Bonds of Steel and Blood

CHAPTER 8 - Striking Impressions

Sparring was always a way for Rei to relax when screwing someone wasn't an option. She spent countless hours training with Jasper and Aiden, first teaching them until they could put up a challenge and then enjoying beating their asses.

So, as she made her way to the training grounds, adrenaline automatically filled her body. Around her were people training, sparring, and laughing. Not a few heads turned towards them as they approached an empty sparring ring.

It didn't escape Rei's attention how girls blushed and whispered between themselves, glancing at Aiden. And his cheeky grin earned him an elbow to the ribs. Focus, her glare said when he innocently looked at her.

          "Who'll go first?" Miche said, removing his jacket. Hange, Levi, and Erwin formed a line before the ring, ready to evaluate.

Rei looked at Jasper, and he nodded, rolling his shoulders as he joined Miche in the ring.

Jasper was precise in his fighting. Where he lacked strength, he made up for it with his tactics. His fighting style was dodging until he figured out his opponent, then disabling with punches to the plexus, armpit, kneecap, or neck. Jasper was a shadower, adjusting his fighting style to whoever he shadowed. Since that was usually Rei, his fighting style was similar to hers.

Despite his abilities, Jasper struggled against Miche. Miche's fighting was straightforward. He knew what his goal was: completely subduing his opponent. He was entirely focused, delivering simple, merciless punches using his agility.

Jasper and Miche fought for 10 minutes straight, with neither backing down. Rei saw the ending of the fight before it happened. The second she saw Jasper getting frustrated with the persistence of Miche's attacks, she knew he lost. Miche hit his side a minute later, making Jasper stagger to the floor.

Rei grimaced, not liking seeing Jasper in pain. But Miche offered him a hand, which Jasper surprisingly took.

          "Not bad," Miche said, somewhat out of breath. "You gave me a run for my money, I must say."

Jasper smiled.

          "Not bad yourself," he grinned and walked from the ring, limping slightly.

Aiden, to no surprise to Rei, took off his shirt and walked into the ring. She rolled her eyes, annoyed by him showing off. At that point, most people in the training grounds stopped what they were doing, forming an audience.

          "Do your best, Mikey," Aiden said mockingly, putting his fists up.

Where Jasper lacked strength, Aiden lacked a complete sense of technique. He relied solely on his physical power, usually putting his brain into sleep mode and going full berserk. It mostly worked for him since no one Rei knew possessed strength equal to his. But it often ended up biting him in the ass. That happened with Miche, too, a man of technique and precision.

The fight lasted for 4 minutes, with Aiden scoring some mighty blows. Still, as soon as he felt he was winning and relaxed a little too much, Miche swung his leg into his hips, making him collide with the floor like a bag of flour.

          "Dammit," Aiden hissed in pain. "That was a dick move."

          "It wasn't," Rei said before Miche could answer. "You fought with your ego and lost. I told you countless times to think with something other than your muscles."

          "Oh, shut up," Aiden groaned, staggering from the ring.

Rei glanced at Erwin and Hange, who both had somewhat amused expressions. Meanwhile, Levi still gave the impression of complete boredom and disinterest.

Miche grinned at her, challenging her with the beckoning of his hand. She scoffed and walked towards the ring. At that point, at least 40 people were around the ring, watching one of their most powerful soldiers beating the asses of newcomers. All of them thought Rei's fight was going to be the shortest. They weren't wrong.

Something Rei was well aware of was the primitiveness of men. Even as she took off her jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her blouse, she heard whistles from the audience. She took out a long, thin, black, sharp stick from the pocket in her pants.

          "Hey, no weapons allowed," Miche warned.

Rei smirked, using the stick to twist her shining red hair into an updo at her vertex in one smooth motion. Miche grinned and took his stance.

          "Watch and learn," she said, and he attacked. And for Rei, the world slowed down.

He's tired from fighting Jasper and Aiden. Jasper wore him down with dodging, and Aiden got in two strong blows: one into his right leg and one into his right shoulder. He's aware he lacks energy, so he'll go directly for the finishing blow.

Standing perfectly still until Miche's fist almost reached her stomach, she then twisted her body out of the way, grabbing the right arm he attacked with and twisting it onto his back. Miche hissed in pain, and she felt his body starting to turn for a counterattack. So she raised her arm and punched directly into his right shoulder blade. The loud pop made everyone in the crowd cringe.

Miche screamed out in pain and fell to the floor. Excited and surprised shouts emerged from the audience.

          "Fuck, you dislocated my shoulder," Miche groaned, holding his right arm. Rei just shrugged.

          "What would be the goal of wounding one of my best soldiers?" Erwin asked her with a serious tone.

Rei rolled her eyes.

          "Oh, cheer up, it's not the end of the world," she said, kneeling beside Miche.

Another loud pop, Miche's scream, and a cringe from the audience.

          "There," Rei said. "All fixed."

          "I like her," Hange said, nodding to herself.

          "Oh, please. It's not hard to beat a worn-down opponent," Levi said, just loud enough for Rei to hear.

She walked to the edge of the ring and leaned onto the wooden fence.

          "Are you worn down, shorty?" she asked.

The whole audience went silent. Levi's eyes became dangerously dark.

          "No?" Rei asked. "Then why don't you come and show me how it's done?"

Levi knew he shouldn't give in to her teasing. He knew it would give her a sense of satisfaction. But it would give him a greater sense of satisfaction to throw her against the ground. So he walked up, rolling the sleeves of his button-up.