Red Dragon Spaceship Awakening: I Gain Alien Abilities on Mars-Chapter 209: Comedian Tatehan

After a minute of laughter that echoed across the training field and probably carried all the way to the compound’s outer walls, the fighter who had won three times in a row finally caught his breath and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I should be easy to defeat, lol," he said, his voice still shaky from laughing. "You’re like a god in fights."

Tatehan grinned, the expression tugging at the corners of his mouth even as his mind turned over the absurdity of the statement.

He had caught some seconds of the guy fighting, even though a whole lot of his mind had been stuck in thought, replaying battles and analyzing what had actually kept him alive all this time. From what little he had seen, the guy was good. Like, really good. His footwork was solid, his strikes were precise, and he moved with the kind of fluidity that came from years of training and repetition. The guy was definitely a pro, not some random dude who could fight well due to a ton go abilities.

There was technique there, actual learned skill that Tatehan frankly did not possess.

And honestly? Tatehan wasn’t sure he would survive a straight-up fight with the guy if they were going purely hand-to-hand.

But then again, he would survive. He would win, even.

If he wanted to fight the dude in a match, he could use his Gravity Manipulation without anyone knowing. Just a subtle shift in the gravitational field around his opponent, increasing his weight by a fraction, making his movements sluggish and uncoordinated. Or he could decrease his own weight, making himself faster, lighter on his feet, harder to pin down. He could manipulate the ground beneath them, create invisible zones of altered gravity that would throw off his opponent’s balance without them even realizing what was happening.

He could cheat, basically. And no one would know.

But he wasn’t going to fight.

Even though a part of him was tempted. Even though he knew that fighting (and winning) would increase his reputation even further, cement his status as someone untouchable, someone legendary.

The guards already looked at him like he was some kind of combat deity, and if he took on this fighter and won, that image would only grow stronger.

But Tatehan also knew the truth. He knew that any victory he got in a straight fight would be because of his abilities, not because of his actual fighting skill. And more importantly, he knew that there was a very real chance (however really small) that he could lose.

The dude he was to take on might fight really good than normal just to impress him and he (Tatehan) might not be given the chance to use his gravity manipulation ability.

And if he lost, even once, in front of all these people who had built him up in their heads as this unstoppable force, the damage to his reputation would be catastrophic.

So no. He wasn’t going to risk it.

Tatehan raised his hands in mock surrender, shaking his head with an exaggerated sigh. "Nah, I’m not fighting."

The guards looked at him, confused, some of them already grinning in anticipation of whatever he was about to say next.

"I mean, look at you guys," Tatehan continued, gesturing broadly at the training field. "You’re all out here working hard, perfecting your techniques, getting better every day. And me? I’m just standing here watching. If I step in and fight one of you, I might actually lose. And then where would I be? My whole reputation, gone. Poof. Just like that."

He snapped his fingers for effect.

"So I’m going to protect my image and stay right here on the sidelines where it’s safe."

The laughter erupted again, even louder this time. Some of the fighters doubled over, clutching their sides. A few of them fell to their knees, gasping for air between fits of cackling. One guy actually rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky with tears streaming down his face.

This felt like he was in some parody comedy film to be honest. How could normal humans laugh in this manner for whatever he had said.

Tatehan just stood there, arms crossed, trying his best to keep a straight face even as the corner of his mouth twitched upward. He still wasn’t entirely sure why everything he said seemed to hit them so hard, but at this point, he was just going to roll with it.

When the laughter finally started to die down, again, the fighters slowly pulled themselves back together, some of them still grinning like idiots, others wiping their eyes and shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Battle Commander Tatehan," one of them said, his voice hoarse from laughing, "You’re killing us here."

"Good," Tatehan replied with a smirk. "At least I’m good at something."

That got a few more chuckles, but the energy was starting to settle now, the initial burst of hilarity fading into something more comfortable and easy. The fighters seemed lighter somehow, more relaxed, and Tatehan realized that maybe this was exactly what they had needed. A break from the tension and the constant pressure of living in a city that had been under siege. A chance to just laugh and not think about the Obscuron or the next attack or whether they would survive the week.

A time for fighters who risked thier lives to have fun.

Tatehan uncrossed his arms and gestured toward the training ground. "Alright, come on. Get back to it. Show me what you’ve got." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The fighters exchanged glances, still grinning, and then they moved back into position. Tatehan stepped to the side, leaning against one of the support beams that lined the edge of the training field, and settled in to watch.

For the next forty minutes, he stood there and observed.

He watched them fight. Watched them move through drills and sparring matches, practicing techniques that had been drilled into them over years of training. He saw the way they shifted their weight before throwing a punch, the way they angled their bodies to maximize force while minimizing exposure...