Rocks shot through the air, each one acted just like a bullet. I hadn’t expected him to launch a sudden ranged attack. The next rock grazed my ankle, which caused me to stumble. That let the last one pierce through my thigh, the surging pain threw me off balance.

I watched him move to lunge at me, at this limited power I’d be unable to dodge. I had moments to speak before he would be on top of me, each taunt required to break through the latest tier.

“NOT BAD,” I cried out, feeling the limitations break as I shouted. Finally, I was at one hundred percent of my strength.

Before his arms managed to grab me, I dashed to the side. Every other step was agony, and it slowed me greatly, but there was nothing I couldn’t overcome. I smiled at his confused grunt when he missed. “Unfortunately for you, that was me at half strength. Nothing personal, kid.”

I slammed my sword into his back, which was left completely exposed as his shirt was long since destroyed. He cried out in shock as my blade managed to finally pierce through his skin. Yet, I struggled to force it deeper than a half inch. He shot his arm back to grab me, forcing me to retreat a few feet away.

He straightened himself up and turned to me, a hand placed on his back. “Last chance, we can just talk this out. This was fun, and you got a clean hit on me, but I don’t want this to get serious. Marem made me promise to be gentle, but you’re pushing it too far.”

I saw nothing but red. “Stop stalling,” I growled.

I dashed forward, prepared to cut him down to pieces. I was in range of him, landing on the floor to start my swing. Suddenly, his foot smashed into the ground, shattering the marble platform and throwing me off balance.

While I stumbled, he moved quickly and pressed his advantage. His hand grabbed my jaw and slammed me into the broken floor, the shards of marble tearing into my back. It was as if a wild beast had possessed him, and that belief was only solidified when I looked into his eyes.

There was something powerful dwelling inside those. This wasn’t some kid that I could knock aside without a sweat. I realized, there is a real possibility that this kid could beat me. The intensity of his gaze felt nearly suffocating.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

My eyes glowed a brilliant white, causing his body to reflexively squint. My mana funneled into the cool sword, now crackling with a bright blue lightning. At that moment, I smashed it against the side of his neck.

He cried out as electricity surged into him, and the blow ripped into his flesh. He was thrown off to the side, giving me enough space to fall back and recover. I had hoped to save my magical abilities for the end, in a glorious show of humiliation, but there was no time for that.

I tried to grip onto my sword with both hands, but an aching pain stopped me. I hadn’t noticed it, with how quickly it all happened, but he had crushed his foot into my wrist when he threw me to the ground. The intensity of the fight had increased far faster than I could grasp.

The hulking titan of a man stood back up, blood poured from his neck. Even if he had the energy to continue, that wound would take him down eventually. I just needed to outlast him with my shattered wrist and injured leg.

We stared each other down, daring one of us to make the first move. I didn’t know what else he had in store, and this fight would be in my favor the longer it went on. This was made all the more obvious when I saw that I’ve hit the requirements to break through the latest limiter. I would have access to one-hundred and twenty five percent of my normal strength, while he was grievously injured.

“Please, give me everything that you’ve got. Just so you can see it all amount to nothing,” I shouted at him.

I saw him grab hold of a large marble chunk, barely able to fit it in his hands. I prepared to dodge when he threw it, confident that my reflexes would avoid it. This would’ve been a piss poor attack, and he seemed to know it too.

Yet, he still threw the marble chunk, and I easily dodged to the side. There was barely any force behind it, and the stone collapsed with a heavy thud against the barrier. When I looked back at him, however, he was gone.

I looked around the courtyard, unable to find him. My eyes scanned for any trace of him, but he just disappeared. If he could go invisible, then that would be it for me. That brute just needed to attack from behind and I was done for.

That’s exactly what he wanted me to think, and I fell for it. With my focus only on the surrounding battlefield, I didn’t think to scan through the clouds above. He’d grabbed another chunk of marble, breaking it into pieces while he leaped into the sky.

It felt like I was facing an assault of a thousand marksmen. Small chunks of marble shot through my arms, forcing me to drop my sword and collapse to the ground. I had no clue just how many pieces hit me, but the number only increased once my legs were exposed.

I felt a heavy thud as he landed on the ground, and I tried to look up at him. The blood loss and pain made it impossible. It quickly grew difficult to stay conscious, and the noise of my family started to grow close. That was when I felt the warm glow of healing, and I gave into the desire to pass out, too exhausted from pain to continue.