Bus Incident (3)

He could barely begin to track the trajectory of his opponent's attacks, though his body's reactions still lagged by half a beat.

He started to grasp the terrifying principles of force transmission and the essence of structural human destruction hidden behind those deceptively simple movements.

Time, within this space twisted by the system, flowed madly. Toudou Shizuka, like a mortal thrown into a hellish furnace, greedily, painfully, and frantically absorbed the deadly nourishment called the "S-Rank Fighting Style" through countless bone-shattering deaths.

[Combat Skill (Military-Grade Mixed Martial Arts) Comprehension: 99.99%!]

When this prompt finally appeared, Toudou Shizuka was half-kneeling on the ground in a twisted posture, his right hand locked at an impossible angle, reverse-joint, around the elbow of the virtual "Ayanokouji" that had just struck out! He was drenched in blood (virtual), his school uniform tattered, covered in simulated, gruesome bruises and wounds, but his eyes blazed with a terrifying light, like burning stars.

The virtual projection across from him froze. Toudou Shizuka could feel that every move he made, every ounce of force he exerted, precisely slotted into the gaps and weaknesses of his opponent's attacks, forming an almost instinctive prediction and counter.

[Comprehension has reached critical threshold! Skill mastery conditions met!]

[Solidifying neural and muscle memory... Complete!]

[Congratulations, Host! Successfully mastered skill: Combat Skill (Military-Grade Mixed Martial Arts)! Rank: S-Rank!]

[Obtained Simulation Points: 100 Points!]

Boom!

A massive information flow, like a floodgate opening, surged into Toudou Shizuka's mind in an instant! Countless fragments about human anatomy, force techniques, combat experience, and tactical responses perfectly merged with the painful insights he had earned through countless deaths in the training ground! At the same time, a strange warm current coursed through his limbs and body, as if countless invisible hands were massaging and reshaping his muscle fibers and neural response pathways. He could clearly feel that the instinctive combat reactions, deeply etched into his soul, were being completely updated and overwritten!

When this torrent subsided, Toudou Shizuka's eyes snapped open.

Before him was no longer the cold virtual training ground, but the slightly swaying interior of a bus. Early summer sunlight streamed through the windows, casting shifting light spots on the floor. In his ears were the hum of the engine, the murmurs of students, and the faint echoes of a small dispute over seats up front that seemed to have just settled—time, in the real world, had passed only an instant!

He remained in his posture, head slightly lowered, sitting in the corner, his single-shoulder bag on his lap, looking no different from a few seconds ago. Only he knew that the surging power within his body and the bone-deep, icy instinct of a top predator were so real and unfamiliar. He unconsciously flexed his finger joints slightly, and the knuckles emitted a faint, powerful "crack," as if harboring the strength to easily shatter rock.

Just then, a faint but unmistakably clear sensation of being watched came over him.

Toudou Shizuka's heartbeat tightened for a moment, but his face maintained the quiet calm that belonged to "Toudou Shizuka." With a natural, just-woken-up daze, he slightly raised his head and followed the source of that gaze.

Their eyes met.

At the back of the bus, by the window in the last row, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had somehow stopped looking outside. His eyes, lacking any luster like Inorganic Glass Beads, now calmly, without any emotion, passed through the swaying figures and landed on Toudou Shizuka's face.

That gaze was very faint, very calm, without any hint of scrutiny or suspicion, as if he were merely glancing over an insignificant corner of the bus, at an ordinary classmate whose aura had seemed to undergo some subtle shift in that one moment.

Toudou Shizuka's breathing didn't waver. His eyes showed just the right amount of slight confusion at being stared at by a stranger, along with a hint of an introvert's unease. Then, as if embarrassed, he quickly and naturally lowered his head again, avoiding that gaze.

In the instant he lowered his head, at the upper right corner of his vision, a tiny blue system prompt silently appeared:

[Combat Skill (S-Rank) successfully acquired.]

[Detected brief gaze from target (Ayanokouji Kiyotaka). Correlation Analysis: Extremely low. No threat assessment.]

At the corner of Toudou Shizuka's mouth, in an angle no one could see, a minuscule upward twitch appeared, vanishing in a flash.

He sat there quietly, like a drop of water merging into the sea. Only the palm pressed against his knee was slightly damp.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would never know that in that brief glance just now, the ordinary student sitting in the corner of Class B, so quiet he was nearly transparent, had been "killed" by him hundreds of times in the mental world. And had successfully stolen his prized, S-Rank fangs.

The bus drove steadily toward its destination. The grand silhouette of Kōdo Ikusei High School was already clearly visible on the horizon. Toudou Shizuka gazed at the scenery flashing past the window, feeling the surging, brand-new power within him, and the glaring line on the system interface in his vision: [Simulation Points: 100].

The bus drove steadily, the low hum of the engine the only background noise in the cabin. Toudou Shizuka kept his head lowered, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing against the rough fabric of the single-shoulder bag on his knee. A completely different sense of power surged within him—the icy instinct of a sleeping fierce beast brought by the S-Rank Military-Grade Combat Skill, forming a strange rift with the gentle temperament of the "Toudou Shizuka" body. He needed time to adapt, to deeply conceal these deadly fangs beneath a docile exterior.

Up front in the cabin, the brief standoff over the seat continued. The white-haired old woman held onto the railing, her body swaying slightly with the bus's motion, a trace of barely noticeable fatigue and embarrassment on her face. Several students sat in the priority seats; some bowed their heads pretending to play on their phones, others stared out the window with wandering eyes, no one getting up. A subtle awkwardness and evasive silence filled the air.

Just then, a clear, pleasant female voice, carrying just the right amount of concern, broke the silence.

"Grandma, please take my seat!"

Everyone's gaze was instantly drawn. Near the aisle in the middle of the bus, Kushida Kikyo, with her brown hair, stood up nimbly, an angelic, pure, and warm smile on her face. She even took two steps forward and gently supported the old woman's arm. Her movements were natural and smooth, her tone sincere and enthusiastic, without any trace of pretense or condescension, as if it were just the most ordinary, effortless gesture.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly..." The old woman seemed flattered.