~WHOOSH!~

Kai did not delay at all, rushing towards Dan at full speed the moment their eyes met.

In one or two seconds, he had already bridged the gap and was flinging his fist in a curved arc towards his target. The way the air vibrated as the back of his fist neared Dan showed just how intense the blow was.

It was meant to knock him out cold the moment it connected.

Fortunately, Dan had noticed the movements of his shoulders and made sure to avoid the hit just in time.

‘Ah…!’ The blow hardly grazed him, but he could feel a wave of nausea hit him that very moment.

Before he could take another step back in retreat, though, a powerful kick pressed itself on his stomach, causing him to cough out saliva.

“Gahh!”

Kai’s first strike, despite seeming too powerful to be a feint, was a mere diversion. Using that strike to disorient Dan, also blocking his field of vision, he was able to prevent him from reading his next move.

—The straight kick.

Pain instantly shot through Dan’s body as he was launched away from his initial position and nearly crashed to the sandy floor on his back.

Fortunately, he was able to recover in time, rolling quickly and regaining his sense of balance.

“Haa…” A misty breath leaked out of his lips as he exhaled, his body now crouched and still as he tried to recover his strength.

Beads of sweat formed on his face, and even more heavy breaths proceeded from his mouth.

“Haa… haa…!”

Despite trying his best to suppress it, the burning pain on his stomach was too intense to ignore. This wasn’t the worst pain he had felt in his whole life, but since he was in a weaker body, he felt every ounce of that agony.

‘It seems the pain tolerance of this body is quite low…’ Dan gnashed his teeth as veins popped out of his head.

He had never felt as frustrated with his current body as he did at this point.

‘Aren’t commoners meant to have a pretty good physique and pain tolerance? I know this boy was allowed to pursue Mage Arts by his family, so his physical attributes shouldn’t be too impressive. But…’ He struggled to stand, his thoughts still flowing in his head. ‘... I still expected a little more hardness.’

Dan felt his vision blur for a moment, but swiftly recovered his sight by shaking his head.

Once he blinked, Kai was no longer in his line of sight.

‘Shit!’

Dan instantly knew he had a split-second to decide the next step to take, and that was not enough time for his body to fully respond.

‘Where will he attack from? Above? Below? Left? Right? Behind?’ None of those mattered at this point.

Without having superhuman senses or using some kind of Mage Arts, it was impossible to compete with Kai’s level of speed.

‘In that case…’ Gnashing his teeth, Dan arrived at his conclusion. ‘... It looks like I’ll have to give up on this route.’

Like a blur, Kai appeared right behind Dan and went straight for his legs. His legs swooped down, instantly causing the guarded boy to lose his footing and crash to the ground.

‘Ack!’ Once again, pain shot through his legs as he crumbled to the ground.

Kai didn’t waste any time after seeing that Dan crashed to the ground. He swiftly went to him, nearly assuming a dominant position over him—the same one that Dan had used against his previous opponent.

However, unlike with Dan… his attempt was unsuccessful.

“Arhhh!”

The reason was quite simple: just as he was about to climb over Dan, a hidden weapon that the seemingly vulnerable boy had prepared completely blinded him.

“T-this is… SAND?!” Kai yelled out loud, feeling the dirty grains in his mouth and all over his face—particularly in his eyes.

“Hehe!” A chuckle echoed in the air, followed by a solid kick to Kai’s left kick, which sent him staggering away.

“You are correct!”

Kai’s triumphant voice echoed from his lips as he recovered from his fall by quickly rising and closing in on the disoriented boy.

“T-that’s dirty!”

“Well, I already gave up on winning the normal way. That doesn’t mean I can give up on winning, plain and simple.”

Dan recognized that orthodox Martial Artists valued honor and fairness in a sight, so he wanted to adhere to those basic rules of combat as much as possible throughout the fight. However, Kai was too strong for him to stick with that code.

If he didn’t play dirty and use some dishonorable tactics, he was going to lose for sure.

‘I’m sorry, kid. This honestly brings me no pleasure…’ He almost sighed.

It wasn’t like he desired to pick on a boy who was barely an adult. There was no ill-will between the two of them, and he seemed like a decent kid.

However, this was a competition.

And he wanted to win.

‘I didn’t know where he would attack from, so I had to guide his attacks as much as possible. By guarding my head and slightly loosening my stance, I invited him to go after my legs.’

Thankfully, Kai didn’t see past the trap and fell for it.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

‘Then, I used the sand on the ground to blind him, allowing me to send a hit in while he was still confused and blinded.’

Dan already knew this confusion would only last a few moments, and Kai wouldn’t remain blind forever.

That meant he had to take advantage of the fight as quickly as possible.

~WHOOSH!~

Rushing towards Kai, who was still trying to remove the sand from his eyes, Dan sent a straight punch to his target, which was promptly blocked. However, a powerful kick landed on his left cheek at nearly the same moment.

The disoriented boy’s face shifted to the side, but Dan corrected the imbalance by sending another blow to his right.

This forcefully centered the boy’s body—enough for Dan to grab him by the neck and drag his head down.

Then—

~POW!~

His knee cleanly connected to the boy’s chin, sending a loud noise through their immediate surroundings.

‘Hopefully that’s enough to—’

Before Dan could complete his thoughts, two arms wrapped themselves around him, completely locking him in place.

‘Damn!’ He stared hard at Kai, who was now glaring at him with a determined gaze.

The boy’s bloodshot eyes widened, revealing the tears that flowed and washed away most of the sand that blinded him. His lips curled up to form a violent grin, showing just how much suppressed rage was swirling within him.

