9 Chapter 9

"Evaluate." The Captain corrected. "And no, they are not similar. I get that a lot. You aren't being forced to answer, just to share them if you so wish to. But no, we aren't here for any answers. Hydra doesn't interest me. You do."

The white haired man then climbed inside the boxing ring, starting to undress. "Come on. Sate the curiosity of an old man, would you?"

Harry stared at him, confused for a second, before he understood what the man wanted.

Fighting Captain Ares? His handlers would've thrown a fit. One command that every Hydra has to follow was 'You see a large red robot with a giant sword? Run. Ares doesn't leave survivors'. That man's personal vendetta against Hydra was legendary.

But then again, when will he ever recieve the opportunity to fight such a strong opponent? This was his chance to truly assess his prowess. How exactly will he fare against a fellow super soldier...

The sound of multiple footsteps made him turn around. Suddenly the once mostly empty gym was filled to the brim as people started entering. Around a dozen, each wearing a sleeveless grey-navy blue uniform with shield's logo on their chest. He could make out Melinda's face in the mix, as well as Maria Hill's. Though not Kara.

"I hope you don't mind an audience." The Captain called out, a slight smirk on his face.

Harry was... annoyed. He couldn't understand the man's reasons behind this. Did he wish to embarass him in front of an audience? Was this supposed to be a lesson for him? A punishment for once being in Hydra? Clearly he invited this bunch for a reason.

And as he observed the crowd, he saw a lot of unhappy faces. Some were even giving him nasty looks. He couldn't careless of course. They will find their heads detached if they tried anything.

But the point is, Shield was up to something. Or atleast Ares was. Something that Harry didn't understand.

"Relax."

Harry glanced to the side, finding Melinda leaning down at him.

"He wanted to give this year's shield graduates a lesson." She explained. "You've truly impressed him with your fight against Hydra. It was all he could talk about for the past month or so."

Harry found that hard to believe. Why would he show-off a former Hydra's skills? It was basically saying: 'See this strong kid? Yeah Hydra trained him and made him that. Isn't that great? Our enemy is so cool'.

No. That can't be it. Surely not...unless Ares literally didn't care about more people joining Hydra.

"And I completely agree with him." Melinda continued chattering. "I've only ever seen two people fight the way you did."

"I see." Harry gave a last nod before approaching the ring.

"I'm sorry for the whooping you're about to recieve kid." One of the male initiates said from the side, his friends snorting behind him.

Multiple responses flashed through Harry's mind before he found himself just not caring.

He settled on looking the thin guy up and down before elegantly stating. "Shut the fuck up."

His friends eyes widened, startled laughter escaping them, and Harry counted it as success. Especially when the guy turned red.

The ring wasn't large enough for a true fight, boxing the participants in a small closed square, but he guessed it presented its own type of challenge. You can't expect to always fight in open ground afterall.

Quest [Weather the Storm] in progress–

Survive against Ares for 1 minute ( )

Survive against Ares for 3 minutes ( )

Survive against Ares for 5 minutes ( )

Now this...this removed all of his reservations. He had nothing to lose from this fight. Everyone expected Ares to win anyway, so he simply needed to survive.

"How do you wish to proceed?" Harry asked his opponent as he climbed up the ring, swinging inside through the ropes.

"Oh don't worry about rules." Ares waved it away. "Just go all out. I can take it. Even your... special abilities."

"Very well then."

And with that, he attacked. The hasty plan that formed in his head relied on one thing: Don't go all out.

Harry met Ares in a flurry of blows, both getting into it from the get go but with him holding back slightly. A quick swing to the man's head that he jerked out of, followed by a swipe of legs while ducking down from his opponents counter punch. The Captain jumped away, steady and stable.

The first contact was over, now was time for the core.

This time, his opponent took the initiative.

If Melinda was indeed true about the motive of this fight then the man would most likely be looking to adjust to Harry's strength and speed. And considering Ares has seen him fight, he'd already have an estimated level.

He was proven right when his opponent attacked him with similar speed and strength that Harry moved in just now. And he had to admit...this guy was a monster. Every punch that he threw came with a sharp accuracy, each setting up the next attack, each just a chain of a long combination meant to push him in a certain way. Even though his opponent was lowering himself to Harry's level, his skill simply outstripped Harry's by a wide margin.

But that was what Harry expected from the start. He may have the system at his side, but Captain Ares has been fighting since world war 2. The sheer experience that this 88 year old man has accumulated cannot be surpassed by a few years of training. Especially when the man's body showed minimal signs of weakening from age.

Harry didn't plan to dominate in unarmed combat against the man. No, but what he wanted was to lure the man in, give him what he expected.

And then, when he least expects, burst out at full prowess.

Which was exactly what Harry did. As they met again, he went wild. The intensity behind his punch shook his opponents arm when he tried to deflect it away. The surprise that flashed behind captain's eyes motivated Harry further, and he rained a flurry of blows upon him, even cracking the ring's corner poll when one of his missed kicks landed on it.

