BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Erik was stronger than Amber physically, but the young woman had a massive advantage over her thanks to her experience.

She knew a lot about the Kyokar fighting style, which gave her some kind of edge that made up for her lack of brute strength.

Her punches were more dangerous because they came with greater accuracy. Undoubtedly, she would have been able to knock out almost any other person who tried to fight against her.

But despite these advantages, Amber couldn't take Erik down; her attacks landed successfully, but the young man's ability to tank them had not to be underestimated.

The young man's face was swollen and beaten, but he refused to go down. Amber was going easy on Erik since he asked her to help him learn how to use the moves he learned to fight.

She constantly gave the young man pointers, told him what he was doing wrong, or just complimented him when he did something good—all things that helped him get used to fighting. Soon enough, however, the students began to tire.

The two fighters continued their bout until late afternoon. They took several breaks between the spar, but Erik didn't want to give up, and Amber wasn't having particular problems against him, so she was not that tired. As far as Erik could tell, Amber wasn't even breathing hard by now! He wondered if maybe she'd gone beyond human limits already.

At last, after a long time spent exchanging blows, with him being unable to even land a blow on her, Amber threw an uppercut that almost knocked Erik out. He grunted in pain and collapsed onto the floor.

After three hours of training, Erik decided it was time to take another break, saying: "I still have much to learn," the young man said while looking the ceiling. He then stood and went to a bench on the side of the gym sitting on it.

Amber sat down beside Erik on one of the benches placed around the sparring room while he lay exhausted upon another bench nearby. They both drank water and rested their tired bodies after spending a lot of time in this sparring session.

Amber leaned back onto the wooden surface and thoughtfully watched Erik rest. He didn't seem very fatigued by all that exertion he did during those three hours of combat. After taking a sip of water, Erik put the glass away and wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve.

His skin glistened like polished calcite, yet beneath its light appearance lurked deep red marks where Amber's fists and kicks connected with him.

However, as far as Amber could see, none of the blows had done severe damage. This fact puzzled Amber somewhat; she wondered if maybe she should start giving him some more severe punishment.

The young woman stood up, walked to the wall next to the door, and grabbed a towel hanging from it. Then she approached Erik, wrapped the soft cloth around his head, and gently rubbed his temples until he closed his eyes and sighed. When Amber finished rubbing his muscles, she stepped back, smiled, and said: "You're welcome."

She turned and headed for the ring, leaving behind a bewildered Erik to sit alone on the bench. A familiar voice called out a moment later: "C'mon, Erik!" Professor McAllister said, and then both he and Amber started sparring again.

Unbeknownst to him, many people kept observing his and Amber's match; Anderson, Nathaniel, Floyd, Gwen, and many others. They were taken aback by Erik's fighting ability.

It was true that Amber was taking it easy; still, Erik could resist her after barely a month of training. What insane talent was that?

Besides, his speed and power were grotesque, to say the least. The students were left wondering how he had that much power despite being just a sigma-ranked individual.

Professor McAllister noticed this peculiarity too. His physical prowess was indeed unnatural, and the only explanation behind it was his awakening.

Instead, Anderson was especially surprised by Erik's incredible endurance. Despite getting hit dozens of times, he never showed signs of surrendering.

Anderson thought that since he couldn't avoid all of Amber's strikes, he decided to take them on to conserve strength. Indeed, she managed to hit him most of the times. Yet somehow, Erik never found himself staggering under the pressure of her blows.

It seemed as if he was trying to compensate for his lack of experience by taking advantage of his incredible physical attributes. Despite his strategy being futile in the long run, at least it allowed him to keep Amber's pace and prevent her from completely dominating the battle.

Among the watching students, Nathaniel was present, he was looking at Erik and Amber, sparring with a look of pure annoyance.

"What do you think about him, Nat?" Karl asked.

"He is still far from being worthy of joining the Red Palace," the young man replied.

"Indeed, but his growth has been explosive. It is almost frightening..." Natasha rebuked.

Nathaniel thought about it and frowned; he felt uncomfortable with the idea that someone might grow faster than him.

It was already bad with Anderson and Amber being stronger than him in martial might, and now this little prick was starting to bear his fangs. He was mad; however, he didn't let it show and answered calmly: "We will see how far he will reach..."

Karl nodded and continued to observe the sparring match between Erik and Amber. Erik started having difficulties after Amber increased her output attack; he took more hits and started feeling them.

Still, he never lost concentration, even despite Amber's relentless assaults. Even when Amber delivered a kick directly into Erik's head, which caused him to almost lose consciousness. He managed to stay strong and keep fighting.

"Stop! Stop!" Professor McAllister yelled. Eventually, Amber began slowing down and finally stopped attacking altogether.

With a smile, Amber pointed At Erik and said: "Nice job!" then they both ceased their sparring. The professor looked at the two fighters standing on opposite ends of the ring, panting heavily and sweating profusely.

"Very well, Erik, you are talented indeed," the teacher said. "If you train enough, I think you won't have problems at the tournament," the teacher added.

Erik looked at Amber, who was holding her hands together in front of her chest. She was smiling and nodding, which made him feel embarrassed. However, he couldn't help himself but return her smile.

After that, Erik went to shower; it had been a tiring morning for him, but he was happy nonetheless. He found out that he wasn't too bad at fighting, as he could resist Amber's relentless assault. She was a fighting machine, the best of the best, and he was lucky to have her as a friend.