“GOT YA!”.

Against a lock that tight, there was no escape—or so it seemed.

Dan quickly loosened his muscles and squirmed his way out of the sweat-drenched training outfit that was loosely clinging on him.

In one swift movement, he fell to the ground, leaving Kai with nothing but his smelly vest.

“W-wha—?!”

Before Kai could properly react, Dan put all of his energy in his fist and clenched it as tight as possible.

This one strike would determine everything.

‘He’s wide open!’

With a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes, Dan launched a blow to the most sensitive spot in a young boy’s body.

‘Forgive me… kid.’

~POW!~

At that moment, Kai felt unimaginable pain assail his entire body, enough to paralyze him.

“Ahh…”

He let out a slight moan, or was it a groan, and even more tears rushed from his bulging eyes.

Such pain couldn’t be described with mere words, but it felt like his crotch was on fire, and something within him had been shattered in a million pieces.

This… this was too cruel to be experienced by a young man like him.

Kai crumbled to the ground that very moment, his muscular body making a light thud as he spasmed in the sand.

“Huuu…” Dan watched all of this and let out a soft exhale.

He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and stared at his opponent in pity.

‘Did I go too far in that attack? But… if I put in less strength, there was a chance that he would have recovered, which would prove fatal for me.’ In the end, he chose the logical route and made sure the boy suffered.

He felt bad about it, but did he regret his actions?

No!

‘I had to win, no matter what. It’s not only for my sake… but theirs as well.’

While it would be impossible for people like Kai to understand the value in what he had just done, there was no doubt that they would eventually come to appreciate everything.

It was all for the greater good.

As Dan was about to move away from Kai, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his leg.

It was Kai’s.

‘Oh…?’ Dan’s eyes widened as he saw Kai struggle to move, holding onto Dan’s leg while his eyes gleamed with resolve.

‘It looks like he doesn’t want to give up and accept his loss.’

The fact that Instructor Beck was yet to declare the winner meant that Kai wasn’t down yet.

‘Since that’s the case, then—’

~POW!~

Without a single second of hesitation, Dan used his second leg to stomp on Kai’s outstretched hand, hearing a slight crushing sound as he finished this action.

“Arghhh…!”

Dan ignored the pained scream of the boy, using his dominant foot to kick Kai on his face, forcing him to roll over with his belly exposed.

He let out a slight whimper, almost like a dog that had been badly wounded.

Dan’s face remained calm—cold, even—as he slowly approached the heavily breathing Kai, who didn’t seem to have given up.

He still had a defiant glare, and despite his body shivering from the pain, he was not screaming or making any pathetic noises.

No… he held it in.

His face was turning red, and several veins formed all over his head and neck as he glared angrily at Kai.

‘Such defiance… such spirit…’ Dan’s eyes gleamed coldly as he looked at the poor boy. ‘... It’s such a shame to break it.’

He stomped on Kai’s belly, causing the boy to spit out saliva, tears leaking out of his eyes. Afterward, he sat on his stomach, clenching both fists as he readied himself for what Kai would have done to him if he didn’t use the sand trick.

“You won’t be able to talk once I begin, so just raise your hand if you surrender.”

After Dan said this… he commenced the beatdown.

~POW!~

~WHAM!~

~THUMP!~

Flesh slapped against flesh in a violent manner as Dan’s fists landed on his victim’s right and left cheeks, respectively.

After one strike from his right fist, he would instantly use his left while winding up his right for another blow. He made no pauses, but continued to pummel down the opponent—no hesitation, no mercy… no regrets.

It was just a one-sided slaughter, with Dan completely subjugating a much bigger foe.

Kai was powerless.

He was utterly limp, taking the blows until blood started to appear on both the cheeks and the fists that were hitting those cheeks.

‘Ahh…’ Dan’s thoughts trailed. ‘... This reminds me of old times.’

As he felt the stinging sensations on his fists, he found himself drifting into the past; particularly the many fights he had experienced.

Whether it was against the Blights, Martial Artists, or fellow Mages… all he had to do was ensure he got into an advantageous position and overwhelm the opposition with simple, but consistent, attacks.

‘That always does it.’

No matter how strong something was… it had a breaking point.

The same thing applied to humans as well.

“—an…!”

All he had to do was keep striking and striking until said breaking point was reached.

“Da—!”

Faraway voices seemed to echo in his ears, but Dan’s immense concentration on the task at hand blurred all of those away.

He just kept striking… and striking.

Until—

“DAN, THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Both of his hands were gripped very tightly, stopping him from making any more attacks or winded motion.

Based on the grip alone—the firmness and hardness that could be felt from it—Dan could tell the hands belonged to his Instructor.

“Did… I win already?” He asked, raising his head to see the face of Instructor Beck.

What he saw instantly broke him out of his immersion.

Instructor Beck’s face showed concern—not towards Dan, whose fists were now bloodied, but towards the unconscious boy whose face was an absolute mess.

Dan traced the gaze of Instructor Beck and saw the current state that Kai was in

… The state he put him in.

He couldn’t bear to look at what he had done to such a young boy, but the moment he looked away, his eyes met the surrounding gazes of his classmates—all of whom were now awake.

The constant noise of Dan’s fists had woken them up.

All of them stared at him in horror… and they looked at Kai with pity.

“Ahh…” Dan’s voice weakly echoed as he slowly rose to his feet after Instructor Beck freed both of his hands.

No one needed to tell him already.

He had won.