After the already brief display, Sir Iko, already feeling satisfied and proud of having a good student, walked over to Belle and genially placed his hand on his shoulders. "Now that I am done with him, who is interested in stepping up next?" Sir Iko asked, but received no reply. None of the teenagers wanted to step up in the first place, and seeing how hard he had attacked Belle only made them more unwilling.
"Come on, you won't be battling me, but him. Chen Ji, won't you give it a try?" Sir Iko called out to one of the students he deemed good at martial arts. "Even if it's him, he is an all black number five, sir," Chen Ji said cautiously.
"That's another reason why you should be excited to fight him. Just think about being the first person to defeat an all black. You have the advantage here. He is still inexperienced in martial arts, and he won't be using his abilities either. This is your best chance to prove yourself against him. Come on, think about the bigger picture. His moves consist mostly of punches and kicks, and his attack patterns are crude. You can handle that," Sir Iko explained.
Hearing this, Belle, who didn't hate Sir Iko but actually appreciated his teaching and motivation style, could only think one thing: Sir Iko was being shameless. "Quite a shameless method of motivating teammates," Belle thought to himself, unsure whether to laugh or not.
"Sir, you just taught us that fighting with instinct is great, and according to you, he has already picked that up," a girl with a round face and ponytails named Aoi questioned. Her appearance clearly indicated that she likely had Asian descent.
"That's right, he has..." Sir Iko paused as he realized where her question was heading. "He has picked it up, but his moves are still basic. His punch timing and a lot of other things are off. Currently, his instinct only helps in evading since he lacks good attacks. You all have a perfect chance of defeating him," Sir Iko said, not willing to let Aoi lower the fighting morale he had already raised among the teenagers.
"Sir, you said he has crude moves, and crude moves are considered most barbarian fighting skills, which, according to your teaching, are good. So, coupling the barbarian fighting style, which is good in your books, with his instinct, won't we end up getting defeated easily?" Aoi continued questioning.
"Can you just be less smart?" Sir Iko almost felt like stuffing Aoi's mouth before considering his next move. "Where is your competitive spirit, all you teenagers? Hey guys, do you think most girls will be interested in you if he dominates?"
Sir Iko, completely tired of Aoi foiling his good speech, took a new approach. He quickly shifted from boosting morale to sowing discord. "Hey girls, even you aren't left out. You all can prove a point too. You know he is handsome. The competition for him will be high, and I bet no man wants to be burdened. A confident and independent lady draws attention faster."
Seeing that most of the teenagers seemed riled up by his new approach, Sir Iko immediately pushed further. "I will be going against him," Chen Ji confidently volunteered, jumping out first from the now eager group of teenagers.
"That is the spirit," Sir Iko exclaimed, feeling good and giving Aoi a look that clearly said, "I won." He was not just shameless but also petty.
The fight began with Belle looking for an opening and attacking first. He had already learned from Sir Iko's teachings. On the other side, Chen Ji did not back down and launched a series of kicks and punches. However, Belle managed to evade most of them. There was a significant disparity in skill between Chen and Sir Iko, which allowed Belle to hold his own in this battle.
As the fight raged on Belle dodged one of Chen Ji's punches, but then Chen Ji saw an opening and immediately tried capitalizing on it.
Seeing the punch heading towards his nose, Belle could only think, "I can't dodge that," he already know that his bad evading style which just comprise basic roll, jumping and moving to the side has put him in an unfavorable position, he quickly thought of what to do, though as a mutated human with spatial ape monster gene his reflexis is good he can't back flip, summersault or do the rest out of thing air without having idea on it.
"Barbarian pattern, take it head on and return with your own attack, him trying to stop your attack or evade it will cancel his attack or at least lower the momentum" Belle immediately thought to himself as he took his time waiting for when Chen Ji attack is about to land.
Bang! Just as Chen Ji punch landed straight to Belle's face , Belle returned it with an uppercut punch. This punch lifted Chen Ji off his feet while Chen Ji punch pushed Belle back. Despite his above peak human strength and durability, Belle felt the impact of Chen Ji's punch. Blood dripped down Belle's nose while Chen staggered up, seemingly fixing his jaw.
Watching the intense battle unfold, students became frenzied and passerby students who had no classes decided to peek in on the fight. Even Sir Iko admitted that the match was turning out to be more exciting than he had anticipated.
Belle wiped the blood from his nose as everyone watched in amazement as the bleeding stopped. Chen adjusted his jaw, and both fighters let out battle cries and charged at each other. They collided, with Chen throwing punches and Belle evading them by tilting his head. Chen attacked relentlessly, with his moves becoming more precise and crisp. Belle struggled to keep up, and the fight seemed to be tilting in Chen's favor.
"He is the talented all-black student, right?" one senior student asked, peering in with the others.
"Yeah, he is clearly at a disadvantage here. He can't use his ability, but his opponent seems to have an ability that improves with the fight," another student replied.
"He is worthy of being an all-black, but it's a shame he doesn't participate in elite competitions," added another student.
"His evading skills are on a whole new level," another student remarked with a laugh.
Inside the arena, Chen no longer looked cautious. He appeared different, as if he had activated his second ability called berserk. In this state, Chen became better in every aspect and could even wield anything effectively as a weapon. Despite being pushed to his limits, Belle, fueled by his half-monster nature, refused to back down. After all, he believed he couldn't die.
The fight continued, with Belle enduring Chen's barrage of attacks. Some students commented on Belle's ability to take a beating, though his evading skills were not top-notch. The battle raged on, with Belle looking battered but refusing to stay down.
Just when the onlooking students were hoping the fight wouldn't end, the martial class period bell tolled, marking the end. Chen, caught in his berserker mode, continued attacking, unaware of the bell. However, Belle transformed into an ape and delivered a single powerful punch, knocking Chen out and helping him regain control over himself.
"Hahaha, he's still an all-black. Using his ability would have ended the fight sooner," most students thought as Belle reverted to his human form, losing his clothes in the process.
As the fight came to an end, Sir Iko called Belle over to speak with him. "You did a great job, Belle," Sir Iko said, patting him on the back.
"Thank you, sir," Belle replied. "I will be leaving now." The fight was exciting, but it took a toll on Belle despite my above-human strengths. He has been the one at the recieving end.
Belle left, and the other students slowly dispersed, leaving Chen, who was just waking up.
"The match ended? Considering I am just waking up, I must have lost," Chen Ji said.
"No, you didn't. It was a draw. Nice showing," Sir Iko said with a smile. Having a martial monster like Chen and a potential monster like Belle assured him that they would perform well in the upcoming academy competitions.