Tanner had already thought up the scenario in his head. Hugh's armor would be broken and the spikes would penetrate through Hugh's fist, thereby making it useless in the fight.
Tanner expected that, but he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body. He looked down and saw that Hugh's fist had already collided with his body. He could see that the spikes around his body started to bend until they broke up into tiny little pieces.
The pain he felt was an excruciating pressure around the broken spikes, but it was nothing compared to the follow-up force from Hugh's punch.
Hugh's fist continued to burst through Tanner's spikes and reach his inflated body. Like an inflated balloon, Tanner's body deformed under the pressure of Hugh's punch.
Tanner could feel his insides getting churned and squeezed. Tanner almost vomited his breakfast, but he was able to keep it in his mouth.
Due to the bounciness of Tanner's body, the elasticity acted as a spring that muffled the force of Hugh's punch. However, Hugh's punch exceeded Tanner's structural integrity and threw his body outwards like a slingshot.
The force was multitudes stronger than the force that Hugh experienced when he got thrown away. Tanner's inflated body flew across the air and splashed on the wall.
Tanner's body was like a flattened balloon that is stuck on the wall. He could almost fill the whole wall with his inflated body, but it did not last long. Tanner could not hold onto his vomit any longer as he threw it all up.
*GRAAAA*
Tanner threw up his breakfast onto the floor and stained his uniform. His body started to deflate as Tanner slid down from the wall, unconscious.
Everyone's eyes were wide open as they looked at the embarrassing and disgusting mess of Tanner. Some of the students gagged and turned away from the vomit, but they could still smell the putrid scent.
It was at this moment that everyone realized that Hugh defeated Tanner with only one punch. One explosive punch was enough to turn the arrogant and prideful Tanner into the mess that he was right now.
They did not understand how that could even be possible. Chatters started to spread throughout the classroom.
"No way! Hugh defeated Tanner."
"Are my eyes deceiving me?"
"Slap me please, this is definitely a dream!"
A mix of disbelief and doubt was spread through the witnesses of the fight. They all started to rationalize the situation by making excuses.
"Was Tanner in a bad condition?"
"Maybe he is ill?"
"What was Tanner's talent again? Isn't he a D-level talent?"
"I think Tanner was all talk. He was weak all along."
Everyone started to believe that Tanner was weak. Of course, those that thought that were people who were not familiar with Tanner. Those that knew him were speechless as they tried to understand what had happened.
Even Tanner's friend started to believe that Tanner was weak all along. That was how much they are surprised by this incident. They could not even fathom that Hugh was stronger than Tanner.
Brad and Chip looked back at their companion. Tanner was out cold with his own vomit staining his clothes. They did not want to be put in the same position as him.
They were now put into a predicament. If they continued to fight Hugh, they might end up worse than Tanner. If they backed down, their social standings would plummet, which would mean the end of their careers.
As the top dogs of the classroom, it was their job to make sure that they avenge Tanner. Brad and Chip could feel the eyes staring at them, waiting for them to attack Hugh.
They had already exchanged fists with Hugh, and it looked like they could never land a punch on him. They both looked at each other and agreed that it would be useless to try and attack Hugh one by one.
If they were going to attack, they needed to work together and make use of their numerical advantage. They were not even sure if they truly wanted to fight Hugh since they would get nothing from it.
Brad and Chip could not decide whether to fight or not. Thankfully, they did not have to choose for themselves.
The door to the classroom slid open and the noise echoed throughout the room, taking everyone's attention. Brad and Chip felt relieved of the intervention.
This was the only way they could avoid fighting. Professor Kain would not let anyone fight in his presence, so they would have an excuse to back down from fighting Hugh.
Everyone waited with bated breaths as a man stepped forward. The man was wearing a school uniform, which meant that it was not professor Kain.
However, Brad and Chip suddenly smiled as they saw a familiar face. It was Aric; he was back.