My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 99

It was as if the girl were a complete ghost.

One moment she was standing three meters away, appearing aloof as if the whole ordeal were a bothersome chore she was forced to endure.

The next moment, she became a literal blur of motion.

Just as he lifted his head to track her, Jake was met with a devastating strike from above.

It wasn’t just any attack, but a roundhouse kick delivered at blazing, predatory speed.

’What a crazy girl,’ Jake mused inwardly, his instincts screaming as he leaped two meters away from her in the absolute nick of time.

Bang—!

The missed kick collided with the reinforced ground with such immense force that, for a fleeting second, it looked as though the surface would shatter.

Luckily, the high-grade material withheld the impact. That was it.

For the first time since this entire challenge had commenced, Captain Jake was actually forced to move his feet.

He hadn’t just shifted by inches; he had been compelled to retreat three meters just to escape Trish’s reach.

It was an unbelievable sight.

Ray was visibly shocked, along with the rest of the gathered Aspirants.

However, his surprise didn’t linger for long, as Trish took it upon herself to immediately initiate the next charge.

She lunged forward, swiftly materializing before Jake as if she had always been there.

Her foot streaked upwards, a lethal arc heading directly for the Captain’s jaw.

With equal velocity, Jake leaned backward, letting the kick slice through the air mere centimeters past his face.

Before he could even begin to reposition himself, the missed strike came crashing back from above, transitioning seamlessly into a brutal axe kick.

’What the hell?!’ Jake shouted internally, his adrenaline spiking.

Despite the pressure, he wasn’t ready to lose his composure in front of his students.

He leaped to the side, narrowly dodging the heel that crashed into the ground with a small, localized boom that made the floor shudder.

— Woah! She’s incredibly strong.

— And so fast. I can barely track her.

— I guess she’s not called ’The Ice Queen’ for nothing.

The moment her foot touched the floor, she twisted her head to stare in the direction of the Captain, who was now visibly grinning at her with newfound respect.

”Impressive. I honestly thought most meta-humans found hand-to-hand combat to be an unnecessary distraction. How come a high-grade meta like you is so ve...”

”You are chipping away from my time with unnecessary chatter,” Trish’s cold, melodic voice resounded through the hall, stunning everyone into a deeper silence.

She immediately took advantage of the brief lull by dashing forward again.

”I see. My bad. I guess simply dodging your attacks won’t cut it anymore,” Jake replied, his tone sharpening.

With that, the entire platform seemed to shudder under the weight of their exchange.

Bang, BAM, bang!

Captain Jake was no longer just evading; he was now actively attacking Trisha.

His hands moved through the air in a dizzying blur, seeking out any opening in her guard, but the girl was slipping through his reaches with feline grace.

She exploited the tiniest of windows to attempt her own strikes, but they were consistently evaded by the veteran officer.

’One minute left,’ Trish noted, mentally tracking the countdown.

Swooosh!

A kick from Jake whistled toward her head at full speed.

She twirled on one foot, dodging the attack with fluid precision.

In one continuous breath, she sent her own leg cracking through the air, aiming to catch the Captain off guard while he was mid-motion.

As if he were reading her very intent, Jake vaulted into the air, clearing the strike entirely.

The moment his boots touched the ground, Trish was already there, her body coiled like a spring as she unleashed a hook kick.

Jake didn’t even bother to block, choosing instead to leap away—but then, all of a sudden, Trish’s momentum shifted again.

Her fist shot toward the man’s face at maximum velocity. It was a committed, heavy strike, and Jake saw it coming.

’Wait. That’s not right; the angle is slightly off,’ Ray noted, his eyes narrowed into thin slits.

He had been keeping his gaze peeled on the confrontation from the very beginning.

For the majority of those in the hall, the combatants were moving far too fast to follow, but not for Ray.

He was absorbing the techniques, the positioning, the subtle shifts in weight, and the way each strike was delivered.

He was like a sponge, soaking up every bit of high-level combat data.

That was when he saw the trap.

Jake moved his arms to block the incoming punch, but in the very next heartbeat—

Bam—!

Trisha’s toes smashed into his ribs the exact moment his hands had moved to counter the feinted punch.

The Captain was sent sliding two inches away from the impact of that blistering kick.

”I win.” Trish said coolly, standing upright as she stared directly at the Captain with an unwavering gaze.

”....”

Silence hit the hall. Absolute, pin-drop silence.

The very next moment, the room erupted in a collective cheer that almost made the walls vibrate.

— What an incredible performance! So it’s actually possible to strike the Captain?

— Woah! This is wonderful. Does this mean it’s not over for us? We still have a chance of reaching the world powers?

