Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Kaley, Tatiana, and Cynthia were looking at me as I was talking, but as soon as I said that, the glint in their eyes couldn't be hidden. The three of them were also interested in Artem's capabilities but Tatiana was hiding a smirk whilst she raised one of her eyebrows.

It was almost as if she was doubting I figured it out but Kaley and Cynthia had no doubts whatsoever.

'Well, she probably tried to figure out his thing way back before I met them but as I said…'

"It's just a crumb, alright? Hear me out."

Tatiana chuckled as she folded her arms together, "Let's hear it then. Wait, I'm supposed to hit you, right? Ready?"

"Go ahea–"

I wasn't even done talking when Tatiana threw me a quick backslap but I managed to dodge it at the last second before she suddenly jumped and rolled forward, performing a full-body axe-kick.

"Tatiana! This wasn't–"

She was still in mid-air as I called out to her but to stop what she was doing almost immediately, I stepped forward and turned my body sideways so I could carry her in my arms like a bride.

Perfect catch!

Tatiana was instantly caught off-guard and the look on Kaley and Cynthia's faces was fucking priceless, especially Kaley. With that said, Tatiana felt a little vulnerable in this position so her cheeks were a little red.

'Cute…'

Tatiana tried to struggle, "Wha– I thought– This wasn't his secret!"

I replied roughly, "Shaddap! I wasn't done talking!"

"You told me to–"

"Bad comms, sorry. I'll put you down so we could start again, okay?"

"Okay…"

The tinge of red in Tatiana's face was still present when I let her down on her feet but I didn't mind it as much as I went back to our topic.

"Okay, hmm~ How should I explain this better… Oh! Join in, you two– What I want you to do is bring together your palms and act as if you're praying for something or whatever."

Tatiana and Cynthia instantly followed but Kaley was looking at me a little suspiciously.

"Kaley?"

"You think I'm born yesterday?"

"What?"

"I'll gladly do it for you, you just have to ask for it…" Kaley trailed as she looked at me with the same expression, but with a tinge of redness on her face.

"Huh?"

I was still trying to figure out what Kaley was trying to say but Cynthia and Tatiana instantly burst out laughing. Cynthia was still maintaining the position while Tatiana weirdly straightened her posture.

"What? What is it?!"

Kaley shook her head in disbelief, "Oh god, I thought– You're so cute when you do this!"

"What?"

Cynthia exclaimed, "You still don't get it?!"

"I don't! Tell me!"

I was still trying to get some answers when Tatiana pulled up behind Kaley and put her hands all over her 'upper' body.

Kaley tried to squirm away, "Tatiana! What are you–"

"Just let me handle it~"

"H-Hngh!"

It only took a second before Tatiana brought her palms together in front of Kaley while she was still behind her, and I never looked so much like an idiot when Tatiana pressed her arms around Kaley's 'upper' body and squeezed them together.

Kaley didn't know what to do as her massive assets were being squeezed together but let's just say Tatiana ate another headbutt at one point.

"Ack! Totally worth it~"

"Hmph! Squeeze your own tits at your own time!"

"I do, really. But who'd go for this when yours are in front of me?"

"Doofus…"

Cynthia stood between them, "Guys, we're really~ going out of topic right now…"

Tatiana chuckled as she turned to me, "Did you get it, at least? You pure, pure, boy~"

She was wearing a cheeky smile as she turned to me but I didn't give her the satisfaction of telling her that she was right. Furthermore, I didn't even address the 'upper' body situation clearly because as Cynthia said, we've been really going out of topic.

However, I couldn't help but sympathize with Kaley because once she did the thing I was telling them to do, they were getting 'expressed' by a little bit, and I might have been stun-locked for a few moments.

With that said, it didn't look like she was uncomfortable but the look she gave me when I was staring for a few seconds longer at her 'upper' body was enough proof that I might be up to something else.

'Well, not this time, no…'

In which case, I brought the topic back, "Okay, while we're in this position, apply force at each arm at the same time. Try to push the other arm–"

Cynthia interjected, "B-But, all we'll do is just push at each one… n-nothing… nothing happens…"

Kaley nodded, "I've done this before, but what does this relate with Artem's thing?"

Tatiana added, "Also, why did we go from hitting you to doing this? I don't see the connection…"

I scratched my head as I looked at them, "I thought this would be a better visualization but I think that this is the trick– no… technique as to why Artem's so great at taking hits."

Tatiana tilted her head in slight confusion, "I still don't unders–"

"Imagine your attack is one arm while the other is Artem's technique. I don't know the right term to call it but it's one advanced form of taking shots with zero or almost zero damage."

"What?"

