Chapter 10: Three Weaknesses

The helicopter flew endlessly without refueling, confirming Rick's suspicions that it was powered by lucrim. H gave him some meditation exercises, said that he needed to make preparations for their arrival, and disappeared into the cockpit, leaving Rick sitting in the empty main room and imagining how this could all be some extremely bizarre kidnapping scenario.

Over the course of the long flight he managed to get H to tell him where they were headed next: South Africa. Rick didn't know very much about the nation, but there was wi-fi in the helicopter, so he began to look it up. He soon learned that it was one of the nations with a dragonweight, yet politically precarious. The tensions between the settlers and the more powerful Nokan Empire to the north weren't currently violent, so he thought it might make visiting the nation fascinating.

So of course as soon as they arrived, H escorted him from the landing pad directly into a featureless white training room that could have been anywhere in the world.

Rick resisted just long enough to get a brief look at the city from off the side of the building they'd landed on. It looked... like a city. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. There were more trees lining the streets than in Branton and the tallest buildings had an unfamiliar style of balcony. The shining skyscrapers nearby were similar, but he thought he saw a slum in the distance. Unlike the gray concrete slums of Branton, this one was more brown.

"Come on." H grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to the entrance. "You can see the country in several years after you've gotten your feet under you. We have a hell of a lot of work to do if we want you to be ready for China in a month."

"The showdown is going to China next?"

"We're covering the world superpowers, but you won't be going along unless you get your act together. I said come on."

With that, H dragged him back into the generic white room. All the walls were ether-reinforced panels, high quality but similar to those he'd seen elsewhere. The floor itself was slightly rubbery, leading him to wonder if he was going to be knocked down repeatedly. There was nothing in the room other than a few doors on the other end, presumably leading deeper into the building, but H set himself up in front of them and folded his arms.

"You can't get anywhere in the Showdown as a one trick pony." H didn't have a cigarette for once, but his fingers twitched as if he wanted one. "Your performance in the Unlimited Defensive Ring wasn't bad, but it's not enough. What do you think you should do about that?"

"What do I think?" Rick bit back a comment about how he was the one being trained and gave it a little thought. He'd already considered it more than once. "I suppose I should start by shoring up my major weaknesses. That would prepare me for my main event but also others."

"There are worse answers you could have given. We'll start with things that will help your defense, so that you can perform well enough to earn back some of the money I'm wasting on you. What are your greatest weaknesses?"

Rick hesitated at that, flashing back to memories of his job hunt. This time, he thought the question was a real one. "In the ring, it was really obvious that I don't have a good way of dealing with ranged attacks. Particularly ones at sonic or higher speeds."

H waved the answer aside. "You're incompetent there, yes, but forget about the ring for now. Say you're in an actual fight for your life. What do you change about yourself right now to survive it?"

"Well... I'm really lacking a technique Lucore. If people can deal with my speed or defenses, they've seen everything I can do. I could use some kind of signature technique that would surprise opponents."

"That's a flaw, but not the easiest one to fix. To really use a special technique effectively, you need to build your portfolio around it, and yours just isn't set up for that. Besides, it's not a good match for Showdown events. No, if you ever get a tech Lucore, I think it should be a utility. We'll deal with that later, but right now we're talking about your weaknesses."

"I think you already know what they are. I've given you my best guesses."

"As I see it, you have three major weaknesses." H raised his hand with three fingers and began lowering them one by one. "Ranged attacks is one, good job noticing the obvious. But more importantly, you're lacking full situational awareness. Your instincts are good enough, barely, but at this level of competition you need some sort of lucrim-based support."

"That makes sense." Rick nodded along, otherwise waiting for the third point.

"Finally, your technique is sloppy and impractical."

Frowning, Rick examined his trainer more carefully. It obviously wasn't a joke, since H probably didn't know what those were, but he wasn't sure how to interpret it. "I didn't think I'd be winning any style competitions, but I tried to develop what I thought worked."

"Oh, it isn't awful. I reviewed your fights in that multi-tier tournament and they didn't make me vomit. But focusing on the practical tends to open smaller weaknesses." H unfolded his arms and rolled his shoulders. "Try to hit me and I'll show you what I mean."

It was a simple enough request, but Rick paused. He realized that for all his training, he'd almost never sparred with someone he considered a mentor. At his old job at the gym, he'd sparred with people stronger than him all the time, but this was different. Though it didn't change what he needed to do, it felt surreal to step forward and attempt to hit H.

Rick started with an experimental punch and H simply slipped aside, footwork cautious and movements smooth. He tried again, aiming directly for his opponent's core, this time forcing some blocks. As Rick felt out his opponent, sensing no particular style, he sped up until he finished with a burst of speed and slammed his elbow into his opponent's chest.

Or tried. Rick realized his elbow had been caught and tried to pull back, only for a wave of aura to send him heels over head to the ground.

The rubbery floor was surprisingly soft, likely painless even without his defensive core, but being so easily blocked stung a bit. Rick pulled himself up and saw H simply waiting, so he raised his fists and tried again.

Again they made contact several times, but now Rick was familiar enough with his opponent to notice something odd: H was exactly as fast as he was. Normally with lucrim flowing through two fighters, one of them would have a slight edge, allowing for or requiring different techniques. It couldn't be accidental, yet Rick still failed to break through.

Using his Bunyan's Step core wouldn't be effective, but his basic offensive Lucore could help his speed a little. Rick focused on it, striking at a greater speed... only to find that H matched him exactly. He was keeping them even, forcing the fight to be about pure hand-to-hand skill.

And once again, when Rick attempted to get in close, he failed. H caught his knee, turned aside his elbow, and knocked him to the ground with another wave of force.

