After receiving that powerful kick to the head, Zen felt like he was struck by lightning. His head ached in agony and the ringing sound in one of his ears disoriented him.
He couldn't tell his left from his right, and with his eyes still healing from the flash, he was defenceless and prime for a humiliating defeat.
The thought awakened a burning rage within him. After the words he spoke earlier, if he went ahead and let himself be defeated, he would become the laughingstock of the entire academy.
"Get up!"
Suddenly, he heard Alex's voice from afar. Struggling to open his eyes, he pushed through the sting and looked in the direction of where the voice came from and saw Alex move about with his staff held heroically.
'You're too good to kill me like this, is that it?!'
With much difficulty, he got back to his feet. With every move he made, his eyes never left Alex. Somewhere along the strike to his head, he had let go of his dagger, but he cared little about them.
He was going to use his mana from this point on. With a deep breath, he channelled his mana and conjured a silvery spear in his hand.
Noticing the weapon Zen was going for, Alex chuckled in derision. With a calm smile, he spoke, "You can't be serious, right?"
The mockery in his tone rubbed Zen the wrong way. His gaze shifted to the spectators and observed their reaction.
Most of them were watching with rapt attention. It seemed the drama had become more interesting as the loud cheers reduced in intensity.
Returning his gaze back to Alex, he replied, "The spear isn't unique to you, Alex." He shook his head as if disappointed Alex couldn't understand such a simple thing. But the raging emotions in his heart said otherwise.
"You're right. But is your main weapon the spear?"
Saying that, he made a swinging gesture and the bladed tip appeared, completely turning the staff into a spear.
"You're in for a rude awakening, Zen" Alex added in a cold voice, the disdain in his voice disappearing like it never existed.
Brandishing his spear, he got into another stance and waited for Zen to do the same.
This time, Zen moved first as he closed the short distance in an instant. Once in range, he performed a piercing spear strike aiming for Alex's upper body.
Alex back stepped a bit and deflected the thrust with the shaft of his spear and before he could retaliate, he noticed Zen's spear tip suddenly curve and elongate towards the side of his head.
'I see… He's being unpredictable.' With the thought, he zoomed backwards creating a 5-meter distance away from the scythe before the growing blade could even reach him.
'Tsk!'
Snorting in annoyance, Zen continued his charge at Zen. Each attack he threw at Alex, either defended by evading or deflecting.
With every clash, small air explosions rang throughout the arena. The two fell into a rhythm of constantly exchanging blows, moving at high speeds.
Ross and Julia observed the exchange with serious expressions.
"He's falling into that zone again," Ross muttered and Julia nodded.
"I don't think he realizes it himself."
It was something they had noticed about Alex for some time now. Whenever he fought someone new, he would always allow some time for his opponent to attack him while he defended.
The reason behind this psychological action Alex himself hadn't paid attention to was to have a feel of that person's combat prowess.
Yes, Alex could have continued pressing his advantage but he allowed Zen to attack him because he wanted a taste of his skills.
It was all about understanding his opponent's fighting style and possibly adapting it if it was suitable for him. It was a passive action on his part.
After a minute of intense exchange, Zen's frustration about Alex's passive stance grew out of constraints.
'Dammit! Why can't I hit him?!'
"Fight back, dammit!" Zen exclaimed with red eyes and gritted teeth.
He felt that Alex wasn't taking their fight seriously and this irritated him to no end.
"As you wish." Alex's reply was calm and composed.
Suddenly, in a smooth and flawless move, he capitalized on the many openings he noticed and delivered a heavy turning kick to Zen.
Once again, Zen was pushed back several meters, creating some distance between them. He brought the second round to an end.
"I'm not going to lie. Alexander is very skilled. He knows exactly what he's doing."
"Mm, you noticed how none of the attacks of Zen touched him, always missing him by a hair's breadth? He's been toying with Zen this entire time."
"And it's about to get better or bring the fight to an end. I think he's done."
The talking students turned their heads to the person who spoke, not quite understanding what he meant. Only a few recognized him.
Ethan Hall.
The boy who went after Abigail for taking a shot at him during the Battle Royale and then duking it out with Alex later, earning his respect.
"What do you mean?"
Sighing with folded arms, he explained.
"What Alex has been doing just defending was to study the battle style of Zen." He spoke with a calm expression.
"I see…"
Back in the arena, Alex watched in silence as he waited for Zen to recover. He began channelling mana through his spear. His intention obvious to those who noticed; he was done playing around.
To Zen, every action of his felt like gross disrespect to Zen.
His rage almost exploded at that moment as he got back to his feet. Just like the previous one, the force behind it was just enough to push him back and deal a bit of damage.
His application of combat forces was miles away from what he himself could do.
The second Zen got back to his feet; Alex appeared before him in a burst of overwhelming speed with a series of rapid thrusts delivered in quick succession.
The move startled him and he reacted on impulse, conjuring a metallic wall in haste. But Alex proved his attacks could not be easily blocked.
The power behind each thrust had the strength of a Class E awakened; it was heavy and hit its mark with deadly precision.
Every strike sent agonizing pains through Zen's body, bypassing his armour with relative ease.
The first targeted his left thigh, followed by the right and then climbed to his upper body after creating a hole in his stomach. The shoulders were next as they too received the power of his spear thrusts.
BANG!
In an instant, Zen received multiple injuries that crippled most of his fighting strength. With injured shoulders, he wouldn't be able to bring out much of his power, much less move around with wounded legs.
There were no healers on standby either; the only way to heal was to leave it to time and that would take hours. Of course, Alex wasn't going to wait for Zen to heal, but he didn't have to.
Zen fell on his knees with blood oozing out of his thighs, stomach and shoulders. A defeated look appeared on his face, and both hands were placed on the stage with a lowered head.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
Zen abruptly lifted his head and bellowed.
"Why can't I beat you?!" He cried out at the unfairness of it all.
A deafening silence settled in the arena, and everyone remained quiet and watched as Zen bawled his eyes out.
He had given everything to grow as quickly as possible and from the fights he had seen Alex partake in, he believed he had a chance.
But now, he realized the gap was just too wide. Alex had never taken any of his fights seriously.
The Battle Royale?
Only because he was taken by surprise and he was only there because his level was too low.
Even now, he could tell Alex hadn't gone all out. His spirit was crushed by the weight of the realization.
Alex hadn't done much to him, but in one move, he broke him.
Amon and the rest of his friends couldn't watch and looked away. They more than anyone know how Zen trained to be able to face Alex, to defeat him and declare himself better.
But all that proved to be pointless, merely a fool's dream. Zen never stood a chance.
Watching Zen break down before him, Alex remained quiet for a while. The silence made everything all the more overwhelming with the only sound being Zen's cry.
Finally, he replied.
"Because…"