My fatigued was washed away when I activated the skill. I am ready to go for another round. I just hoped nothing bad was happening to her.
We rushed at each other, and our fists clashed. None of us took a step back. We stayed two seconds in this position before parting. 'Her strength has increased.'
She attacked again without letting me take a breath. There was no strategy or hidden intention in her new fighting style. She just punched me with all her strength. I was really surprised when I discovered we were equally matched.
I thought I would be able to dominate the battle as I kept my mind and unlike her. But under the fury of her blows, I had hardly any space to counterattack. It was like I was fighting a beast who had gone berserk. She wouldn't stop till one of us fell.
So endure and endured her strikes. The one who could hold longer will win. Honestly, I couldn't imagine what would happen if I were to lose. Zala was in a berserk state. She might stomp me to death before they can even intervene, as soon as I collapse.
The more fight went on, the more pressure I felt. ' My ovzgûn reserved will be soon depleted. I need to end this.' The first idea that came to me was to make the same move as before, but I wasn't in a good position to perform it. The idea was dismissed. 'Well, it seems my inspiration has run out. Why not just go with the orc way ?'. You might ask, what is the orc way ?
Well, in two words : hit harder !
I gave up defending and went all for attacks. For each punch I received, I gave two. It had been five minutes since the second round started, but none of us seemed to be ready to give up.
My muscles were hurting a lot. I was also suffering from the punches she was giving me. She didn't look much better either, she had a black eye, and her strength was weakening after each hit. The battle was coming to an end.
Then came the final clash. I prepare my right fist and her, her left one. Then each of our fists was launched at the head of each other. The moment her hand came into contact with my face, my skill was deactivated. Losing my boost, I was slowly passing out, but not before I could land my fist on her head.
My eyes closed, and I blacked out, without knowing who won.
...
Several hours later, I emerged from my sleep with a terrible headache. 'What's happening? Did Baruba hit me again ?'. Still confused, I looked around till I sighted Zala sleeping on her couch. I remembered the duel I had with Zala. It didn't go as I planned. It should have been a fairly easy fight, but the unconscious Zala changed the game. She became stronger at the price of her sanity.'I wonder if she activated a skill like mine ?'.
I stood and got out. I saw Wolfteeth not very far so I went to talk to him.
" Yalak ! You woke up ! Are you alright !"
" I have a terrible headache, but apart from that, I'm doing well."
" Woah, you're healing quickly. The both of you are truly different. Any other kid would need a day to be fully healed !"
" Do you know who won the fight ?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know since you passed out ! At the end of your fight, you both hit each other hard on the head. However, no winner could be determined as you both fell at the same time."
I was a bit disappointed. I would have loved to tease Zala of my victory. The face she would have made would have been legendary !
Seeing me unresponsive, he tried to cheer me up.
" That was the most exciting duel I ever saw. You were impressive. You are the only one who can fight Zala head-on! And that move, how did you pull it !"
" I had a spark of inspiration during the fight, I tried it, but I didn't know if I would succeed."
"It was cool. Everyone is talking about your fight ! You two became famous !"
"Really !"
"Of course, besides, you know the sisters. They love small talk and are boasting about the skills of their leaders !"
"Wait, what ! leaders ?", 'Have we decided on a leader ?'
"Yes, you've beaten Neeg and Khurd so we decided you would be the official leader of egghead and Zala the vice leader."
"And when were you going to tell me ?"
"Oh! That's true we forgot to tell you !" he mumbled.
"You could have at least asked us !" I was exasperated.
"We asked Zala, and she said it was okay," he said with innocent eyes.
'this girl... I bet the idea to even ask me didn't register in her mind,' I sighed.
I left Wolfteeth and returned to egghead to rest. Although I healed most of my injuries, I still felt strained, so I decided to lie down for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, Nayum has decided otherwise.
" Wouah" yelled Zala waking up.
She started to stretch as she usually did every morning. Then her gaze landed on me. She phased for a second, then she yelped loudly.
"YOU... WHAT HAPPENED?" She yelled.
I ignored her question.
"Hello, Zala. How are you doing ?"
She stood up, ran, and jumped on me. She grabbed my collar and said :
" Yal, If you don't tell me what happened, I swear on Nayum, you will regret it."
" is that a threat ?"
"Yes!"
I sighed again and told her what had happened after she passed out. She was quite surprised and even a bit scared to learn she fought me in an unconscious state. She took some time to digest everything.
" In the end, who won ?"
And here comes the question I was waiting for. I was really tempted to lie to see her priceless face, but I wasn't this cruel, 'am I ?', well at least with her. So I told her the truth.
"It's a draw."
" A draw !"
" Yes, that's right, you didn't win this time. Next time, I'll beat you".
" In your dream, scoundrel, I'm sure there is something wrong. You must have cheated."
"Never !"
She grabbed my head with her left hand and poked at it with her right.
" See ! Your skull isn't harder than mine, so why didn't you black out when you did your headbutt !"
" I'm just better."
Suddenly I gulped. She was looking at me in a way, telling me I would die if I didn't answer her truthfully.
"Alright, I used ovzgûn to enhance myself."
Her eyes widen.
"What ! How did you tell me."
"Why would I ?" I was messing with her to see her reaction.
She first glared at me with menacing eyes, but seeing it wasn't working, she changed tactics. She pouted. Then, while she was sitting on my lap, she started to act cutely. She put her hand on my chest and looked at me with big eyes.
"Pleease Yal !" she said with a gentle voice.
My heart started beating harder. 'Ah, if you make this kind of face, I can't resist you !'
"Rrraah, alright, I'll teach you."