The Over-Break System

[Two down, clocks ticking; get to work, Brancie.] Snarkily speaking in the mind link, Cynrik took off after the group leader, who was already shaking in fear after seeing how ruthless Cynrik was and how organized the party appeared to be.

The leader boy’s father’s words echoed in his head, “All you have to do is beat down four kids wearing different color hoodies and stop them from advancing to their proper zone. It shouldn’t be too difficult a chore if you bring along at least five or six other applicants.”

As he watched the shorter boy in a black hoodie charging his direction after quickly dealing with one of the stronger boys he had recruited, the leader named Warren cursed under his breath and ran forward to meet the boy.

Meanwhile, unlike Cynrik, who had a tendency to lean more heavy-handed with his attacks, Brance was focused on using only non-lethal strikes. However, this didn’t necessarily mean he was above disabling his opponents. With the thought in the back of his mind that technology had advanced far enough to heal any non-life-threatening injury at a low cost, each of Brance’s attacks had the singular goal of targeting any joints or soft tissue spots that would render them unable to continue fighting.

In less time than it took to inhale a breath of air, Brance arrived at the dual Affinity boy racing forward from the 6-o’clock position. This sandy-blond-haired boy seemed to have more combat experience than his peers. It was evident since he was channeling several small metal-reinforced rocks using what Brance assumed to be the evolved form of [Stone Bullet] and directing them at his vital areas. This caused Brance to manifest as many [Air Missle]’s to nudge them off course.

With the projectiles bumped off-target, Brance weaved through them and swiftly arrived in front of the boy, stepping forward and kicking out the boy’s left leg while catching his shoulder and executing a perfect hip-toss. The judo throw technique stunned the boy as Brance spiked him face-first into the ground with a loud thud before releasing his grip and jumping back. Then, with a quick glance to ensure the boy was out cold, Brance moved on to work on the targets Benny and Gabby were holding at bay.

Since the Sanford siblings were still wet behind the ears in hand-to-hand combat, their only recourse was to use an abundant amount of Affinity skills to stall their opponents as they weren’t sure to what extent it would take to kill them accidentally. With Gabby rapid-firing a mixture of [Confusion] and [Floating Disk] like a machine gun, she was able to segregate three kids, while Benny was mixing up a routine of [Wave] and [Water Whip] to corral two others, the Poison Affinity user included.

When Brance made his way over, he launched himself over one of the walls of water created by Benny and started dealing with the two frantic children who were already at wit’s end. Dropping to one knee, he swept the leg of the Poison user while bringing up a pillar of Earth directly into the boy’s spine resulting in a satisfying crunching sound paralyzing him from the waist down.

The sound of bones breaking and the pain the Poison user felt caused him to lose consciousness before his head even smacked the ground, allowing Brance to move seamlessly onto the next target.

Taking notice of Brance’s arrival, Benny caught himself on one of his [Wave]’s and surfed to his sister’s side.

Brance didn’t miss this fact or let it distract him as he leaped forward and caught the last boy Benny was dealing with in a rear-naked choke, sliding his right arm under the boy’s chin and wrapping his legs around the boy’s waist from behind, Brance started squeezing while counting down from 10. By the time he got to three, the boy had collapsed, blue in the face and out cold.

[That’s three, Cyn, to your two. So who was it that needed to keep up?] Not missing the opportunity to toss his older brother’s words back in his face, Brance released the boy and made his way over to the Sanford siblings.

[BAH, it would be three-three if this little fucker wasn’t such a coward. I don’t wanna show off all my cards since there are at least a hundred high Tier people watching, but this little bastard is like a fucking loach. Every time I get close, he somehow slips away.] Cynrik complained as he again lost his grip on the slippery Warren.

[No joke, it’s like this guy is made of…hold up…I’m stupid.] Realizing the cause of his inability to catch the kid, Cynrik wanted to slam his head on a wall.

[He’s a fucking water user Cyn, he is using some kind of escape skill, you moron.] Brance shook his head as he once again entered combat with support from Gabby and Benny.

[Yeah, duh, why do you think I said im stupid? Sigh, this is what I get for playing with my food.] Cynrik admonished himself and decided to turn up the heat. Truth be told, from the time he took out the first two kids, he had completely lost interest in these weak fodder-like opponents and began messing around instead of taking the fight seriously.

Still chasing the slippery Warren, Cynrik channeled Fire Mana into his legs and propelled himself forward as if he had jet engines attached to his feet. Unfortunately, the sudden increase in speed caused Warren’s face to pale as he once again tried using his escape skill passed down through his genetics. Unfortunately, when his body phased into liquid this time, he was overcome by intense searing pain as Cynrik superheated the liquid by planting both feet into the boy’s chest.

