even a single point of damage, but it was still enough for Sam to prove that she could make even a single hit of hers to make contact with Mark.

Mark didn't let her body hit the ground as he princess carried her to a nearby bench to rest.

As he did so, Mark turned his attention to all notifications that appeared during his fight and the one that appeared when Sam passed out.

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<Martial Art> reached level 50

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<Martial Art> reached level 51

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<Martial Art> reached level 64

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You defeated Samantha Taylor and earned 152 EXPS

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