My Tribrid System: More than a Monster-Chapter 99: A Sparring Session (2)

Chapter 97

— What exercise, Captain?

"Why of course; it’s a rigorous sparring session with your very own instructor: Me!"

"...."

It was as if the spirit of silence had suddenly drifted through the hall.

Every single Aspirant held their breath at the Captain’s words, their hearts thudding against their ribs in a collective rhythm of disbelief.

Their eyelids flickered rapidly as they struggled to make sense of what he had just proposed.

A spar? With a Captain, no less?

It was more than just a crazy idea.

These individuals were just a step under the Generals in terms of pure strength, and that wasn’t an exaggeration—it was a cold, hard fact.

There were rumors that only one Captain could truly stand on par with a General, but even if that remained unknown, it didn’t diminish the reality of their power.

A spar with a Captain wouldn’t just scar them emotionally; it would leave physical marks.

There was no way a normal human could easily ascend to such a position; it was a rank earned through bloody wars, grueling battles, and relentless sweat.

How could common Aspirants hope to even lay a finger on the man?

"... To make this fair on you all, I will suppress my full strength to a mere two percent. I can already see the looks of despair on your faces, yet you haven’t even heard the rules or the potential prize."

’Prize? Now I’m interested.’ Ray leaned forward, an exciting gleam appearing in his eyes.

"So here is how it will go: I won’t pick anybody randomly. Everyone is free to try their shot and see what happens. The rules of the spar are simple: absolutely no ability usage allowed.

You are to use only the combat skills I have taught in this class; I will be doing the same. I won’t utilize any techniques I have never taught or demonstrated to you all before."

He paused, letting the weight of the restriction sink in, then continued:

"If you have a weapon, its use is permitted. You have exactly two minutes to land a clean strike on me—anywhere of your choice, though I would prefer you avoid my children-making factory, thank you."

— What’s the prize here?

Jake tilted his head to stare at the student who had just asked the question, and a sharp smile flashed across his face.

"... The prize is this: whoever manages to land a hit on me, if you are a meta-human, you will receive an advanced rank core directly from me.

Furthermore, depending on your performance, you get to choose any weapon you want from my collection," Jake said, gesturing toward the wall behind him, which was lined with an array of impressive armaments.

Upon hearing the prize, a sudden electrical buzz of excitement descended upon the room like a physical wave.

Everyone was suddenly eager.

And who wouldn’t be?

An advanced ranked core? For some, it was a dream come true.

They could use it to saturate their internal cores, significantly expand their MF pool, and likely take a massive leap to the next grade.

For those who didn’t necessarily need the power boost, they could hand it over to a master blacksmith to have a legendary weapon forged from it.

In this world, weapons were proving to be just as vital as raw abilities. It was an "all hands on deck" situation.

However, conventional steel didn’t cut it.

It took the knowledge of one mysterious individual who discovered that the cores harvested from beasts could do more than just empower meta-humans or fuel technology—they could be used to create weapons capable of harming Aberrants, with the effectiveness depending on the core’s rank.

This revelation had caused the value of beasts to skyrocket.

They were now hunted relentlessly, and certain beast worlds had been completely monopolized, with permanent portals constructed to lead owners straight to the source whenever they wished.

Unfortunately, shortly after this discovery was made public, the person who revealed the secret had vanished into hiding, and no one had been able to locate them since.

Also, unfortunately for humanity, beasts below the advanced rank couldn’t drop a core as they only possessed hearts almost similar to humans or animals of the old.

So definitely, the weapons on the wall were of the advanced rank.

Which meant: land a hit, you get an advanced-ranked core and, depending on your performance, you also get an advanced-rank weapon?

That was beyond massive... for the Aspirants, that is.

Everybody immediately wanted in on this spar.

Every single soul, whether they actually had a shot or not, desperately wanted a chance at the prize.

Seeing how the Aspirants were jumping up and down excitedly, Jake just flashed a subtle smile, his eyes scanning across them all with a predatory edge.

"Unfortunately, we are pressed for time, so I won’t be able to challenge everyone here. Which is why I have to do this—I’m terribly sorry," Jake said, causing everyone’s hearts to skip a beat as they wondered what the Captain intended to do next.

Heaving in a deep breath, Jake closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, then exhaled slowly before finally speaking again:

"... From Grade 2.5 to Grade 5.5 in this room, please come forth. You will be my challengers. The rest, stand down."

"...."

Everybody cast glances at one another.

This class was probably one of the least popular, so the Aspirants here numbered no more than one hundred and thirty at most.

And the vast majority consisted of low graders.

When talking about the majority, more than eighty percent of the class was made up of those in the lower brackets.

"Hurry, time is not on our side," Jake barked.

With that order, students began stepping forward one after the other.

Even Trisha, being a Grade 5.4 meta-human, stepped forth with her usual cold grace. Flinn, a Grade 2.5 meta-human, also walked out with a cocky expression.

Ray gulped silently as he looked around him, then back at his watch, which was currently displaying a measly Grade 1.2.

’I really want to get in on this so bad. That core will really go a long way for me to increase my MF pool. I need to participate,’ he thought desperately.

Taking a deep sigh, he subtly fiddled with the interface of his watch—the one that had been expertly modified by Van.

Soon enough, he manually increased his displayed rank to a Grade 2.5.

With that done, he confidently stepped forward to join the line.

’Not so high that it causes a massive commotion, and not so low that it raises suspicion. It’s just perfect for me.’

Finally, he stood side by side with the others. With nobody else stepping out, the number of challengers was now clear and on full display.

’Damn! Such low numbers.’

With Ray joining the group, the challengers were now a measly eight in total.