Andrew walked up to the building, approaching 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...!"
Andrew clenched his hands and smiled maliciously.
He walked inside the building, being met with the back of a grizzly figure.
"Yo…"
The man turned around.
"Huh? What do you want? Do I need to kick you out as well?" he said with a grumble.
Andrew was wearing baggy clothing, which somewhat hid his figure. Anyone that looked at him might assume he was just 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 with conviction, taking a step forward
"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, was the name of a room hidden in the back corner in big bolded letters.
"Talent Awakening Room"
Andrew scoffed to himself. 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 over with, kid. I don't feel like wasting my time with you."
Even though he said this, 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…"
"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 laughed humorously.
"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." He chuckled to himself.
Andrew 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—"
"Enough with the chatter, in 3 seconds we'll both make our moves…" Andrew cut the man off, 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 filled with shocking power.
"This…. so slow?" Andrews eyes raised.
Quickly pivoting to the right, he slipped the punch.
The man quickly threw out a kick directly to his body, Andrew once again dodged by sliding backwards out of reach.
They began rapidly exchanging a flurry of moves, the dojos 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 with increasing speed and precision.
Andrew began to sense something from his opponent's body, an overwhelming power that was ready to explode.
"It feels like… he keeps getting faster and faster!" His eyes narrowed, realizing he had no choice but to take this seriously.
"Shit, I can't take these blows head on anymore..."
Andrews felt himself go tunnel visioned as 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.
"Fuck! his blows are so heavy!" Andrew gritted his 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 felt an impending narrowing of his attention as he started to slip up even more so.
He took a low kick to the leg, causing him to lose his balance, in which he quickly pushed off with his remaining leg to retreat.
Without hesitation, Andrew charged forward; his innate energy technique began to circulate on its own.
His speed in this state was much greater than the burly disciple's.
He began to make use of this leverage, 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.
Andrew saw an opening, a slight weight shift off the man's front leg.
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 became more rapid and precise by the moment, his movements showing a crazed desire to bring this meat man down to his knees.
The onlookers were starting to become more and more tense.
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…
Andrew began to notice a slight sense of panic emerging from his opponent.
He seized this moment of 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 in the front.
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.
Before he could react to get up, a devastating blow landed on his face.
The air went still, nobody in the crowd was watching in amusement anymore.
Instead, they seemed to carry a subtle sense of fear mixed with 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, he finally stood up—sweat dripping off his face.
"So…"
"Does this mean I win?"
______