Cursed Comprehension

"Huh?"

Abena looked at him expectantly, eagerness evident in her eyes.

"So?" She began. "How about it?"

Ato held out his hand, stopping her right in her tracks.

"Why me?" He inquired, already anticipating the answer she would give.

"Why wouldn't it be you? After all, you were the one who fought toe-to-toe with the supervisor." she stated.

There it is.

Ato sighed, lifting his head up towards the sky.

Why couldn't he have been reborn as a bird or something? That would probably be much more interesting than livng as a human again.

Then again, he wasn't quite sure that bird could cultivate.

"Fine..." He sighed, lifting his hands up to his face in a boxer's stance.

Abena raised an eyebrow at the strange stance, yet ultimately decided against commenting.

Her foot swept out, catching Ato by the knee and flinging him into the air.

She then quickly followed it up by sending out a swift punch which impacted Ato's abdomen, nocking the air right out of his lungs.

Her leg then shot towards his face...

[Immobilise]

Only to immediately halt, along with the rest of her body as Ato cast his insidious spell.

Perfect.

His fist shot out like a bullet, smashing violently into the girl's chin and completely shattering the spell.

This was of no consequence though, as Ato still contained enough Kra within him to continue casting the spell.

Abena quickly recovered, sending a kick straight towards him.

Due to her superior battle knowledge, she currently had the advantage in the fight.

That would change soon.

[Immobilise]

Ato raised his leg, delivering a brutal axe kick to the shoulder of his opponent.

"GHK!" The sudden blow stunned Abena, her face contoring into an expression of pain.

'Bam!'

His fist came next, the mighty blow turning her face to the side.

Abena leapt backwards, aiming to create distance between herself and Ato.

This is bad! She thought. He's stronger than I expected!

Ato, on the other hand, was frowning internally, his Kra reserves wre almost depleted, he could only cast one more spell before completely running out of useable Kra.

I've got to make this count.

He dashed forward, ducking under a kick and sidestepping a punch, bringing him into direct contact with his foe.

[Immoblise}

'BAM!'

Ato's eyes widened in shock, as dark spots began popping up in his field of view, which quickly began to blur.

"What... The..."

His eyes rolled back into his skull as he fell forward, his face planting fimly into the dust.

"Huff... Huff....!"

Abena breathed heavily, clutching the brass charm tightly in her now extended fist.

She glanced down at her downed opponent, a slight smile gracing her lips. Ato had been strong—very strong—although Abena wasn't sure whether it was due to his physicality or the sheer brokenness of his spell.

"Seriously, who the fuck gives a low level cultivatior a spell like that?" She muttered, picking the unconsious Ato and slinging him over her back.

It wasn't as if she was going to leave him there.

"Now, where the hell was Kweku's hut?"

A slight grimace appeared on her face as she spoke that name.

Kweku, for someone with such a low-quality Sunsum, was surprisingly strong. She'd managed to beat every cultivator in her age group, yet he was the only exception.

She glanced yet again at her opponent, he too had almost become an exception.

It's a good thing I came prepared...

She brushed off those thoughts as she walked forward. Abena had finally been able to join the army.

Her path to freedom was clear.