Tournament (3)

Thomas made the first move.

With his longer reach, he thought he could at least force a reaction out of Jojo, and the latter didn't fail to meet his expectations.

While crouching, he parried before their weapons clashed.

Their wooden sticks, which had already endured a barrage of strikes, instantly broke into multiple pieces.

The two fighters were surprised, but this didn't mean their fight was over. They quickly dropped the remaining bits of wood and stared at each other, with sweat dripping down from their foreheads.

Without any warning, Jojo threw a vicious leg kick at the injured leg of Thomas, who realized the gravity of the threat.

While badly staggering, he threw his body to the side, narrowly avoiding a hit that would have been his end.

With a humph, Jojo threw himself at him. It was time for some close combat.

However, when he reached Thomas and was about to throw a right hook punch, he froze. His opponent had a huge grin on his face, as if he had fallen into one of his schemes.

And he had been right. Thomas had feigned being more injured than he really was to draw in Jojo.

After all, his experience as a bully made him into a melee range fighter, and it was time to put that skill set to good use.

While dodging the incoming right, he sent a violent uppercut that connected on Jojo's jaw, sending him flying backwards.

The guy had been overconfident, thinking that the already inflicted injuries had been sufficient to throw caution aside.

He brutally landed on the ground and his vision blurred. He had royally messed up. In a real fight, he would have been dead to rights.

On top of seeing everything in triple, a metallic taste invaded his mouth, making him spit out a mouthful of blood. He had unfortunately bitten his tongue, which now bled profusely.

With his head still spinning, he groggily got up and gave a determined look to Thomas. He wasn't done yet, even if his body was screaming to stop the hostilities.

The adrenaline had worn off long ago, and both combatants were now engaged in a mental tug of war.

In their minds, the one to win would be the best to endure pain.

Their refusal to back down was admired by the spectators, who now wondered if they could have done more on their side.

Eloise and Atta both looked at each other with a slight smile, seeing that the event had already paid dividends.

Without waiting further, Thomas walked forward, intending on using his remaining energy in a last ditch offensive. He realized that his condition wasn't much better than his adversary.

Jojo wasn't going to be outdone, and he also walked forward, ready to meet him head-on.

When they both met, a scene that awed everyone occurred. The two fighters began throwing punches at each other without defending, purely taking in every hit like punching bags. Their bruised bodies couldn't take it anymore, with cuts beginning to appear and blood seeping out of them.

Eyebrows, cheeks, noses... Nothing was spared.

After a few minutes, their faces had become so big that they couldn't even see each other properly anymore.

"I can't lose here... I have to... win..."

Thomas was trying to hold on, but his brain was shutting down, overwhelmed by the pain. He had never expected the person in front of him to be so resilient.

His lack of mobility and his confidence had faltered bit by bit once he had realized he wouldn't win simply by going to the body of his opponent. He needed to have an unbreakable will.

"Don't... get too... carried away... you fucker!"

As for Jojo, he was in the same spot.

After receiving the violent uppercut, the fight had become more even, with both of them severely hampered. He thought this thug would be mentally weak, but he had been proven wrong again and again, until finally acknowledging that the person in front of him was different from back then.

As time went on, their strikes became weaker and weaker, as they couldn't muster any more strength. They were both drained physically and mentally.

When he saw their wretched states, Atta decided that it was time to intervene to prevent any more damage. These two had shown their potential, and he wasn't going to let them ruin it in a competition.

Meanwhile, Thomas' consciousness had begun to slip away... No matter how hard he tried to remain awake, it didn't work.

He was just falling in an endless abyss, and when he realized that fighting this feeling was useless, he let go.

He had given it his best shot, meaning he could be proud of himself. His opponent had just been more formidable than expected.

*BOOM*

Overwhelming power suddenly burst forth from his core, and it was so strong it completely hijacked his body.

The feeling scared him so much that he hadn't been able to react, and when he tried regaining any sense of control, it was too late.

He was now only a passenger on the wild ride that was about to unfold.

When Jojo had seen Thomas faltering, he had hung on with all his might. His endurance gained throughout days of work had finally paid off.

It was time to win!

That's when an oppressing feeling burst out from his opponent, one so heavy he had to back away, thus breaking their scuffle.

The entire field had quieted down and was looking at Thomas, who had stopped moving. He only stood there, with his head down, while heavily breathing.

Eloise had been startled by the pressure.

What had just happened?!

Atta thought that the man had fallen unconscious, so he now proceeded on the field to tend to his injuries.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

A bestial cry resounded and caused Atta to immediately stop, petrified on the spot. It was like an instinctual fear one experienced when meeting an apex predator.

The cry had come from Thomas, who wasn't looking like himself anymore.

His once tilted head now faced the sky, with eyes so bloodshot they resembled rubies.

His entire body had begun expanding, until becoming two times its normal size. Veins that were normally hidden had also massively expanded, now gorged with massive amounts of blood.

Eloise, whose expression had turned ashen, was now running in Thomas' direction.

Her previous feeling had given her a vague sense of deja vu, with the following sequence of events confirming it...

This was a berserker!