This time Rick managed to catch himself as he tumbled over the floor, but there was no getting around the fact that he was being soundly beaten. No, not beaten, he was being outfought. Grimacing, Rick set his feet, then burst forward in a Bunyan's Step that propelled him forward as quickly as he could manage.

He had a split second to see his opponent's arm, then he slammed back against the floor.

"That's what I mean." H lowered his arm and stared down at him. "Many lucrim fighters are actually terrible at melee combat, but they have enough speed and strength to overwhelm their opponents. You... aren't as abysmal as that, but you have some bad habits. For example, you're overly reliant on elbow strikes. They might work with superior speed, but against an equal opponent, your range is simply too limited."

"But usually I have a speed edge, or I'm not trying to out-speed my opponent at all."

"That's no excuse for sloppiness. Why exactly did you choose this style?"

Though the question came scornfully, Rick realized after a moment that it was actually sincere. He slowly got to his feet, deciding to be honest. "Throwing punches is too risky. When I was younger I saw a man punch a defensive core and shatter a bunch of bones in his hand. I thought elbows and knees were better supported, so I started training muay thai."

"Avoiding catastrophic injury is a reasonable decision." Instead of more invective, H simply nodded to him. "But it's holding you back now. I'm not suggesting that you completely change what you know. But as you increase the strength of your Lucores, we also need to improve your combat instincts."

"Seems fair." Rick rubbed his neck where it had been struck. "But that won't keep me from running straight into opponents."

"Yes, that's a weakness. That Lucore will either need to be dissolved, or we'll adapt. Let's review your portfolio." H waved a hand and a screen manifested in the air, listing his familiar cores.

[Name: Rick Hunter

Ether Tier: 12th

Ether Score: 442

Lucrim Generation: 87,100

Current Lucrim: 23,750]

[Rick Hunter's Lucrima Portfolio

Foundation: 3700 (Lv VI)

Dark Blood Kettle: 17,100 (Lv IV)

Offensive Lucore: 13,400 (Lv VII)

Defensive Lucore: 37,000 (Lv IX)

Bunyan's Step: 15,150 (Lv VIII)

Graham's Stake: 23,950 (Lv IV)

Demonic Bond (Bftgage & Ythsil): 750 (Stage I)

Demon Mass: 500 (N/A)

Total Lucrim: 111,050]

"This Bunyan's Step core is actually surprisingly advanced," H said after observing briefly. "I wouldn't have expected you to have the materials for it, but it seems you've scrounged up a few. So we'll keep it and train you in footwork designed for supersonic speeds. You aren't completely brain dead, so combined with improved sensory capabilities, it should be adequate."

The advancement of the Lucore must have been at least in part due to Tom and Damian, so Rick silently thanked the two. He liked the idea of learning more advanced footwork, since he could understand how conventional martial arts fell behind eventually. But as H continued to speak, he liked the sound of the plan much less.

"This Dark Blood Kettle is... adequate. It will do for a secondary foundation, at least for now. But your base foundation is dull beyond belief, and this Offensive Lucore is frankly pathetic. We're going to melt both down and form something called the Midas Foundation. That will serve as a real base for power that can hold the other remaining Lucores."

"Wait, you want me to entirely transform my foundation?" Rick didn't want to cause problems on his first day, but to completely change his portfolio like that... "Just what is this Midas Foundation?"

"It's a proprietary foundation type that is best suited for you. Don't worry, you won't lose any overall generation rate. Some things about your base skills will change, but it will put you on the right path."

"You said you wanted me ready in a month. Completely transforming a foundation and getting me back into fighting shape would take longer than that."

H waved vaguely. "Sometimes there are more important things than short term strength."

"No. That... if you really want me to use this Midas Foundation, I need it explained to me a lot better than that."

"It's a bit beyond your current level of understanding."

"Then I don't think I'm qualified to use it. There has to be another solution."

Though H glared at him, when Rick didn't back down, the man let out an irritated growl. "I suppose a clumsier solution would be giving you a new Lucore that will cover your deficiencies. A new foundation would be the superior choice, but I'll give you a chance. If you can meet every single mark I set for your base skills, I'll let you try the Lucore solution. If not, you remake your foundation."

Rick hesitated, but knew that he didn't have much leverage. "Deal. I'm willing to look into the new foundation if you can convince me, I just want to know what I'm getting into."

"Most of it will be familiar. Take a break while I assemble some materials, then I'll show you what you'll be working with to start."

Finally Rick was allowed to enter one of the other doors, which was thankfully not as blank as the training chamber. Unfortunately, it was a rather spare room with nothing but a cot, a shelf, a table, and a chair. Was this where he would be training for the next month? Not much worse than his cabin, he supposed, and probably better than his old apartment.

Alone for a while, Rick took his luggage from the other room and set it on the bed. He investigated the shelf more carefully, but it only had a few books on lucrim that had nothing to do with him and some metal containers. Those containers proved to have ration packs that struck him as military, yet not in a way he could specifically pinpoint. The contents proved to be sandpapery nutrient bars, but they were at least filling.

Accepting that this was where he would pursue his next goal, Rick sat down on the bed and began his usual exercises. He was only partway done when H entered the room again, carrying what looked like a mechanic's tool case. It opened to reveal a sizzling rainbow of vials and pills.

"We won't start you on high end philosopher's elixir yet, but we'll begin with the more difficult supplements," H said as he removed select items. "There's no sense wasting money on you if you're going to prove to be an idiot. But just enduring these should be enough to prepare you for whichever step comes next."

When he closed the case, H had removed a glowing thermos, two pills, and six vials... and three rubber balls. Rick looked at them, trying to figure out if they were containers for something, or god forbid giant pills, but they appeared to be completely normal rubber. "What are these for?"

H regarded him flatly. "If you're going to ignore the Midas Foundation like a clown, you need to learn how to juggle."