83 Omen 3 (1/2)

Bam!

The sandbag shook upon Han's kick. The impact caused the gym to shake. Han took a different position while in his training uniform. His hair had grown considerably longer and swayed with his movements. His eyes only focused on the sandbag

”That's a heavy kick, kid. You know how to use your body. You had to make up for the lack of power with your body weight as a child, right? I've noticed last time as well, but you have a tendency to gather all your strength to one side of your body.”

Laocha commented while watching Han's kick posture. Han's eyes grew wide in surprise.

”Now that I think about it, you're right. How did you know?”

When Han was a young orphan, he had to fight against adults very frequently. A child cannot go against an adult with normal means. The most he could do back then was offset their balance or throw rocks to buy time. A child's strength would not be able to do much to adults with a normal attack, so he used his whole body to maximize the power of his attacks. All through first and second year, other than against Dimitri, he had always won in sparring matches.

”Even if you don't mentally think about habits like this, your body remembers them. You habitually add more power by off-setting the balance point of your body. The overall strength becomes greater due to inertia, however your aim and dexterity falls a great deal. When your attack reaches your opponent, the power will end up dispersed instead of focused. Your finishing attacks against your opponents must always remain sharp.”

Laocha showed him an example. Han drank some water and watched. Now that he decided to learn formally, he had no mind to lazily master it half heartedly.

Bam!

Laocha powerfully attacked the sandbag. The sandbag started to swing around.

”I imitated your kick just now.”

Laocha kicked the sandbag once again. The kick had a cleaner flow. His kick dug deeper into the sandbag. There was a slight difference. Han was watching with focus, but he couldn't easily spot the difference.

”Honestly, I don't know the difference.”

Upon Han's words, Laocha kicked his leg slower than before. As he kicked his leg, his balance had a strong foundation to support the attack. Even if he kicked up onto the shoulders, his balance would not easily falter.

”You will always find an optimum striking point against all opponents. You need to use your knees to attack, but instead of your leg, you're using your hips. Well, it will be hard to understand with just an explanation. You should learn by practicing it with your body. Your muscles are more than strong enough now. Even if you stop your old habits, your attacks will be more than strong enough. Rather than blindly attacking with the most strength you can muster, it's more important to focus your attack into a single point.”

Han followed Laocha's coaching and made minor changes to his posture. He couldn't easily take away all his bad habits and was cursed out repeatedly by Laocha. Han focused his attacks, but it wasn't easy to change his attack style. Laocha's gentle tone gradually became fierce and violent.

”How many times do I have to tell you to fix your shitty posture? How did you ever receive an A grade for weapon handling with such poor foundational skills? I guess Instructor Wei wasn't so great to begin with.”

Han quietly accepted all the cursing. He didn't flinch from any of Laocha's words. He's now used to the harsh tone of soldiers. Soldiers tried to be careful with their language in front of the third years, but their patience was very thin and would immediately revert to their old speech habits. Laocha realized he went too far and let out a heavy sigh and began to chug down some cold water.

While Han and Laocha bickered, a few of the people's data bracelets in the gym blinked in alarm. Squad leaders and housing officers were called to the command control posts. The message spread quickly.

-Team Delta and Echo, annihilated. There are ominous signs at the dimensional crack located at Tirania in the former Republic of Albania. A mass of organized minions are on the move.

It had evolved to a fire stage two zone. Every personnel of Ark should be on standby fully geared.

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A dimensional crack opened in Tirania, the capital of the state of Albania, located within the Balkan States. It had been the second dimensional crack to open on Earth, and where the second wave of the dragon army appeared. At that time, humanity had yet to stop the first wave of aggression and so the second wave of aggression was to be handled later by the Allied forces. The invasion which started in Albania spread all over the Balkan States and caused total destruction to the land and even Greece was swept up to be no more. The southeastern European States still suffer post war and have yet to fully recover. Following this catastrophe, the Balkan Alliance was formed, which is a military stronghold located in the EU with autonomy.

”Everyone who can pilot a psychoframe has been deployed. A majority of the first generation psykers have also left.” the housing officer said. The underlying meaning was simple, and everyone's expressions stiffened.

'A dragon might appear.'

All the psychoframes of Ark were on standby and would immediately be deployed upon the appearance of a dragon. The situation was that critical.

'The events are unfolding much faster than Sergeant Red's predictions.'

Han wiped his clammy hands on his pants. He fully geared for ground warfare and stood at the ready.

– This is the first time I've seen something like this happen as well.

Silence who sat next to him conveyed with his electric note. Squad Delta and Echo were annihilated. 8 dead. Amongst this group were first generation psykers and third years as well. The situation was so grave that even the third years could not be saved.

”The first generation psykers have been deployed so we're short of squad leaders. The higher-ups have conveyed an order to choose two appropriate third years to take on the role as Squad leader. One of the two squad leaders will be you, Han. The higher-ups came to this decision after looking through your record.”

Han's eyes grew wide. It was rare for a third year to be dubbed a squad leader. The only times a third year would be made a squad leader was for formal diplomatic events and only the experienced third years would be deployed. It was an unprecedented event for a new transfer like Han to become a squad leader. It conveyed how urgent the situation was.

”Do I need to choose my squad members?” The housing officer shook his head in response.