The Intense Mismatch

"Son, pass the stick," he spoke, carefree as if they had crossed paths in the past.

Akira moved towards the corner of the large room. The area was particularly dirtier than the rest, filled with obsolete and unused items. Looking around the area, he finally spotted the stick the man spoke about.

It was an iron rod, filled with heavy metal all around. At first, Akira was filled with fear, not knowing his intentions for requesting the rod. He gulped in and leaped towards the rod.

It was rusty, with broken edges.

"At least, it isn't too strong," he stated, consoling himself.

He held the rod with a tight grip, turning slowly towards his newly ordained master. He spread his feet across the pile of garbage on the floor and crossed over it.

The walls of the room were beautiful, smooth, and most especially, relaxing. Akira couldn't ascertain its core material, as he hadn't seen such in the normal world.

It was highly reflective, as though polished to its peak. Its texture was also enjoyable, fine, and smooth.

Akira stared at the walls in amazement, and soon shook his head in disapproval - he had to maintain focus. He walked closer to the man and threw the rod at him. He swung and waved it like a wand several times before banging its head on the ground.

The man though smaller than Akira, looked formidable. Akira immediately noticed his strength as soon as he hit the rod.

Was it because of his skill?

He abruptly stepped back, facing the man who stared back at him with all seriousness. Akira's bravery began to waver.

"If this man decided to train me, even knowing that I possess an element. He must be pretty strong."

Akira observed him from a distance, circling and staring at him. He was unsure of the situation he was in, and, was unsure whether to run or stay.

With a brief shout of "We shall fight!!," Akira suddenly stopped, finally aware of the man's intentions.

"This is just part of the training."

Akira looked upon himself and saw it fit to assess his condition. He proceeded to check his stats, aiming to utilize his resources well.

[Stats]

[HP: 100]

[Strength: 15]

[Fatigue: 30]

[Protection: None]

[Level: 2]

[Achievements: Shadow Realm Pass (Beginners), Ultimate Destruction, Shadow Realm Pass: Newbie, You can't do more than a dead body]

[Skill: Stats (Activated), Destroy (Activated), Sensory Attack (Activated)]

Steadily, Akira cooled himself down remembering that fear would bring him nothing but fatigue. He looked back at the man, but now, he could see something different.

He was in the air, motionless, possessing 6 arms and 6 rods. It was like a hallucination. Slowly, the image moved, his hands disappearing only to reappear at different positions. Timed seemed to slow down, and gradually, the string attached his eyes to the man.

"What's this? This isn't how the skill was."

He was still in thought, distracted by the images he saw, when time resumed and the man speedily clung to Akira. The rod made a steady embrace with Akira's face, vibrating his skin as though it were jelly.

Next were his fists, calmly attaching themselves to the right portion of his abdomen. It was like a movie, where time slowed down and reverted to its previous state to create an intense battle scene.

But, it wasn't in Akira's favor. He flew from one corner to another, bearing a new mark on his body every time he was blown away. He couldn't fully grasp the man's image, but with the little abstractions he made, he could determine his next move.

Except, his body wasn't trained to react timely.

Boom!

Boom!

With every thud, came another fatal injury. Akira was in a mismatched battle, receiving countless wounds in seconds.

Finally, the attacks ceased. Akira took the initiative to recuperate and realize himself. He knew he had lost a couple, no, a lot of HP.

[Stats]

[HP: 50]

[Strength: 15]

[Fatigue: 69]

[Protection: None]

[Level: 2]

[Achievements: Shadow Realm Pass (Beginners), Ultimate Destruction, Shadow Realm Pass: Newbie, You can't do more than a dead body]

[Skill: Stats (Activated), Destroy (Activated), Sensory Attack (Activated)]

"It's down to half," he spoke, with blood flowing profusely from his face.

"I'll try to respond to the images."

Akira knew he could predict the moves of the old man with the help of the string and the images, but he found it hard to respond appropriately to evade the attacks.

He stood up, dusted off his clothes, and walked to the center of the room. He looked around, searching the corners of the room from a distance, and finally, he saw those images.

The man was holding the rod towards him, in a thrust position. Akira stepped a few inches away from his original spot, and the image immediately disappeared.

A strong gust of wind emerged carrying items along with it. He looked back, seeing no one. He continued his search, and once again, the images appeared.

This time he possessed four hands and two rods. Akira knew that the man's attack, would, therefore, be rapid. He braced himself for the attack, evading the first attack and attempting to face the second head-on.

Time resumed, and the wind similar to the previous one, emerged. Akira looked to his side and was met with the warm greetings of the heating iron rod on his right cheek.

In an air-cutting throw, Akira found himself lying flat in a corner. He hid beneath the pile of rubbish, although he knew his safety wasn't secured.

"Dang! I still can't react to rapid attacks. I also can't figure out the exact direction of the attack," he stated, piling up more dirt above him.

Surprisingly, his tactic gave him a short period to rest from the rapid attacks of the man. But, he knew it wouldn't serve him once more when the same images appeared.

Quickly, he sprung from the pile of dirt, running away to a safe distance from the area of attack. While running, time resumed, and a loud sound, followed by a cloud of dust emerged at the area where he once hid.

He looked closer, to see that the wall had cracked, even with the immense amount of dirt that would supposedly cushion the attack.