72 Third Year 5

The news of Han's disgraceful fight against Laocha spread like wildfire and everyone gathered together to tease him. To them, Han was the rookie and the youngest of their group.

Most of Ark's combat personnel were in their early to late thirties and already had a lot of experience under their belts. They were the ones who survived through the war against dragons since their youth.

"Laocha was once stuck in the jungle alone, but he was able to single-handedly tie up all of a grunt's squad. A movie about the time was produced in his home country, titled 'Jungle Warrior: Laocha'." A soldier said. Han listened while holding an ice pack onto his bruised body. His entire body felt sore from the bruises.

"Jungle warrior?" Han asked.

"He was able to cleverly use the geological advantages of the jungle to successfully battle against the grunt squad. A grunt's intelligence is about the same as an animal but are stupidly strong, so it's not easy for anyone to single-handedly take down twenty grunts with a single knife."

Grunts squealed like pigs and showed off green skin. They were usually stationed on the front lines, like shock troops amongst the minions.

They appeared to be a pig-like turtle monster with low intelligence and simple attack patterns. Without an Elu to command them, they would just blindly throw frontal attacks.

"Would you like to see it?" A soldier asked, and Han nodded. He wasn't so interested in Laocha's remarkable activities of the jungle, but interested in seeing an actual movie.

"Hey, bring over the USB. Oh, don't forget the projector." A soldier called out to his peers. They brought over a beat up looking projector. It was a simple gadget. You just needed to insert the USB into the projector and point it at a wall, then press play.

Du-dududuuu!

Childish, cheesy sound effects resounded. A devilishly good-looking youth, who was probably Laocha, was standing in the jungle.

"He's handsome. Very tall as well," Han said honestly.

"He's the top movie actor of Thailand. His pale skin is just like Laocha."

The soldiers sniggered as they looked to Laocha. Han watched through half of "Jungle Warrior," before returning to his room to sleep.

Han met with Laocha at the scheduled time and location to receive training. The place seemed a bit more quiet than the day before. Laocha was currently punching a sandbag hanging from the ceiling. He spotted Han and smiled.

"Do you see that guy over there?" Laocha pointed to a muscular looking youth. Han had seen the youth a few times already.

"He must be a first generation psyker."

The muscular youth's name was embroidered as P.F. on his uniform. He had a shaggy beard for a third year, so he could easily deduce that it was a first generation psyker.

"His name is Johnny Schwartz. A first generation psyker. He's been artificially strengthened for close combat. He mastered a wide range of martial arts from wrestling to Judo. He could easily beat werewolves bearhanded. He's been a part of the dragon extermination squads twice."

"I've heard his name before." Laocha easily ran through Johnny's profile from memory. He patted Han's back.

"Go and beat Johnny up, kiddo."

Han stared blankly to Laocha. Laocha wasn't kidding. He simply smiled and pushed Han forward.

"Me?"

"Why? Are you scared?"

Han let out a sigh. He decided to put some faith in an expert combat specialist like Laocha.

'If his purpose is to make fun of me, I'll be sure to repay him by many folds.'

Han had never behaved timidly in the face of adults. He had always been battling against adults to survive. He was vastly different to children who quietly complied to an adult's words.

"P.F. Schwartz," Han said to Schwartz. Schwartz looked back in surprise.

"Aren't you the rookie? Is your name, I think your name's Chan, right?"

"Han."

"What's up?"

Han hesitated for a moment because it would be awkward to randomly ask a stranger for a fight.

"Would it be alright to spar together?"

Schwarz scratched his head and nodded.

"Follow me to the ring. Is using psychic skills allowed?"

"Let's not allow the use of psychic skills," Han said. He still lacked very much in psychic energy manipulation during battle. His opponent was only a first generation psyker, but the other party had also received artificial body strengthening which buffed his strength and physical resistance exponentially.

"Now, let's start. Chan."

"It's Han."

