23 - Spar(Lele VS Kohaku)

The day after Albert and the rest began training under Osvaldo, Kohaku arrived in her limousine with her assistant at Lele's house, as he had returned to his home. It was quite the task to make up lies to her mother for someone as pure as him.

"Today is the day we'll spar!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"Where exactly do you plan to spar? I don't think that there are many places where we can go all out without causing a ruckus." Lele argued.

"Oh, but there is one place where we can go all out without any worries of drawing attention: The rift."

"I didn't think of that."

As soon as Lele got into the car, it raced out of the city and shortly arrived in Carignano, a small town near Turin. During the ride, the interior of the car was silent. Kohaku had a look of determination in her eyes as she focused on the upcoming sparring match. Meanwhile, Lele's eyes gleamed with excitement as he explored the luxurious car's features, such as the mini fridge and coffee machine. Jennifer, on the other hand, was watching the whole situation with a completely different set of thoughts in her head, almost expecting with trepidation something to happen between the two.

Before they exited the car, the assistant handed them masks. "I think it would be wise to conceal your identities."

"I, Kohaku, won't cower behind a mask!"

"This is a precautionary measure that would benefit both of you. Samuel can't afford to be seen entering the rift, and in your case, you may want to avoid the gossip and attention that would arise from entering the rift with another person, especially a man. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Why would people care if I enter a rift with someone?"

"Miss, did you forget why I'm in charge of your social media accounts? Trust me, people care way too much about everything you do."

"Urgh," A few unpleasant memories crossed Kohaku's mind. "Fine, I will do as you say."

Lele donned a golden lion mask while Kohaku's mask featured a red fox. Together, they made their way towards their destination, while Jennifer kept a close eye on her phone, checking a map dotted with blue markers.

"If we didn't want to draw attention couldn't you have chosen something more plain." Kohaku complained.

"These masks were just too perfect to pass up," Jennifer replied with a grin.

"Are you sure you didn't just want to see us wearing masks?" Kohaku teased.

Jennifer quickly changed the subject. "Look, we're already here."

"Hey, don't dodge my questions." Kohaku persisted.

Lele stepped closer to the rift "I'm going." After those words he disappeared from sight.

'Did he just ignore me and go ahead of me?' Kohaku thought with a puzzled expression.

Lele was surprised by his own attitude. He felt strangely excited for the upcoming duel, something he had never experienced before. In his life, he had always thought of his incredible athletic abilities as a nuisance, creating barriers and a sense of detachment from his peers. Now, he was starting to realize something. Part of the reason he had never felt compelled to compete was because deep in his heart, he already knew that he could certainly win. However, for the first time, he found himself wondering, 'I don't know if I can win this.'

Kohaku appeared behind him, her hair sparkling with flames as she shouted hungrily, "Why did you act all cool and go in? Seriously, what's wrong with you?" Lele innocently shrugged his shoulders.

"Before I explain the rules of our spar, let's take care of the monster quickly. Jennifer is awakened, but she's weak and wants to keep living a normal life. I don't want to put her in danger while the monsters are still around. The gate will lock in 10 minutes, and I've asked her to come in after nine minutes. So, in other words..."

"We only have nine minutes to eliminate everything."

Kohaku nodded in agreement. Fortunately, the rift only contained slimes, and they managed to clear it well before the time limit. As they waited for the gate to open, they both couldn't help but feel impressed by each other's abilities.

Jennifer appeared out of nowhere. "Is it safe?" She immediately asked.

"Yeah all good we actually cleared the rift in less than 3 minutes."

'What a terrifying duo' She thought. Jennifer explained the rules to both Kohaku and Lele. "Awakener's abilities are allowed, but no weapons. It's a friendly spar, so whoever lands 10 hits wins. Of course, if you knock your opponent down in less than 10 hits, it also counts as a win."

"What exactly counts as a hit? I don't have any ranged ability so I can only land physical attacks, if she hits me with her flame does it count?" Lele asked.

"Yes it does. It might seem unfair because you don't have ranged skills, but you are clearly physically superior so it should balance it out." Jennifer replied.

Even if Kohaku wanted to deny her strength inferiority after seeing Lele in action earlier she simply couldn't deny it.

"Step 10 meters away from each other." Jannifer stated with a solemn tone.

"Take your stance!"

Kohaku assumed a Muay Thai stance, thinking to herself, 'He will probably rush me at the beginning to deny my range. So, for the first exchange, I need to be ready for a melee fight.' As she suspected, Lele didn't follow his coach's teachings and instead of assuming a boxing stance, he crouched down, almost like a sprinter's pose.

"Start!"

[Swishhh, KABOOOOOOOOOM!]

Kohaku was sent flying in the air spinning in an uncontrolled movement. 'What the hell just happened? Why am I flying?'

Lele activated his mana coating before the fight and used his full speed and strength for the first time. As soon as Jennifer gave the green light, he dashed from his position, covering the distance between him and Kohaku in less than half a second, moving at around 70 km/h. Before Kohaku could even react, he switched to a boxing stance and delivered a powerful straight punch that shifted his entire weight onto Kohaku's guard. Even at normal speed, it would be impossible to instantly block your inertia after a sprint and deliver a punch with proper form, but Lele's immense physical talent allowed him to converge all his momentum into his punch without losing balance or inertia. The result was a lethal move that couldn't be blocked even if you knew it was coming.

Kohaku was lucky that Lele hit her guard, but her left forearm was shattered, rendering it completely useless. The impact reverberated through her whole body, leaving her with the thought, 'I can't take another hit or it's over.'

Kohaku set her feet ablaze as she landed to minimize the impact. As soon as she touched the ground, Lele was already in front of her. However, her fighting experience proved valuable as she cast three midair fireballs that hit Lele from above, staggering him. Without giving him time to recover, she landed a knee kick on his jaw and followed it up with six rapid body shots using a jab-like technique. Lele eventually regained his composure, and Kohaku tried to create distance by sprinting away, but he caught her right leg with a tight grip. She thought to herself, 'Oh, shit!'

"STOP!" Jennifer's voice echoed through the area, halting the fight. "The match is over. Kohaku is the winner."

Lele slowly loosened his grip on Kohaku's leg, while she looked at Jennifer in confusion. "What? Why did I win?"

"Don't you remember the rules? 10 hits. If I am correct, you reached that number, didn't you?" Jennifer reminded her.

"Yes, but…" Kohaku hesitated, looking over at Lele who had a defeated expression in his eyes.

"I guess I lost," Lele said, his tone low. "You are really strong," he added, giving her a genuine compliment.

Kohaku felt like she had been played for a fool. Lele was sitting there completely relaxed. Some of his clothing was burned revealing his toned muscles, however there wasn't a single scratch on him. Kohaku flaming fists left no mark, her knee kick barely bought her a few seconds. On the other hand a single hit was enough to destroy her left forearm which she had further aggravated by throwing punches in that condition.'If Jennifer didn't stop the fight… There would have been a clear winner. I feel like I fought to survive while he is sitting there, completely unfazed.'

"Man sucks that I still don't know what my class does…"

That was a finishing blow to Kohaku as the adrenaline left her body, the pain overwhelmed her, causing her to faint.