Chapter 17 - Leo meets 'Halfling'

Author's Note: Sorry for the late upload, college, and all.

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It was the third night, and stress, fatigue, and weariness took everyone's toll. Whenever the sun rose, it signified survival and relief, another chance to fight. But when the sun descends over the horizon, its chaos manifests.

It happened on the first night, only a bit, but it increased in intensity. People around a section could see small bursts of light and golden energy blasts fired into the sky. It unnerved many.

Night signified danger, but it also held the symbol of rest. And yet, whoever was the cause of this clearly did not rest. Hour by hour, fights broke out, snuffing campfires out.

The smart ones soon figured it out, stomping out their sources of heat and opting to brave the breezy winds.

But on this third night, something was different. A young teen of average height and lean build sat on a log, stoking a fire. Uncaring of a distant fight that waged, it sounded, then silent again, changing from one victim to another?

The teen had a reasonably long, rounded face and sizable, expressive, gray eyes. His hair was short and black, and his bangs fell in a natural, middle-parted, curtain-type style.

His eyes, unflinching, stared into the fire of his making, and the light reflected off his eyes. Even if his eyes did not waver, his eyebrows did, contorting with his emotions.

*KRRkk~!*

Each evidence of a fight angered him even more; it reminded him of what had occurred the first night. He was simply gathering logs to refill the campfire for his team, but they were all beaten and bruised upon his return.

He asked them what happened, but none could answer in proper, only grunts of pain and how a massive person came and ambushed them. And because of their injuries, they had to forfeit, leaving their team points to him.

Making him the sole owner of his team's points. They had a plan, a proper one. With his quirk, he was supposed to carry them into the clutch remaining days, but it ended up in ashes, like their campfire, ironic.

*Boom~!*

An explosion sounded like it ripped up trees from their very roots, and yet he sat there, poking his campfire. "He's coming... and when he does!" the person, uncaring of the possibility of elimination, clenched his fist.

People swayed by anger were dangerous; they did not have a limit on what they did since their actions were clouded. And in this case, it could happen. He only had one plan to make the other party taste the consequences of their actions.

From seeing light beams getting shot into the sky, he couldn't recall anyone on the boat with a similar quirk, try as he recalled; either way, this person would pay.

After a minute or two, he stood up, stretching his legs and muscles away from the heat source; lesson learned. His movement caused the still shadows before to move sporadically with him.

In his motions, he unknowingly gazed upon his bracelet, reading a respectable score of 261 within three days on the island. 167 of which was team-made, and the other 94 was his addition to it after their forfeit.

'Quiet...'

The surroundings seemed to follow his quiet movements, and everything became quiet. He was next; he felt it and knew it. Why else would everything be quiet? And last he knew, he was the only campfire in the vicinity.

*Whistle~*

And like a bomb dropping from a german plane, a whistling sound could be heard. And like others before him, the cause of everything in this part of the island smacked dab onto smoldering fires, scattering its embers and ashes like a grenade.

For his part, the boy expected an ambush like this again, hence his reason for setting the campfire up. He wanted to lure the person and make them act the same way his team was beaten.

And he got what he wanted.

Seeing a dark silhouette standing on the burning cinders of wood with golden markings glowing was an intimidating scene, but nonetheless, he acted.

Without hesitation, he bit his tongue, and a bolt of similar golden light enveloped him. Except, his light came from electrical sparks.

Instead of shying away, his massive attacker burst into his location with a raised knee. However, instead of striking a lean boy, he struck something of similar makings.

Exposed raw muscles and apparent muscle fibers were what the attacker saw and impacted, confusing him. But what probably shocked him, even more, was that the receiver was not moving or showing pain.

And what followed next shocked the ambusher's body to the core, literally.

*POW!*

Out of nowhere, a seemingly long cylindrical mass struck the perpetrator, known as Leo. Him, not expecting such a force, was flung across where he stood.

*CRACK!*

His body collided with the island's flora, only slowing when trees went onto that list. Leo couldn't help but grunt in pain; this was the first time someone actually managed to hurt him outside of training.

