Utter defeat.

There was no surprise that it had happened at all, knowing just who she had gone up against. The difference in their power had been obvious from the start, though hadn't bothered her as much until it was flared out and used against her. That feeling of tightness in her stomach, was an awful one to feel.

But in a world where there were beings of power, long before she had even gained what she currently had, there wasn't much of a choice in the matter. Even these people that this child was friends with, she had expected to have power far beyond her own. The only thing she could really do was get stronger.

She had struggled with the idea of just how to approach this, only a day ago, knowing just where she had wanted to be in the long run. But her spar with that girl had made the answer so obvious.

A lot of the stronger techniques she had used against the girl, she was putting forth more energy than was needed. Honing her current natural abilities played a role in lasting like she had, but that had all been against someone only double her power. Against higher beings, she needed to muster up what power she could, but time it right enough to where it wouldn't be a waste of energy. The less ki, the better.

Meeting either of those two friends that child had, would likely give her different experiences and thoughts, but she was certain now more than anything, she at least needed to conserve for her strongest.

Though the steps to do so, first began with recovery. She could have suffered broken ribs or concussions against that girl, who was able to so freely manipulate her body, and recover from being hurt.

There was a limit to such healing though, no matter how confident that being was, how there wasn't any. Her first serious hit against that child had proved as such, knowing it took a little longer than usual to have the girl recover from it. If she had been a little stronger, things could have been different.

Her failure was what resulted in having to nurse herself up, applying the stinging of pain killers, which were in the form of ointment, and wrapping herself up. It brought her back to the days where she and so many others had to suffer, to really learn how to fight. Days upon days of pain, until they learned something. Things didn't take too long to become habits for most people. In the face of danger, there was a lot of things that could have been pulled out subconsciously, just to be able to survive an ordeal.

There were a lot of people who didn't want to die, but how much of an option did they really have, when there were so many stronger beings around? The planet had its own defenders, though they couldn't be around for every little thing that happened. If she hadn't looked into training during her childhood, just how long would she have really survived, had she ran into someone malicious, until help came?

With a wince, she had finished patting down the gauge she wrapped around herself, which mostly covered up her normally exposed abdomen. It would be another day or so of simple meditation to pass the time, before what she had suffered would really heal. The fault wasn't anyone but her own, knowing it was consensual.

That spar was something that could have easily gone her way, had it not been for that jar of candy. The regeneration the girl had was impressive, but there was too much reason pointing towards strength being the key to overcome it. Healing on that level had an extent, even if it seemed like it was limitless.

"It must have been quite a fight. That energy was pretty hard to ignore."

A day ago, she had been so certain that despite going into East City, she wasn't going to wind up visiting her friends who went to live here. But here she was sitting with one of the two, the TV playing in the background, and serving to be the only source of light at the moment. It wasn't disappointing though.

Coming here had been intentional, rather than out of defeat. There was no reason she couldn't have made the long and painful trek back towards their school, with how ingrained it was, to take on such hardships.

But they had supplies here that she was willing to benefit herself from. After meeting someone of that power, and even managing to survive their spar for so long, it was the least they could have done.

A lot about that fight was something she had thought about, even while explaining what had went on. Most people couldn't really sense and manipulate ki, without having to first work to doing so.

But those who were able to, that surge of power wasn't something to ignore. If there had been more intentional damage than what it was, things could have surely stopped far before where it escalated.

Though she wouldn't have gotten the chance to really see the girl's capabilities, if that had happened. There was so many things to take away from that fight, which she could use for the next one.

"Her being a child had helped out a lot. I wouldn't have stood a chance, with what power I currently have."

The experience was certainly something she felt had given her strength a little, but nowhere near the kind of goal she was aiming for. It was fortunate that she was still even able to get something out of it.

Night had came pretty quickly since that fight, and the first thing she had done when it had finished, was track down the ki of where these two were. The capsule apartment that they had managed to find, wasn't that bad of a place. Though she could tell from how the silver-haired woman was, a big part of even finding the place and paying for it, had been because of the former doing the research and the proper work.

Nothing that really made their other friend worth lesser than she was. The auburn-haired woman had different siblings and family overall that could give enough money, if it was really needed.

