Chapter 13
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 13
The name Luka is common in the Empire. Even in my orphanage, there were two of us.
When I was young, I was called Little Luka. It was only after I grew older that I was called just Luka. Around that time, another kid named Luka arrived. He was called Little Luka, just as I had been.
Old memories resurface. Throughout my time as a cadet, I kept my memories of the orphanage locked away. It was a place I would never return to, after all.
I never once ate my fill.
Once or twice a month, an Imperial official would visit the orphanage. Their vehicles were loaded with rations, but half of them would vanish by the next day. Those siphoned rations ended up scattered all over the Lower District.
Even when starving, I never neglected my training. I devoured books that lay forgotten under layers of dust, and built up my strength by lifting rusted chunks of iron.
"Are you an idiot? Stop wasting your energy. You're just making yourself hungrier."
At first, many of the kids mocked me.
I drove my fists into their faces and stole their meals. To build strength, I had to eat more than anyone else. It was better for that food to become my flesh and blood than to rot in the stomachs of losers.
"Do you really think you'll amount to something just by doing that? You're a two-digit number, just like us. If you were actually hot shit, you would've been sent to a One-Digit Orphanage from the start!"
A kid crying through a bloody nose spat curses at me to the very end.
In the end, I proved them wrong. When I turned twelve, I underwent the Second Selection Test. I got my name on the list of Imperial Guard candidates, and by fifteen, I was officially a cadet.
I am not a loser. And I never will be.
I muttered to myself and opened my eyes. Reality came back into focus.
The black market Arena. My opponent: Iron Fist Gabriel. My current prosthetic body: low-output, non-combat limbs.
A beautifully disastrous set of circumstances.
"...Aleph must have taken too many drugs today. Matching me with a brat like this... Well, as long as I get paid, I don't care."
Gabriel spoke as he walked toward me. I observed him in silence.
A modified body stripped of symmetry and balance. He must be in so much pain that he can't even sleep without painkillers.
Every single one of Gabriel's prosthetic limbs came from a different manufacturer. He had somehow calibrated them to work together, but it was a crude, temporary fix. His shoulders hunched forward, dragged down by his grotesquely oversized arms and fists. His spine was undoubtedly warped to match.
His exterior was in no better shape than his interior. With his center of gravity completely off, his gait listed heavily to one side. His skin, straining to support the excessive weight, sagged and tore in places, and the connection points between flesh and machine suffered from chronic inflammation.
But he is strong.
He was a man who had torn his own body apart for the sole purpose of gaining power. Perhaps I, too, might have ended up like him.
"Hmph, can't even squeak, can you? Scared shitless? You've got a pretty enough face. Why don't you keep my bed warm tonight instead?"
Gabriel waved to the cheering crowd as he stopped in front of me. He swept his gaze down my body and let out a sneering laugh. He had undoubtedly realized my limbs weren't built for combat.
"You're the one who's going to need a caretaker. You'll be a cripple by the end of the day. I hope you have plenty of savings."
I spoke while scanning the spectator stands. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass of a private booth, I could see Aleph and Kinuan standing together.
Gabriel merely twitched an eyebrow at my provocation. This was nothing more than a casual greeting to him. Not even worth getting angry over.
"Haha! I'll grind you under my heel until you beg to be my servant."
Gabriel said, taking a step back. A pair of angel wings was tattooed across his back. Seeing angel wings on such a grotesque frame was nothing short of comical.
I shrugged and took five steps back as well.
Beep, beep, beep!
The betting odds flashed across the display screens lining the arena walls. As expected, my payout ratio was fifty to one. The odds were so lopsided it was barely even a betting match.
—Now, the miniature version of our cruel, dog-eat-dog world begins! Will you be crushed underfoot?! Or will you trample your way to the top?!
Aleph roared into the microphone. Kinuan looked down at the arena, arms crossed.
Beeeep!
A tinny electronic beep signaled the start of the match.
"Whew."
I regulated my breathing and fell into a stance. Spacing my feet apart, I faced Gabriel.
If I try to block, I die.
The disparity in output was astronomical. A single clean hit from those fists would kill me instantly. And despite his massive bulk, Gabriel wasn't slow.
Thud!
A heavy, metallic thud echoed as he lunged. Gabriel launched himself forward, driving his fist downward with enough force to flatten me into paste.
His movements aren't those of someone trained in martial arts or combat styles. His swings are too wide, leaving him wide open.
If I had my original prosthetic body, Gabriel would have been dead within a second. A slight sidestep and a counter-thrust would have burst his head like overripe fruit.
Adapt to what you are given.
I recalled Kinuan's advice. Wishing for what you don't have solves nothing. No matter how desperately you pray, a gun isn't going to fall from the sky.
I had to face Gabriel with only the tools currently at my disposal—no matter how pathetic they were.
I retreated. The arena was too cramped to keep backing up indefinitely; I had to circle laterally.
Crash!
The floor where I had stood a millisecond ago caved in. His destructive power was the real deal. Mass and velocity never lied.
I trained under Kinuan for a month.
During that entire time, I hadn't been able to land a single scratch on him. He had deflected every single one of my attacks. Now, I had to replicate that.
Whoosh!
Gabriel's fist whipped past my face. The sheer wind pressure from the swing threatened to throw me off balance.
"What the hell are you doing?! Playing tag?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"Give me a refund! I didn't pay to watch this shit!"
Jeers rained down from the crowd. They wanted violence and slaughter.
I kept my eyes locked on Gabriel. I wasn't a circus clown. I didn't give a damn what those people wanted to see.
Besides, my analysis was already complete.
...It seems Kinuan didn't bring me here to die.
This was the first time I had completely dissected an opponent mid-fight.