Emitting a blood-curdling scream, Warren’s concentration broke, and he turned solid; when that happened, Cynrik pulled back his legs just enough to give the boy a good roasting.

Feeling he had done enough damage, Cynrik landed on one knee, admired the black smoke rising off the boy’s burnt clothing, and let out a sharp whistle.

“Did anyone order extra crispy? No…alright, cool, I’ll be on my way then.” As Cynrik spoke his cheesy line, he couldn’t help but notice a small drone flying overhead, and he smiled widely before waving his hand at it.

“HI MOM, DID YOU SEE THAT. HEHE!” Acting a bit childish for the camera he knew was live-streaming the fight, Cynrik took a bow before rushing to help his party finish off the three remaining kids.

But when he reached the spot they were all fighting, Cynrik did a quick headcount and noticed something was off.

‘I took out three, Brance took out three, and there are three in that little water arena Benny made…where’s the last kid.’ Activating [Mana Sight], it didn’t take long for Cynrik to spot the 10th and final kid, who was doubled over on the ground, rocking back and forth in the fetal position with a noticeable yellow puddle under his body.

[Eh? Brancie, did you do something to that last kid?] Directing Brance’s attention away from the boy his younger brother was punching over and over in the nose, Brance shot a glance behind him and saw what Cynrik was talking about.

[Ah, yeah, Gabby hit him with an overly juiced [Confusion], leaving him like that. Poor kid is probably about to shit himself in fear. Oh well, it’ll wear off in a few minutes; just leave him be for now…] Just as he got the words out, Brance watched as Cynrik skipped over and soccer kicked the kid in the head, albeit it was not too hard or there would be a bloody mess, but enough to knock him out.

[I got it, no biggy.]

[Heh, what the fuck, Cyn? He was already down and out; that was completely unnecessary.] Chewing his lip, Brance wanted to say more, but he soon realized the kid he was punching was already out cold too.

[Hehe, you’re complaining about me while you are over there givin that kid brain damage. Tsk tsk, Brancie, don’t you know why Refs step in and stop a fight when the fighter took too many shots to the noggin.] Taking advantage of the rare lapse in his little brother’s judgment, Cynrik dug in with his insults.

In the Pinhurst Mansion, Cinyah was on her feet waving a homemade flag with Cynrik and Brance’s baby pictures on it.

“KICK HIS ASS SON, HAHAHA!” She shouted manically while watching Cynrik soccer kick his downed opponent.

The others’ reactions were polar opposite; Jessup, The Sanford couple, Rikard, Maeve, and even Aiden all facepalmed when Cynrik kicked the kid before waving at the camera.

“Your son is a little heavy-handed out there, Rikard.” Shaking his head, Jessup patted the younger man on the shoulder and stared at Cinyah, who was franticly waving her banner and jumping up and down as if she was watching her favorite sports team compete.

“I mean, he clearly takes after his mother. Did you see that savage ear cup? There is no doubt Cinyah taught him that trick. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to stand by and watch her do it to people courting her when we were younger.” Maeve said, her eyes never leaving the screen which had panned over to Brance and the Sanford siblings abusing the remaining children.

Unlike the Pinhurst and Jetlensr families, the Sanford Couple were on the edge of their seats as they watched how flawlessly their children worked together with the Jetlensr brothers. Of course, they had always known that their two adorable children were going through an extended boot camp of sorts instead of playing like regular kids, but seeing the fruits of their labor, the Sanfords couldn’t be more proud.

When the battle finished, the parents watched their kids huddle up, and all strike a pose for the camera, making them all chuckle; it was clearly Cynrik’s idea, but none were displeased. The Academy Selections were, after all, one of the most significant non-professional sporting events held in their country. So seeing their beloved children succeed with flying colors made them feel proud.

COUGH

“The kids better hurry up, they still have to cross through Zone A-2 and three before reaching their finish line, and they only have around 8 minutes to do so.” Then, Jessup spoke up, clearing his throat and bringing everyone out of their stupor.

As if on queue to his statement, the members of MyrkLys made a mad dash towards Zone A-1, making Aiden’s eyes glow in awe. He turned and looked his grandfather up and down.

“Grandpa, are you Psychic? How did you do that?” Aiden’s innocent question forced the older man to puff out his chest proudly.

“It’s a super-secret technique of mine. Maybe when you’re older, I shall pass it down to you.”

At his words, the faces of Maeve and Cinyah contorted in disgust with a similar thought passing through the two best friends’ minds. ‘Skeevy old cheat.’

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