Leon faced the dummy, adrenaline surging through his veins. The familiar creaking of its joints echoed in his ears, igniting a fire within him.
He would not back down this time.
"Let's do this," he muttered, tightening his fists.
[Come on, just do it!]
He charged forward, unleashing a barrage of punches, his movements faster and more precise than before, and this was visible because instead of just avoiding like it usually did before, the dummy knew that Leon was too fast for that, so it opted in blocking his attacks instead.
After blocking several punches, though, the dummy immediately countered by aiming at Leon's head.
But the boy saw that coming, so he crouched down, now aiming for the dummy's knee.
~THUD~
The impact sent a jolt up his leg, seemingly harming him more than his opponent, but he didn't care. The dummy still staggered slightly, its wooden leg creaking ominously.
[Nice one, Host! Keep it up!]
"Not stopping now!" Leon roared, confidence swelling as he pushed off the ground, leaping into the air for a spinning kick aimed at the dummy's head, and thanks to his better control of his aura, he was now able to focus it in his legs to enhance his attack damage.
The dummy, however, anticipated the move. It raised its arm, deflecting his attack with a swift motion, and Leon hit the ground hard, rolling to regain his footing.
"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth, shaking off the pain as much as he could.
As long as the fight didn't end, then he didn't care about that.
Leon lunged again, feigning a punch to the left before pivoting and aiming for the right.
The dummy reacted too slowly this time, as it immediately positioned both its arms sideways to block the first attack, and so his fist connected solidly with its wooden jaw.
It wasn't much, but he had learned that attacking first was actually much more of an advantage than he originally believed since the dummy had a limit for the power it could use: the human's aura, meaning that if Leon managed to match it, he would definitely win.
~CRACK~
The sound reverberated in the training area, and Leon's heart raced. He had landed a hit!
For the legitimate first time in four days, he had actually managed to reach that dummy, which had always somehow managed to avoid all his attacks.
This was proof that he was getting stronger.
After all, it is not because you got a powerful class that you can slack off, managing your skills and movements were all up to you, and it wasn't like some sort of gift you get when you are born.
"YES!" he shouted, adrenaline flooding his system,
The dummy shook off the impact as it immediately dashed at the boy, but Leon pressed on, feeling invincible.
He sidestepped the dummy's counterattack, flowing into a series of quick jabs.
[Focus on your breathing, Host!]
"Right!" He inhaled sharply, letting the air fuel his movements. Each strike landed with more conviction, and he began to see cracks forming along the dummy's surface.
Leon felt a surge of exhilaration. This was it—he could win. He ducked under another swing, then sprang forward, delivering a powerful uppercut.
~SMASH~
The dummy's head jerked back, splintering wood scattering across the floor.
"Come on! Just a little more!"
But right as he was about to land the final blow… the dummy moved its head to the right at such a speed even Leon was confused.
Its empty eye sockets were now replaced by crimson pupils that were letting out a trail of the same color, and then, its wooden hand surrounded by aura, it punched Leon away, the attack much stronger than any other one it sent yet.
[If the dummy feels threatened, it can decide to use its full power!]
"FUCK…"
Not wanting to go down after such good progress, Leon crossed his two arms in front of the blow, then focused all his aura on them.
Even if it could break both his arms, he wouldn't abandon now.
The impact slammed into Leon like a train.
~THUD~
He felt the air rush from his lungs, his body crashing against the ground.
But even then…
[Get up,] EGO positioned himself in front of the boy's face as he tried as hard as possible not to lose consciousness, [Everyone is looking at you.]
As he heard EGO speak, he turned his head, and unbeknownst to him, dozens upon dozens of people were surrounding his arena, including all those 'training buddies' he always saw in here, as well as Dan, Alice and Noah.
Everyone had heard the impact of the fight, and they even sensed the aura coming out of Leon, so they all rushed to check whatever was happening.
[Get up.]
'Fuck…' but it wasn't to impress people that Leon was doing all of his, his main focus was getting stronger.
As said before, as long as the fight didn't end, it meant Leon could keep going, and so he got up.
The dummy lunged once more before he could even recover, with an attack even more powerful than the last.
But…
"Come at me," Leon's eyes were burning with the same aura that allowed the dummy to become stronger, almost as if his instincts had copied it upon him seeing it.
And so…
[Oh? Getting bold, aren't we?]
~SLAM~
Leon blocked this attack with his two hands by positioning them in front of the aura-filled fist with of the dummy.
It hurt, but with this…
"I win," he kept holding the dummy's fist with one of his hands, but used the other one to instantly grab the end of that very same arm.
And so… in front of everyone's watchful gazes, wondering if someone would finally defeat these hellish dummies…
~CRACK~
Leon teared off the dummy's arm with his sheer strength.
Leon held the severed arm in his end, not letting go as the wooden limb dangled from his grip.
But this didn't mean this was over.
The dummy was staggered and weakened, but using its other arm, it immediately attempted to rush at Leon again.
"FUCK YOU!" but, using the sharp edges of its wooden arm as a weapon, he planted it in the dummy's torso.
~THUNK~
The wooden arm pierced the dummy's torso, and splinters flew as Leon pressed the severed limb deeper.
"Let's see you come back from this!" he shouted.
[Holy, are you actually angry?] even EGO was surprised.
The dummy jerked violently, its crimson pupils flickering as it was losing its life force.
Then it raised its remaining arm in an attempt to keep going, but Leon wasn't done yet.
And so, in a final attack that contained all the pain he had gotten from that little wood shit these last four days, Leon focused his entire aura in his right hand, holding his wrist with his left as the power he was summoning was too much for even him to handle.
And then… he punched the dummy's torso again, with all his strength.
~SLAM, BOOOOOM~
The dummy literally exploded in thousands of pieces, scattering throughout the arena.
And so this could only mean one thing...
[Congratulations, Leon Devour, you are the first to defeat a 'Dummy'!]
A message popped up in the middle of the area, for everyone to see.
[Leon Devour wins!]