Chapter 44: The Moment The Entire Gym Stopped
The two moved and in the breath of a second clashed.
The moment the clash happened, the entirety of the gymnasium felt it. A vicious sound tore through the air with the wind, and everyone paused to look at the center, where a black-haired young man was sparring an older black-haired man. Barbells came down on their racks. A treadmill kept rolling with nobody on it.
Uthed was the one that felt the strike most.
He had not expected the kind of force that hit him when Theo moved. Actually, he had not even expected the movement, and when the strike landed, he was too late to upgrade his block. The shock ran up through both wrists and lodged somewhere behind his elbows.
However, it was still better than the first time.
As Theo slammed his sword on him, Uthed took it even though it rattled his hands, and he quickly shoved it down and rolled into the air, turning Theo’s attack into a momentum that slammed the ground and gave him an edge to propel himself above Theo.
The next second, Theo was in complete jeopardy as Uthed rolled in the air and brought his sword down in a spinning arc.
Theo was clueless about swordsmanship, but at the very least was sharp enough to know that this was similar to the Heavy Shadow Drop he had improvised in the battle with the snake. Which brought up the question, what would he do to block and counter his own Heavy Shadow Drop.
His mind worked but his body worked far harder, and faster.
The easy way out would have been stepping out to let Uthed hit the ground and diving in without breath to counter him, according to Theo’s little knowledge, as he had committed to memory everything about swordsmanship he had been executing.
But it seemed like his body had other plans.
Instead of stepping away from the strike, Theo twisted his body and met it. With the strike coming from above, a fierce and almost destructive force ran through Theo, down his shoulder and into his knees, and he coughed, spitting blood onto the mat.
Then, with the taste still in his mouth.
[Your body has Adapted to an overwhelming force]
[You have gained +5 Physical Power]
[You have gained +10 Endurance]
[You have unlocked Wisdom Stat] [You have gained +5 Wisdom]
Theo read the panels with his brows pulled down in doubt, but he couldn’t pay attention for long.
Uthed was above him, still pressing down on Theo with his weapon.
"Don’t you think it’s a little bold of you to look away when fighting me, Mr Theo, this is not going to be like the last time!"
Theo did not say anything first. He was busy struggling to keep Uthed at bay, the man was pressing on him with a force that made him feel like he might just give in and give away the win. His arms shook from the elbow down, and his heels slid back a finger’s width on the mat.
But Theo was quite stubborn. He gritted his teeth painfully.
’Even though I feel slightly stronger, I can’t even push him up, why? What kind of ability does he have?’
It was then that Theo took the effort to quickly study Uthed’s Hero profile. And to his surprise. The layout, the way he saw these things, had completely changed.
___
[HERO PROFILE]
Full Name: Kagehira Uthedaisis
Age: 56
Aliases: The Wanderer Swordsman
Faction: none
Specialty: Iaijutsu, Counterattacks, Precision.
Alignment: Neutral
Rank Potential: C
Current Rank: Second Stage of the Mundane Realm
Threat Level: D - Local
Attribute Affinity: none
Constitution: none
Circulation Art: Six Clovered Blades.
Skills: [Stillness of the Blade(23.9%)], [First Draw(67%)], [Falling Petals(45.98%)], [Three-Inch Death(33.5%], [One Breath Draw(18.3%)]
[Combat Stats]
Physical Power: 48/48
Speed: 61/61
Defense: 32/32
Combat Skill: 82/82
Ability Potency: 18/18
Battle IQ: 79/79
Stamina: 55/55
Adaptability: 47/47
Potential: 80/80
___
’So much information!’
There was so much Theo had to look through and so little time to do so, and instead of using all his time to figure out Uthed’s weakness through the stats, his leg unexpectedly shot forward.
Theo lunged a vicious kick towards the man’s stomach, his leg snapping forward like a twisted cord. Uthed saw that coming and naturally pulled away from Theo, leaping back, landing light on the balls of his feet with his blade already recovering to guard. But Theo’s intuitive mind calculated this.
Especially after he saw Uthed’s high Battle IQ and Combat Skill, his mind quickly learned to expect much of the man.
So the kick, in itself, was a bait to make Uthed free up some space. The counter from now was what really mattered.
Theo followed the man with a snapping speed, entering into his space before the older man’s heels had properly settled. He brought his sword down in an arc but with the pommel landing on Uthed’s shoulder.
Even mid-stride, Uthed made an impossible stop and laid his sword over his shoulder, throwing Theo’s strike away. But as he destroyed Theo’s momentum to the side, Theo rode that momentum like water to land a clean punch on Uthed’s face with his other hand.
The man’s face flew to the opposite direction, and he staggered, at the same time, a shout of jubilation rose in the gymnasium.
It was at that point the two of them had to pause and look around them.
Theo blinked.
"Huh?"
Everyone for some reason had paused from their workouts, and were watching the interesting battle that was going on in the ring with focus and excitement. Someone at the back had climbed onto a bench to see over the shoulders in front of him, and a trainer who was supposed to be spotting a lift had let go of the bar entirely.
Uthed glanced back too and chuckled. He readjusted and wiped a little blood off his lips, then looked at the smear on his thumb for a moment before he flicked it away.
Then fixed Theo a glare.
"Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun myself."
He grinned at Theo, but in his mind was a different environment entirely.
’Damnation! What monster has walked into my door. It was just two days ago! We met and sparred, you’re telling me, he’s grown enough to match my skill in two days? This bastard, how strong will he be after one year. Wait, one year is even too much, give him a month of entering the tower, he’ll be a monster!’
It seemed that the only thing Theo was lacking was real time experience, and once he entered the Tower, he would be getting a lot of it.
The thought of the tremendous gap in strength that Theo was going to leave once he entered the Tower made Uthed shiver. He kept the grin on his face while he thought it, because the young man across from him was still waiting politely for the round to continue.
’I don’t think I can teach him shit.’