Chương 44: Chapter 43
Koriand'r made the first move. She floated a few inches in the air and slid forward, holding the staff with one hand at its tip like a sword.
She thrust it toward the center of Dio's nose.
Dio turned his body to the left to dodge, but she spun the staff to the same position where he turned and forced him to crouch to avoid the attack.
While crouched, Dio counterattacked with his staff and aimed for her waist, but she held the staff with both hands and defended herself.
When compared to martial arts practiced on Earth, the one she learned was specifically made for beings that can fly, which makes it hard to predict her movements.
With their staffs still meeting, she spun it and tried to strike his head.
Dio managed to defend and counterattack, and they exchanged blows, alternating between defense, attack, and counterattack.
Then she landed on the ground to reduce her height by a few inches, enough to catch Dio off guard, and she thrust the front part of the staff into his abdomen.
Koriand'r spun her body and kicked his leg, which caused Dio to fall backward.
"Well, you lasted longer than last time."
Koriand'r said and extended her hand to help Dio up.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Dio replied as he stood up on his feet.
"And it was; it took a lot of training with the Warlords of Okaara for me to defend myself so well with a staff as you're doing now."
Koriand'r continued.
The Warlords are great martial arts masters in the Vega system, where Koriand'r comes from.
It seems she trained there with her sister when she was younger. This was one of the few details she shared about her past.
Koriand'r doesn't like to talk about her past much, and Dio has a sense of why, so he'd rather not push her.
"Another round?"
Koriand'r asked while holding the staff with both hands.
"Sure,"
Dio replied.
Dio got into position, but unlike her, he held his staff low with both hands and used it more like a sword.
This time, Dio attacked first. He raised the staff above his head and brought it down toward her shoulder.
Koriand'r gracefully levitated in the air to dodge, but he predicted quickly.
Dio stopped his downward strike and shifted it from the bottom to the side, just as she had done to him.
The staff moved faster than her flying speed, which caused her to lower her head to defend herself and counterattack, aiming for his leg.
Dio jumped to avoid the strike and kicked Koriand's face.
Koriand'r defended herself in the middle of the staff and took advantage of the moment to create some distance.
She then lunged with a thrust and targeted his chest.
Dio dodged the first two strikes and counterattacked on the third. But that was what she was waiting for.
She spun her body in the air and kicked Dio.
Dio managed to defend her kick aimed at his chest, but the staff broke in two.
However, Dio didn't give up. He grabbed the broken second half of the staff and attacked her with two strikes at the same time, one aimed at her extended ankle and the other at her chest.
Dio managed to hit her leg and cause her to wince in pain, but the attack targeting her chest failed.
"Are you okay?"
Dio asked, as he was concerned about her leg.
'Maybe I had gone a bit overboard.'
"Injuries during training are common; don't worry about them."
Koriand'r replied, though Dio could see that she was in pain.
"Let me examine it; the training is over."
Dio said it without giving her a chance to object.
Koriand'r sat on the floor while Dio checked her ankle.
It wasn't swollen, so it wasn't broken.
"Sorry, sometimes I forget that I'm not training with Wonder Woman."
Dio apologized while still looking at her ankle.
"I've already told you it's nothing. My natural healing is already at work, and the pain is disappearing."
Koriand'r continued.
'Training with Diana helped me control my powers but not hold back because I didn't need to do that during our fights.'
Diana was stronger and more resilient than Dio, so he always went all out, and she was never injured.
In addition, he didn't land many direct hits on her.
After a few seconds, she was fully healed. If it weren't for that, Dio would have healed her.
Dio was not very skilled in healing spells, but he had a very effective one, but not a pleasant experience.
"This little incident kind of killed the mood. How about we work out a bit on the machines?"
Dio suggested it to his gym partner.
"I don't understand why you got so upset over such a minor injury, but okay, let's go to the machines."
Koriand'r replied as she stood up.
As they walked toward the machines, Kaldur'ahm entered the gym in his workout clothes.
"Have you finished your physical training?"
Kaldur'ahm asked.
Kaldur'ahm also used this floor quite a bit, along with everyone else except Wally, who only came to brag that he could reach the treadmill's maximum speed.
