Gift's power

"Ahhh, my leg!" someone screamed in the crowd.

"My arms are broken!" another person cried out.

Soon, cries about broken limbs echoed around the student car parking lot.

At the center of the stage, Tristin stood tall.

"Where is Thomas?" Mbali asked, hearing screams from the opposite end of the stage. She ran toward the source of the screams.

Sipho and his gang followed, shocked to see more than 40 students lying on the pavement, crying in pain over broken limbs. Seven were unconscious, but still, they couldn't see Thomas.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Sipho shouted as he searched for Thomas in the pile of bodies on the ground.

His shout fell on deaf ears; no one moved or said anything. All those who were unharmed looked at Tristin like he was some kind of monster. Realizing this, Sipho shouted again, "Call an ambulance, please!"

Mbali, reacting to Sipho's voice, took out her phone and called 10111 for an ambulance.

One student, regaining some composure, asked in horror, "Wh... what just happened? Everything happened so fast." He looked at Tristin, who was silently staring at his hand.

"I think I saw what happened," said the guy who reminded Sipho about Thomas's use of the Fate Acceleration Fist.

Everyone nearby looked at him with anticipation.

Clearing his throat, he explained, "Thomas was about to land his Spiral Fist, but before he could, Tristin grabbed his hand at an incredible speed and crushed the spiral qi energy in his arm. That caused the loud noise we all heard."

"That doesn't explain how Thomas flew off the stage and knocked so many people down, breaking their limbs in the process," another guy said.

"I wasn't done talking," the martial artist said, then continued, "As Tristin crushed Thomas's Spiral Fist, he threw an ordinary punch at an incredible speed, hitting Thomas in the chest and sending him flying back at twice the speed. Thomas crashed into those students who were watching the duel." His eyes remained fixed on Tristin.

"An ordinary punch can do that? You must be lying," the other guy said, and the rest of the students agreed with him.

"Believe what you want, but I saw what I saw," the martial artist insisted.

"I used about 10% of my strength in that punch. How could it be so powerful?" Tristin thought, standing still in the center of the stage. "Did the old man talk to me when I was in immense pain?" he asked himself.

"Tristin, you won!" Max said with a smile, attempting to hug Tristin, but Tristin stopped him with a hand.

"Hold it, bro. No hugs," Tristin said with a smile, then looked at Brenda, who had her eyes and mouth wide open. "I won the duel, right? Can you give me the keys now?" he asked, gesturing with his hand.

Brenda snapped out of her daze and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. She handed Tristin both sets of car keys after announcing him as the winner.

Lerato, stunned, came to her senses after hearing the announcement. She jumped onto the stage and ran toward Tristin and Max.

"What was that? I saw what you did, but I can't understand how you did it without using qi energy," she asked as soon as she arrived.

"If you throw yourself at me and tell me how great I am, I might tell you how I did it," Tristin said, opening his arms, gesturing for Lerato to throw herself at him.

"You pervert!" Lerato said, throwing a punch at Tristin's chest. But Tristin grabbed her arm and pulled her closer.

"Why are you so spicy? How will you get a man if you always act this way?" he asked, looking into her eyes, his hand on her waist and the other grabbing her wrist.

Seeing Tristin's handsome face up close and feeling her chest pressed against his, Lerato became flustered, her face turning as red as a tomato. "Let go of me, you pervert," she said, her voice low this time. "This guy has taken advantage of me all day," she thought.

Tristin shook his head and smiled at her red face. "Tell me then, since I already threw myself at you," she said, looking down.

"Qi energy manipulation," the martial artist jumped onto the stage. "Am I correct?" he asked, looking at Tristin.

Tristin narrowed his eyes and asked, "And who are you?"

"My name is Mduduzi, but my friends call me Mdu. You can call me Mdu," he said, nodding.

Tristin, sensing no hostility, relaxed and asked, "So, can you do it too?"

Mdu shook his head. "I can't, but I've been learning it. My father can do it a bit, but not at your level."