Straining to stand up, especially with a surprise attack such as that, Leo shook his head, orienting himself. Feeling himself, he felt mild soreness but nothing broken.

Although he did taste iron, "Damn... that hurts," he glanced at his supposed target. He thought of this person as easy pickings, anyone who still put up a fire during the night was just asking for it, and now it has backFIRED.

Glancing up, Leo saw the person, or what seemed like one. Like a body without skin, sliced in half then multiplied in size, that was what he was looking at.

The gory thing was the visible marble white bone, especially the skull with an incomplete pair of eyes.

The genre instantly flipped to horror in this darkness without light, all thanks to him. "That was *cough* a surprise, eh?" Attempting to converse, to get any information out of this kid.

Instead of civilized discourse, it bellowed a roar at him. "RAHHHRR!" Without further dialogue, the half-giant, in his massive size, moved quickly. Grabbing a tree within its reach, clutching it in its fleshy hands, it threw the tree like a spear!

Leo, not waiting to get struck, powered up, his markings glowing in ferocity. When the trunk came hurling at him, he tested it, trying to stop the mass' momentum.

*KRAK!*

Upon impact, part of the tree expressed its weakness, creaking to break when Leo attempted to stop it. The hurled tree, in its momentum, managed to drag Leo back by 5 meters, surprisingly.

'That strong!? That thing didn't even have a running start!' Now, Leo was stunned. It was his first time seeing someone outside his mother perform exemplary feats in the physical department.

*Thud!*

Dropping the tree, "Alright, logic dictates I fight from afar," without question, he fires finger blasts of energy, peppering the opponent's body.

Like a deranged shooter firing in automatic inside a building, Leo did too. These could destroy wooden planks, enough to subdue people and not risk severe harm.

*Shlclk!*

*PShh!*

Instead of pain from the punishment, Leo was dishing; steam was all that it released, no growls, nothing. Choosing to stop his attacks, he waited for the mist to clear first before continuing.

And when it did so, it revealed a battered body of muscle, with some having darkened purple levels of bruising. But the bones held firm, with no sign of cracks or damage.

'Strong. If it can handle th-!' In his reflection, the sight before him widened his eyes. If he wasn't serious until now, then now he was. The battered and discolored muscles were healing, regaining their healthy red.

The opponent, seeing Leo's shocked demeanor, internally smirked. He wanted to hand his team's attacker his karmic justice. The person before him hunted examinees down like in the actual Hunger Games, and he wanted to avenge everyone this person went after!

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[Leo's POV]

This person's quirk is going to be a hassle. Regeneration and something along the lines of gigantification, a combination that would terrify most.

However, I have yet to see why I should be one of them. Playing it smart, I speed-run around it, observing everything about it. My opponent's lack of pain and his incomplete body caught my attention.

'Could this be something like an outer shell rather than a whole body transformation?' I mused, and as I ran circles around this halfling, its head followed my movements.

*SWISH~!*

From time to time, it swiped its arm, creating a blunt attack, clearing everything around us. Its attack, with its size and force, generated some strong winds.

Although it had its weaknesses, mainly the incomplete human body. Grabbing pebbles in my passing, I chucked the shotgun-like attack at its head with force.

*Knock!*

*SQISH!*

Impacting the skull, it did not do much, but some did. A pebble struck the only eye, popping it like a red cherry in gore and blood. This action made me uncomfortable; to cause such bodily harm to someone was something I was not used to.

His lack of pain eased me, but what happened next was within my expectations. It thrashed around, weaving its fibrous arms, rupturing the soil in its wake.

'Okay, maybe it is in pain?' I don't know; I was perplexed, it could shout anyway, but it didn't shout when I popped its literal eye out. Or maybe it's just thrashing for its lack of sight.

'Oh, well, thought for later!' Leaving it at that before he could regenerate again, I stomped forward in my power, pushing myself behind the halfling's shoulder.

