Joren rushed at the fire bandit who was cauterizing the wound on his leg. He summoned mana bullets and launched them at the man. He wanted to end this as quickly and efficiently as possible.
"Tsk! Fucking brat!" The fire bandit summoned a wall of flames that he used to shield himself from the mana bullets, but to his shock, his flame wall was useless against the mana bullets as they tore their way through the fire.
He moved out of the way, avoiding the mana bullets wincing in pain as his leg was still injured, but he pushed the pain to the back of his head. As he got his bearings back, Joren came from above aiming at his head.
"You can't get the jump on me brat!" The bandit pulled out his sword and parried Joren's attack.
'Dammit!' Joren used mana force to pull himself backward throwing one of his mana swords in the process. The bandit was going to swipe it away when it shined brightly then broke into ten pieces and few at the bandit in all directions.
As the bandit was blocking and dodging, Joren ran around looking for the best time to attack. He was purposely having the pieces of his mana sword aim for the injured leg not only to force the bandit to defend the one point of his body that's a liability but also for him to let his guard down.
'Now!' Joren accumulated mana in his feet and rocketed towards the bandit who had his back turned to him. He wanted to end things with his next strike.
As he drew closer, he felt the temperature getting hotter and started sweating. Right as his sword was about to connect with the back of the bandit, flames burst out of nowhere, consuming his right arm in the process which left a nasty burn on it.
"Agghh!!" Joren cried in pain as he felt his skin boil under the heat. In an instant, his arm had second-degree burns and slight blisters. He used mana to soothe the pain but that only helped slightly.
"Are you sure you can take your eyes off of me?!" In an instant, the fire bandit was right in front of Joren. He kicked him in the stomach, watching as he tumbled back. Following up, he punched him in the face, lifted him up by grabbing his hair, and punched him in the stomach sending Joren flying into the distance.
"Don't tell me that's all you got! Didn't you want to dance?!" The bandit made a spear out of flames and hurled it at Joren. He tried to use his mana bullet to counter the fire spear but it was destroyed when they collided.
"Fuck!" Joren dodged out of the way only to find a knee that almost implanted itself in his face. He blocked the knee, albeit with difficulty, and managed to put some distance between him and the bandit.
"Giving up?" The bandit asked
"Not a chance!"
"You're only at the 2nd circle while I'm at the 3rd. While I admit you're talented for your age, you won't be able to beat me. So what do you think is going to happen to you if you don't give up?"
"There's only one way to find out." Joren calmed his breathing, focused on the mana around him, and threw all of his thoughts away. His only focus should be eliminating his enemy. 'If I can't beat him in strength, I have to rely on my intelligence and my abilities.' He closed his eyes and focused on everything around him.
"Heh, amateur." He held his hand out and fired five fireballs at Joren. He didn't know why Joren closed his eyes, but he didn't care. It was foolish of him to not keep his eyes on his enemy, so he took advantage of the situation.
With his eyes closed, Joren could still see and feel everything. He was more intune with mana, more focused. He had a calm mind and didn't let his anger cloud his judgment. He could see the fireballs coming his way, so instead of dodging, he focused all his mana on his hands and parried all five fireballs.
"What?! How did he-" Instead of finishing his sentence, the bandit attacked once more. He created another fire spear and threw it at Joren.
Feeling this as well, Joren decided not to dodge or block the attack, instead, he caught it. He could feel the flames burning his hand but he didn't focus on that. He dissipated the flames and stood still, keeping his eyes closed.
"Are you mocking me?!" In anger, the bandit clenched his fists and flames came forth. He dashed towards Joren leaving a trail of fire that burned the ground. His fists tore through the air, trying to reach their target but were blocked by a hand.
Joren, still with his eyes closed, blocked the attack the bandit threw at him. When another punch was thrown, Joren blocked that as well. When the bandit tried to kick him, Joren slightly moved himself out of the way. No matter how many punches or kicks the bandit tried, Joren would block or dodge them.
"Stop dodging you bastard!" Flames burst from his arms with intensity that wasn't there before. The heat was enough to boil water and the light it emitted was blinding. "Take this!" with all his might he punched in the direction of Joren [Fire Fist] the name of his attack scorched everything in its path leaving a deep scar in the ground while nearby trees caught on fire.
"Haah, Hahh. Did I get him? Yeah, I got him." Breathing heavily and tiredly, he pondered what happened to Joren. Since he was in the 3rd circle and used his most powerful attack, he assumed that Joren, who was in the 2nd circle wouldn't survive.
Just then, a white ball of energy slammed into his back, knocking the wind out of him. The bandit huffed, coughed, and wheezed, trying to get the air back into his lungs when a knee was planted into his face.
"Arghh!! Fuck!" He grabbed his face on instinct as the pain spread only to be punched in the stomach. After coughing, he saw Joren standing right in front of him. "How are you alive?!" He threw a punch at Joren only for it to be blocked and countered with a right hook hitting him square in the jaw.
The bandit didn't even have time to assess what was happening. After getting hit in the jaw, Joren again kneed him in the face followed up by a left hook. When the bandit tried to fight back, Joren blocked his punch and uppercutted him causing him to stumble back. He hit the bandit with another right and left hook then kicked his knee, breaking it in the process.
"AAARGHHHHHH!!" He wailed and screamed as the pain coursed through his body. 'It hurts! Fuck, it hurts!' He started crying and put his hands out to stop Joren from approaching. "Stop! Stop! Please, I give up!" he didn't want to get hurt anymore, he didn't want to feel pain anymore, but his pleas were all on deaf ears.
Joren kicked him in the face, breaking a few teeth in the process. Blood flowed from the bandit's mouth. His nose was broken and his lips were busted. He had a black eye and overall wasn't looking too well.
"I said stop!" In one last attempt, the bandit fired a continuous stream of fire at Joren. He wanted to burn him alive and to his horror, that was exactly what he was doing. Joren didn't block, he didn't dodge, nor did he make a barrier to push the fire away, he simply walked through it, burning his body in the process.
Joren wasn't an idiot though, he coated himself with large amounts of mana before walking through the flames. He held out his hands and four mana bullets were formed which he then fired at the bandit's limbs. He could hear the sound of flesh being torn, bones being broken, and the cries of pain.
As the flames dissipated, he could see two large holes in the bandit's legs, and his arms were torn off.
"Please. Please. Please" Crying in pain, that was all he could say. The bandit could feel his life slipping away and he was scared, he wanted to live, but Joren didn't. He got on top of him and started punching his face brutally. With each strike, you could hear bones cracking, shockwaves rippling, and you could see blood flying everywhere.
Joren didn't stop, he kept going, putting all his anger into each punch he threw. His hands were bloody and bruised but that didn't stop him. After a bit, the bandit stopped moving as he had died from having his skill crushed but Joren kept going.
When he finally calmed down, he saw the mess he made. The skin on his fingers was torn, and blood covered his hands, chest, and some of his face. The bandit's face was caved in and brain matter oozed out from the cracks in his skill. To a normal person, they would have vomited their lunch, and Joren should have as well, but he didn't feel anything, just emptiness. He got up and looked up at the sky.
'The moon is beautiful tonight.' He thought to himself. Looking back down, he walked over to the bandit and stomped on his head, crushing what was left over.