"Haah.. haah…"
The sound of loud breathing could be heard throughout the arena. Two men were lying down on the ground, their faces and their bodies covered in dirt and bruises, implying that they were fighting each other till now.
"... Well, that was… that was great!" An older George said in the middle of heavy breathing, and an older Ray, who was lying right next to him, burst out laughing in response.
"Hahahaha!" Ray continued laughing loudly before replying, "It… it really was… hahahahah!"
"Hahahaha! Now you're making me laugh!" George couldn't contain his laughter either, and he too burst out laughing.
The two laughed so hard that their loud voices echoed throughout the empty arena.
"Hah… that was a fun time." George spoke softly after calming down a bit. He then tilted his head towards Ray and continued, "Thanks. I haven't had this much fun in ages."
"I guess the feeling is mutual then." Ray turned to look at George and grinned. "Because I too haven't had this much fun in a very long time."
The two men got up from the ground after relaxing a bit more, and then turned around and faced each other before shaking their hands.
"I guess your sudden challenge really had the best timing." Ray said with a smile, and George responded with an awkward expression. "Yeah, well, things haven't been going so well recently, and I… well.." George scratched his head, contemplating on what to say before continuing, "I'll be honest, I really don't know why I decided to challenge you when everything is in shambles. But for some reason, I felt something in me, telling me to do it. And so I did."
"I didn't know you were going through a hard time.." Ray made a surprised face. "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't been having the greatest time either. In fact, I'm pretty sure I hit rock bottom last week."
Ray patted George on the shoulder before continuing, "But you never give up. Right?"
"Right, right …" George responded with a faint smile. "By the way, how on earth did you guess my last attack?"
Ray grinned as he shrugged his shoulders. "I'll tell you the next time we fight."
---------------------------
Ray touched his nose, which had now turned red, while George attended to his knee. "I honestly wasn't expecting this spar to last so long.." George replied with a sigh and a bitter smile. "I'm pretty sure I'm only winning because of the difference in ranks."
"We already knew each other's ranks before the spar began. The difference was already there from the start." Ray explained as he cracked his knuckles. "I agreed to the spar despite knowing the difference in ranks, so it really doesn't matter."
"Does that mean that you're fine with continuing the spar?" George asked, and Ray motioned at him with his finger, taunting him as he did to him during the initial stage of the fight. "You're damn right we are."
"You'd probably end up regretting it though," George snickered in response before charging forward with incredible speed, now moving a lot quicker than before, and instantly appeared next to Ray, going for a jab to his chin.
Whoosh!
Ray dodged left, and then swung his left arm with a turn, which George avoided by ducking down. He then went for a sweep kick, and Ray leapt into the air before his feet made contact, moving a few metres back in the process.
"You know that you'll lose when it comes to stamina if this goes on longer, right?" George said as he scanned Ray with his eagle eyes.
Ray didn't reply, but he knew that George was telling the truth. The difference in ranks also implied a difference in skills and abilities, and that included stamina as well. As of right now, Ray would undoubtedly end up exhausting most of his normal energy if the fight goes on, while George would still have much more left. So he had to make sure that the fight came to a conclusion if he desired a win.
Zoom!
George moved suddenly, instantly shortening the distance between the two and making Ray flinch in the process.
'Don't tell me that he was still hiding his speed?' Ray immediately leapt backwards while raising his hand up in an attempt to block as George punched fast, aiming straight for his chest.
WHAM!
His fist collided with Ray's arm, and the two men were pushed backwards because of the impact.
"Hiyyah!" George grunted as he shortened the distance once again, this time attempting an axe kick as he aimed for Ray's head.
Swoosh!
Ray immediately rolled to the side as George's feet slammed onto the ground, causing it to form cracks on the floor. At the same time, Ray charged towards George from the side while getting ready for a punch, aiming for his chest.
George instantly turned around to face Ray and swung his right arm with a speed that was faster than anything he had revealed till now, almost on instinct, aiming for Ray's left cheeks as he approached him.
At that speed, it should've technically been too fast for Ray to actually see it in motion. Which meant that Ray would've, in theory, been unable to defend against it and should've gotten knocked out.
Woosh!
But before the quicker than lightning punch could find its target, Ray ducked down and evaded the attack with ease, as though he could see the attack that he should've technically been unable to.
"Wha-" The evasion process even caught George off guard, as he didn't expect Ray to avoid it, but he had no time to gasp and scream as his opponent had started his counterattack; a punch that aimed straight for his face.
'Shit!' George couldn't help but swear, as the distance between the two was almost none. At this point, the only factor that could put George at an advantage would be the difference in speed.
Slick!
'Guh!' George groaned as he tilted his head to the side with all he got, and fortunately for him, the punch only grazed by his cheeks.
BAM!
Without wasting his chance to land a counter while his opponent was so close, George instantly went for a kick to the abdomen, and the attack pushed Ray into the air, who gasped loudly in response.
Whoosh!
George didn't plan on giving Ray time to adjust, and he instantly leapt up and appeared in front of Ray once again, and this time he threw a hard punch, all the way from the shoulder aiming for his chest, sending Ray crashing back down onto the floor with a loud noise.
BOOM!
"Gah!" Ray winced in pain as his back slammed against the floor, resulting in the formation of cracks underneath him.
George landed gently on the floor a few feet away from him, as Ray painfully got up on his feet, blood dripping down from his forehead and his arms.
"I think this is enough." George said as he stared at the condition that Ray was in. "I don't think you'd be able to move the way you want to without getting healed first. What do you say?"
Ray stopped moving and scanned his entire body, after which he closed his eyes for a second. He already knew that he wouldn't be able to win anymore. Not after suffering from such injuries, which take some time to heal properly. The warrior inside of him would've called him pathetic for giving up right now, but Ray knew that taking care of your body and being cautious was also important. There's a time and place to go all out, and this was just a simple spar. It didn't need to be taken to such extreme levels.
After thinking about it for a few seconds, Ray nodded his head, admitting defeat. "Alright. It's my loss."
"Woohoo!" George said with a cheeky grin on his face as he walked towards Ray and offered him his hand, which he accepted.
"Don't get too excited." Ray snorted as he placed his hand across George's shoulder, who helped him get to the medical room. "I'm still a D-rank hunter."
"I'm pretty sure I heard someone saying that they agreed to the spar despite knowing the difference in ranks, so it really doesn't matter." George acted like he didn't know who said those words, and Ray rolled his eyes in response. "I wonder who that was?"
Zoom!
The medical room was right next to the entrance to the dual training room, and George placed his card onto the scanner, which opened the doors and the two men entered the room.
"By the way, about your quick evasion…" George said as he helped Ray sit in one of the chairs. "... I'm pretty sure that my punch should've been too quick for a D-rank to see clearly. So how on earth were you able to avoid it?"
"Hmmm…." Ray pretended that he was thinking, before replying with a smirk on his face. ".... I'll tell you the next time we fight."