"Shall we speed things up a bit?" Paikon asked.
"Not really," Kawao replied.
For a moment, they stared intensely into each other's eyes, wondering who would make the first move.
Then Paikon took a deep breath and sighed.
"You're still way too tense! Why is that?"
"Are you serious? We're fighting for our lives here!"
"Are we? I'm fighting seriously, but in your punches, I don't feel any hatred, any anger, any will to beat me!"
"You're just too strong. You probably don't even notice the difference!"
"Oh really? My Nyd level is 20,240! What's yours?"
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"...18,450."
"See? The difference between us isn't that great!"
Kawao remained silent for a moment and paused.
"So, you don't feel any intention in my punches? Let's see if you'll still be running your mouth after this!"
"That's more like it!" Paikon shouted and charged at him again.
But Kawao stood completely still.
Only when Paikon swung, did Kawao move and dodged just in time.
He kept striking.
But with each punch or kick, Kawao dodged better and better.
"Just dodging won't defeat me!"
Then he saw an opportunity!
With a precise strike to the chin, he made the giant Paikon stagger briefly.
"Wow! I felt that a bit more!"
He regained his composure.
"But that's still not enough! How did you do that just now?"
"When I gather energy, it feels like a river of energy is flowing into me. But if someone approaches and steps into this flow, which only I can feel, I can sense what that person is about to do for a moment. So, when you strike, I can sense where and how fast you're attacking just in time!"
"Hmm! That sounds pretty strong!"
'Even though my range is only about 2 meters so far. But I shouldn't tell him that. Plus, it gets tiring over time since I have to release the accumulated energy to gather more!'
"But that still doesn't make your punches stronger!" Paikon replied.
"You seem to be right!... Then maybe I should try another technique I've been working on these past few days!"