A stick?

A freaking stick?

Slipstream couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the weapons in the boy’s hands. He had tested and fought many different people, but never had someone actually tried to fight him with a damn stick. The nerve of this boy!

When Slipstream was called to test a possible recruit, he didn’t question it. It was the same routine for him. He done this a hundred if not a thousand times already. He could probably do these tests with his eyes closed, but one had to be professional, at least according to the base commander.

Everyone deserves a modicum of respect, until they didn’t.

Not that he really cared, the candidate can go shove off for all he cared. However, when the base commander comes asking for a favor, one just doesn’t say no to him.

Slipstream knew he was good at his job. He was the fastest Awaken around. When there’s an emergency that needs to be taken care of? The first person they go to is Slipstream.

He was just too good. It was hard being him sometimes.

When he had been placed in other cities, things were a lot more hectic. He had to work with local authorities and the Federation at times. There was always some emergency. There’s a robbery happening at that bank? There’s monster loose on that city block? An Awaken lost control of his powers and need to be stopped? The list goes on and on.

Due to his speed abilities, a lot of the times he’s been placed on crowd control. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t mind saving people who can’t save themselves since they’re just soooo slow.

Unfortunately crowd control also means dealing with complaints. Is it his fault for grabbing a person in the wrong way when he’s trying to save their slow butts? They call it harassment and other vulgar words.

What an ungrateful bunch.

Here? Things moved a lot slower. Ironically Slipstream preferred the slower pace. Here he just focused mainly on task that the Federation assigned. It was just the occasional monster or dimensional beast that needs killing. Maybe break up a few fights between Awaken. Nothing major. So, when he was asked to do some testing, he happily agreed. Sure, he liked the slow life here, but a change of pace was good occasionally.

Slipstream had seen the kid profile and honestly, he was not impressed. If Slipstream was asked to describe this kid’s life in ten words or less, then he would say a nerd and a goody two shoes. There. Mission accomplished.

The kid was no Awaken and spent his life as an average student. It was all really plain and boring stuff. It was said he was suspected as a Martial Artist, but that was questionable. Martial Artist don’t pop out of nowhere. They require years of training, and the Federation base had a database of all the Martial Artist in the city for potential threat.

The profile was so dull, that Slipstream almost fell asleep after reading Seth’s profile a minute later. The second kid, something Kong, now his life was more interesting.

When Seth had done his interview, it was exactly as Slipstream expected. It was nothing special. No dreams of grandeur, no ambition, nothing worth talking about. The kid had mentioned some ‘Bastion of Heroes’ nonsense or the like, which Slipstream had never heard of. Kid’s head was probably stuck high up in the clouds from reading too many fairytales.

Now the time for testing the kid’s abilities. How dare he face him with a stick? Slipstream almost wanted to punch lights out of the kid with the first blow, but that wouldn’t do. This was a test and he needed to keep it professional.

Granted the kid had polished up the stick to the semblance of a sword, but in the end, it was still made of wood.

That only confirmed Slipstream's suspicions that the kid was delusional.

Surprisingly the kid was able to take a hit. Even after taking a few blows from Slipstream, the kid was still standing. Not that Slipstream was going all out or anything, this was a still a test after all. He was going at probably a quarter of his fastest speed. Still, it was faster than what most people can do. The point of the exam was to draw out what abilities the kid had hidden away. If there were any surprises in store, he can avoid them with ease. That’s why Slipstream was chosen as an examiner.

Unfortunately, durability might have been the only thing going for the kid. The kid had swung his stick at Slipstream a few times, but those were easily dodged.

Slipstream thought the kid finally lost it when he began counting out loud.

There was no way the kid was a Martial Artist.

A true Martial Artist would have been able to hit Slipstream and match his current speed. A good Martial Artist would have been able to leave a scratch on Slipstream. A decent one would have been able to at least see through some of Slipstream's movement. A terrible one...would not be considered a Martial Artist at all. They will only be laugh at and shame by their peers. They would have been helpless against Slipstream, just like the kid’s current state.

After sending the kid flying for umpteenth time and showing no signs of improvement, Slipstream had decided to finally put the kid out of his misery. He gave him his chance to back out. The eyes were still defiant and determined. He was still maintaining his stance with his hands still holding the stick in front of him.

Alright kid you had your chance. It was a good try, but it’s over now. He dodged the overhead strike and then struck the kid side.

Slipstream ran in for the knockout blow with his fist aiming for the boy’s face and that was when he heard it.

“Revolving Wheel.”

Slipstream hand was met with something hard and his punch was deflected. A loud crack was heard in the training room. For the first time in a long while, Slipstream mind could not process things fast enough.

What he could see was that the boy was holding his stick to the side as he had just swung it.

However, that was impossible. He had seen the beginning motion of the boy swinging the stick horizontally, but he did not see the finishing motion of the swing. All he saw was a blur and then felt the resistance.

Did that mean the boy swung the stick so fast that he couldn’t see it? That idea was so ridiculous, he could not process it.

The stick was also missing a good half of it’s original length. Did the boy slash with enough force to deflect his punch, but at the same time breaking his stick? All these happen within a second, but Slipstream pushed these questions aside as he began the counter motion with his other hand.

A second delay was enough for the boy to close in and raise his opposite hand, preparing to bring it down in a single vertical slash. To Slipstream, it was all happening in slow motion. He had judged the boy too slow. Slipstream counterblow would reach the boy’s face and the boy’s counterattack was destined to fail in the end.

Better luck next time kid.

Slipstream could only feel pity for the boy’s failed counter attempt. Them the breaks kiddo. However, that when Slipstream noticed the arm that was slowly coming down blurring.

Then something hit his head.

Hard.

So hard that it almost knocked him out. And then Slipstream realized what it was.

A stick.