- Nathan is gonna eat Logan alive.
- Logan's so dead.
- What would you expect from a sinner? They don't know how to do anything.
- Yeah. It was a miracle that he'd won the first fight, his opponent must have had underestimated him. Pure luck, don't you think so too Big Brother Cloud?
- .....
- Brother Cloud?
- Yes. Yes, a miracle, yes - Cloud was late to respond for he was truly interested in the next fight. Logan was one of the children he believed to be his deceased friend's child but he had no clues. A person's appearance just like his/her intelligence and skills changed according to the relationship the spirit formed with the contractor after the contract so he could not compare parent and child.
Cloud had another reason for being interested. He had also been observing Logan's first fight but due to all the spells being hurled, he could not see how the fight progressed. He only saw the result afterwards.
Cloud was shocked that Logan had won. After all, Logan had no training in the essentials. Also, from the movement of the elementals, Cloud had concluded that the other child, Jonas, threw a spell at Logan. Wind spells were fast, unpredictable, and invisible, there was also a huge margin between Jonas and Logan. If so, how did Logan defeat Jonas?
Was it luck or is Logan hiding something?
Cloud concluded that he might catch a glimpse of something in the fight before him.
*********
Just as Logan expected, the St. Gaia Chapel bunch were looking at his fight. He'd long gotten used to the abuse he received so he just treated them as passing air. He needed to concentrate for this fight, one misstep and he would truly receive a lot of damage.
He couldn't protect himself and he couldn't fight back or else, the others would see.
All Logan could do for this fight was stand there and pretend that he was afraid. To cover his vital areas as much as possible.
That would have been so if Locus didn't teach him the mythical Plan B.
- Kneel before me gravel, I'll give you the chance to surrender before the mighty me!!! - exclaimed Nathan whilst smiling from ear to ear.
- ...
- Puff. Too afraid to talk? Too afraid to open your eyes? I'll put you out of misery soon enough
Nathan confused Logan's silence with fear. In truth, Logan was trying to concentrate as hard as he could. He needed millimetric precision for what he was about to do. One wrong step and he would receive the full blow of Nathan with his body.
- Ready Log? - asked Locus with a grin on her face.
- *Hwooo* *Haaaaa* Ready Loc. Watch me go.
- Give them a show Log!!
- Yes!!!
Nathan got into a fighting stance whilst Logan remained frozen in his actual position.
- Are you both ready? - asked the referee.
- "It's showtime!" - thought Logan with a devilish grin that only Locus noticed.
- Hiiiiii!!! - Logan jumped of fear from his position - Are. Are. Are we starting already??!!
Logan started trembling. Tears started forming in his eyes. His arms came towards his body, protecting it from any harm.
Logan had even startled the referee.
- "But what what would you expect from a sinner?" - the referee scoffed.
The audience that saw the display and the St. Gaia bunch guffawed their hearts out. All with the exception of Cloud.
- Hahahahah!! That's what you would expect from their kind. Hahahaha!
- What a coward!!
- That's why I told you to not associate with him Paul. He's not worth your time. Whatever he might have been in the past, Logan is a sinner now.
- ... Logan - Paul murmured.
- Are you ready? - repeated the referee.
- YeeeEEES!? - Logan's voice changed pitch as he talked - I am!? I am!
- This'll be a piece of cake - declared Nathan.
- Now that I confirmed both participant's agreement, it's time to start the match. 3....2.....1..... Begin!!
Nathan dashed forward, whilst Logan remained in place.
- Hii!!
The more Nathan saw Logan's face, the more ecstasy he felt. He'd always envied Logan. Before Logan was branded as a sinner, Logan had been what could be called a natural leader. He was charismatic despite his average looks, knowledgeable and helpful among other things. Everyone stuck to him like moths to a fire. But everything changed after the ritual. And Nathan knew that now was his chance to shine. He'd make their old leader beg for mercy and declare himself as the knew one with this fight.
When Logan saw Nathan dash forward, he had to force the smile he was about to form in his lips inwards.
- "He's taken the bait!!" - Logan thought.
Up until now, every single action Logan had taken was pretended. He did this in order to trigger Nathan's pride. Logan knew that Nathan might fight him with martial arts instead of using his spirit to humiliate him much more but he couldn't be to sure about that. This was also to make sure that Nathan didn't say anything whilst and after he used plan B to counterattack Nathan. As if that wasn't enough, Plan B would also erase any suspicions he might have created in Sister Maria.
This was akin to killing 3 birds with 1 stone.
Nathan had taken 7 seconds to get to Logan. Logan had been guarding his chest all along. This action seemed simple, but it prompted Nathan to throw a hook with his right hand towards Logan's cheek. Seeing this, Logan stepped back whilst conserving his face full of fear and turned his head slightly at an angle towards his right shoulder.
*Crack*
When fist made contact with cheek, a loud breaking noise was heard by both Logan and Nathan.
But surprisingly, this had not been any of Logan's bones. It had been Nathan's right wrist. Logan's back step had nullified part of the impact from Nathan's punch whilst the tilt made Nathan's wrist twist at a bad angle making it snap.