They were the only ones up right now though, which was really the only time that woman didn't think so much about her family. There was so much non-paying work that girl just kept finding herself dragged in.

She could see why one of the reasons for joining the Demon Leopard school, had been to build up a stronger will. Of course, habits were hard to break, and it was questionable how much she actually enjoyed being busy. A lot of people in that situation, wouldn't have really bothered with that work at all.

"If this might really be the start of life going fortunately, then there's hardly going to be much else to do, but to continue growing stronger."

With the kind of life these two were really living now, fighting wasn't going to be much of a priority for them. She knew they were going to keep up with the tournaments, and what else was needed of them to continue representing the Demon Leopard school, but everything else was pretty normal.

If she could actually be someone of influence, she could have changed that. Have them work for her, while still giving them the kind of comfort they were looking for. But at the moment, they were all just trying to make money, however they could have, and continued to live life. The idea of her being notable at all, was something just already low. She would really need to meet others of power to really change that.

"At the very least, I'm now certain it's best if I work on conserving more energy, while trying to dish out damage."

She had used up a lot of energy against that child, only to have everything just be healed like it was nothing. That kind of recovery wouldn't have been so damning, if she could have use less ki.

A rematch was surely something that would happen in the future, but there would be other things to work on, before that could even become a thing. She needed to have more exposure to different kind of fighting, from people who actually had power that was well above average. There wouldn't be any changes if she couldn't.

"Well if you do happen to make significant progress, it would be interesting to see the differences. Now that days are starting to go by differently, I'm already starting to miss what we were so used to."

The life that they had at the school, and their childhood, was something that had affected all of them differently. There were similarities here and there, as they were supposed to ingrain some lessons and beliefs they were taught, but nothing which she would say could have changed them completely.

Some of the worries about attending a martial arts school, even one with mixed education, involved children gaining some kind of personality that was unrecognizable. An understandable reason, but a worry really meant for instructors that were trying to impose their own beliefs, rather than create open-mindedness.

Some of their school rivals, felt as if they were certainly like that, believing in certain ways, and were too hard pressed when others did differently. But that was what made them people with obvious faults.

Her friend had always been similar to Master Jia, when it had came down to their thoughtful expressions, only it was much clearer whenever the woman had broke out of her thinking, just to give an input.

There was a difference in tone as well, and by the sound of things, it made her only glad that she refused to go for a more regular job. She would have certainly held that level of nostalgia, surrounded by that kind of mundane. It had only been a day of work too, which further only emphasized caution.

"We won't certainly meet so soon again, for the better of at least a month."

She had a certain kind of pride, having to really go against where she thought things would go for her. Control had always been something she liked to possess, and even despite losing against that child, she had managed to turn it into something positive for herself. But coming here mostly to just update how she was doing, on a more personal level than what texting to could offer, was hardly really worth it at all.

Though there was no denying what curiosity she had, regarding just where they had decided to settle. She would learn to memorize this place, just like how she was going to work on getting something more beneficial from that shopkeep. It wasn't really satisfying enough, just to go and ignore that man.

No protesting had really come from the silver-haired woman, as she had gotten from the couch, and moved towards the spare guest room that they had for the place. Flying back to the school would have also been an easy thing to have done, but being here was another way that they were maintaining what friendship they had. A lot of others would have been less subtle than what was just a usual for them.

The room was already something she had checked out, holding nothing really more than what was really needed of it, which in her case, had just been a futon. It was only a day ago that she had felt like she was certain, of the things she needed to do, honing her abilities had been the first priority.

But here she was again, in an entirely different location, after a whole incident, where she now felt as if the best thing to do was to focus on conserving her techniques. There was a lot she hated about the situation, knowing that indecisiveness was a certain kind of fault that could prove to be a downfall.

With how their school techniques derived from basics, it would really only take some time after her recovery, to really master what she was looking for. At least, the part of their technique that was more versatile. Had she really used and taken advantage against that child, things would have turned out differently. She was certain of it. But all she really had now were ideas of what could be.

Of all the changes she needed to make, it was not being falsely assured of something.

(Post thread of this.)