3 Sparring

When Sarah and Lily arrived at the viewing platform, they found a circle of people around James and Ryan.

"A low tier like you does not even deserve my attention, but since you so smugly managed to piss me off, congratulations." mocked James while slowly clapping his hands.

Ryan shook his head, he had not even done anything, but the other person was bound to take offense for no reason at all. While a momentary flash of anger did flame up within him, certain memories reminded him to not give into emotions. He quietly stood without responding.

"As a high tier, I do not wish to be insulted by others who might claim I bullied you. Your ability is useless. We will spar in physical combat, without using our abilities. Today I will show you the gap in our abilities, and make you see the difference between heaven and earth."

"Woah!" Voices of shock filled the field. A battle of physical combat?

Lily was shaking her head bitterly from afar.

"This James is really malicious. He knows his ability has clearly boosted his normal body to almost superhuman levels even without actively using the ability. Now no one can claim he is bullying a weakling for no reason."

Meanwhile, when Ryan heard that he smiled. James was trying to bully him while taking the moral high ground, but he might fall for another trap instead.

James saw the smile and the seeds of rage within him sprouted completely as he lunged towards his opponent, in an effort to elbow slam him to the ground.

James had a large frame, broad shoulders and a powerful body, his ability "Variable Steel Body" had strengthened his constitution to such an extent that his strength and speed was beyond that of any person whose ability was not related to body strengthening. A brat like Ryan whose weak ability only allowed him to float some small objects was useless in his eyes.

However, things did not go according to James plans as Ryan simply dodged the attack with a simple sidestep leap towards the right. James narrowed his eyes as he increased his speed throwing several punches towards his target.

Ryan simply kept dodging all attacks thrown his way calmly. He did not engage in combat, as his hands remained within his pockets, using nimble footwork and predicting the moves of his opponent like it was a piece of cake. The flurry of punches and kicks or lunges and attempts at slams were simply meeting the air.

The unfortunate consequence of this was James, whose face was turning redder by the minute from embarrassment. The more he kept missing, the more he looked like a fool. The most bizarre part about this 'spar' was that Ryan did not even seem to be faster than James. James was not missing because he was slow in attacking, but because by the time he committed to a blow, his opponent had already taken a position of evasion.

Anger, embarrassment, rage and finally frustration finally filled James. He had tried one-sidedly attacking his trash opponent in a cornered position and had failed to land a single hit. Tired emotionally and physically, he finally lost his rationality and decided to use his ability to deal him heavy damage.

"Die scum!" He shrieked at Ryan as his skin suddenly turned into a silver metallic form and spikes started coming out of his skin. When Ryan saw this he frowned.

'Is this idiot really trying to take my life? I'll just keep dodging till I drain him out and quickly leave.' Ryan thought as he dodged with slightly more effort as countless spikes started launching at him from James' body at breathtaking speed.

The dangerously long and sharp spiked would spawn unpredictably off James' steel skin. The thing that made them potent was how even spikes could spawn new spikes, which meant that he could quickly create a network of extremely sharp spikes blocking all routes of his opponent to dodge.

Yet, Ryan kept comfortably sidestepping, sometimes bending his back and at other times, simply taking jumping. His hands were still in his pockets. It was like he was taking a walk in the park.

'His ability is very good at cutting range, but at the same time, it has a huge flaw. It severely restricts his own ability to move around to a crawl. Such potential, yet he wastes it bullying the weak.' Ryan analyzed within his mind.

Far away, Sarah looked on, shock visible on her otherwise expressionless face.

"A combat expert?"

The scene playing out in front of them was unbelievable. Without engaging in combat, Ryan had managed to completely tire out James simply by using extremely elementary dodging techniques.

"I think his abilities in combat techniques are by no means minuscule. He also has significant combat experience, just how did he gain this kind of experience?" Lily muttered.

It was already past 10 minutes of high-intensity battle between Ryan and James. Suddenly James deactivated his powers as his skin turned organic again. Sweat dampened all his clothes. Shock, panic, and embarrassment filled his face.

"How! Just how is this possible! You did not even use your ability! You must've cheated!"

The color had left James' face as he seemed to have been crushed by a defeat he never anticipated. Defeated by his own exhaustion, he fell onto his knees in dismay.

"No! You cheated! You must have!" He shrieked desperately, to himself more than anyone else in particular.

Ryan simply made a backflip into the air and then suddenly was able to make a second jump in the air safely landing outside the encirclement of the audience. He quickly left the scene while others were still in shock and looking at the mental collapse of the King of Class 2-B.

"What an interesting use of his ability, a double jump in the air. Is his ability really to levitate objects?" Sarah commented. Lily simply shook her head.

"It looks like James has collapsed mentally. What a shame, he seems to be going crazy. A person who cannot accept defeat."