After the collision, Logan made it seem like a big deal by exaggeratedly dropping on the floor and grabbing his cheek. Logan also started sobbing to make the effect more realistic.
Nathan had felt his wrist snap but his pride prevented him from shouting with agony. He could not allow anyone to see him make a mistake this grave.
- Stay down gravel - Nathan declared whilst trying to hide the pain.
Logan slowly stood up and wiped his fake tears with his right arm.
- I....cannot give up - declared Logan whilst still sobbing - I.... also..... worked.... very hard
- You brought it upon you.
With those words as a trigger, Nathan once again approached Logan to continue his assault.
Left hook towards Logan's right cheek.
A low left kick to Logan's right and left leg.
And finally, a side kick towards Logan's plexus. Logan tumbled backwards once again, falling on his back. But he stood up once again.
This scene repeated itself countless times.
The people that were watching the scene unfold did not feel anything for poor Logan. They felt that this was the natural order of things. Some of the St Gaia kind were even cheering for Nathan.
But what they didn't know was that the truly poor one was Nathan. From all their collisions, the only one receiving damage was Nathan. The damage Logan received was minimal.
- Truly a showman aren't you!! Poor, poor Logan....hahahaha - Locus was laughing her head off - You two faced thick skinned boy.
- What two faced thick skinned are you talking about?! - shouted Logan through the mental connection both of them had - Remember that you're the one that taught me this technique! If I am two faced and thick skinned, what does that make you? You gotta remember that you used this once against me before.
Only remembering the day he met plan B made him shiver in terror.
As declared, Plan B was a plan devised by Locus to allow Logan to make damage to his opponent without being to conspicuous. Although it only worked for poorly skilled fighters, it was enough for this competition. Plan B made use of the theory of why they punch the way they do in the martial arts Locus taught to Logan.
- "Why am I the one receiving so much pain when I am the one attacking?" - though Nathan with gritted teeth. He would not be able to bear the humiliation so he did not shout in agony. In truth, the pain all over his body was enough to make him cry, but he endured it all in. He refused to admit he was making all these errors.
Once again, Nathan advanced to where Logan was. He threw a side kick once again to Logan's solar plexus. He refused to believe that Logan's measly hands could stop him. After his kick connected with Logan, he followed with an uppercut with the right hand to Logan's chin.
Logan knew that he had done enough to make sure that even though Nathan went through, Nathan wouldn't be able to participate in the next match; so Logan allowed the hit to connect enough to cause the desired effect.
- Loc, this will knock me out - said Logan through their mental connection - Take care of me whilst I'm out.
- You can count on that. - answered she enthusiastically. She could not stop a laugh escaping from her mouth - Thanks for the show Log.
- Hoped you liked it Loc....
- All hail plan B.
- Hail!!
*Bang*
Logan felt the blow travel from his chin to his skull, all the way through the brain; then he was out.
His body plummeted towards the floor and no matter how much anyone waited, he did not get up.
- 10...9...8 - The referee started the countdown - 5....4.....3.....2.....1.....0!!!!! Logan from St. Gaia is out, the winner iiisssss Nathan from St. Gaia!!!
The St. Gaia children cheered, Sister Maria clapped and the audience that saw the fight gave nods of approval. The sinner had been punished.
- "He's not getting up. Logan's not getting up" - the thought took a couple of seconds to form in Nathan's head but once it did, he could not stop jumping up in joy. He did not care that he'd broke some of his bones, the most important part was that he'd defeated the one he hated the most.
But then Nathan felt a sudden sting of pain from the leg he used to side kick Logan. Suddenly, to the surprise of many people, Nathan dropped on the floor. No matter how many times he tried to get up, his left leg refused to do so
Logan had left him with a gift before getting knocked out.
Let's go back a couple of seconds before the end of the match.
When Nathan threw the side kick, Logan once again threw himself backwards so that his body wouldn't absorb the whole blow, he did it with such precision that it seemed like the kick was the one that made him do so. At the same time he was doing this, his 2 hands grabbed Nathan's leg with both hands and twisted it to a full 360 degrees.
With this, one of Nathan's legs was a goner.
Nathan did not notice the damage due to the anger he had towards Logan not going down and the dopamine his brain was creating; but when the 2 subsided, he couldn't bear the pain and he as well collapsed.
Sister Maria stood up due to the shock and the children and the part of the crowd watching them went silent due to not being able to understand what had just happened.
Locus had a smug smile on her face whilst Cloud had a nervous one.
- "It was as if parts of his body were injured every time he clashed against Logan" - he thought - " Once might be luck, but at that scale?"
- "If what happened is what I think that happened then...." - thought Cloud.
Cloud unlike the others, had not been biased against Logan since the start of the competition. He'd been observing this match and he'd noticed how Nathan's movements changed throughout it. That's how he was able to come to this conclusion. Others may have also arrived to this conclusion just to dismiss it as luck due to Logan's background but there might be some that do actually believe that Logan's actions had been intentional.
- "I don't know who his teacher is but he or she is a bloody good teacher to teach him how to move like that with just a couple of months. Either way, I'll have to move assuming other forces might have concluded Logan's actions as intentional. It's better to prevent than to cure. Loose ends cause chaos after all"