Once they finished speaking, the two of them lunged at each other again.
This wasn't even a real fight; it was more like a spat between two kids who refused to grow up.
"Hua aaahh! Take this, you punk!"
"That line should be mine, you stinky jerk!"
Wham!
Ignoring the mess of teeth and bruised lips, with their bodies battered and worn, they kept going at each other relentlessly.
"Watch this!"
Too tired to stand anymore, Kiana leaned in, gripping Yumeji's neck with her hands.
"Ugh! Gah!"
Foaming at the mouth, he struggled to resist, but his arms were so weak he couldn't do much of anything.
With his face bright red, he gritted his teeth. A beast doesn't rely on claws alone. To prove that, he bared his teeth and bit down hard on the arm strangling him.
"Aaagh! Let go, you jerk!!"
The pain was so intense that Kiana's grip loosened, and Yumeji seized the moment to break free. He crawled away to put some distance between them, coughing and gasping for air as if he'd never breathed before.
"You little dog! Real men don't bite!"
"Screw dignity right now, you old hag!"
Kiana wasn't sure if this was a dream, with the pain feeling so real. But that didn't matter; all she wanted was to beat the crap out of the jerk in front of her.
After crawling a little farther away, Yumeji caught his breath and struggled to his feet.
"Almost there, huh?"
Even with his face flushed and bruised from the fight, his thoughts were strangely calm.
Gathering strength in his wobbly legs, he glared at the staggering figure in front of him.
He took a deep breath, shouted, and charged.
"Sometimes, when words don't work, you've gotta communicate with your fists."
He remembered his sister's words as Kiana slapped him hard across the face, and he retaliated by jamming his fingers into her nose.
Wiping away the blood trickling from her nose, Kiana rewarded him with a punch straight to his left eye.
Using the momentum of his fall, he kicked her in the stomach.
Lying flat on the ground, he thought to himself:
"Sorry, Sis, I can't be as violent as you. So I'll only fight in my dreams."
Yes.
From start to finish, everything was just a dream. It was all a result of the new skill he'd acquired: "Dream." It connected his dreams with others; it wasn't really a psychic attack, so it would feel just like a regular dream.
And since it was based on another person's dream, he could barely intervene. All he did was delay their dream state, making them think it was real.
Nowhere else reveals the soul better than a dream. People are always most honest with their own desires in their dreams.
So, let's get this over with, Kiana!
I'll take on all your frustrations!
Oh, of course, I'll give it right back! Ahahaha! No one's crazy enough to just stand there and take a beating.
The things you find annoying and can't say aloud. Even those silly thoughts you keep hidden.
Let it all out now, because I'm doing the same.
Digging my feet into the ground, I launched myself forward, swinging a punch at Kiana.
"Oof!"
Taking a hit to the stomach, he grabbed Kiana by the collar and head-butted her.
Clang!
"Ouch! What's your head made of?"
"Hey, I should be asking that!"
Both of them rubbed their swollen foreheads, wincing in pain.
Grinding her teeth, Kiana sneered.
"From now on, I'm hitting for real, so prepare to beg for mercy, kid."
"What are you saying? You'll be the one begging me for your life."
With that, he activated his skill. Using two skills at once was exhausting, so he'd held back, but since Boost was essential, he'd decided to use it. Dreams are a battle of mental strength, so only one stat would be enhanced.
His eyes flickered with a red glow that sparked like electricity. To be blunt, it looked a lot like "The Zone."
But whatever. Kiana, in front of him, stretched her arms, summoning her strength. A baseball bat appeared in her hand.
Well, it's just a dream anyway. Thinking that, a wooden sword appeared in my hand too.
"Here I come."
"Bring it on!"
Kiana leaped up and sent a powerful kick downward.
"Neko Charm!"
A giant cat paw appeared, stomping toward me.
In response, I dove to the side to dodge the attack.
Boom!
A massive cat paw print embedded itself in the ground, sending dirt and dust flying.
Suddenly, a bat swung out from the cloud of dust toward me. Not having time to dodge, I swung my sword, deflecting it back.
Kiana smoothly extended her hand and caught the bat as it flew back to her.
Barely taking a break, she had to raise her bat to block a downward sword strike from above.
Bam!
As Kiana was preoccupied with blocking the sword, he threw a kick to her side, sending her flying.
He gave his sword a slight shake, satisfied; all those training sessions with Fu Hua had paid off. Channeling the energy of Boost into the wooden sword, its blade turned red as he sent waves of energy slashes toward Kiana.
The slashes sliced through the ground like sickles, rushing toward Kiana with deadly force.
In response, Kiana swept her leg across, and the giant cat paw blocked all the incoming slashes.
Kiana stood up and began her counterattack.
She stomped her foot and rushed forward at a dizzying speed, throwing a punch straight at Yumeji's face.
Unyielding, he lowered his stance, dodging Kiana's punch, and landed a swift horizontal strike to her stomach with his wooden sword.
Even though the blow was heavy enough to make her feel like her insides were twisting and about to spill out, Kiana gritted her teeth and forced herself to endure it, then grinned widely.
Her hands quickly shifted, grabbing onto Yumeji's sword-wielding arm.
"Got you, you jerk!"
Using every ounce of strength she had, she lifted Yumeji and spun him around like a top, then hurled him a good ten meters away using centrifugal force.