"There is no difference. Let's go, Chan!"

Schwartz dashed towards him. He posed a different type of threat to Laocha. It felt like a bear was pouncing on him. Han threw a punch to parry the attack. Schwartz easily caught Han's arm and then threw him down, causing the whole ring to tremble. Han blankly stared up into the ceiling

He couldn't even process what just happened. He grabbed his arm, and then he was up in the air. All the bones in his body hurt. Han would have been gravely hurt if it wasn't for the sparring ring.

"One more time," Laocha who was watching just outside the ring said. Schwartz looked to Laocha, confused.

"This kid can't hold a candle to me, Laocha."

"I know. Beat the kid until he can thoroughly understand it to his bones."

Han had yet to accept his loss. He stood in attack position once again.

Schwartz looked to Han with a bored expression. The end result was the same no matter how many times they repeated the spar. Han tripped every time to Schwartz's techniques.

"You're done, right?"

Schwartz looked a little tired. He hoped Han would stop getting up.

"One more time, please."

Han held onto the ring rope to get up. He contemplated new ideas every time he fell. How could he possibly win against Schwartz?

The ring had limited space. He didn't have any weapons he could use. All he had was his body. He purposely took his time to get up so he could give himself time to think.

Then, he would try and attack according to his plans. He was always beat up in one hit, but Schwartz was greatly surprised at the dynamic attack patterns Han had attempted all this time.

"Stop, come down kiddo."

Han hoped to try out a different attack pattern he just thought of.

'If I open my attack with a low kick, he will try and interfere with my center of balance with a forward tackle. I can immediately counter by kneeing him in the face.'

However, Laocha didn't give Han another chance. He pulled Han's leg.

"It was fun, Chan." Schwartz said honestly.

It was interesting to receive all of Han's dynamic attack patterns. This was proof that he didn't simply blindly spar with sheer power.

'This kid will grow strong very fast.'

Laocha threw a drink to Han. Han looked to Laocha like he still wished to continue sparring.

"Aigoo, look at your scary eyes. Do you feel frustrated, kiddo?" Laocha snickered. Han closed his eyes and repressed his emotions. He calmly responded.

"No. I would have lost even if I fought another round."

"Of course. You're strong in close combat, however your ultimate strength is with weapon handling. You probably never had a chance to spar bare handed. Honestly, this sort of combat style will not help you much. How would you ever trip a dragon? That will be an interesting sight to see."

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Han chuckled.

"That's correct. Fighting bare handed will not be useful in battle. Even so, why are you asking me to do this?"

His words had thorns to them. Laocha thought it was very troublesome mentoring someone like Han.

This kid was seriously too smart for his own good. Though the kid had received education from Ark, his mental age was far more mature than the average kids his age, and his sense of caution was very high.

"Reaching Schwartz's level is like reaching for the stars. He's a very difficult opponent for you. What will you do next time I ask you to knock Johnny out?"

"… I will propose to spar with weapons instead."

Laocha nodded and smiled.

"That's it. There is no need to fight a battle you can't win. We're not sports athletes. It's necessary to throw away our pride and honor from time to time. It's important to accept that an enemy is stronger than you. It's not necessary for you to become the strongest in any one skill. What you must do, is make the situation the most advantageous for yourself, and battle your opponent with your strongest weapon. This lesson applies to every battle. From time to time, you must give up in order to see the correct road forward. We will stop for today."

Laocha carefully read through Han's profile. Han wasn't a warrior who excelled at everything. He was a hunter who battled with tactics and technical skills. Han had been instinctually fighting against others like a hunter.

He must thoroughly understand himself.

'It's good that he doesn't easily give up, but it's also a weakness to not know how. Though this is a contradiction, it's a skill the kiddo must learn.'

Laocha was famous amongst Ark's soldiers for his expansive thought process. He was a survival master who could memorize the most tediously small detailed observations and tie them into future battle plans.