Lerato, listening to their conversation, jumped in. "Qi energy manipulation is a basic concept in martial arts. Everyone can do that," she said, hands on her hips.

Mdu shook his head again. "Lerato, you might have opened the fourth meridian, but you're still thinking like a low-level martial artist," he said, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"What did you just say?" Lerato asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Calm down, Lerato. He's right. Most martial artists like you focus only on technique and opening their qi energy meridians. But did you know that if you fought a Ren-level martial artist with qi energy manipulation skills like mine, you would lose even if you're a Dan-level martial arts master?" Tristin explained, his eyes narrowed.

As Lerato pondered Tristin's words, Sipho called out to her. "Lerato, your cousin is at death's door, and you're busy with your boyfriend who hurt him. I wonder what Mr. Ngobeni will say about that," Sipho said, eyes narrowed.

Lerato snapped out of her thoughts. "Shit, I totally forgot about Thomas," she said, running off the stage to check on him.

Tristin, Max, and Mdu followed her. As they approached Thomas and the few students who were knocked out by Thomas when he crashed into them, the crowd parted for Tristin.

"Move out of the way; this guy is dangerous," some students said.

"He's so strong, handsome, and drives a Ferrari. Now he has Thomas's car. I don't care if he's poor; I want him," girls began to murmur out loud.

Hearing this, Max nodded in approval as he looked at Tristin, who walked like he didn't have a care in the world. "He said by the end of the day, he'd be back on top," he thought, nodding.

"Where is the ambulance? Thomas is in bad shape," Sipho asked, looking at Mbali, who had called for an ambulance.

"Forget the ambulance; take Thomas to my car. I'll drive him home," Lerato said, looking at Thomas, who was bleeding from his nose and mouth. His white school shirt was covered in blood and had a huge hole in the chest area.

Tristin narrowed his eyes. "That single punch did all this? His internal organs are severely damaged, and I really did hold back," he thought.

"Don't you know how to hold back? Look what you did! This might cause you more trouble," Lerato asked, disturbing his thoughts.

"I did hold back, but I didn't expect him to be so weak," Tristin said, shaking his head and opening his hands while closing his eyes.

"Why are you being smug now? You didn't hold back at all. How will I explain this at home?" Lerato asked, looking at Tristin with narrowed eyes.

"Just tell his father that if it weren't for you, I would have drilled a huge hole in his chest. That spiral punch of his was enough to blow my brains out. I showed him mercy while he tried to kill me," Tristin said, his eyes narrowed.

"He has a point. Thomas would have killed him if he connected that punch," one guy said.

"He went for his head without a second thought. I bet he didn't care because Tristin is from a poor family," students began to murmur.

Lerato also remembered how vicious Thomas was with his Spiral Fist. Even she, a Dan-level martial artist, couldn't take that punch head-on, but Thomas threw it at someone he didn't know could use qi energy or not.

"Bullshit," Sipho said, hearing the students talk about Thomas's Spiral Fist. "Tristin, you haven't seen the last of this. You hurt Thomas; now the Ngobeni family won't let you go, and Lerato won't be able to help you at all," he said, pointing with his finger.

Tristin ignored him but thought, "That's also part of my plan."

Seeing Tristin remain silent, the students began to think he was afraid of the Ngobeni family due to his poor background. Lerato also thought so.

"Don't worry, Tristin. This was a duel, and you have a contract on your phone. No one can question your victory," Max comforted him.

Lerato also stepped in. "I'll do what I can to explain to my uncle, so don't worry," she said, holding Tristin's hand.

"Thanks, Lerato," he said with a smile.

"Hey, where's my thanks?" Max asked, feeling left out.

Tristin threw Thomas's car keys to Max. "Here's your thanks. You don't have a car, right? My grandma's garage is big enough for two cars, so I don't have space for that. Hold on to it for me."

"Are... are you for real?" Max asked, his eyes glowing with joy.

"Only if you have a driver's license," Tristin said with a smile.

"He's so generous," students marveled, watching Tristin give Max the car.

"Don't fool yourself, Max. We'll be coming for that car soon," Sipho said.