He quickly reprocessed all that had happened, especially since he went underground. He hadn't really intended to fall asleep. He took his time, moving very slowly and carefully to avoid aggravating his injury. Creating more tunnels and pathways allowed his body time to heal itself. Once he had reached the deepest depth of the arena, fatigue set in, and before he knew it, he was asleep.
Upon waking up, he felt completely rejuvenated. Examining the injury on his back, he saw that it was completely healed. After doing a few stretches and light exercises, he knew he was ready. A small smile appeared on his face, but it quickly turned serious. Looking up, he thought, 'It's time to end this.'
…
"Finally," IQ120 said after three hours of not sensing any movement. For the first four hours of the entire seven hours, he had detected movement or heard sounds coming from the ground. However, it suddenly became silent. Either Miret wasn't moving at all during those three hours, or he had reached a depth in the arena that far exceeded IQ120's senses. Given how deep IQ120 could sense, it seemed unfair that the arena would be constructed so deeply.
But upon further consideration, IQ120 realized it wasn't unfair—perhaps unfair to Miret, but not to him. Beyond this arena, outside humas territory, lay land with even greater depth, seemingly boundless. In a real battle outside, Miret could easily escape using the soil or hide out for an extended period until fully healed and then resume his assault. The mental stress of having an enemy constantly tracking him and ready to attack from the ground would eventually wear him down.
Unlike here, where only a few creatures lived underground, outside where creatures living underground were thousands of times more than those on land, Miret's newfound strength would make many creatures prey to him. He would sustain himself as he continued hunting IQ120 unless Miret encountered a Hokori: strong category creature or higher. It was very unlikely he would have any reason to stop. In that case, he would eventually become Miret's meal.
'He really is a threat to me,' IQ120 thought, examining his arms where Miret's claws had met. 'I underestimated him because of his inexperience, but to end this quickly, I really might have to hurt him. However, I believe the observers will save him.' IQ120 glanced at the observer one last time before concentrating on the movement underground.
…
"Um," IQ120 snorted at Miret's display and dashed forward. However, Miret, seeing this, chuckled as he simply dropped back into the very hole he had just crawled out from.
IQ120 came to a stop; he was now in the center of the arena. He started punching the ground with his full strength and speed, causing craters and web-like cracks in the soil. He kept changing locations, rocks and stones flinging around, creating noise, dust, and several ground vibrations. It was only when he began another barrage of concentration punches in a specific location that Miret even had a chance to be certain of where he was. Although his actions seemed pointless, there appeared to be a method to his madness.
"The ground was already damaged from their fight at the beginning. It was probably part of Miret's plan to go with the underground tactic if he couldn't physically overwhelm his opponent. Now I see why he was fighting so recklessly—it was mainly to damage the surroundings and make penetration easier. Miret burrowed tunnels upon tunnels, and now my punch would very well collapse all those tunnels and pathways, forcing him to emerge and fight me on the ground. It also makes it easier to tear deeper and deeper into the soil. But anyway, when he does bring his head out, the battle will end."
"Boooommm!!!"