Fai was once again in such a situation , ... situation where he was weak, too weak to even protect himself.
Truth be told, after his victory against Keal's group, he thought it might be over. He thought he would never be in a situation like this again, a situation where he couldn't stand… stand for himself.
In his mind, Fai knew he was now strong, strong enough to protect himself. And he wasn't wrong ,who wouldn't think that way? In the end, he was able to fight back against his high school nightmares. Didn't that mean something? It had to, right?
Of course it did, but in the situation he was in now, I guess we could say it didn't.
"Seems like we have a strong one this time," one of the four boys said. Each of them had already managed to land a hit, and from the way they fought, it was clear they had been a team for a long time, even before the assessment.
Their attacks were synchronized; each strike came at the perfect time, sometimes even complementing the previous one, making good use of the momentum. No energy was wasted.
"Yeah, and the surprising part is that he's a non-mutant," one of them added.
"A non-mutant still standing after receiving hits from four Copper Stage opponents—that's unheard of," said another, the one with brown hair.
"And we're meant to be the strongest group in this assessment, yet we can't deal with a human," the last one stated.
They were discussing among themselves. It was clear they weren't happy with the result of their fight.
What the… They're just at the Copper Stage, yet they're this strong? Fai thought. It made no sense to him.
Although he hadn't used his Fae Eyes on Keal's group due to his anger—he hadn't even been able to think properly back then and had just charged in, fighting with pure instinct and rage—
—even so, he assumed they were at least at the Copper Stage. But now that he was fighting these people, and they claimed to be Copper Stage mutants, he could clearly see the difference.
Maybe Keal's group had only been at the Bronze Stage of their mutation, because the four standing before him? Their strength wasn't something to joke about.
Fai's reasoning was correct in a way, but reality said otherwise.
When it came to mutation, nothing could ever be certain. Nothing could be fully predicted—at least not when determining the strength of an individual.
To put it simply: two individuals could be at the same mutation stage, but that didn't mean they would be equal in strength if they faced each other.
So many factors came into play…
The first aspect: their mutation type. If an individual with a water mutation were to go against someone with an ice mutation, it would be clear who held the advantage and who was at a disadvantage.
The ice-type mutant would have the upper hand, and they would have a higher chance of winning if the two fought head-on.
(Keep in mind, this is assuming they are at the same stage.)
The next aspect could be their fighting technique. Two mutants could share the same mutation, but the way they used it might be entirely different. One might have better fighting experience, giving them the advantage.
In the reality of life, no matter the situation, experience was always the best teacher.
Another aspect: their mid-stage level. We already know mutation goes from Bronze Stage (lowest) all the way to Platinum Stage (highest).
But what you don't know is that within each stage, there are different levels: Early, Mid, and Peak.
An individual could be at the Early Copper Stage, while another could be at the Peak Copper Stage. If both were to fight, the winner would be obvious.
And that perfectly explained the confusion in Fai's mind right now. Keal's group might have been at the Early Copper Stage, while these guys were at the Peak Copper Stage—meaning these four were far stronger.
This also meant their cores were close to stepping into the Silver Stage.
Meaning, right now, we could say Fai was literally going up against four near-Silver Stage mutants.
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Still recovering guys , But good news I'll soon be strong on both feets .
Thanks a lot for the support: Sheikh, Anna Grace.
And thanks to everone for reading so far! I appreciate all the support you guys have been giving the novel. Trust me, it's all the motivation I need