Hanjun and Jayhon had finally reached a wide, desolate courtyard filled with abandoned market stalls and piles of dry sand.
But before they could cross, a figure stepped out from behind a pile of crates.
It was a city guard, but he didn't look like lazy Barn.
This man was lean, disciplined, and his eyes were completely sharp.
He wore a reinforced leather uniform and carried a heavy, iron-tipped spear.
"Well, well.Look what the gutter dragged in,"
the guard said, a smug, highly confident smirk spreading across his face.
He didn't lower his weapon; in fact, he shifted his grip perfectly.
"The silver-haired freak and his little blue shadow.
You kids think you're clever, huh? I heard what happened in the inner citadel.
You managed to kill an elite guard because he was a soft, uncoordinated idiot who let his guard down."
The guard took a slow, deliberate step forward, his feet dragging slightly through the sand on the cobblestones.
"But the thing is,I'm not him,I might look like a tier 2 junior to you but I'm far beyond that"
the guard boasted, his voice dripping with arrogance as he spun his spear with flawless precision.
"I've been tracking your little trail for an hour. My guard is up.
My core is braced.
You won't be catching me off-balance with any clumsy stumbles, brat."
"Jayhon," Hanjun said flatly, his vacant gray eyes analyzing the opponent.
"This one knows what happened back then. He is aware of us. Furthermore, he is talking a great deal, which implies a high level of self-esteem.
We must fight with all we have."
"I-I'm ready!" Jayhon yelled, though his legs were shaking violently.
"Let's see what you've got!" the guard shouted. He took a deep, theatrical breath. Suddenly, a gritty, pale yellow aura erupted around his forearms.
He slammed the butt of his spear into the ground, and the raw Sand-Zheki inside him surged.
The loose sand across the courtyard began to swirl violently, rising into the air like miniature tornadoes before condensing rapidly around the iron tip of his spear, coating it in a thick, jagged layer of solid, abrasive sandstone.
"Sand Spear Style! Prepare to be turned into dust!"
"Jayhon, initiate the water-spitter," Hanjun commanded.
Desperate to prove he wasn't a liability, Jayhon closed his eyes, dropped his center of gravity into his gut just like Barn had taught him, and swung his hands forward.
He didn't try to shoot a fast stream; he tried to make his hands feel heavy, imagining a massive, crushing weight of water.
WHOOSH.
A substantial, rotating ball of street water erupted from Jayhon's palms, flying straight toward the guard's face.
It was easily twice as large and heavy as his previous attempts.
The guard didn't even flinch.
As the heavy sphere of water flew at him, he simply stopped, opened his massive mouth wide, and caught the entire blast directly in his throat.
GULP. GULP. GULP.
The guard swallowed the entire attack in three massive, comedic gulps, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve as his sand-coated spear hummed.
"Ahhhh!"
the guard exhaled loudly, letting out a satisfied burp.
"Wow! That is incredibly refreshing! Singing all those battle chants makes my throat incredibly dry.
Thank you, blue-eyes! Tell you what—if you keep providing me with fresh drinking water like that, maybe I'll split the reward money with you after I break your friend's legs! Got any lemon flavor in there?"
Jayhon's jaw dropped so low it nearly hit the cobblestones.
"He... he drank it.
He just drank my most powerful attack."
"Your water-spitter was so useless," Hanjun noted flatly. "Very uselles."
Hanjun didn't waste another second.
He drew a deep breath, letting his cold, cautious feeling drop straight into his stomach.
He thrust his right hand forward, and a bright, solid orange light condensed violently around his fist, sharpening into a jagged, glowing aura.
He wanted to make his hand as hard as a steel sword.
He lunged forward, driving his fist straight toward the guard's chest.
"Too slow!"
the guard laughed.
With a terrifyingly fast, fluid movement, the guard spun his sand-coated spear, swinging the heavy, abrasive shaft directly against Hanjun's incoming fist.
CRACK!!!
The collision was brutal.
Hanjun's orange light shattered into a spray of sparks.
The solid, stone-like sand on the spear tore cleanly through the skin of his knuckles.
Hanjun was thrown backward, stumbling clumsily across the dirt as blood began to pool from his gashed hand, his fingers severely bruised and shaking from the sheer impact force.
"Oh," Hanjun said, looking down at his bleeding hand with a completely blank expression. "the fire I used to cover my hand with was useless just like yours,Jayhon. The sand Spear guy is significantly harder than rock."
"I told you, I'm a professional!"
the guard shouted, his body suddenly moving in a blur of blinding, highly aggressive speed.
What followed was an absolute, one-sided beatdown, delivered with strong, theatrical precision.
The guard didn't use sloppy moves; he executed high-level martial arts while shouting out ridiculous names for every single strike.
"Sandstorm Left Hook!"
the guard yelled, his fist connecting violently with Hanjun's cheek, spinning the silver-haired boy around.
"Gravel Pit Sweeper!"
he roared, spinning his spear horizontally to catch Jayhon directly in the shins, sending the blue-haired boy flipping through the air to crash face-first into a pile of empty cabbage crates.
"Abrasive Right Boot of Justice!"
the guard bellowed, delivering a brutal, flying kick straight into Hanjun's midsection.
Hanjun flew backward, skidding across the grit, his oversized trousers tearing even further as he hit the stone wall with a heavy THUD.
Jayhon was groaning in the crates, covered in old leaves, his entire body bruised and leaking small trickles of diluted water from his nose.
Hanjun lay slumped against the wall, his face completely caked in dirt and dried blood, his breathing ragged.
They were utterly broken.
Every single bone ached, and their bodies refused to cooperate.
The guard walked over slowly, spinning his sand-spear over his head like a fan, a triumphant, arrogant grin plastered across his face. He stopped right in front of them, lifting the heavy stone-coated tip over Hanjun's chest.
"Well, it was a good effort, rats,but I'm afraid the fun is over."