Too Small
"What?!" Azer's eyes widened in shock.
"Huh," Bernard frowned and asked. "Didn't you say that he was a 204th ranked student?"
Azer was speechless, but then he shook his head and frowned.
'A lucky hit?'
At that moment, the door opened, and a beautiful schoolgirl entered the room. She had a backpack on her back and a soft look on her face.
"Oh, ain't it young Julia." Bernard put his hand on his chest and bowed gentlemanly.
"Oh…" Julia looked at her father and asked, "Did I come at the wrong time?"
Azer turned to look at her daughter and asked, "Do you know this Kiernan kid? He is in your class, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is sitting beside me." Julia asked and walked over to the window. "He is supposed to have his ranked match with Dominic."
She turned to look at the match. She expected to see Kiernan already defeated, but to her surprise, a large screen was showing Dominic holding his bleeding nose.
"How is Dominic bleeding?" Julia asked with a surprised expression.
"He must've underestimated his opponent." Bernard chuckled. "In Irio High, we would ensure that our students wouldn't make such a mistake."
Azer scoffed, but inwardly he thought, 'Was it really a mistake?'
The crowd was surprised at first, but then they woke back up from their startled state and continued cheering.
At the stage, Dominic wiped the blood off his nose and gritted his teeth, "Your attack doesn't hurt."
'Of course it didn't.' Kiernan thought to himself. 'I lack physical strength, and I wasn't using Iron Style. I became stronger after awakening my Martial Soul, but Dominic is higher-ranked, and he has trained his body to withstand attacks like this.'
'I underestimated him, but not anymore.' Dominic moved into his fighting stance. 'I'll crush him!'
He slowly started to approach Kiernan. His feet slowly dragged through the ground as he bit by bit approached his opponent.
A short moment later, he reached Kiernan's attacking range. If he moved any closer, he would be within striking distance of his kicks.
As the two fighters eyed each other, the atmosphere turned tense. It was as if two swordmasters were trying to anticipate each other's movements. A single mistake would lead to defeat.
Dominic narrowed his eyes and thought, 'I'll close the distance with a quick tackle; when he is occupied by trying to dodge my tackle, I'll throw an uppercut.'
Kiernan looked at him with a calm smile on his face. It was unclear what he was thinking.
At that moment, Dominic rushed in from a very low stance. He opened up his arms in front of him, and he rushed straight towards Kiernan's legs. It was obvious to everyone that he was going for a tackle!
Kiernan quickly sidestepped to the left and dodged Dominic's tackle attempt.
'Got you!' Dominic screamed and straightened his back slightly, then threw an uppercut punch with his left hand. That attack came straight from Kiernan's blind spot.
If Kiernan had dodged to the right, he would've punched with his right. It was because his arm would be hidden next to his waist, depending on which side Kiernan dodged.
Since it was hidden, Kiernan couldn't see whether he had formed a fist with it or not. As a result, he wouldn't be able to react to the punch in time.
As the punch neared Kiernan's jaw, he slowly backstepped, and the fist narrowly avoided his chin. It almost grazed his cheek.
'He dodged it?!' Dominic exclaimed and quickly raised his leg, then kicked towards Kiernan's side.
Kiernan placed his arm at the side of his body and blocked the kick. Smack. However, the kick was powerful and made him stagger to the side in a single step.
The crowd cheered as Dominic rushed in with a flurry of punches.
Kiernan slapped the punches away, parrying them so that they would miss his body. His contact with the fists was only a fraction of a second, but it was still enough to redirect those attacks away.
"Raze Family Style, Hundred Point Strike!" Dominic screamed and continued throwing punches.
Each punch was aimed at different points in Kiernan's body. Each one would be enough to bring him down to his knees. Yet, not a single punch managed to land!
The crowd started to slowly realize. They looked confused. This was supposed to be an easy victory for Karuza High's rising star, Dominic.
How come he struggled so much?
"Oi, oi, what the hell is this?" Bernard asked with a frown. "Is Dominic sick or what?"
"No…" Julia whispered with a shocked look. "Dominic is going all-out. He just can't break through Kiernan's rock-solid defense!"
"204th ranked student, my ass." Bernard said with a scoff. "Were you hiding a student of this caliber, Azer?"
Azer's forehead glistened with sweat. He was the most shocked out of all of them. This didn't make any sense!
'I read through his files. He should be a below-average fighter!' Azer gulped. 'I can tell that he has awakened his Martial Soul. However, the feeling is very dim. He must've done that just recently.
'Still, just awakening Martial Soul shouldn't make him this strong. Dominic is at the peak of Martial Recruit. In a year, he will be able to advance to Martial Soldier.
'This should still be a walk in the park for Dominic. He even has his own Raze Family Style. It is very powerful martial arts!'
At the stage, Dominic sweated heavily, with anxiety boiling up inside him. He was still throwing punches, but not a single one landed.
He was despairing.
'W-what is this?' Dominic looked at Kiernan with a shaky look. 'W-why do I feel so small?'
As he looked at Kiernan, he imagined an enormous fortress with impenetrable walls towering above him. It felt like no matter if he punched a million times, he wouldn't be able to break through his defenses!
'If his punch landed on me, I would crumble under the weight of it all.'
Kiernan thought calmly.
'That's why I'll ensure that I barely touch his fists when I redirect them away. If I touched for too long, my hands would get injured.
'His physical strength is already at a crazy level, but with his martial arts, his strength is doubled. It does remind me quite a bit of Iron Smash. It also focuses all of my strength on a single point.
'However, my Iron Smash is way superior. His martial arts are good and all, but in the end, it's no match for Iron Style.'
"You fought well, Dominic." Kiernan said with a smile. "However, I suppose this is your limit. This city is too small for someone like me. I am aiming for much higher!"
Dominic's eyes shook in shock, and his body froze in horror. He felt like he was staring at a prehistoric beast. His hands were shaking, and his punches turned sloppy.
At that moment, Kiernan dodged his punch with a sidestep to the right and then threw a punch from a very wide angle. The fist smashed through Dominic's jaw and sent him sprawling to the ground.
The crowd turned silent. It was as if the whole world suddenly turned quiet.
Everyone watched as Dominic dropped to his knees and then slowly fell to the ground in a crumbling heap. The fight ended with a deafening silence as Dominic lay motionless on the floor.
Ding, ding!
[You have defeated a High Stage Martial Recruit!]
[10 XP Acquired!]