Lunar Awakening-Chapter 43: Last Man Standing.
"What do we have here?" Xavax spoke in Leo’s mind. Leo expected him to mock him or say something but the entity chose to remain silent. It almost seemed like he was less talkative when ever Leo was about to partake in any for of violence.
It had been over a whole day since he last heard the voice of his uncanny companion, it made him wonder if that was the cooldown timer. Or perhaps there was never a cooldown timer and Xavax chose not to talk most of the time.
Whatever the cause was Leo did not want to think of that now, he was itching for a real fight and his opponent seemed to be much more deadlier than he initially thought.
Standing before the huge man in beach shorts Leo quickly addressed the difference in their abilities. It wasn’t that the man was much stronger than he was, Leo could not guage the man’s abilities but he knew there was another reason for the discrepancy.
The man in beach shorts had a determination and clarity in his mind, one Leo himself only had when fighting the many beasts that existed within Hellscape.
Leo had never had to fight a human the same way he did with beast so he never really used all of his strength against another person. With the exception being Cassandra.
"Having such conviction against another human, how do you do it?" Leo could not help but ask.
The man looked down at him with a dark glint in his eyes, "Humans are no different than beasts boy, we are perhaps even more dangerous and devious. Let’s skip the idle chatter and beat each other up till we drop."
Leo chose not to hesitate or hold back his punches, this would be good practice to control himself better in a battle.
He waited deciding on how to attack the other man, their gazes locked on each other and their breaths hitched in the air.
The man grinned tired of playing of the waiting game when the timer was still running and dashed forward with explosive force. Leo was stunned for a second by how fast he was moving at his size, but one second was all it took for the man to send him flying with a blow to the chin.
Leo felt his body spin mid air before his back collided into a wooden beam and cracking it with a loud thud. His spine scread out in pain and a loud groan escaped his lips as he fell down and somehow remained standing.
"Cursed." He spat out blood and looked up to see the other man still standing and grinning from ear to ear. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
The voice of his uncanny partner permeated through his mind, "Pathetic rat, use your damn eyes."
Leo shook off the after shock of the blow just in time to evade another explosive blow that shattered the moonbeam behind him like it was a thin frame of glass.
The man in beach shorts laughed like he was having the time of his life and turned to face Leo, "I love it when you run like a bug waiting to die."
Leo said nothing in return, instead he directed his attention to the entity inside of him. "What do you mean use my eyes?"
There was a short stretch of silence between them before Xavax spoke again in a dark, somber tone. "The legs of an opponent speaks volumes before they even attack. Don’t just watch his eyes watch his entire being, down to the minute detailed."
Leo was taken back by this, he had never once thought about fighting like this, of course he always observed his opponents for whatever move they were making so he wondered what he was doing wrong.
The man in beach shorts charged at him like a rhino and rammed into Leo who dodged to the side just barely. He threw a strong blow at his opponents side hoping to cripple him for a second but was shock by the feeling his knuckles had.
It felt like he was hitting a wall of steel covered in flesh, he was still dazed when he felt the man in shorts taken hold of his shoulder and hurl him across the entire club.
An explosion shook the club from the impact, debris and smoke engulfed half the club.
The man in shorts bellowed with pride. "There you go, I think I’m the last man standing now."
The man in suit did not say a word, he stared at the mass of smoke in the distance and tightened his gaze. He peered deeper through the smoke to see the vague silhouette of a person still standing. "Don’t tell me. That kid, what is he made off."
Leo sneezed uncontrollably as the dust clogged his nose, "Curses, this nose is a real bother." His ears twitched as he jumped out of the way of a wooden beam that exploded into the wall where he had been only a few seconds ago.
"Xavax if you’re still full of wisdom, this might be a good time to share it." He called out to his partner.
At first there was silence that made him suggest that he had gone back into his slumber but he spoke again, "Don’t just fight with your body, use your senses, watch and absorb everything. Connect with the world but don’t submit to it."
Then he felt the voice go silent, Leo was left more puzzled than he ever was.
The man in beach shorts was slowly approaching him, his face somehow beaming with a twisted sense of happiness.
Leo’s eyes fell down to his face and then his fists, ’Curses, what do I do now?’
He could attack the man and have a chance of winning but the problem was his explosive force and speed that made it hard to know where he would be attacking from.
"That’s it." Leo almost gasped.
He watched the man’s eyes fall down to his face reading him, but Leo’s eyes were on his face too. It was natural to look at the face of an opponent when in a fight but what if he was to look elsewhere.
He let his gaze drift down to his opponent’s fists one more time, he could see that they were clenched and brimming with power. Then he looked at his stride and then his legs, he could deduce he was going to dash forward at any second.
Leo wondered if this was what Xavax meant by using his eyes, it was like he could almost see a full picture. He tried to look at all parts of his enemy as a whole, this pulled him away from just being in a fight and simply observing. But it have him the liberty to gather more information, information he would have been blind to normally.
In a split second the floorboards beneath the man’s feet exploded, reduced to shreds as he dashed forward with his explosive force just as Leo had deduced.
This time Leo did something he had never done before, he compartmentalised his brain. One part focused on the image before him, straining his eyes and brain, another part surrendered totally to his instincts and a final part tied them all together.
He felt his brain on the verge of exploding as he dove out of the way on the last second and drove his fist into the man’s gut. It had happened so fast that it left all three men stunned for a second, in that one second Leo’s ears twisted and he could hear the other man’s blood pumping through his heart.
’Hes going to attack now?’
His eyes fell down to his legs for a split second when he noticed it moved slightly to the side.
He dodged the counter before it even happened giving him half of a split second to attack again. This time he threw all he had into one blow he drove into the chin of the other man and watched his body fly through the air by several feet before falling with a loud thud.
By this time Leo found himself breathing heavily and a painful aching in his head, he felt drained of energy and focus. Final counter he had made happened in barely two seconds, it was frightening to have all parts of his brain working on so many information all at once.
"What the absolute hell was that?" The voice of the man in shorts came with a thundering boom as he rose from the rubble.
"I’ve seen enough." The man in suit spoke again then he turned to face both of them before pointing to Leo. "You come with me."
Leo heaved a sigh of relief, he was not sure he could go through the strenuous process of using his brain in such a way. It had left him greatly fatigued but also opened his eyes to something else, when he took a lot more of his opponent and environment into account he was able to minimise any wasted energy and attack with maximum efficiency.
He walked by the man in shorts who swore curses at him, but he did not pay him any mind. A loser was still a loser after all.
