The bystanders, or anyone who wasn't aware of Pink's ability, looking at the two that were ready to fight, imagined that it was a complete mismatch.
Max easily weighed at least three times that of his opponent. On top of that, he was professionally trained and older, which meant he was ahead in terms of experience as well.
If there were bets going on, not a single person would bet on Pink to win the fight, at least not one that didn't know about who she really was.
'After absorbing those crystals, Pink must have levelled up, but not just that, it seems like if she had received and followed one of the paths which I received as well, then she would be an Agro type which excels when it comes to physical ability.'
"Fight!" One of the men at the side shouted, and it was the sign for both of them to begin. Pink got into a fighting stance spreading her legs out and stood there waiting.
"I see. You have trained in some type of martial arts, right? But this is not a movie. I will show you what a real fight is." Max cracked his knuckles as he spread out his hands and went in for a tackle.
With the size difference between the two, as long as he didn't get hurt in a vital area, Max was sure that he could slam her and continue on to tackle her to the ground. And then, he could restrain her and easily win the fight in doing so without making himself look like a brute.
Although Max wanted to prove himself, he didn't want to hurt the woman either, just wanted to prove that the feat that they had claimed was impossible.
When Max was finally in range, Pink lifted her foot up, delivering a kick right to his side.
'Zain told me not to use all of my strength, but I don't think this guy will feel anything if I don't put in a little bit of strength!'
The kick slammed right into Max's ribs before he could block it, but it wasn't what she was going for. For a second, he had squinted as the kick was heavier than he thought, but he soon went to grab the leg, blocking it under his armpit.
Before Max could hold it, though, Pink pulled her leg out quickly and spun her body. She delivered a side kick right into Max's stomach.
Max suddenly felt an excruciating amount of pain and found it hard to breathe. The woman in front of him was a lot faster than he had imagined, and getting a hold of her was proving difficult. And even though Max was more of a grappler than anything, he was finding it hard to use his strengths.
Due to his big size, he was already slow, and in order to slow down a person, even more, Pink knew it was best to hit them in the stomach.
The natural reaction for one when in pain and to be hit in the stomach was to bring their head down as they curled up their body and held down. Max was trained. But the pain had caught him off guard, and in that brief moment, he leant forward and brought his chin down ever so slightly.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Pink threw out a kick, but it missed, brushing just past Max's nose. The others let out a breath of relief seeing this. They didn't want the teacher to lose. They didn't want some outsider to beat the one who had been looking after them this whole time, so naturally, they were rooting for Max.
However, the kick wasn't done there. The first kick was just to build up momentum. As the first leg came across her body and touched the ground, she raised her other knee. With a slight hop, her right leg had come back again after doing a complete spin and landed right on Max's neck.
The power of the kick had put great pressure, bringing his head down even further. He stumbled to the side but somehow managed to regain balance as well.
"I'm not just a fighter. I'm a champion." Pink declared with confidence as she brushed her hair away from her face.
"You have managed to gather some impressive people," Brandon commented.
"I have to admit I had no clue she was this good either," Zain replied. But this did make Brandon wonder, what did he mean by the fact that Pink was holding back? In what way was she holding back? Because she was clearly demonstrating all her skills.
"Your might has worked on me, but if you tried that on those big zombies, you would have been done for, and in a real fight, I can use weapons as well," Max complained while rubbing his neck.
Honestly, it was quite embarrassing for the others because it was clear he was just making excuses.
Noticing the others wince, Max took a deep breath and grumbled, "Alright, now I really will pound you!"
Hearing these words, Pink tapped her foot in a certain way, and a small blade came out from the tip of her boot. These were the special boots that had been retrieved from Chinatown, but after tapping them away again, they had disappeared.
"That's enough." Brandon suddenly called out, interrupting the fight. He stepped forward and said, "We don't need anyone to die, and this is your loss, Max. If this fight had happened in the real world, then you would be dead.
"You tried to use your natural advantages, and it didn't work, but on top of that, Pink would have been able to use the weapon in her boots at any time. And with a knife behind that devastating kick to the neck, it would have ended your life."
Hearing this, Max stayed silent. He wouldn't argue with Brandon and knew that the latter was right in the end. The truth was, his neck was throbbing even now. The woman looked small, but she sure packed a punch in her hits.
Still, it was hard for them to imagine, even with the two of them, that they were able to take down a Titan Zombie.
"Alright, with the show over, let's get going. Stu, Max, and Tod, you three are asked to be in the meeting as well." Brandon claimed.
"Wait!" Tod said as he pulled out his two swords and started to wave them in his hands. He had done so effortlessly and started to swing them around through the air at a great speed. "You have a sword, so surely you should be a swordsman, right? Or at least know how to use that thing.
"We still have yet to assess your skill,"
It was the second time that Tod had called out Zain, this time, his friends weren't there to stop the fight from happening.
'This guy is clearly more skilful than me with his swords. If I was to go up against him, without using my strength and the other Zombies that are around me...it would be a hard fight.'
[New quest receive]
[Defeat the man named Tod]
[Reward: Silver card]
To be honest, Zain knew that this was going to be a challenge, and he didn't need the system to give him a quest because he was already going to accept the chance. The quest was just the icing on the cake.
"Alright, sure," Zain said as he pulled out his single sword as well. "I do have to say though, I'm kinda a jack of all trades. My sword skills aren't that great, and neither are my weapons, but I can do a bit of both."
Brandon didn't know if Zain was just being polite with his words because the other two were extremely strong, yet they were following him and even called him their leader or at least acted that way. He doubted that anyone would follow someone who was weaker than them in the current world.
At the same time, regardless of this fact, Tod was incredibly skilled at weapons. Before joining SWAT, he didn't reside in a western country but in a place where swords were used quite frequently.
Brandon doubted that there was a single person more skilful than him when it came to using weapons.
"Fight, Begin!" a man shouted.
Tod immediately went in and was running low, and when he was close enough to Zain, he struck with both of his swords, swinging them out in an outward direction. At that moment, Zain swung his sword forward, hitting the attack in the middle and stopping it.
The two struggled as they pushed together in a battle of strength. Zain pressed forward and eventually managed to push Tod back, but instantly, the latter changed his position and was now attacking from the side with another swing.
Lifting his sword up, Zain blocked it just in time but was unable to make another attack.
"This whole fight, you won't ever get to make an attack like that again," Todd claimed.
Strangely though, there was a smile on Zain's face, and Tod didn't understand why.
[Sword mastery has increased]
[Level 2 (32.6/100%)]
Squinting his eyes, Tod swung the swords once again, but Zain managed to block it just in time as well.
[Level 2 (35.8/100%)]
'This is perfect.'
*****
Thank you, everyone, for supporting LUZ so far, and I Hope you can continue to support LUZ in the WSA journey by voting for the story! Please continue to use your Stones and Tickets!