Caesar was secretly shocked.
Aside from his fellow Custodes, he had never seen anyone dodge his attacks so completely at such close range.
What's more, his opponent was just a kid who barely reached his knees.
But Axis didn't rush to counterattack.
Instead, he observed, sensing the rhythm of Custodes Caesar's fighting style, reading every motion of his attacks.
The power of ki was not only destructive, it also granted powerful perception, much like Observation Haki from One Piece.
By feeling out every strike, Axis could perfectly predict and evade them.
The Custodes' fighting technique was indeed exquisite. Every move had been honed countless times, leaving almost no opening.
Now this was interesting.
"Ki… it's not just destructive energy. It can sense the flow of battle, and even a foe's weak points," Axis silently reminded himself.
The ki within his body began to circulate faster, his movements becoming quicker, smoother, and more powerful.
Suddenly, Axis' figure blurred, seeming to split into several afterimages. Caesar's pupils shrank in alarm.
Such speed! Was this kid even human?
"Over here!" Axis' voice came from Caesar's right.
A hand chop came down at Caesar's shoulder.
Caesar hurriedly raised his arm to block, but Axis' strength far surpassed his expectations, making Caesar's arm go numb from the shock.
Landing his strike, Axis immediately jumped back, putting distance between himself and the Custodes.
Right now, he was fighting a humanoid grizzly bear.
He absolutely couldn't allow himself to be caught, and the Saiyan's natural combat instincts showed through brilliantly in this moment.
Caesar was stunned, how could a teenager possess strength that rivaled his own?
Was this a joke? Was this kid some kind of Primarch?
At this point, Custodes Caesar no longer dared to underestimate his opponent.
He narrowed his eyes and went all out.
If he treated this boy as an ordinary child, he'd be making a grave mistake.
This kid's fighting ability was far above a typical Space Marine.
He was, in fact, not much weaker than a rookie Custodes.
Caesar's attacks turned fierce and deadly, every strike aiming to kill.
Even without his power armor, a Custodian was a lethal warrior.
But Axis could always predict his moves.
His small body slipped through attacks with extraordinary agility, landing hits on the Custodes from all sorts of tricky angles.
The Custodes' stamina, endurance, and recovery were off the charts.
Even though Axis had landed several blows, Caesar barely seemed fazed.
He could probably go a month toe-to-toe with Axis and still keep going, so the fight needed to be decided quickly.
Axis gave Caesar no time to breathe.
His attacks came like a raging storm, each strike empowered by ki, packing tremendous force.
Relying on his ki-sense, Axis seemed able to perfectly predict Caesar's every move.
Dodge, counter, repeat.
Caesar barely managed to keep up, but it was clear he was starting to lose ground.
At that moment, a white glow lit up in Axis' palm as he aimed it at the Custodian.
A white ki blast shot out from Axis' hand, slamming hard into the Custodes' body.
Bang!
With a heavy thud, Caesar was forced back several steps by the ki blast.
The alloy deck beneath his feet caved in with deep dents.
Caesar dropped to one knee.
His inner chest armor had been completely shattered, exposing scorched, blackened muscle beneath.
"Still want to keep going?" Axis withdrew his attack, smiling at Caesar.
Caesar took a deep breath, steadying himself. A complex look flashed in his eyes.
"Your strength… really is beyond my expectations. But this is still far from my limit, and it's not the true power of the Custodes," Caesar said.
After all, this was just a sparring match.
He hadn't even donned his power armor, nor used his power weapons.
Once he put on his power armor, his speed and strength would increase several times over, not to mention the added might of a power weapon.
Axis raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then let me see your real strength."
"...…" Caesar had to hold back.
'This damn brat!'
He seriously wanted to put on his power armor and beat him down.
Caesar found his mind drifting back over centuries of combat.
From the deep walls of the Imperial Palace on Terra to the savage worlds at the edge of the galaxy, he had faced countless powerful foes, but never anything like Axis.
Axis' strength wasn't just physical; it was almost like instinct engrained into his body, a preternatural combat intuition that defied logic.
Every dodge, every counterattack seemed as if Axis already knew his next move.
That almost perfect battle rhythm left Caesar with a growing sense of helplessness.
Caesar glanced at Axis's hand, where the heat from that ki blast still lingered.
That last strike might have been just for training, but Caesar had felt the terrifying destructive power behind it.
If Axis had gone all out, even his power armor might not have withstood it.
Without armor, he could have been killed.
'If I put on my power armor and used a power weapon, maybe I could suppress him…' Caesar calculated silently.
But then he shook his head.
Putting on power armor just to fight a child? That would be a disgrace to the Custodes.
When he got back, he'd have to double his training.
"Let's go. It's time for dinner," Caesar said, turning to leave the training hall. "Even the Emperor is surprised by your appetite. If you don't get there soon, the servitors will be running around in a panic again."
Axis laughed. "After working up a sweat, I'm starving. Let's continue our match tomorrow, then."
Over the next ten days or so, Caesar seemed to get competitive with Axis, meeting him on the training field every day for combat practice.
What started as friendly sparring soon turned into real fights.
Short of wearing his power armor, Caesar fought with nearly everything he had.
Axis grew at a speed that defied belief.
Every day he changed before Caesar's eyes.
What had started as an even match quickly turned into Caesar being used as a punching bag.
Thwack! Thwack!
Axis threw his small fists with excitement, pounding away at the Custodian across from him.
With his mastery of ki-sense, the Custodian could no longer even touch him, reduced to taking hit after hit.
Having a Custodian as a training partner was amazing for Axis's growth!
These golden corn-stalk giants really were the perfect punching bags!
In just a little over ten days, Axis's combat power had already broken past 800.
Even without using ki, he could hold his own against a Custodian.
With ki blasts, he felt certain the Custodes didn't stand a chance.
At the end of each session, Caesar would slump to the ground in a daze.
"Axis, I… I don't want to train with you tomorrow," Caesar said, his eyes hollow and lifeless.
What kind of monster was this kid…?
"???"
What's going on? Weren't the Custodes supposed to be training maniacs? Don't they play their bloody games every day? Why did he suddenly not want to play anymore?