62 First Deathmatch

I tried to move away, but his movements were those of an enraged beast, he didn't talk either, unless you count as talking when yelled "DIEEEE!!!" But besides that, I haven't heard him say anything.

The bat once again came from the side, this time after I dodged he took a step forward and swing it back with full force using his both hands for more strength and speed, I was barely able to jump back to avoid the second attack. I'm not scared of his normal attacks, but if the bat connects I'm screwed.

'System, use a skill point in dodge'.

[Dodge Level Up Lv. 0 -> Lv. 1].

After obtaining the first level of dodge I could notice that my reaction time was improved, the bat came again, but this time it was followed by a kick, I used my own leg to block and tried to stab him.

As I already expected, he dodged and moved back a little, this gave me a second to observe him. Just like this one the exchanges repeated more times after this. After a few minutes of avoiding blows, it was obvious that his speed was higher than mine and his reaction was at least at the same level.

The only reason I was able to keep up was my acrobat perk and dodge skill. When I Blocked his attack before I was able to know that I'm a little stronger than him, but it's difficult to keep up with his relentless attacks, and if he manages to hit with the bat it would mean the end for me.

'What can I do?'.

Usually, I would try to escape, but this was the first time I found someone faster than me.

I remember that this guy used to be the leader of a little "gang" that used to bully Jamie, because of this he had more fighting experience than me, so his instincts were better than mine.

My experience in real fight was all from after the meteor shower, also I'm more the analytical type so I try to think my options. Even if we both can react at the same speed, he is able to answer to my attacks faster, after a minute of battle I'm pretty sure that he at least had an E-Rank Agility Enhancement and a Reflexes enhancement or something similar to that.

My only opportunity right now is to extend the fight, even if he is in an almost berserk state, I'm pretty sure that I can hold on this rhythm for longer than him. Also, if I'm able to understand how he fights and find patterns I should be able to find more opportunities to counter-attack… if he doesn't blow my head with that bat.

The fact that he was using a baseball bat also worked for me, if you don't think about the fact that a strike would probably mean my demise, the weapon is slow, so it gave me a little time to dodge, if this guy was using a lighter weapon he could have already landed a hit on me.

I was completely focused on dodging and looking for opportunities to strike back. I already figured out some of the methods he used for attack. His first strike was always with the bat. When I avoid he would either attack a second time with the bat, let the bat go and use his fists or try to kick me. Because of this, I focused on the main signs, his feet, and the bat.

I saw the position of the bat, It was in a vertical position when compared to the floor it meant he was about to drop it. The moment he let the bat go, I used my foot to kick it on the side for him to no recover it.

I was ready to block his fist, but the change also triggered a change on his combination and tried to grab me, I used both hands to deflect the grabbing attempt but he just changed his attack to a head-butt. I didn't have any means to dodge or block it so I lowered my stance to counter with my own head-butt.

"ARGHH" it hurt a lot, I fell backward and put both my hand on my head a point on my forehead was swollen. It was the best I could think at that moment, better this than a broken nose.

Since I was able to react on time the other guy also fell backward and yell, the pain was the same, but the difference was that even with some pain he was able to recover faster. He used this chance and tried to pick up the baseball bat.

The head-butt made me a little dizzy, but I got on my feet and charged at him, this time he didn't have the baseball bat so I tried to take advantage of the situation. I made a stabbing motion, but he easily avoided it by moving to the side, now that I think about it, I never have fought for real in close quarters like this.

All my fight I either have a big advantage or the other guy, just like me, didn't know how to fight.

Beasts were predictable, and the only 4 humans I have fought, 2 of them were ambushed by me so I started with a bigger advantage, the first guy I killed I managed to wound him with the handgun and we didn't need to fight. The pyromancer was the only human being I have battled for real, but it was decided in long range battle, not melee.

This fight showed how overconfident I have been, and my lack of experience in fighting, the spar with G helped a lot, I would be dead by now if it wasn't for him, but it wasn't enough for me to be on par with the guy in front of me. It was frustrating, I kept trying different attacks, slashing, stabbing from different angles but nothing worked. I was focused I need to land a hit to keep my advantage, but since I was so focused on the offensive I made my second mistake… I didn't notice a counter-attack fast enough and got hit by a kick.

As I mentioned before, his normal attacks lacked strength, but it was enough for it to make me lose my balance and move away from him, this gave him the opportunity to get the baseball bat.

Back to square one… besides some light wounds on his forearms, I wasn't able to inflict any real damage on him. I took a deep breath and got ready for his next charge.

He picked up his bat, and moved fast towards me, at this moment a warmth spread from inside me and the figure of my girlfriend appeared in front of me, without even thinking, I moved in front of her.

'Spence!'.

I heard her scream in my mind when she saw the bat coming towards me, he wasn't in full swing, so I used his and my speed to tackle him, that hurt a lot, but at least I wasn't hit with the bat in full swing. The bat hit me with a part near to the handle so the force wasn't as bad as it would hit me with the barrel. But after this, I was going to be at a bigger disadvantage.

It probably was one of the most stupid moves, I ever made, it's not like he would be able to hurt Rose in her astral form, but when I saw the bat coming at her I just reacted on instinct. I mean… who would like to see how his girlfriend get's almost hit by a baseball bat?

We both fell once again and I dropped the knife, because of the impact he also lost the bat, but after falling and rolling he got on top of me and put his hands on my neck. I couldn't breathe and was losing strength.

My arm hurts, and my vision was blurry.

I could hear Rose desperate voice in my mind, but couldn't understand too well what was she saying. Something moved at my side and I could feel that something cold was next to my hand.

I took the knife and weakly move it to stab it on the guy's arm. The grip loosened and using all the force I managed to gather I push him away.

The air finally came back into my lungs, I was breathing heavily and coughed while trying to recover as fast as possible.

When I looked back at the guy, I saw my gun aimed at me.