Roy tried to avoid him, so he came at a different time.
Robin tried to train with them in the morning, but he fell asleep during an exercise and almost got hurt, so he didn't try again.
"I accidentally injured her during our fight, so we stopped."
Dio explained it to him.
"Are you all right?"
Kaldur'ahm asked and looked at her with concern.
"It was just a minor injury. I'm completely healed."
Koriand'r replied and went toward one of the gym machines.
Kaldur'ahm then approached Dio and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
"Nothing serious; I just don't have much control over my strength. I ended up hurting her ankle, but it healed in a few seconds.
Dio explained more.
"Understood. Do you want to work out while we talk about magic?"
Kaldur'ahm asked and changed the subject.
"Sure."
So the two of them went to the futuristic-style treadmills, turned them on to speeds much higher than any normal human could run, and began their conversation while enjoying a light warm-up.
Kaldur'ahm wasn't a sorcerer or magician; his magical powers came from his tattoos.
It wasn't necessary for him to understand how the tattoos worked in order to use his powers.
He just had to learn how to infuse energy into them.
This way, everyone who didn't focus on creating tattoos trained and learned only to manipulate them. It was a magical shortcut.
When Dio met this version of Aqualad, he was quite excited about the possibility of discovering some of the secrets of his Atlantean magic.
Atlantean magic was one of the first systems created on Earth, but the truth was boring.
It seemed that the true homo magi of Atlantica were few, and the reason for this was somewhat vague.
According to Kaldur'ahm, Atlantean magic is fueled by belief, will, and faith in Atlantis itself.
However, it seems that this magic has been corrupted in some way and made quite thin.
So, they came up with tattoos, which are short cuts made and spread by the royalty of the country of Xebel, who can naturally manipulate water.
"DINDINDINDIN!"
While they were running and talking, the alert signal started beeping.
Koriand'r, who was closer to the communicator on the wall near the door, went to it and pressed a button, asking, "What happened?"
"Get dressed and go to the roof, now!"
Robin's voice responded without providing many details.
Those were just a few words, but the three of us acted immediately.
They entered the elevator and made a brief stop on the floor where our rooms were located.
That's where Aqualad and Koriand'r changed into their costumes, while Dio simply touched the black metal of his pendant to have his armor spread over his entire body.
Koriand'r and Aqualad returned dressed in their suits, and as they ascended, Dio couldn't help but keep his eyes on Koriand'r's new outfit.
It was quite sexy.
She was wearing a purple outfit that clung to her body, with the center of her chest exposed, which revealed a bit of skin, and a miniskirt.
She had two silver bracelets on her wrists and matching boots, all in the same color as her outfit.
It was simple but perfect for her, with her long red hair flowing freely and her orange skin.
They arrived on the roof, and in the center of it was the Titans' means of transportation.
Dio can't describe it better than a wide, silver-flying car with multiple seats.
Kid Flash, Robin, and Speedy were all in their places, with Robin in the front as the pilot.
"Hurry!"
Kid Flash yelled at them.
Aqualad and Dio rushed to the flying car while Koriand'r flew to her seat. When they were all seated, the car took off towards the city.
"What happened?"
Aqualad asked in the middle of the flight.
Without looking at us, Robin replied, "A metahuman just attacked a jewelry store a few minutes ago and stole thousands of dollars worth of jewels. The police tried to stop him, but they were not enough. At this moment, the metahuman is leaving a trail of destruction in his escape."
"I see."
Aqualad responded.
"Did the League approve this mission?"
Dio asked with hope in his eyes.
"I received the mission directly from Martian Manhunter, but all the other League members are busy, so we'll have to fight this battle without supervision."
Robin replied.
"Stop being a coward, rookie!"
Speedy shouted, but Dio ignored him.
The League of Justice wouldn't let a group of teens live alone without supervision, as Dio said before.
That's why they made rules, like not going on tasks without a League member with us to help them if something goes wrong.
A League member would also stay in the Titan Tower with them every once in a while. These rules are good. They forgot one important thing was that they were very busy.
Since they moved in, not a single one of them has come to stay with them.
This made some members think they could go on their first mission without getting permission from the League, which Dio thought was a bad idea and made Roy think of him as a coward.
...
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