The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 193

“You again…,” I growled, as he walked in with a frown.

“Tch, just my luck,” He muttered in response, before addressing us, “Let me make this clear, you brats…I was forced into this, so I’m not going to waste any effort here. This is beneath me.”

“Yeah? Well, then get lost,” I stated bluntly.

“Wha…!? Tch, you little shit…piss me off and I’ll-,” He began with a growl.

“You’ll what? Get your ass handed to you by me…again?” I taunted him.

“Why, you-…don’t get cocky, you little shit, I’m a lot stronger than I was during the tournament. It won’t go the same as last time,” He shot back, as he took a threatening step forward.

“Oh, yeah, you really think so? In that case, why don’t you prove it?” I provoked him, as my hands shifted towards my X-Blade handles.

“Dude, maybe you should stop…,” Whispered Mitchell, as a tension filled the air.

“Yeah, this seems like a bad idea,” Added Seila with a look of concern.

They’re probably right, but…I just can’t stand this guy…

“You want a fight? Fine by me, I’m going to-…,” He began, before trailing off as he got a notification on his I-Watch, right as I did too.

Hm? It’s from the Academy…’please do not pick fights with instructors’.

Uh-oh.

I, uh, kinda forgot that all of these training halls have hidden cameras in them. Guess this is going to have to wait, unfortunately. From the look of it, he just got a message from the Academy too, based on his expression. Damn it, I really don’t want to have to listen to him though…

“You should calm down, Kilzachs, seriously,” Suri spoke up, as she nudged me.

I suppose that she’s got a point. And as much as I hate to admit it, continuing to taunt this bastard will only be to my detriment…I reluctantly let out a slow exhale and calmed myself down, feeling irritated.

“Unbelievable…,” Yugi muttered to himself, before shifting his gaze back over to us, “Start doing some teamwork drills and exercises or something, I’ll be over there in the corner.”

And with that, he headed for one of the back corners of the room and sat down on the floor, tapping at his I-Watch with a venomous look on his face.

“Whose bright idea was it to assign that bastard to instruct us, anyway?” I grumbled in displeasure.

“And why do we have to put up with him for the entire week?” Added Katie in agreement, a hint of anger in her voice.

“Ohh, now I remember…you both fought him during the X-Warrior Championship, right?” Recalled Grey quietly.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Responded Katie, a brief flash of frustration appearing on her face.

I bet remembering how her fight against him during the tournament went is bringing back a lot of negative emotions…huh, and now that I’m thinking about it, I’m starting to recall the emotions I felt back then too.

I remember how pissed off I was, and the satisfaction I felt when I defeated him in the end. And as those feelings resurfaced, I couldn’t help but feel a growing desire to attack him…but I’ll resist the urge, for now, anyway.

I let out a quiet sigh as I swallowed my hostile emotions, before turning around to face the others…for better or worse, I’m the leader of this team, so I’ll have to take the lead here…

“Alright, let’s get started, guys. We’ll begin with some warm-ups, and then divide into two groups of three and spar against each other. We’ll rotate and change up the three-man teams at regular intervals, try out different combinations,” I suggested, after considering what would be the best way to go about this.

Our most pressing concern right now is Grey’s compatibility with this team, I want to figure out what kind of a position would suit him without upsetting the balance of the team. And this was the best method I could come up with, let’s see how effective it is…

…

Huh…I don’t think I need to worry about the team balance, after all. This three vs three exercise has been really effective, but I can’t take full credit for it…Grey’s turned out to have some really impressive adaptability, it didn’t take long for him to settle into his roles at all, proving himself to be highly versatile.

He’s insanely strong at close range, on par with me…if I set aside my Anomaly powers, he’s more 9t less an even match for me. He doesn’t have the strongest Primary or Secondary Manifestations, but his sheer physical skill more than makes up for it.

He’s also a rare Prodigy who uses X-Weapons, though I suppose that’s becoming a bit more common lately, as mediocre X-Warriors become desperate to keep up with those that have gone on to trigger Manifestation Overdrive.

