Blood trickled down, dripping onto the mat. There wasn’t a lot of blood, but it was clear someone had been hurt, and in the end, it belonged to Shingi. The blood was coming from his own knuckles, and it looked like his hand was wounded.
Shingi’s fist had struck Ian’s leg, which appeared to have sprouted out a load of dark brown, golden-like bristles suddenly. They were sharp little spikes that came out of his skin, and now they were stuck in Shingi’s hand.
’I was so caught up in trying to throw a punch that I was overthinking and missed the obvious. What is wrong with me!’ Shingi thought.
Now seeing how Shingi was stuck. With his leg in the air, Ian strangely was able to hop with his other leg forward and threw out a fist. It wasn’t an ordinary fist though, the second it hit Shingi’s arm that he raised to block, the bristle dug deep into his arm again, causing it to bleed.
”Ian actually doesn’t seem to be doing too bad out there,” Numba said. “Maybe, we can do something against them after all.”
After seeing Sty lose, there was a bit of hope lost. But, seeing Ian, who was in the same position as them, coming from the recruitment, doing something against the best, it seemed like there was a place for them in this academy after all.
”SCREW THIS!” Shingi shouted. “Why am I trying to be as impressive as Stark!” He took a step back, and the bristles had come out from Shingi’s body. It was painful but something he could put up with.
Immediately, he started jumping back a few steps until his back was up against the cage wall. Ian was quite a distance away, too far to land a punch or a kick, yet Shingi suddenly threw out his arm for some reason.
The next second, Ian felt a hand on his head, and someone immediately pushed him to the ground. His forehead slammed against the canvas floor. He was unsure what was happening, but the others had seen it.
Shingi’s arm had stretched in the middle of him throwing a punch, and it had done so faster than the punch itself. Before Ian could regain his footing, using his long-limbed arms, Shingi slammed it onto the back of Ian’s head, a loud bang followed, and Ian was no longer moving.
”The fight is over!” Eddy shouted, having a concerned look on his face. He rushed in to see if Ian was alright picking him up off the ground. The latter’s eyes twitched, and seeing the uneven breathing, Eddy let out a big sigh.
”Did you really have to transform?” Eddy turned around and asked the other student.
Usually, Shingi wouldn’t have had to, especially against an opponent like this, and perhaps if he let the fight go on longer, he could have tired out Ian and still have won. However, Shingi just wasn’t in his normal fighting mood. He knew this from the beginning, so he decided to take the extreme step to transform himself.
Before Eddy could give him an ear full, Shingi decided to turn around and leave the area.
’Damn it, in a way, it’s embarrassing that I had to transform in front of a newbie like that. I guess I still have a lot to learn.’ Shingi thought.
”Hey, hey, before you try warning me, you should take a look in the mirror and improve yourself.” Ryan mocked the other.
”Whatever, man. Screw you and everything about you,” Shingi ignored the former, “I won my match at least. You can do what you want, and you know what, I hope that you lose.”
After that, Shingi decided to lean against the wall rather than sit with the others while the wounds on his body had already begun to heal.
”That was some strange transformation,” Izzy commented. “I guess as we get closer to the academy’s top, we are more likely to see the unique Altereds and less of your typical kind.”
Just as Izzy finished giving her judgement of the others and the fight so far, Ian came back to join the others while rubbing the back of his neck.
”It looks like I got knocked out in the end, but at least I didn’t break any bones…this time.” Ian chuckled, looking at Gary and hoping for a response, but the latter still had his head held down.
”Gary said you did well. The training paid off, and he’s proud of you.” Numba chirped, answering for him. “You really managed to show them.”
The blood on the floor was being cleared, and while doing so, it was time for Eddy to announce the next match. There were only three more fights, and none of them from Izzy’s group wanted to go next.
In the end, the number shown on the phone was number 1.
”Woah! well, it looks like you’re up, Xin!” Ryan cheered. “Go on, go show them what a real Altered match should look like.”
On the other side, Numba stood up. He glanced at Gary for a moment, hoping the latter would say some words, but then again, he was going up against his girlfriend. Nor was he in the state to say something supportive, so he walked forward.
”Numba, whatever happens, you have already achieved so much just getting in the ring, and don’t underestimate the girl. She’s ranked Number One for a reason.” Izzy shouted.
Getting into the ring, Numa stood there, and so did Xin.
”Numba… don’t go easy on her…show her everything you have.” A weak voice suddenly came from the stands.
Turning around, Numba could see that Gary no longer had the towel on his head and was keeping an eye on this fight. Although his opponent was Xin, Gary was going to support the person who was currently at his side.
’Xin… let’s see how much you’ve improved.’
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