Humbled

'Oh hell no! I am not getting scratched by that thing again. I have already endured the feeling of pain once. So there is no need to….taste again.'

Crey moved back lightly and the knife went just a few inches away from him. He lightly stepped back and dodged the incoming leg swipe too. The more Kio tried, the more he realized that he was too fluent to be pinned down by him in hand-to-hand combat if he kept on evading.

"Huff...Fight back, huh... Huff..coward!"

Crey ignored his pathetic attempt at infuriating him, all the while continuously evading every assault of Kio. Just by looking from the side, it appeared like he was dodging every attack just by luck, like being able to evade the sharp knife and blows just by the breath of margin. But in reality, in the eyes of Crey, everything was clear as day. He even repeated his question for Kio,

"Tell me, buddy! What is your pain sensitivity level?"

"Arrrrrnnn…."

Kio ignored his question as his madness began to overcome his senses. His slashes, as well as stabs, were getting wilder and wilder, more unrestrained and filled with fury. Crey noticed the furious state of his opponent and felt that expecting an answer from him would be foolish now as he had reached the height of his resentment.

Also with the recklessness he was showing now, attacking wildly without an ounce of defense in his mind and no sense of holding back, Crey came to swift judgment - he is not a good opponent anymore. Kio, unaware of the thought process and his poor evaluation in the mind of Crey, flung his knife to stab at his stomach. This time it was different since Crey was in the middle of blocking his kick as he had no time left for any miraculous dodge. Elation burst in the heart of Kio as he finally pinned him down.

"Haha...Got you!"

Kio laughed as he pushed his hand to lance his sharp knife into the stomach of Crey. But suddenly the dodging figure of Crey turned very still and just as the knife was about to reach his stomach he instead of backing away moved forward to attack him.

The sudden change resulted in little faltering by Kio, taking advantage of his pause, Crey moved as fast as a snake to clutch the hand of Kio with an abrupt motion.

'Bang!'

A small disruption wave formed in the air as the knife of Kio stopped in the air. He felt the steel-like fingers clasping his hand in a death grip, he tried to push against his strength but he wasn't able to budge even one inch. At this moment he for the first time directly felt the chasm of difference between their strengths. He could clearly feel his idiocy for trying to match his opponent who, right from the beginning, was just playing with him.

Kio stood transfixed in his place like he had lost his very soul. He couldn't even bear to raise his head to match the gaze of his enemy. What he was thinking of as 'ignorance of Noob' earlier now turned out to be an obvious indifference of superior to an inferior, which weighed on his sanity quite heavily.

The shame and humiliation were too much to bear even for him who was actually used to losing in this game from real fighters. But since he had desperately urged his rich father to buy him this game despite being constantly demolished by every opponent, he continued to play this game.

Only about One in ten matches he was able to draw with an opponent, which was quite a poor result but still bearable to an amateur fighter like him. But today in this match, a real noob whether he was amateur or professional, it didn't matter because he saw with his own eyes, him getting used to the game.

This means it was his first try at the game and even he absolutely demolished him without even trying. It was the last straw to break the camel's back. This made him realize that the real gap between him and fighters was so large that he couldn't overcome it no matter what he tries.

Crey tilted his head as unexpectedly he didn't find his opponent fighting back. He had actually given up on trying to push his knife anymore against his grip. He was confused but he wasn't so naive to commit any foolish error as to give his enemy one more chance. He was about to dislocate his arm followed by his neck but suddenly the figure of his opponent vanished from the arena.

Crey nearly fell to the ground as he was pushing against the air. He had a great sign of confusion on his face but the system voice afterward resolved his worries.

"Opponent had forfeited. SpinningOwl won the match. Do you want to start the next match? "

Crey was confused why his opponent gave up but he couldn't care less. He was unaware of the fact that due to his deliberate set pace of the match the Kio had given up on this game forever.

Crey had destroyed him so easily that he was convinced of his defeat, even admitting that this result couldn't be improved even if he used his trivial genetic ability against him. Completely unaware that his opponent could be a non-ability user.

Well, it was apparent anyone who hasn't any ability awakened after the first stage of Evolution would never set afoot to become a Professional Fighter. Of course, those who do are either geniuses or massive self-confident pricks. Therefore he could never expect his opponent to be one of those.

As Crey answered with 'yes' the system began to start another matchmaking session. Crey wasn't satisfied with the fight as he hadn't fully explored the breadth and extent he could push himself in-game. He had forgotten to enjoy the game as this match ended even before he really started.

"I hope there is someone strong next time!"

Grumbled Crey as he watched the system commencing to find another opponent for him.