"You sparred with him, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you feel that sometimes, it felt really off? Like you know your attack's fucking solid but it didn't feel like it did when it connected? And furthermore, it didn't seem to faze him as much as it was supposed to? It's like… It's like… punching a mixture of cornstarch and water."

Tatiana got confused even more, "A what now?"

Kaley shook her head as she let out a smile, "What do you call that again? Oobleck?"

"Yep, oobleck."

Cynthia scrunched her eyebrows, "I don't understand…"

I was about to explain my case but Kaley spoke up first.

"Wait, I've seen you do that before… Not just one but a few times."

Cynthia and Tatiana turned to Kaley, "What did he do?"

Kaley explained, "You know, the time when someone– I forgot his name– When that guy threw a barrage of punches but he copied– no… mirrored the strikes until the other guy gave up."

Tatiana's eyes lit up, "Oh! I remember that too! That guy was so fucking demoralized, heh."

Cynthia turned to me, "Is that the secret then? Then you could do it as well?"

I nodded pensively, "That sounds about right but as I said, Artem's thing is more advanced. Take note, being on the defense meant dodging blows, bracing for impact, redirecting strikes, and much, much more. The thing I was doing was reading where the attacks would come from, matching with my own– 'mirroring' it but there's a difference as to how Artem's doing it."

Kaley interjected, "W-Wait, I don't remember Artem doing that thing you're doing…"

Cynthia nodded, "Me too…"

I chuckled, "That's because he's doing it differently than what I was doing."

Tatiana was just listening as I was talking to the two.

"I do what I do but to give a rough theory about his technique– about what I think his technique is, he reads the movements of his opponent and acts accordingly, but if the last resort is to brace for damage, he'd receive it and either neutralize or dampen the damage by directing it the same way it came… Like pushing your hands together…"

"T-Two techniques in one then?"

"It's not as simple as it sounds."

"How?"

"He does it in a way that's fucking unnoticeable and he'll make you think he can take hits all day– Hence my example earlier… Granted he's already fucking tough but if you add regular defensive techniques plus that shit? I'd rather fight someone I could end in an instant or slowly whittle down compared to someone that just absorbs everything and makes you think that you're shit."

Kaley looked down pensively before turning to me, "Wait, if I'm hearing this correctly… Are you saying he could do something similar to the mirror thing that you do but he does it with his body? Not just his arms and legs but also his torso, his head, and whatnot? Is that what you're telling us right now?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't do it all the time. But the difference is that when he receives it with his body, he wouldn't be able to return damage like what I usually do– as far as I've seen him fight. But that's already more than fucking enough to fuck with everyone he fights with."

"What?"

"It's easy for me to read someone and mirror their attacks but it's another thing to do what he does. I tend to goof around while sparring but It's different when we're outside. I'd want to end things as fast as possible– I mean, he does too but… that technique is something else… If I even got it right… It has a lot of utility aside from not getting hurt as much…"

Kaley nodded pensively, "Drawing a battle out and messing with your opponent's mind…"

"Yeah, to name a couple…"

Tatiana finally chimed in after being silent mid-way, "At least you beat him without knowing what he could do. It took me a while and a lot of losses… You're one of few… But I'm 100% sure he'd easily lose to you in sword-fighting and using guns."

"Sure~ But I'll still keep my guard up. You never know what happens in a fight."

"So… We've talked about theories for a while… Are we gonna start on application? We did earlier but you stopped it when you caught me."

"Fine… let's do a few but let's start slow… I'll try to replicate it… Let's start with a right hook."

"Here it go–"

"Fuck! Lighter…"

"Okay~"

"Shit! Slower…"

"This is fucking fun~"

"Ack! A-Again!"

With that said, I think it would be safe to say that after that, I was lucky to not have a concussion. I tried many times to copy Artem's technique but each attempt resulted in catastrophic failure.

It was because my training would kick in almost always at the last minute, and trying out something new would mess with my reaction time.

At some point, Tatiana even felt guilty punching me in the face, she even tried switching with Kaley or Cynthia who flat out rejected her. In the end, we moved on to body blows which were kinda easier to take in with force because I don't know how many times I tried to tilt my head or perform head slips to avoid the blow completely when Tatiana was throwing me left and right hooks.

Regardless, my attempts to dampen the blows were completely obvious and it wouldn't even pass for a cheap replication of Artem's technique.

I could see myself brace for impact from the huge mirror and it was a far cry from the original. In a sense, it was just regular blocking and not the advanced blocking I was trying to learn. I know that I only have to do it once but I'm not even sure if I'm even 1% close.

Knowing the theory and actually doing it were two different things.

'I'll figure this out soon enough…'