Having killed the remaining three creatures that were dumped onto her in black pods, Skyler ran for Huntress, her long and powerful claws ready to strike at the Granian’s head. However, instead of aiming to scratch her face off, Skyler leaped into the ear and came down with a knee kick aimed at the Granian’s head. Unfortunately for the young woman, Huntress was far more experienced and well trained in battle training, so much so that Skyler failed to land a single finger, or in this case claw, on the female Granian.
Every attempt got more and more strenuous for the gifted woman, and with her energy draining faster, it was starting to become a severely difficult challenge for her to keep up.
"You’re clearly exhausted, and yet you keep pushing yourself," Huntress spoke to Skyler, who was clearly out of breath. Her body slowly reverted to normal with a couple of parts still partially transformed. Upon looking at her sorry state, Huntress felt a sense of disgusted compassion growing in her but instead chose to push it away. "This is sad, really. I thought you and I would be able to make significant progress today. Guess I was wrong for thinking like that. You did quite fairly for your first time, so I’ll give you that."
Having had enough, Huntress carried Skyler’s body and dumped it at the main exit of the simulation chamber. Before leaving, she gave those standing by orders to watch over her body and feed her to avoid her from meeting the Lord. Once the orders were given, Huntress walked her way out of the simulation chamber, displeased that the human did not meet the expectations she had for her. Her goal was for Skyler to be able to defend herself in case she ever fell into a difficult decision that required her to do so.
In the end, she did not get what she hoped for, and instead of helping her even further, the female Granian grew impatient and gave up on Skyler almost immediately. She instead focused her attention somewhere else on talent that was yet to be tapped into by someone else. Someone who was new and was yet to be put into the field. Someone who was close to ending Grim’s life. Someone she had taken an interest in the moment she saw them transform into the aggressive blood mutant form once the gene was administered to her.
’I wonder how that human is faring,’ Huntress wondered as she got into the laboratory Anya and Grim were in. At the moment, however, the lab had been severely destroyed, while Anya stood at the far end, currently already in her blood mutant form as Grim stood on another side with his symbiote being active.
’He’s using that thing against her?’ Huntress wondered as the symbiote on Grim’s back vibrated. ’Is she really that strong? Has another serum been administered to her? How comes she’s able to turn like that at such ease?’
"Lord Grim," Huntress greeted while keeping her distance between both opponents. A look of worry covered her face while Grim prepared a move she had seen before. A move that the black-scaled Granian used often whenever he was about to take his opponents out. "Surely you don’t have to use that move on her, yes? Won’t this affect the path of your plan? You said she’d play an important role. Why kill her now?"
"I do not plan on killing her," Grim answered, breathing heavily. For the first time in a very long while, Huntress looked at Grim breathing heavily with a couple of his scales moisturized with his own sweat. "I want to put her out for a moment. She has managed to override the blood mutant blockers. It’s not working on her."
"That fast?" Huntress wondered as she rushed to Grim’s side, ready to aid and assist him in any way she could. "How could she have managed to pull off such a skill? Not even the orange-haired boy knows how to do it yet." Thıs text ıs hosted at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝓷𝓮𝓽
"We did not take into consideration that the boy’s blood mutant gene was infused with a powerful symbiote. That fusion running in his veins now runs in hers, and she now possesses a symbiote of her own. That is what is making her this powerful. But it comes at a cost, look." Grim pointed at Anya, who was trembling where she stood. Her legs contracted and expanded repeatedly, while her head constantly went in and out of the blood mutant and human forms. "That power has yet to be harnessed properly. She still doesn’t know how to handle it fully."
"Then let us put her out and get her to training immediately." Huntress chuckled as she quickly ran straight for Anya with her ring blade gripped tightly in both her hands. As she got closer, the female blood mutant opened her mouth in an attempt to roar at the female Granian. However, Grim, who was waiting for that chance, threw the nearest projectile he could find and managed to trap her mouth in place.
Anya struggled to move her jaws shut, but it was too late. Huntress was already on her side with her blade ready to slice her head. Knowing she was not going to be able to dodge, Anya folded her fingers slightly and attempted to slice off parts of Huntress’ body with her long and sharp claws.
Both opponents struck each other, only to end up hitting each other’s weapons. Huntress’ blade was knocked off her hands while Anya’s claws were severely damaged. As for Grim, he was already above Anya with a kick which landed on the side of her head. Hitting her down onto the ground and knocking her out almost immediately.
"That was an excellent diversion." Grim praised Huntress for her efforts as he picked up Anya’s body, which had already reverted back into its human form. "She’s ready to join the others, but I personally have to be there to monitor her. Her power’s growing too fast and I fear that it could one day either consume us and destroy all of our hard-worked efforts, or it could consume her and end her life, or even worse, the lives of the other three."
"What will you have me do then, Lord Grim?" Huntress asked, not wanting to be left out. "I can come with you and watch? I can even duel the others just for the fun of it."
"That’s not necessary," he answered. ’The others are now on blood controlling training. You have no need to worry about them." With that said, Grim personally carried Anya to the simulation chamber while Huntress remained alone in the laboratory that was in ruins.
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[Meanwhile, back in the Simulation Chamber.]
One... two... three... Ace, Cherry, and Jim fell to the ground with their faces bruised, their bodies battered, and their bodies severely aching. The three were currently working on combat moves and learning how to fight instead of throwing simple kicks and punches.
However, in order for this to work, the three were pitted against three real Granians who were their sparring partners. The blood mutants were to do their best to knock the Granians down without getting severely hurt. Although it was safe to say that neither of them was making any progress.
"If you three notice this, your opponents are not using any random moves." One Horn gave instructions with a blood mutant blocker in his hands, ready to keep the three blood
mutants from transforming. "You do not have to do anything fancy. Study your opponent. See where they’re going to move next and strike them when the time is right. Now, get back up and try again."
Even though every part of their bodies was screaming in pain, the three blood mutants stood up again, some being more injured than the others. Jim suffered a cut on his upper forehead as well as a bruised eye and cracked nostril. Cherry, beyond angry, had broken fingers and a bleeding forearm due to her reckless fighting and breathed heavily, having had some parts of her chest cracked. Ace had a blood-filled mouth and a splitting headache, his legs trembled due to the stinging pain in his body, and his lungs hurt severely with every breath he took in and out.
"Now, let us begin again." One Horn instructed, and the three Granians moved forward, almost like programmed machines. Once the Granians got close enough, they raised their hands together and threw left punches at the humans before them.
Thankfully, they had all noticed this and dodged at the same time before striking back with moves of their own. The Granians dodged the attacks, by blocking with their forearms at the last moment. Then, all at once, they hit the humans again on their chests, making sure to hold back so as to keep them from passing out immediately.
"Please, at least let us have our regenerative abilities." Ace pleaded, for he could not take the pain any more. However, judging by the look on One Horn’s face, his request was not going to be honored, so they had no choice but to continue.