Dezhong gulped hard as his eyes scanned the towering wall of a man named Kong. From the sole of his feet to the crown of his head, one could notice the strength and raw energy coming off of this man.
With one stare, he instilled the fear of god into Dezhong, making him nearly wet his pants. 'You can do this. You've seen worse things than this man.' He said while remembering the werewolf that attacked him multiple times in this night alone. 'You got this.
Dezhong closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he slowly rose from the ground. With his fists folded, he calmed his nerves down. 'I can do this. Only three minutes. Nothing more, nothing less.'
[Ding]
[2:59]
"BEGIN"
As soon as the countdown began, Dezhong and Kong circled each other as they waited for the other to make their first move. Kong looked at the peculiar blond boy walking instead of doing anything. The side of his lips raised slightly as he said, "Aren't you going to attack? The others did. Why won't you?"
Dezhong raised his hands to his forehead level and said, "Nice try. I'm not falling for your mind games, Kong."
"Oh, so we've got a smart fighter, huh?" He remarked. "Guess I'll try and get serious and become an aggressor.'
"AGGRESSOR!" Dezhong, Luke, and Blake all thought to themselves after hearing the last phrase leave Kong's lips. The large man copied the same technique Dezhong did by also raising his hands to his forehead level. He smirked eerily with his eyes slanted as he gazed at Dezhong like a buzzard.
"Men, this is getting boring."
"HEY BLONDE. ARE YOU GONNA DO SOMETHING OR JUST STAND THERE?"
"BOOOOO"
The crowd grew impatient as the so long-awaited action they were hoping for didn't happen.
[2:30]
'What?' Dezhong complained angrily. 'Only thirty seconds. What the hell?'
Kong noticed Dezhong losing concentration so he quickly sprung for him and tried grabbing his head. A tingling sensation made its way across Dezhong's body, making him without him having to think or react in tim.e
Before he could make sense of what was happening, Dezhong found himself standing behind Kong. His heart was racing as he tried to comprehend what just happened. 'What happened to my body? How did I move that fast? Is it something to do with the.....'
[Ding]
[The werewolf gene within you enables you to achieve great heights you've never dreamed of. Learn to control this power and grow into the strongest fighter in the land.]
'Oh really,' Dezhong smirked and was thankful, though he had no clue about the system or werewolf gene. 'Guess I'll have to go all out as well…I guess.'
'What the.....'
"How did he move that fast?"
"Is he a professional fighter?"
"Did he anticipate Kong's move that fast?"
"This guy's not that big of a deal."
Kong stood at full height and slowly turned around with an impressed smile on his face. He laughed a little as he said, "Even when you were distracted, you anticipated my moves that easily. Impressive." Kong dashed for Dezhong with a heavy punch, moving much faster than before.
Thanks to the crystals, humans were able to move much faster, become much stronger, and have almost invincible bodies, depending on their crystal tier. Kong's crystals were in the intermediate tier, making him three times superior to the average athlete.
'Oh crap. I'm not going to be able to dodge in time.' Dezhong shielded his face with his forearms and took on Kong's hits head on. However, the attack didn't land on his arms but rather on his sides.
[-10HP]
[HP:40/50]
[Critical damage inflicted.]
"Ooff. Did you hear that? I think Kong broke something."
"Oh, men. Blonde's not going to get up from that."
"I bet he's not going to get up from that."
Dezhong could hear all the conversations about him from the crowd as his sides burned in pain. Kong overshadowed him while Dezhong held his sides and tried as hard as he could to not let out a scream.
"Well, kid. Do you give up? Throw in the towel so the next guy comes in." Kong said.
'Come on. Don't give up, Dezhong.' Luke and Blake hoped as they anxiously waited for Dezhong to get up. 'Get up. Get up!!'
[Emergency healing activated.]
The intense pain in Dezhong's sides cleared out, causing Dezhong to be both confused and glad. As soon as the pain left, he pounced back on his feet and took on the same position from earlier.
The whole crowd went wild with cheers as the boy who was hit with a crucial blow got back up on his feet. "I'm not done yet, Kong." Dezhong smirked.
Kong was far beyond impressed. The move he used was specifically designed to immobilize small opponents and yet, in front of him stood this blonde-haired kid with a smirk and cocky look on his face. " How are you still standing? Your sides should be swelling right now!"
"Guess you didn't hit hard enough." He taunted. Kong pounded his fists against each other and quickly swiped at Dezhong's head. The young werewolf dodged each attack and didn't dare to retaliate with his own, since it would be a waste of energy.
Kong punched, kicked, and even tried to grab but Dezhong swayed left, then right, ducked down, and jumped up successfully dodging all of Kong's attacks. 'How much time do I have left.'
"Thirty seconds left."
"HEY BLONDE. YOU'VE GOT THIRTY SECONDS LEFT. FINISH THIS ALREADY!"
The crowd yelled in great anticipation. Never did they expect to see a teenager go up against one of the toughest people in Desper and even though Dezhong didn't fight back, they still respected him for his successful dodges.
[0:20]
'Alright. I'm gonna do this. Twenty seconds left.' He said to himself. However, in a blink of an eye, Dezhong felt the hard, painful force of a heavy fist smashing against his face. The taste and smell of iron immediately filled his nose and mouth as blood gushed out in great amounts. The crowd suddenly went silent as Dezhong fell to the ground.
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Quest Complete.]
Dezhong raised his arm weakly as a sign to show he wasn't out yet. Though having taken a smacking to the face, he wasn't out yet and this caused the crowd to roar with much excitement as Blake and Luke quickly helped their friend up. Everyone surrounded Dezhong as they congratulated him on his victory against Kong.
Kong smiled while he wiped the boy's blood off of his hand. "Well done, Kid. You've earned your position in the Gorilla's inner circle." He said while bowing slightly and then went back to waiting for his other contender.
Dezhong smiled with a blood-filled mouth and cheered on with the others. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the pink-haired girl smiling at him from the entrance of the base. All the pain he felt left as his eyes and hers locked together for a while.
'This is going to be the best heist we've ever done.'