Words of awe, frantic cheers, and congratulations spread through the hall like wildfire, but Trish remained entirely unfazed by the sudden adoration.

’Tsk! Just two percent of his power is equivalent to my own full strength without using my ability. I’m still quite far off,’ she thought, her internal standards far higher than those of her peers.

Blinking for a few seconds as he recovered his stance, a genuine smile crossed Jake’s face. He gave the girl a sharp nod of approval.

”I’ve gotta admit, I didn’t see that specific kick coming. Excellent job. Stand aside, you win.”

Trish gave a crisp military salute and then walked off the platform, choosing to stand a short distance away from the other participants.

Ray simply stared at her back as she moved.

’Not bad at all.’

”Next! You!” Jake shouted, his finger now pointing directly at Ray.

****

A second later, Ray was standing on the platform face-to-face with the Captain.

Jake didn’t look like someone who had just been dealt a crushing, full-strength kick by Trisha; he looked perfectly composed.

’What an absolute monster.’

«Says the one with the bloodline of a beast. Hahahaha~!» Bruce’s voice echoed in his mind.

’So you finally admit that you are a beast, eh? Gotcha. Ha~!’ Ray laughed inwardly, causing the werewolf spirit to go silent in an instant.

”Begin!”

Nobody in the crowd cast Ray a second look after seeing the low number displayed on his watch.

After all, several Grade 2.5 fighters had already lost miserably in the previous rounds.

What could a third one possibly do? They watched with disinterested expressions, certain that nobody could match the spectacle Trisha had just put on.

Even Jake stood in his previous spot with a subtle, bored look shadowing his face.

’I’ll show every single one of you.’

The moment the command left the Captain’s mouth, Ray darted forward at full throttle.

His velocity caught everyone by surprise as he suddenly blurred across the platform, materializing before the Captain within the blink of an eye.

’The element of surprise!’

Wasting no time, he swung his fist forward at a blazing speed.

Though Jake was momentarily caught unaware by the sudden burst, it didn’t mean he was unprepared.

He swiftly leaned his head backward—avoiding the punch with the same effortless grace he had shown before.

But Ray was unrelenting.

He immediately pivoted, swinging his second fist in a vicious left hook toward the Captain’s neck.

A slight, calculated tilt of Jake’s head was enough to dodge the hook.

For some reason, something stirred within Jake to test the waters.

He wasted no time in swinging his own foot in a counter-strike toward Ray’s abdomen.

As if he had anticipated this exact movement, Ray leaped to the side, narrowly dodging the kick.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he blasted off again.

— Woah! He is incredibly fast.

— Are we sure he isn’t using a speed-enhancement ability?

Though Ray could hear the whispers from the crowd, he didn’t care.

He swung his knuckles from below in a sharp uppercut directed at the Captain’s jaw.

’Quite impressively quick for a Grade 2.5 meta,’ Jake thought.

Yet, Jake sidestepped the uppercut cleanly.

’Knew it,’ Ray smiled widely, his plan unfolding.

In one smooth, continuous movement, he spun around and transitioned into a roundhouse kick aimed at the Captain’s side.

With a casual, vertical leap, Jake evaded it.

The grin on Ray’s face persisted. Crouching low, his leg muscles tightened until they felt like coiled springs.

Then, with a loud bang—! he exploded into the air, launching a super-punch aimed directly at the Captain’s abdomen.

’Quite boring. You have speed, but nothing else,’ Jake snickered inwardly as he kicked the air beneath him, using the pressure to leap over the punch.

He landed on the ground smoothly, his hands still crossed over his chest as he stared at Ray, who had also just touched down.

’Why is he still grinning like a madman?’

Ray closed his eyes for a brief moment.

A sharp ding rang in his head while he remained perfectly still.

[Quest Alert]

[Description: You have just tasted a tiny fraction of a Captain’s strength. Yet for some reason, he isn’t even taking you seriously, nor are your colleagues. Fix that by landing a solid hit before the set time elapses.]

[Rewards: ???]

His eyes snapped back open, drifting slowly toward his watch, which he was using to time the encounter.

’Not only will I get a prize from the Captain himself if I win, but the system will reward me too? Hell yeah!’

With that realization, a new surge of electric excitement coursed through his body.

He proceeded to tap his temples twice, focusing his mind.

’One minute to go. Time to actually do this.’

”Oh? A new po—”

’System; put all my remaining stat points into Agility now!’

Boom—!

Ray exploded from his position.

He started at his usual high speed, but then, all of a sudden, his velocity increased exponentially.

[Done]