The fight had yet to start. As the two opponents were getting ready in the ring, Ian was jumping up and down, trying to get the nervous energy out of his body. At the same time, Shingi couldn’t stop looking past him.
”Hmm, I would say it’s best if you just fight today and get it over and done with even if you are sick,” Eddy explained. “It’s very rare that someone gets sick as an Altered in the first place. However, if it’s severe enough for you to be distressed, we can take you to the medical office and get you checked out.”
Just then, Gary grabbed Numba by the forearm tightly. Numba wanted to scream in pain but knew that wasn’t the best idea.
”No, it’s okay…I was just wondering.” Numba replied to Eddy, who was looking the other way so he hadn’t noticed Gary’s movements.
”These students are on a busy schedule as they are currently the most promising of those in the AFA. They won’t be able to fight you again, so you wouldn’t want to miss out on this opportunity.”
As the fight started, it looked like the teacher’s attention was now fully focused on it, and Numba could finally breathe without a claw of death holding his arm. Gary knew that Numba was looking out for him, trying to get him out of fighting. However, going to the Nurse’s office and then possibly finding out the truth was another thing altogether, not to mention the trouble it would put him in.
”Begin!” Eddy shouted.
Still bouncing on his feet, the moment Ian’s feet touched the ground, he darted off towards Shingi. He went to throw out a punch, but just like with Stark, the latter was able to pivot and move away from it with ease.
At the same time, it looked like Ian had overthrown his punch as he chucked his whole body forward and was seen tumbling. The second he was close to the ground though, Ian used his arm to lift his whole body weight and legs, then performed a side kick, hitting Shingi.
”That was a nice hit,” Shingi replied, holding his arm up to block the kick. “But you’ll need to hit harder than that to take me out.”
Pushing Ian’s leg away with his forearm, Shingi charged forward and went to throw out a kick of his own toward Ian. Just as he was about to lift his leg off the ground though, he noticed a smile on Ian’s face.
’Does he have something planned?’
The image of what he had seen in the training room, of what Gary had done, flashed through his head, and instead of kicking Ian when he had the chance, he retreated instead.
”Boo! What are you doing? Running away?!” Ryan shouted. “Come on. This isn’t a serious match. Why are you being so careful!”
Shingi looked at his taunting teammate. It was frustrating, no matter how annoying Ryan was, Shingi knew he was right. If this was any of the other fights or students that had passed before, Shingi wouldn’t have hesitated to throw that kick. It was only because of what he had seen before that he was second-guessing himself.
”Hey!” Shingi changed tactic, “Why haven’t you transformed? Do you really think you can beat me without transforming?”
”Haven’t you done the same? Do you think you can beat me without transforming?” Ian replied, shrugging his shoulders. He easily saw through Shingi’s trick to rile him up. “Besides, I got through the facility without needing to use my Altered form, so I don’t see why I should use it now.”
The others hearing this were quite surprised. They wondered if they had ever heard of one doing such a thing and if it was something they could have done. However, it certainly did make the others pay closer attention to the match in front of them.
Of course, they were all unaware that Ian had actually jumped several spaces due to the special request made by someone.
”If you’re not going to come to me, I will keep coming for you!” Ian shouted as he ran forward, it looked like he was going for a punch, but once again, he lent down and bent backward. It looked like he was falling, but with his powerful arms, he pushed off the floor and flung out his legs, kicking Shingi in the chest.
Landing on the ground, Ian quickly got up and spun once again, trying to do a spinning back kick. This time, however, Shingi blocked the attack, but more were coming his way, one after another.
”Is something wrong with Shingi?” Stark asked, noting that he seemed to be unfocused.
”Pft, he just believes that these guys have some hidden thing up their sleeve, that’s all. I guess he’s just being more cautious about the fight.” Ryan replied, not telling the whole truth but even knowing Shingi’s words just seemed beyond ridiculous.
In the end, Shingi himself knew this was ridiculous, and when he saw the leg coming toward him rather than avoiding it, he readied his fist and threw it out, sending it straight into Ian’s shin. The strong punch caused Ian’s leg to swing backward and his whole body to spin.
”Oh,” Ian said, rubbing his shin. “Now, that was more of what I was expecting. I thought you might have forgotten how to punch.”
Honestly, Shingi was surprised that his opponent’s bones hadn’t broken in the single hit even though he had delivered an attack at close to full force.
”Unfortunately for you, someone on our team hits a lot harder than that,” Ian replied while standing up and heading toward Shingi again. If there was one thing about Ian, he was persistent and would keep trying to find an opening.
Ian spun his body, trying the same spinning kick as he did before, and Shingi seeing this, had decided to punch the shin again, only this time he would use more strength, hoping to break the other leg.
’I can’t let this guy’s words or what I saw get into my head. I’m about to head into the AFC. My mentality can’t be this fragile!’ Shingi threw out the punch at the perfect time and faster than before, hitting Ian in the shin once again, only this time there was blood.
*****
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