Edward was close to 1.8 meters in height. Despite that, his opponent, Rick, towered over him like a giant. The latter looked down on him and cracked his knuckles as he spoke, "I've seen your previous fights. You're good."
The youth was indifferent to the praise of his senior. He patiently wrapped a long cotton strip around his fists as he prepared for the fight.
Rick continued as his lips curled up into a grin, "After I beat you down, I hope you won't cry to your rich daddy."
Edward scoffed. "Whatever happens in the ring, stays in the ring."
"Hahaha!" Rick laughed loudly with his hands on his hips. "Not bad. You're not like what I imagined at all."
After seeing that Edward had finished wrapping his fists, the announcer came between them and solemnly spoke, "I want a clean fight. If I see you trying to kill each other, I will stop the fight immediately. If you understand, nod."
Both students nodded.
"Good!" The referee continued, "Step back."
Seeing that both students' backs were touching the boundary of the ring, the referee suddenly disappeared from his spot. Then, his loud voice echoed throughout the underground arena.
"FIGHT!"
Rick rushed toward Edward like a charging bull. Whereas the latter was calm and composed. He raised his arms and got into a fighting position.
Within a few moments, Rick had already arrived in front of Edward and immediately launched a right hook.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Fast! Edward's eyes narrowed as he saw Rick's fist enlarging in his vision. But the next moment, his lips curled up into a smirk. But not as fast as him.
He calmly crouched, evading the hook. Then, he launched a jab at Rick's ribs!
But the next moment, he was taken aback. Rick looked at him and grinned. "Did you think that meager punch would hurt me?"
Rick followed up with another punch, but Edward managed to dodge that as well. He retreated a few steps and looked at his opponent in confusion.
Seeing the youth's perplexed gaze, Edward laughed. "I'm an Organ Stage Magus, kiddo. The majority of my body has been nourished and fortified by mana already."
The next moment, Rick dashed toward Edward once again, all the while screaming, "Give up! You will never be able to win!"
"Heh, we'll see about that," Edward smirked.
For the next few minutes, Rick continued to throw attack after attack on Edward. However, the latter nimbly evaded every single one of them. At the same time, he counterattacked, continuing to chip down his burly opponent's strength.
Although the youth's counterattack didn't injure Rick in the least, the fact that he couldn't even touch the hems of his junior's clothes really infuriated him. Moreover, he was also slowly beginning to lose stamina.
"You damned rat! Stop running around!" Rick roared. He was furious that this junior student was making him look like a joke in front of everyone present.
With boundless fury, he gritted his teeth and threw a right hook with all his strength. Seeing this, Edward's lips curled up into a smirk once again. Now!
He took a step forward and slapped the incoming hook to his left, skillfully parrying it. Then he took another step forward and thrust his left elbow toward Rick's throat, who seemed to walk right into his attack.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})THWACK!
The elbow attack directly smashed Rick's throat, causing him to momentarily struggle to breathe as he clasped at his throat.
"Ohhhh!!!" The crowd cheered at this sudden development. This was the first critical hit that someone had managed to land in the fight that had been going on for more than five minutes.
Edward took advantage of his opponent's weakness and landed a series of attacks on the latter's torso.
Punch to the gut, knee to the solar plexus, palm strikes to the ribs, side kick to the waist. In a matter of seconds, Edward had already landed close to a dozen strikes on his opponent.
Seeing this, the crowd got to their feet and cheered louder than before. It was always fun to see an underdog come out victorious. Moreover, Edward's fighting style left them mesmerized.
Adam, who was seated in the private viewing area, nodded. "Not bad."
"Not bad?!" Daneli was flabergasted. His blood was boiling with excitement as he saw Edward land blow after blow to an opponent much bigger than him. "T-That… is simply amazing!"
The elven youth had never seen such a fighting style before. Edward landed strikes on the vital points of his opponents, moreover, these strikes seemed to be coming from unpredictable angles.
Moreover, earlier when Edward was on the defensive, Daneli had seen how the youth utilized a relaxed and flexible manner to defend. But now that Edward was on the offensive, his attacks were explosive.
"It's like water," Daneli muttered in realization. He couldn't help but admire the ingenuity of the fighting style. "Soft and hard whenever one needs it to be."
In the fighting ring, Edward who was on the cusp of securing his victory, saw that the timing now was perfect. He stopped his strikes and got into position to deliver the final attack.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})He rotated his hips and back with explosive power and delivered a spinning heel kick, accurately targeting Rick's chin.
BAM!
The crowd turned silent.
Rick, on the other hand, remained standing for a few moments until his eyes rolled back and he slumped to his knees.
"OHHHHH!!" The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs. They had lost their minds! Every time they watched Edward fight, it would be a sight to behold. And today was no less.
Edward, the victor, turned around and indulged in the feeling of adoration he was receiving from the crowd. He balled his fists and raised them in the air as he laughed loudly.
But suddenly…
The crowd quietened down and a towering shadow slowly loomed over Edward.
The youth frowned as he looked at the ground and saw this shadow grow larger. The next moment, he turned around. But it was already too late.
Rick had already gotten to his feet and speared him, viciously pinning him to the ground.
The crowd was shocked at this sudden turn of events, but no one was more shocked than Edward himself. At the last moment, he had managed to slightly turn his body which allowed him to be pinned with his back on the ground, instead of the other way around.
Rick raised his giant fist and hammered it down on Edward's face.
"My turn!"