Readying a ball of energy in my palms, and when I neared, I brought my palm forward.

*BOOM!*

Upon impact, the explosion blew my arm back, but my other hand grasped onto the strings of muscle tightly. Inspecting the damage, the muscles on the shoulder blade were a mess, strings of muscle all around, unconnected with blood flooding out.

The sight irked me; I just hoped this was just a shell, not the person's actual body. Digging deeper with my hands, I instinctively recoiled it back. "That was scalding! What on Earth is with this quirk!" Shouting hypocrisy on my end.

Instead of continuing my whining, I concentrated my power on my hands and feet, forming darkened shells of gauntlet and armor on them. With protection and grip, I chucked my arm and began pulling at the tissues and whatever my armored hands could get their hands on.

With powered hands to the brim, it was easy rippings for me. Though, the blood drench of rain was not appreciated on my part. Lost in my attack, I didn't expect an attack. After all, in such close proximity, Danger Sense was just flaring in my mind.

And as I said, I got attacked. With me focusing on one shoulder, I didn't feel it coming. The attack was a grab of its hands, "Fuc-!" I already knew what to expect.

*BANG!*

CRACK!*

In its hand, I got smacked to the ground. But with my empowered self, the impact of the earth didn't do much. Before I could escape its clutch, the being grabbed me by the legs and proceeded to slam me harshly like a club.

*THUD!*

Bringing my hands to protect my head while battered on the ground, I began thinking of ways to escape this. Fly.

"ARH!" With a shout from my soul, I erupted my power, trying to escape the halfling's impetus swing. And I did, tearing some fingers along my escape.

Flying to an elevated point, I could feel my head scrunch. What I experienced angered me, and that was humiliating, to say the least.

Moving in my flight, I felt my body somewhat sore but not bleeding.

'Let's end this; I still got to sleep. I can't let one person hinder me.'

Entering into a squat-like position mid-air, I began erupting my power within my body, but not enough to enter my Trump Card. My move, [Reinforcement], takes a massive toll on me, and to use it on someone beating me because of my careless mistake is a no-go.

Instead of entering an armored-like state, my platinum blonde mane of a hair glowed in intensity, evidenced by the illumination radiating above me.

The halfling, in my power-up, began chucking fallen trees at me, probably afraid of what I would do. 'Dick move, though; it's common to allow someone to power up!'

With everything ready, I meteored down, with my armored feet first to absorb the impact.

*CRACK!*

*CLATTER!*

Massive rocks and trees hit my feet during my drop, but my speed and power allowed me to easily bypass them. 'The halfling has a pretty good aim.'

Peering a bit, I saw I was seconds away from impact, so I chose my target, the ground near the halfling. I didn't want to kill the guy, nor was I allowed to; I just wanted the shockwave to hit the guy.

*RUMBLE!*

And when I struck the ground, it shocked my legs and vibrated my entire body. However, the land 5 meters around me erupted when I made impact.

The shockwave not only uprooted the soil but sent the halfling flinging through trees, leaving a trail of moved earth and broken rocks.

Satisfied with the result, I began trying to move, but untold pain shot through my legs! "ARKH!" With the pain, I couldn't help but fly, relieving my weight for it to carry.

Not even looking back at my downed opponent, I left flying with a battered body. 'This is stupid! I did more damage to my body than the guy did to me! Guess the only one who can beat me is... me? Rather idiotic since they were reckless and dumb choices!'

At least now I know not to dive bomb like a comet in high gear and not be in [Reinforcement] mode.

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The fallen halfling's body, smoking and misting the area, lay in its defeat. Its entirety was battered, bones fractured, and cracked to pieces.

And quickly, like a drying lake, the halfling's nape started to shrivel noticeably. Then, suddenly, it opened with steam. Revealing the occupant? Pilot? With a pained face, he could feel his body; it was aching.

"When I wake up, this will be gone, the pain. Ack!"

He now regrets attracting the big fellow.

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It was my Birthday today, so I may have posted late due to it. Enjoy!