After another minute of fighting, Bundt countered Kyle’s attack and moved his mace to Kyle’s chin.
“I win,” Bundt said.
Naturally, he didn’t strike Kyle in the chin since that would most likely decapitate him.
Gill called for the next opponent, which was the second-strongest of the members.
‘They are going from powerful to weak,’ Kyle thought.
The fight with the next opponent didn’t go any better.
This one was an Initial Fighter, which meant Kyle’s physical power was actually even slightly superior, but that didn’t help at all.
Instead of blocking, the opponent just parried all of Kyle’s attacks.
About two minutes later, this opponent also ended the match.
The battle with the third opponent was also hopeless for Kyle.
However, this opponent actually used one technique, while the last two didn’t use any.
The battle with the fourth opponent ended even quicker.
‘The weaker the opponents get, the harder the battles become,’ Kyle thought. ‘That’s because our gap in power is not as great, which means they can’t afford to play around with me.’
‘They are getting more serious.’
The last battle ended within less than five seconds.
Kyle’s opponent used four different techniques in quick succession, overwhelming him.
“Congratulations on getting through the gauntlet,” Gill said.
“Getting through it,” Kyle repeated with a laugh. “I was helpless against every opponent.”
“That’s normal,” Gill said. “The gauntlet is just to test your stamina, Ether usage, and enthusiasm. You are not out of breath, and you look like you can still continue. 50% of the time, the new members are exhausted after the gauntlet.”
‘If I didn’t have an improved Center, I would have run out of Ether long ago,’ Kyle thought.
“Theoretically, how could I improve my stamina and efficiency?” Kyle asked.
“I’ll tell you during the feedback stage later,” Gill said. “Now, I have to focus on the other ones.”
For the next 40 minutes, all the other members fought each other.
Based on what Kyle could see, they were all used to fighting each other, and they basically knew all the techniques the others used.
As he watched them, Kyle had to take a deep breath.
‘None of them went all out against me,’ Kyle realized.
The way they moved was graceful and filled with complexities.
It was almost like a dance.
There was a flow to their fights that Kyle hadn’t seen before.
‘And these are the weakest ones since they are in the cheapest course,’ Kyle thought. ‘I’ve got a loooong way to go.’
When everyone was done fighting, Gill fought every member one at a time.
When Bundt fought Gill, it looked similar to when Kyle fought Bundt.
Gill was essentially just playing with Bundt while highlighting his mistakes.
Gill went through all of the members before he told Kyle to attack.
Naturally, Kyle went all out.
Surprisingly, during the fight, Gill was moving very slowly.
He moved just as fast as a normal Peak Adept, which was quite a bit slower than Kyle.
He also barely used any power.
And yet, none of Kyle’s attacks touched Gill.
It was like Gill was moving out of the way of the oncoming attack before Kyle even decided how he would attack.
It was like Gill knew how Kyle would move before Kyle knew it himself.
When he realized that, Kyle decided to become unpredictable and moved in weird ways.
However, when he did that, Gill just pushed him backward.
Unpredictable moves were unpredictable because they were not commonly used during battle, and there was a reason why they were not commonly used.
Most of the time, they left a lot of openings, and Gill made use of these openings.
Gill spent almost five minutes battling Kyle, and during the battle, Kyle saw a couple of patterns in Gill’s movements.
‘He always moves to the right when I strike like this. Why is that?’
“Time’s up,” Gill said, ending the fight. “Now, it’s time for the feedback.”
Gill called Bundt over, and the two of them walked to the corner of the hall.
The two of them talked for a couple of minutes before Gill called in the next one.
Eventually, it was Kyle’s turn.
“Kyle,” Gill said with a chuckle. “I can see why you’re in the course. You have a lot to work on.”
Kyle nodded. “I know.”
“What do you think is your most pressing issue?” Gill asked.
“Speed,” Kyle answered. “Everyone easily avoids my attacks since they are so slow.”
“Incorrect,” Gill answered. “Yes, you are a bit on the slow side, but Air Current does a lot to mitigate that weakness. Guess again.”
“Variety, then,” Kyle said. “I only know a single technique.”
“That is one weakness, but not your most pressing one,” Gill said. “Guess again.”
“Not sure,” Kyle said. “Maybe the way I fight? I feel like I’m very limited in how I can hit my opponents.”
“Also a weakness, but it’s not your most pressing one,” Gill said.
“Experience?” Kyle asked.
“Also one, but there’s something way more important.”
“Eeeehhhh,” Kyle said. “I’m running out of ideas.”
Gill smiled. “It’s that you’re trying to intimidate your opponent.”
Kyle blinked a couple of times in surprise. “How is that a bad thing?”
“It is not a bad thing,” Gill said. “With your weapon and your power, it would be the right decision to intimidate your opponent. When your opponent is intimidated, they are going to make more mistakes, which is good for you.”
“Then, why is that a weakness?” Kyle asked.
“Because you are not fighting beasts,” Gill said. “Beasts are terrified of strong and intimidating attacks. Normal humans are the same.”
“However, all the human opponents you will be fighting from now on are experienced Warriors, Fighters, Knights, and so on.”
“They are not intimidated by these attacks. These are people who can stay calm when a gigantic Ferocious Beast creates craters whenever it misses an attack. Do you think your hammer can be as intimidating as a 30-meter-tall bull that changes the landscape during its charge, destroying tens of trees every second?”
“No,” Kyle said. “I can’t compete with that.”
Gill nodded. “When you try to intimidate a more experienced Fighter, you look like a small child that says they are an adult and that you should take them seriously.”
“Would you take such a child seriously?”
Kyle sighed. “No.”
“Intimidating your opponent is the right move for you due to your weapon and armor,” Gill said, “but first, you need something to intimidate them with.”
“You are not intimidating experienced opponents with armor and a big weapon. Those are secondary. In math terms, they are factors that multiply your base intimidation.”
“If your base intimidation is high, your equipment will make it even higher.”
“But right now, it doesn’t matter since you are not intimidating at all,” Gill said.
“How do I become intimidating?” Kyle asked.
“It’s easy to fix and hard to fix at the same time,” Gill said.
“Momentum.”
“You have no Momentum when it comes to fighting humans because you have almost no successes to speak of.”
“You see yourself as weak, and that is accurate.”
“For now, try to ignore the entire intimidation thing. Try to be as subtle and unnoticeable as possible for the time.”
“Just imagine yourself swinging a dagger instead of a big mace. Alternatively, you can also imagine your opponents to be much bigger than you.”
“When it is time to become intimidating again, you will realize it.”
“And then, you can be as intimidating as you want.”
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