As I pressed the button, a sudden surge of dizziness and vertigo hit my head. My vision went blurry, and the next thing I knew, I was standing on the other side of the arena, away from where I was just standing.
I'm not sure whether I was teleported, if I'm inside an illusion, or just dreaming, as I was too distracted looking at Harold, who was standing at the other end of the arena.
"All participants are in position; the match will start in a few seconds."
As the automated speech escapes the speakers surrounding the arena, I see Harold, who was still dazed and confused, looking around him.
"All participant strengths have been successfully adjusted. "The automated voice echoed loudly, causing the dazed Harold to finally pick up what was going on. And the moment he did, his expression turned sour.
"This stupid... Are you crazy? Hah?! "he says with an annoyed expression on his face, symbolizing the fact that he felt offended that I even dared to challenge him.
"Do you even know who I am?"
"No, should I?"
"Kekeke, you're funny; I remember you from earlier, parentless fucker. Regardless, it's too late to back out now. I'm making you regret this," he says with an annoying grin on his face.
The battle will commence in 3…2…1…
"This stupid place really just lets anyone get disturbed like this. I should receive extra payment." He cracks his neck before slowly walking towards me, uninterested by the whole ordeal.
I hope you won't regret this, kid. "He says this with a wide grin before running towards me in full force.
He was clearly looking down on me. He was running at me without even thinking about his openings. It seems like he wanted to end this fight in a second.
"You think you could start challenging everyone just because Front accepted your application? Like you're high and mighty now?"
"Annoying bastard. "Due to the constant running, he made it in front of me in a matter of seconds. He had his right arm ready to swing as he stared at me with a wide grin.
Thud.
A loud thud echoed throughout the arena as the first impact between the two clashed.
" … "
"There's no way. "The voice in the speaker whispered quietly as he couldn't believe what he was looking at.
Though it was Harold who was ready to swing first, somehow he had his head turned to the side, showing that he was the one that got hit.
' Got him! ' I thought ready to monopolize on the fact that I hit his jaw straight on.
But it seems like I still wasn't used to the strength of humans in this world. Two entire gaps in strength.
The gap between an F-peak ranked and an E-medium ranked human. It might seem little, but the gap between a child, which are averaged at F early ranked, against an average adult at F-peak rank, is just a single-tier apart. Now that he and I with a gap of two whole tiers, and even an entire letter are facing each other, it's like I'm fighting an adult as a kid.
Shit...
He instantly recovers and gives me a punch straight to my stomach, causing me to fly about ten meters away. I could only kneel in pain as my stomach started to swell.
It's just a VR scenario, yet I can feel pain just like in real life. Damn, this hurts.
Harold, who seemed to have recovered from confusion, stands up with pure rage. It was clear that he was there to beat me up. His grin vanished, and his eyes were filled with rage.
It seems like I damaged his puny pride.
It must be his blessing.
Tsk, it seems like I still underestimated him. I thought I could handle someone like him with ease. But the blood in my mouth seems to say otherwise. I thought I could overpower him in a span of a second, but that seems like wishful thinking.
I can't get hit by that again.
As much as I want to enjoy beating his face up in this fight, I need to end it quickly.
"Hah, you hit like a child," I say, trying to look as if I wasn't dying from a single punch.
Although I'm an experienced fighter, thanks to all my training on earth, I was trained to fight people who don't use the supernatural. I might have better fighting experience in general, but he has better experience fighting against blessings and the like.
I can't just win while putting all my hope in fighting experience. Although he has an ability that lets him exert an inhuman amount of force in short bursts, I had moves that were formed through countless eons of fighting each other. Of fighting humans.
There was something I could use to take this guy down, even with that blessing.
…
"This funny bastard. It seems like you have a death wish, don't you? "With an incredibly angered look, he glares at me in extreme annoyance. His eyes were bloodshot, as he was cracking his fists.
"Yeah, why don't Santa give me one?"
In a second, I rushed towards him with intention to end this exchange.
"Make sure you grit your teeth. "He says so with the same intention as I had, rushing towards me in full power to end it all right there and then. He had a wide grin on his face, as if he were looking at an idiot who overestimated themselves. Considering he saw my blessing already, he knew if we were just exchanging fists, he would win.
But that's where he's wrong; though my skill might not be offensive, it's still an incredible one. In a fight between individuals, getting distracted might be the worst thing you could do.
And fixing your head on a single thing is just as bad.
[Attention Seeker]
The moment we were only a few meters away from each other, I activated my skill for just a mere second, causing Harold to glance at me for a second. Though it was not as effective as that from the civilians earlier, considering he was stronger than them, giving him more immunity against my blessing, it still gave me enough time to safely perform a scissor takedown.
Grappling. Something that wasn't particularly developed, as it wouldn't be as useful in this world due to the presence of supernatural abilities, which support striking in general.
Not only is it one of the most annoying to deal with in a duel, there's no way they could handle moves; they aren't used to.
Bang!
Not expecting such a move, Harold hit the ground headfirst, causing him to become dazed.
" Urgh! "
Maximizing the situation. I followed through with a heel hook, pulling as hard as I could, causing the already dazed Harold to scream in pain.
" Argh! "
Trying to escape the lock, he used his ability on his legs to try and escape the hook. But the moment he does, it snaps, causing him to shout in anguish.
Snap
I didn't want to waste the situation even more, as I sat on his stomach and continued beating him up as confusion and pain enveloped his entire body.
He was cowering his head, shifting it to the side, as hopelessness about the situation filled his mind. He tried to swing his arms randomly, trying to hit me, but his swings had no strength regardless of his ability, so I continued pummeling him until he could only shift his face to the side, trying to divert my punches away from his face.
I wasn't letting him go that easily, though.
[Attention Seeker] Using my ability, I called out Harold, who was cringing in pain.
" Hey. "
Though it was still weak, Harold was bruised and beaten, so my blessing worked just as well as with the innkeepers from earlier.
"Please..." he stutters.
With an incredibly satisfied look on my face, I whispered to him.
"Grit your teeth."
Repeating his lines from earlier. I continued punching him in the face before a floating panel similar to that in games appeared in my face.
"You won!"
"Returning to real time in three... two... one..."
Ding!
I woke up from my daze, still standing in front of the tablet, as if the fight from earlier hadn't even happened. Harold was nowhere to be seen, and the pain in my stomach is gone.
[Congratulations to Julius Solomon for winning against Harold Bons in "Duel against the Skilled."]
As I listened to the speakers repeat my name, an idea of why my blessing might be what it is came to mind.