Chapter 84: Concrete Jungle

With the blocky hands touching the ground, the time for talk was over. Even with his chosen villain archetype, Cementoss let that be known by instantly sending a block of cement toward Shoji, the closer of the two's heads.

Utilizing his multiple senses, Shoji tilted his head, watching as the construct sailed past him towards Suijin.

'Heh.'

Still as prepared as always, Suijin aimed his head, using his training to effortlessly press his trigger three times, sending three separate shots to two different points on one part of the cement.

With his blunt shots landing, the result was the cement breaking off at one of the farther back areas of the construct, causing the parts that were closer to Suijin but with no base to helplessly fall to the ground.

'As I suspected, if we cut off his cement from the root, he can't control the parts beyond the cut-off point.'

Suijin looked up, noting that fact while looking around them.

!!!!

Alarm bells rang in his mind as he noticed the changed state of the city surrounding them. Previously, it was your typical metropolis street—desolate, but still the same as you'd find anywhere else.

But now…within the brief seconds that Cementoss had sent his warning attack towards the two, he diverted his attention, pouring it towards furthering his control over the cement that lay around him.

Cracks of cement ran up the buildings, not yet reaching the tall roofs but still not too far behind, around the halfway point.

Luckily, Cementoss was forced to change focus after he noticed his initial attack had absolutely no effect on the two.

'Can't, absolutely cannot allow him to have any more time to focus on the surroundings. If things went on a little longer, we'd be trapped in his cement domain.'

The boy shivered, thinking about what would've happened if Cementoss continued without their knowledge.

Still, looking at his unusually gloved partner in the eye, Suijin noted the same look of determination, signaling that Shoji also understood their situation.

'Now!'

Saying so while his actions signaled his intent, Suijin suddenly stepped back while letting off three bursts of small-sided shots towards Cementoss.

'Firstly, provide cover for Shoji, who's a close-quarters fighter, so that he can get in range. Secondly, escape into the fray, getting as far as possible from Cementoss's sight so that he doesn't target me.' Suijin recapped his plan as he was putting it into action.

Yet, raising a wall of cement that was able to easily intercept the weak shots, Cementoss turned his attention towards the incoming Shoji.

Not getting caught unaware, Shoji repeated his old trick from the sports festival. As the boy reached his hands down into the ground, he picked up a few pieces of rubble and threw them with more venom than Suijin.

'Right, this is a battle, and he is our enemy!'

Again raising a wall, Cementoss expected the rubble to hit and not deal a lick of damage to his construct.

Yet…

BAM

Breaking through the wall of cement was an elongated fist covered in the blue plastic material Suijin had him put on before the fight.

A grin laced Suijin's face, if one could tell, as he saw their plan working.

"The teachers are strong, very so, and if I've learned anything over these past weeks, even if you try not to, arrogance and confidence begin to seep into people's minds. Add on the fact that Cementoss is a Pro and we're a few kids, and I think we should use his underestimation against him."

On their way to the testing site, sitting on the back of the bus, Shoji nodded his head, agreeing with Suijin but offering no words for himself, only intending to speak up if there was a part he disagreed with, as was the case with most of the pairs' conversations.

"We should exploit this in the beginning of the fight, before he learns to be wary of us, lull him into an easy-to-understand tit for tat before we come out baring our fangs, attempting to overpower him instantly."

Confidence was the foothold that Suijin's plans hinged on.

Yet, it was also the reason that his plans didn't come to full fruition.

One second later, the inexperienced boy, elated at having outsmarted a pro, took one second to celebrate, to bask in the joy and revelation of beating Cementoss in a psychological battle.

Yet, one second proved fatal in a real battle.

Before any of the two could comprehend when the surprised look on Cementoss's face turned to a serene one, the situation had flipped.

The fist that had broken through his cement wall was now enclosed between a new cement wall, far sturdier than before.

Shoji's face turned serious with a hint of surprise, as just when he thought they'd gotten the upper hand against the caught-off-guard teacher, he was now the one in danger.

And Suijin felt the worst of it, as the boy instantly recognized the issue that led to this dilemma: his tardiness.

The original plan was to catch Cementoss off guard, but after that, Suijin was supposed to bombard the teacher with a barrage of shots, leaving him no time to think or adapt. Shoji would recklessly attack, hoping that one of his thundering punches would reach the Pro.

Yet, Suijin's tardiness caused the situation to be flipped on its head, with Shoji in a bind and Cementoss already planning on fully enclosing the boy in a cell of cement, ruling him out of their fight.

Phew

Letting out a breath of air he'd been holding in, Suijin thought to himself while already beginning his counteractions.

'Bash myself later. Right now, I need to retaliate. Luckily, I have just the thing. It's time to test out Mei's babies.'