I could see Gabriel's movements before they even happened. He moved exactly as I predicted. A man who sacrificed balance for raw output was incapable of complex maneuvers.
Stripped of the intimidation of his massive size and destructive power, Gabriel was nothing more than a slow, predictable cannonball.
"I see."
Finding my rhythm, a smirk slipped onto my face. That seemed to push Gabriel over the edge. His swings grew wilder and more reckless.
A bizarre exchange unfolded. The moment Gabriel's shoulder twitched, I was already moving. To the spectators, it probably looked like Gabriel was simply missing his targets rather than me dodging them.
"Iron Fist, my ass! Has the metal poisoning finally rotted your brain?!"
"Just die already, you useless piece of shit!"
"Go get your eyes checked, you blind motherfucker! What the hell are you doing?!"
The crowd's fury shifted entirely onto Gabriel.
I was dodging before Gabriel's attacks even left his body. In a way, it was only natural. When my senses were heightened to their limit, I could predict the trajectory of bullets.
The subtle twitch of his shoulder was the trigger; the direction of his gaze, the muzzle. The length of his arm was the effective range. Compared to a firearm, his telegraphing was ridiculously long, his range pitifully short, and his trajectory painfully obvious.
Tap.
I lightly slapped Gabriel's arm aside, deflecting it. It was the exact same technique Kinuan had used against me during our sparring sessions.
If you perfectly read and understand the vector of an incoming force, a fraction of that strength is all it takes to redirect it.
Stumble!
Dragged down by his own momentum, Gabriel slammed his fist into the dirt. He stumbled, his body tilting precariously. The fragile balance of his asymmetrical frame shattered completely.
I could see exactly where to strike to bring him down. I didn't even need to use much force.
So this is how Kinuan always saw me.
Damn it, no wonder none of my attacks ever landed!
Thud.
I snapped a kick into Gabriel's knee. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a useless strike; my low-output limbs lacked the power to buckle his reinforced legs.
But with his balance already compromised, it was more than enough.
Thud!
Gabriel buckled, dropping to one knee. Utter bewilderment flashed across his face. He scrambled to stand and raise his guard, but my follow-up was already on its way.
Crack!
I drove my knee straight into Gabriel's face. His right artificial eye shattered with a sharp pop. He still had one eye left, but his depth perception was gone.
My body flowed around Gabriel like water. He was the one moving and acting, but I was the one dictating the flow.
In this arena, everything happens exactly as I predict.
The space between Gabriel and me belonged entirely to me. The controlled environment of the Arena eliminated all external variables and interference.
On a real battlefield, maintaining this level of focus would be impossible; there would be too many chaotic variables and external threats. But here, in this vacuum, my concentration bordered on prescience.
I had to admit it. Kinuan was an exceptional teacher.
This should be about right.
I shifted my gaze and deliberately backed myself against the wall. Sensing an opportunity, Gabriel lunged.
"Aaaaagh!"
Roaring, Gabriel threw a massive haymaker. The thrusters in his elbow hissed, venting gas as they fired. It was his finishing move.
Whoosh!
I dodged at the very last millisecond, ensuring he committed every ounce of his weight to the blow.
Screeech!
The sound of tearing metal shrieked through the air. Gabriel's fist buried itself deep into the iron wall behind me.
I noticed earlier that this specific section of the wall was heavily rusted and warped.
I took a few steps back, watching Gabriel's arm remain lodged in the metal. The jagged, torn edges of the iron plate clamped down on his forearm like a vice.
"You... you little rat bastard!"
Gabriel thrashed, trying to wrench his arm free. His raw strength was immense, causing the entire wall to groan and screech as the bolts holding it together began to give way.
"I told you I hoped you had plenty of savings, didn't I?"
I murmured, slipping behind him.
"You motherf—"
Gabriel never finished his sentence. I leaped, wrapping my legs around his neck, and twisted with the full rotational force of my body.
Crack-crack-crack!
His cervical vertebrae snapped in rapid, satisfying succession. I was probably smiling. After all, I was a human engineered to enjoy combat.
"Good Boy! Good Boy!"
The crowd's cheers erupted, loud enough to bring down the roof. They lauded the victor while spitting curses and insults at the loser.
As the adrenaline faded, a wave of suppressed exhaustion hit me. My mind felt sluggish and heavy, as if I hadn't slept in days.
I stood waiting for the door to the waiting room to open.
The moment the door slid open, a medical team rushed past me. They were grinning ear to ear, clearly eager to squeeze every last credit out of Gabriel for fixing his broken neck.
"Well done, Good Boy. Congratulations on taking your first steps into Akies Victima."
Kinuan, who had already made his way down to the waiting room, spoke as he looked at me. I grimaced at the name "Good Boy" and let out a sigh.
"...I see that adapting doesn't mean accepting defeat."
"And take this. Give it to Gabriel for his medical bills. It's a fraction of what I won betting on you."
Kinuan handed me a credit chip. My eyes widened when I saw the figure displayed on it.
"Even with this, Gabriel is still going to hate me."
"That is for you to judge after you speak with him. There is no need to make unnecessary enemies when you have the chance to win them over. It is always wise to show others just enough kindness that they do not mistake it for weakness."
"I want to be a warrior and a soldier, not a saint."
Kinuan placed a hand on my head and whispered.
"You are still naive when it comes to human relationships, Luka. The kindness I speak of is not charity; it is an investment. You build it up, block by block, so you can exploit it when the time comes. Today, I simply collected on my investment in Tora."
Kinuan's smile was chilling. I realized I had been under a massive delusion.
Subconsciously, I had assumed Kinuan was teaching me because he valued my talent. I thought we shared a bond, having come from the same background. It had been an incredibly arrogant assumption.
Someday, my time would come. Kinuan would come to collect his investment in me. And it would likely be in a way I could never refuse.