Andrew walked up to the building and approached the automatic sliding doors.
His initial nervousness had been completely obliterated from his consciousness; now he didn't care even if he got wheeled out in a stretcher.
"As long as I can gain this connection…. I'll eventually be able to soar to the top!"
Andrew clenched his fists and smiled maliciously.
He walked inside the building, being met with the back of the grizzly figure who kicked Christian out.
"Yo…" Andrew said with a strong tone.
The man turned around.
"Huh? What do you want? Do I need to kick you out as well?" he said with a grumble, clearly not amused at this figure who walked in.
Andrew was wearing baggy clothing, which somewhat hid his figure. Anyone that looked at him might just assume he was a handsome young man.
"Nah, I'm here for revenge! You just kicked my friend out for no reason… Let's hit the floor right now," Andrew replied without hesitation.
"Haha, alright, as you wish! You'll probably end up in a more sorry state than he did. Don't say I didn't warn you by the end of this!"
….
Making their way through the building, they quickly arrived at a large open area with a group of people spread about.
The area consisted of weights, punching machines, and a bunch of other somewhat fancy equipment.
What piqued Andrew's interest, though, was the name of a room hidden in the back corner.
"Talent Awakening Room"
Andrew scoffed to himself. In his mind, these fools were clearly just a bunch of people using their strength to bully the weak.
They were perfectly capable of helping Christian awaken his talent, yet they chose to kick him to the curb.
The burly man jumped into the ring with a powerful kick off the floor, landing on one side.
"Okay, let's get this started and over with, kid. I don't feel like wasting my time with you." The man spoke, but the smile on his face spoke opposite of his words.
"Hmph, okay, let's make a bet, though. If I lose this fight, I'll never show my face again…" Andrew started.
"However, if you lose, you must allow that boy access to this dojo in order to awaken his talent!"
The man looked somewhat surprised, before a flash of recognition flickered through his eyes.
"Hehe, I see, so you've noticed… I agree!" he spoke with a humored laugh.
He thought to himself, "There's no way in hell I'm losing this fight, especially to this scrawny ass kid… especially if he's friends with that other piece of trash."
Andrew, being happy to hear this, spared no time and hopped into the ring.
Hearing the commotion, the others training in the dojo quickly began to speak amongst themselves and gather around.
"Another green bean trying to get access to the dojo… when will they ever learn?" one spoke with a sigh.
"Probably never. The amount of students that come here is abundant…"
"Yeah, abundant entertainment for us! Hahaha!"
….
The crowd began to hurl subtle passive insults; however, Andrew paid no mind to these people.
He quickly took off his sweatshirt and then removed his long sleeve shirt.
What was revealed subtly shocked the burly man standing on the other side of him, as well as the crowd.
"Looks like you might not be nothing after all," he spoke.
"Enough with the chatter, in 3 seconds we'll both make our moves…" Andrew replied, getting into stance.
The gym began to quiet, everyone began to focus on the ring.
"3…2…1!" Andrew and the man spoke at the same time, before they both launched out from their positions.
The burly man quickly took the initiative, not allowing Andrew to make the first move.
He threw out a punch towards Andrew's head, a punch filled with shocking power.
"This…. so slow?" Andrew thought to himself, a bit surprised.
Andrew quickly pivoted to the right, slipping the punch.
The man didn't hesitate, quickly throwing out a kick directly to his body, which Andrew once again dodged by sliding backwards out of reach.
They began rapidly exchanging a flurry of moves, the dojo disciple taking a strong offensive position, with Andrew dodging and parrying with surprising fluidity.
"You're pretty fast, kid. You're definitely a lot better than the other failure who was here before…"
"However, this is where you will meet your end!" the burly figure's voice resounded.
He kept up his offensive position, this time with increasing precision and speed compared to before.
Andrew began to sense something from his opponent's body, a seeming overwhelming power that was ready to explode.
"It feels like… he keeps getting faster and faster!" Andrew thought, as his eyes narrowed and he began to start taking this more seriously.
"And his blows… I can't take them head on or I risk injury…"
However, although Andrew was a very well-rounded individual in prowess, his actual combat ability in terms of experience was still heavily lacking.
He began to slip up. He slipped past an incoming blow but failed to recognize the hidden pivot that followed it, forcing him into a defensive position.
"Uh, goddamn, his punches are fucking powerful!" Andrew thought through gritted teeth.
The momentum of the blow sent him to the side, giving him a bit of space but not enough time to reassess his position.
He began to feel his arm start to throb; he began to feel an impending narrowing of his attention, causing him to slip up even more so.
He took a solid low kick to the leg, causing him to lose his balance, in which he quickly pushed off with his remaining leg to retreat.
Taking this time to reassess his situation, he began to realize he had to start acting soon, or else he risked actually losing this fight.
Without hesitation, Andrew charged forward; his innate energy technique began to circulate on its own.
His speed in this state was greater than the burly disciple's, his flexibility and ability to move around his opponent was superior.
He began to make use of this leverage he had recognized, slipping in and out of incoming blows, quickly following up with quick moves to his opponent's weak points.
Low kick to the knee, high kick to the hip, elbow to the sternum, rapid punches to the joints of the man's arms.
Slowly but surely, Andrew began to gain the advantage, forcing the burly man into the defensive position.
Andrew saw an opening, a slight weight shift off the man's front leg, which he followed up with an extremely frightening explosive kick to his ankle.
This force was enough to put the man off balance.
Andrew quickly seized this opportunity, not allowing the man to escape into a retreat.
Andrew began to feel his body aching; every hit that landed felt like it was hitting a brick wall.
However, this did not resign his determination.
His blows were becoming more rapid and precise by the minute, his movements showing a crazed desire to bring this meat man down to his knees.
The onlookers were starting to become more and more serious.
At first, they believed it was only a matter of time before Andrew was brought down to his knees. Now, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before their fellow disciple would be defeated…
In the ring, Andrew began to notice a slight sense of panic emerging from his opponent.
He seized this moment of psychological weakness, pivot stepping into the opponent's blind spot on the side of his body.
The burly man didn't expect this sudden change in direction, his guard fully still on the front of his body.
By the time he noticed, it was too late…
"Shit!!!" The burly man said through gritted teeth.
Just then, he felt himself suddenly lose all balance, bringing him to the floor.
Before he could even react to get up, he felt a devastating blow land on his face.
The air went still, nobody in the crowd was watching with amusement anymore.
Instead, they seemed to carry a subtle sense of fear, yet also respect.
In the ring, it seemed as if time came to a halt.
Nobody was moving anymore; Andrew had knocked his opponent unconscious.
Andrew stepped back, taking a knee, his breath heavy, his heart racing.
After a few moments of silence, Andrew finally stood up straight, sweat dripping off of his face.
"So…" he spoke.
"Does this mean I win?"
______