And for the first time, he was taking the charge of the fight, pushing his opponent back.

Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy. The words became a fact in front of his eyes as all too soon, Ares readjusted.

Afterall, if Harry had been holding back a bit, the god of war was doing so by a lot. And it showed in his next attacks when he too stopped pulling his punches.

The guy had more than 10 points advantage in strength and speed. Not only was he more skilled, he was also much more powerful. And it showed when the god of war easily started to counter Harry and put him back on defensive.

But Harry was flexible enough to still make his plan work. Briefly he wondered if he should just Increase his stats with points but quickly discarded it.

No, they can be used for something far important than quick boost in a mock fight.

But he did have one thing to salvage his plan: Magic.

Normally, wand magic wouldn't be too useful in such a fast paced melee fight. The incantations themselves would've taken a second or two. Enough time for Ares to pick him up and tear him in half.

But Wandless magic held a massive advantage in this regard. It was quicker. More subtler.

As Ares pushed him to a corner, harry responded to the next combination of attacks with a solid wall of magic. The man's fists bounced off of the surface while his knee was stopped cold, though the strikes did manage to send deep cracks in the wall. Harry didn't care, he just wanted to surprise his opponent, in which he succeeded.

And promptly took the advantage of.

He launched himself over the opponent, using the ring ropes to jump above his head. His feets came down to stomp upon the stunned Ares' head and use it as leverage to somersault over him, before launching a thick beam of pure force towards the man as he landed straight on his legs.

There was no way he could've dodged that. The beam of force was thick. As thick as Harry's entire body, taking almost all of his magic to create it. It should've blasted Ares from the ring, and maybe even injure him badly.

But somehow the man turned around and a massive sword suddenly came into existence to block the beam, cutting his magic in two. The two smaller beams went on to rip apart the ropes and poles, demolishing down the entire ring that they fought on, forcing Harry on his knees as he struggled to maintain his balance.

But as the dust settled, Ares stood on his legs, safe and sound, with his gigantic red sword resting on his shoulder, looking very much ready for the next round. Harry on the other hand...

Harry Potter

Age: 10

Race: Wizard

Level: 23

Mana: 37/390

Health: 278/290

Stamina: 28/290

...was tired. And panting. And just wanted to take a quick nap. Or a nice long nap.

Thankfully the collapsed stage made his opponent glance around in stress. "Alright, that was definitely not what I wanted. Fury's gonna be on my ass again."

He then turned to harry, shooting a small smile. "I think we can conclude this match with your win, Harry. I shouldn't have used this sword, but my instincts said I'd be in for some painful days at hospital if I let that attack land. And well...I've learned to trust my instincts in matters like this."

Harry didn't respond save for a quick nod, too busy panting for some breath with his hands resting on his knees, even ignoring the flashes of message from his system.

He took a quick glance around at the gaping crowd as Ares turned to face them, taking in their shocked and incredulous face with no small amount of satisfaction.

"And that, kids," The man started, insinuating his words by pointing at harry. "-is why I said never to judge your opponent through size or age. Not in here. If you wish to continue serving the world through Shield then you must be aware of the risk. This planet...it's filled with things you cannot comprehend. Neither can I, for that matter. You just never know when a pissed off ten year old may screw you over. So when your superiors tell you your enemy is dangerous? You better believe them. Or you'll be signing a one way ticket to a casket."

Silence ensued as some of the people present looked down to the ground like scolded children, while the others had a face of grim seriousness. Even Maria.

It was...a surprising display of humility that Harry hadn't expected adults to show. Aren't adults supposed to be calm and confident? Well...his targets will beg to differ but harry couldn't imagine himself being this docile when he grew up.

But then again, he didn't know what exactly 'growing Up' entailed so...eh.

As the Captain continued to lecture the group, Harry finally took a look at the pings of msgs.

Quest [Weather the Storm] Completed–

Survive against Ares for 1 minute (X)

Survive against Ares for 3 minutes (X)

Survive against Ares for 5 minutes (X)

Defeat Ares [Bonus] (X)

Defeat Ares without Magic [Bonus] (—)

Rewards:

100 Xp

300 Xp

500 Xp

1 Level

[Happy Birthday]–

Rewards increased by 100%

[You Leveled Up] Lvl 24

[You Leveled Up] Lvl 25

[You Leveled Up] Lvl 26

Pleasant warmth spread through Harry as he took in the lvl up msgs. He hadn't expected to recieve any birthday gifts today, like he'd heard people usually get, but of course his system came up with a way anyway.

This was, without a doubt, the best birthday ever!

A shame he would've to shelve the celebrations for later. While he appreciated his system's gifts, he didn't appreciate Ares' plots.

For now, he had a legend to confront. And a threat to assess.

Because if things like this continued, he may just have to leave Shield behind as well...