At the empty training field
"Hmm hmm humm~" Tyler was humming a tune while starting to flex and warm up his muscles.
His joints cracked audibly, as if he hadn't moved this much in a long time.
"Um… do I need to—"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Hearing that, Kai took off his shirt, revealing the Gear equipment he was wearing, along with Pandora who was still sleeping with her eyes closed.
"Wow, is that your new Gear?"
"Nah. Still the old one—it just suddenly transformed into this on its own."
Tyler paused, raising an eyebrow at Kai.
"…What's with that look, Sensei?"
"Sounds hard to believe. The only person I know who could change the form of their Gear appeared over 50 years ago, and even then they could only alter it a little bit."
"Then I guess I'm just lucky—"
Suddenly, a coconut fell straight onto Kai's head.
"…Okay, I'll accept that explanation."
Tyler, your face clearly says you don't believe me at all…
Tyler hopped lightly in place and beckoned with his hand, taunting Kai.
"Make the first move, kid."
Kai nodded, then gently woke Pandora who had been sleeping soundly.
"Pipi?"
"Give me the Grudge Accumulation Blade."
"Pi!"
Pandora spat out the sword from her mouth. Kai grabbed it and gave it a powerful spin.
"Oh! Isn't that the hunchback's knife earlier?"
"What?! How did you notice so fast?!"
"Hehe, I'll explain later."
Kai didn't waste words. He activated the sword's ability and fired three needles.
The speed was fast enough that an ordinary person would struggle to track them.
Yet Tyler casually caught all three with his left hand.
"…What?"
"Hmm." Tyler examined the needles in his palm before flicking them straight back at Kai.
They flew back even faster than Kai had launched them, grazing his cheek without drawing blood.
"Does that sword have anything else?"
"Um… well… it can turn the needles into knives?"
"Oho, that actually sounds pretty useful! That weapon would suit me perfectly if I were still an adventurer!"
Then Tyler picked up a random stick nearby, tossed it into the air, and caught it again.
"But don't rely too much on one weapon, Kai. I chose to train with you because I can tell you're the type who fights without caring what's in your hand. Remember when I showed you my level back in the Abyss dungeon?"
"I remember it like it was yesterday."
"Good. I'm only going to use this one stick, and I'll be able to tell exactly where your level is at. Come at me with everything you've got."
Without thinking twice, Kai activated the ability of his boots.
The skill required the intent to sacrifice oneself to trigger—yet Kai activated it effortlessly. His mindset was seriously messed up.
In an instant, Kai vanished. A split second later, he reappeared behind Tyler, eyes sharp, sword reversed in a grip aimed straight at the back of Tyler's neck.
BAM!
"?!" Kai was kicked square in the face. Tyler hadn't even needed to turn around—he'd simply kicked backward.
Then Tyler spun to face him. The killing intent in his eyes was far more terrifying than Kai's, like a predator locking onto prey.
Tyler flicked the stick, sending it shooting straight toward Kai's forehead.
It shattered against Kai's forehead as Tyler followed up with a brutal kick to the face. Blood immediately trickled from Kai's brow.
"Pipi!!"
"AGHH!" Kai clutched his forehead, staggering back and forth.
Holy crap! That hurt way more than I expected?! I thought I was used to pain by now?!
"Hmm… how should I put this? Your physical body is being used well, but everything else is… trash." Tyler crouched down, reached out, and grabbed Kai's head to inspect the wound.
"Combat experience and battle IQ are ugh. Gear mastery is pretty bad even though you've squeezed out every bit of its potential. I'll give props for the stealth backstab tactic, but anyone with sharp senses will counter it easily. I'm giving that display… 3 points."
What? He already analyzed my entire fighting capability in like ten seconds?
"Get up."
"Uhh…" Kai struggled to his feet. The wound on his forehead had already healed.
Tyler watched the phenomenon and glanced at the earring Kai was wearing.
"What's up, Master Shifu?"
"Is there any way to turn off your regeneration?"
"You want me to end up covered in scars?"
"I'd rather you have scars than have near-immortal recovery like that. I'm honestly suspicious of it."
Other people had told Kai the same thing, but he had no idea how to disable it. There were a few moments in the dungeon when the regeneration didn't activate, but it always came back afterward.
"Alright. You're gonna be my punching bag now. Try to fight back, okay?"
"Why??"
"Endure a little pain~" Tyler cracked his knuckles.
"I thought you were training me—UHAH!!"
A fist slammed straight into Kai's stomach, forcing him to stagger back clutching his gut.
T-That… it hurts so much! What the hell?!
Tyler showed no mercy. He moved fluidly, spun, and delivered another punch before Kai could even process what was happening.
Then Tyler stomped the ground hard, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand straight into Kai's eyes.
"Argh! Stop—stop!!"
Tyler closed in, casually scooping up a few pebbles along the way, then appeared behind Kai again.
He threw them precisely at three spots: underarm, left side of the abdomen, and the back of the neck.
"UAGH!"
Tyler walked slowly forward, then kicked the backs of both of Kai's ankles, dropping him to his knees.
Tyler's knee slammed down hard into Kai's back with a loud crack, forcing Kai's eyes wide open in shock.
"Alright, looking at you now, it's clear you can't fight back at all. Pretty disappointing." Tyler stood up straight, rubbing his forehead as if he hadn't expected Kai to be this weak.
Kai lay sprawled on the ground in the classic Family Guy death pose. Tyler sighed.
That had been the cleanest, lightest attack Tyler was capable of.
Back in his prime, every strike Tyler aimed for targeted only three places:
The eyes, gouge them out so the enemy couldn't see anymore.
The ears, he could pierce straight through the eardrum with a finger.
And most importantly, the dick, the universal weak point for every guy, excruciatingly painful and potentially lethal.
In his younger days, no one dared challenge Tyler because of how terrifyingly dirty and efficient he was at winning by any means necessary.
He once used a single strand of hair to puncture someone's eye—that's how seasoned he was at playing filthy.
"Kai, oh Kai… all that training arc or time skip nonsense feels kinda pointless now. Aside from your solid physique and pretty good pain tolerance, what else can you even do…?" Tyler walked over and hauled Kai back to his feet.
Pandora was clearly worried about Kai and glared at Tyler, which only made him chuckle.
If Kai couldn't even handle Tyler's weakest attacks, how was he supposed to survive against far more twisted opponents later?
"Ughhh…" Kai stood up, rubbing his eyes because sand was still in them.
"Here, water."
"Thanks… Can you go a bit easier next time?"
"Nope."
"Ugh…"
"Pipi."
Kai wiped his eyes. Pandora gently massaged him in comfort. Then he noticed something off.
There was a small cut on his right hand, bleeding slightly.
"Hm?" Tyler noticed it too and found it strange.
'I haven't used anything sharp just now, have I?'
Thinking it must have been an accidental nick from Kai's own sword, both Tyler and Pandora brushed it off.
"Wash up, then we continue, Kai. We'll work on technique and stuff later. Your specialty is endurance, so let's train that first."
"Oh come on!!"