Though, as far as I know, no one else besides Katie has yet managed to trigger Manifestation Surge, not even my sister. She’s actually been complaining to me about it, since she apparently keeps getting close but is yet to succeed.

Well, anyway, the session is almost over, and unsurprisingly, Yugi kept out of it for the entire two hours. Which I’m definitely not complaining about, the last thing I need is ‘help’ from that son of a bitch.

“I think that’s enough for today, let’s wrap this up,” I decided, with less than five minutes to go in the session.

“Awesome, I’m freaking beat,” Groaned Mitchell, as he sat down with a dramatic sigh of relief.

“You guys are a pretty cohesive team, huh?” Remarked Grey, looking impressed.

“We totally are, but I have to say, what’s more impressive is how quickly you settled in,” Responded Suri with a nod.

“Yeah, I have to admit that I was a bit worried that adding someone new might weaken our effectiveness, but with your level of skill, we’re definitely better off,” Added Seila in agreement.

“I agree, I was concerned about how this might affect our formations, but after this, I can already visualize how we’ll adapt it to fit you in,” I remarked, as I simulated the possible combinations through my head.

“Yeah, what they said,” Chimed in Katie with a thumbs up, both her expression and voice in the usual monotone.

“Probably should have said this sooner but…welcome to our team,” I stated with a smile.

He looked a bit taken aback and surprised by all the praise, as well as kinda bemused by Katie’s remark, before a grin appeared on his face…

“Th-thank you, all of you…I’ll, uh, do my best!”

Okay, this worked out better than I’d thought. At worst, my expectation was that this would completely throw our team balance off and Grey would end up feeling isolated all over again and try to blow us all up like he did with his old classmates.

To be fair, I did acknowledge that that was a slim possibility, since last time, it took some pretty extreme circumstances to drive him to do what he did. But I couldn’t write it off since doing something like that is bound to be much easier the second time around.

After the way things actually played out here though, I think it’s safe to say that that possibility has been quashed. And now-…

“Hey, you done with your training? Because I’m supposed to inform you of something…,” Suddenly remarked Yugi, as he stood up and approached us.

“Huh? What do you want?” I responded icily.

“Oh, believe me, I definitely don’t WANT to do this, but I don’t have a choice. At the end of this week, on Saturday, this team will be given a Mission…tch, and I’ll be a part of it too,” He told us, a displeased look on his face.

“As, like, an observer or…?” Inquired Mitchell warily, as I felt a sense of dread rising up inside me…

“Grr, that wouldn’t have been as bad, but no…I’ll be made to join your team as a temporary member,” He growled in disgust.

“What!? No!” I blurted out immediately in horror.

“Yeah, what he said,” Added Katie in agreement.

“Tch, you think I want this any more than you do, huh? Fuck this…,” He muttered, as he then turned around and stormed off, leaving the training hall with a slam of the door.

This can’t be happening…

“No…no, no, no! Goddammit, I can’t work with that prick-…,” I groaned in dismay, before trailing off and mumbling to myself in irritation, “hm, maybe I don’t have to…what if we kill him and make it look like an accident…?”

“Uh, dude? Your, uh, dark thoughts are leaking out, we can hear you,” Remarked Mitchell, as he poked my shoulder.

“Good idea, he needs to suffer, let’s cut him up in the dark, till his insides start leaking out…,” I replied murderously.

“I think he’s losing it. Hey, snap out of it,” Chimed in Seila.

“No, snapping his neck would be too merciful. Instead, let’s snap off his d-…,” Katie began with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes.

“Uh-oh, now there’s two of them,” Said Mitchell nervously.

“Two, huh…once we’re done with him, he’ll have none,” I declared as I cracked my knuckles.

“Good call, let’s rip them off and stuff them down his throat,” Suggested Katie with a nod.

“It’s no good, they’re only hearing what they want to hear…,” Sighed Suri in exasperation, before adding, “Would you two cut it out already?”

Cut, huh? Tch, if only I could use my Anomaly powers against him, I could use Cut to swap the positions of his crotch and face…

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