There was a standoff between Alex and Chris.
There was very high tension in the air. Everyone was watching their standoff holding their breaths continuously.
The fight had stopped momentarily, as both the fighters glared at each other. It felt like they exchanging words through their eyes. They indicated that the fight they just had was round one, and giving the indication to others that it was just the beginning, just round one has ended not the fight.
The reason for this unexpected halt in the was the last clash between their swords which created a considerable amount of distance between them.
Alex was the one who unleashed a powered strike against his opponents attack, which he intercepted with a slash using both of his swords. Chris's attack came from above that is, it came vertically downwards and Alex's slash was horizontal which had a good amount of strength in it. Resulted in Alex throwing Chris several feet away and creating separation.
And at the same time, Alex declaring that he is the one with superior strength and this first round is his. This ring belongs to him.
At this point of halt, they both were breathing fast and were trying their best to control and regain their breath to normal and obtain an optimal state while they were facing off.
"Ha... did you see that? I pushed you back with my strength, you almost flew out of the ring...", Alex said while controlling his breath.
"Woah... that was quite impressive Alex, you have grown stronger, and not just by the looks but to the bones", Chris praised Alex while breathing faster than normal and further added, "But it doesn't matter as long as I manage to win, you see, you cannot win by just using your brute strength... I haven't slacked off either, you know, and also I have been undefeated in our group...", Chris claimed brazenly.
"Oh, just you wait and when I defeat you and break your winning streak, I will show you today that I am no longer a loser who lost to you all the time...", Alex was having a good 'trash talk' with Chris.
They exchanged a few words while with each other.
But seeing and hearing them the surrounding audience was in a daze, what just happened. their mind was still processing the events just occurred right in front of them.
"What the Fu*k? How did they do that? I am not dreaming, am I?"
"No, you aren't, it was real... that strength... unbelievable!"
"Not to mention, Chris took that force and he is still standing..."
"If someone else were in their shoes, they would have been flown out of the ring crashing somewhere, that strength was awesome..."
Some spectators expressed what they felt and left their mouth agape, that a chicken's egg could slide in vertically, while some were at loss of words and were shocked by these events.
One showed a great burst of strength and the other demonstrated a perfect movement control to balance himself.
The master of the gym stood in the back with a face of astonishment, he himself having a hard time believing what he just saw. While Tom and company stood up from their seats and started measuring their strength with Alex and Chris.
As Alex and Chris left everyone wondering, they once again took their stance commencing the second round. By recollecting the events of the first round, They became quite familiar with each other's strengths and started analyzing and finding a weakness, so, they can use to their own advantage.
As the second round started, they started moving in a circle while positioning their swords accordingly, and their eyes were set on their opponent without blinking.
They were concentration on the fight was commendable, it was like everything in their surrounding disappeared and they were only ones left. They could even hear their heartbeat in that state.
Along with them concentrating on each other, the spectators concentrated on the match itself, they didn't dare to make any noise as it might distract any of the two.
After gazing each other, a move was made, and this time it was Alex was the one to make the first move. He gathered a lot of confidence from the first round because, at the end of the first round, he had the upper hand over Chris.
Alex moved while keeping the momentum he gained before and threw a strike with his right sword from above bringing it downwards while turning his body anti-clockwise.
Chris blocked the incoming attack by from Alex but the moment Chris deflecting it, Alex circled 360 degrees and the sword in his left hand came horizontally slashing towards Chris's left side. It was more dangerous than the attack from the right sword because it gained speed and momentum from the spin by Alex.
Chris blocked the spinning attack from Alex's left sword by bringing his katana to his left side just in time, he felt a tremendous strength from that attack trying to survive it, he even lost a bit of ground and was slid towards his right from the force.
The moment Chris thought he survived this attack and now Alex will pull the sword back, but Alex had other plans in mind.
He wasn't done with the move, it still had one more step. As the left sword was putting pressure on Chris, suddenly the sword in his right hand came from the same direction as his spin wasn't complete.
Chris's katana was long, starting from his neck till his thighs. Alex struck with the right swords assisting his left sword at the same point and the pressure surged on Chris, and he lost his footing from the strong pressure coming from his left side as he held his katana in defense and slid several feet in his right.
This was the second time when Alex overwhelmed Chris from his strength. In the first round, this made them halt and declare round one.
But not this time.
Alex didn't give Chris any chance to recover and dashed forward in his direction with both of his swords and struck his opponent.
Chris saw this and in order to protect himself from the incoming attack he brought his sword up in defense, at the same moment Alex's strike connected to his opponent's sword from above putting him in immense pressure, which led Chris to the edges of the ring.
"F**k... how did he become so strong all of a sudden, I was able to handle him in the first round quite well and now this, was he testing my skills?", Chris thought as he slid towards the edge of the ring and was about to lose his balance, he was hanging by his right leg as his left leg was lifted from the ground which was in the front.
Alex just to give a slight push to Chris and he will fall. But Alex didn't hold back as he did not want to lose momentum and what if Chris reversed... keeping that in mind Alex sent another thrust towards Chris and finally Chris fell to the ground and his katana slipped from his hands after taking the direct hit.
"You have been defeated!", said Alex while pointing one of the swords towards Chris's neck.
Everyone around the ring watched as these events unfolded. They were dumbstruck from the strength displayed by Alex, they felt like 10 heavy trucks passed through their heart crushing it.
"Defeated!"
"Alex defeated Chris, Alex is the victor of this match...", the referee declared.
This match to test one's superiority over the other was concluded in the second round. Alex won the match in a landslide.
Tom, Kyle, Jared and even Chris himself was surprised by the strength Alex showed today.
"See, I told you that I will defeat you today and end your winning streak...", Alex laughed and reminded his words spoken earlier to Chris.
"Yes, you won, I admit defeat... but I want to know how did your strength rise so fast? And your sword technique...", Chris asked.
"We want to know too...", Tom, Kyle, Jared along with all of the audience surrounded Alex and said at the same time.
Alex didn't answer their question, he gave them a smile and scratched his hair behind his head slowly like he was embarrassed.