Chapter 10

“You over there!” I call out to someone from the opposite side of the crowd of warriors. As I was not being specific, I had to say, “You behind the one without a shirt. Yes, you with the full hair.” And all eyes turn toward the one I was trying to call out.













My eyes were fixated on him as well for recognition, and with the way he is staring right back at me, I could not tell what he is thinking. Even with all the attention focused on him, he remained passive as he walked out to the front.













It was strange that I called out a specific wolfling from the crowd of warriors. The only reason I have for that has something to do with me alone. Why? Because it is him. The same stranger from nights ago that has my feeling all messed up.













As he draws nearer to me, the odd feeling in me began to well up. The effect was magnifying, and although I have been keeping it in me all this while, especially through the spars I had, there was no way I could hold it in anymore. Staring at him right now made me want to grab him and explain how badly he was affecting my mental state.













“You called me,” he says, snapping me out of my mixed feelings and thoughts. I observe how his chiseled jawline moves during the process of speaking. Or should I say ‘after’? Still intriguing to see, I must say.













“Yes, I did,” I muster up to say, “because I want you to fight with me.”













There was still no reaction from him despite announcing the reason I called him out. I have my reason, though. I want to test the prowess of the one who has got me this fragile-hearted.













I turn my head to look for Zane, the head warrior. “I believe he is one of your best too,” I say after sighting him.













“He is.” Zane wastes no time in responding.













“Good,” was what I uttered before looking back at my newest opponent. “So, are you ready?”













To be honest, I feel a little whelmed that I am about to go up against him. This is the first time in a long time that I feel this bothered when about to go up against somebody. The last time I felt this way was when I was nine. At that time, I was in my first fighting competition among the territorial borders.













“I am...” he says. But I do not wait for him to take a stance before I make a go at him with the fastest of speed. Yes, I want to finish this once and for all.













Maybe I was predictable because my hand aiming at his face was suddenly blocked. It didn’t even matter that I had been too fast during the process. And because of that, I went for the other side of his face with my other hand but he grabbed it before it could make an impact.













To disable the momentum from overwhelming me, I quickly jump and then put both of my legs on his chest which helps me to take a stunt backward, freeing my hands from his.













When I land on the ground with both hands, I feel the weight of something about to hit me from above so I change position by rolling to the side, only to realize I was almost kicked on the face.













I was up on my feet quickly before another kick could get to me, and just because of the way I get up, I was able to charge at him using my hands as a weapon.













Hit after hit from me was blocked by him and I was getting tired of trying to get a hit in. And the crazy thing is that he seemed not to get exhausted that he was on the defensive while I constantly attacked him.













“My turn...” was what I thought I heard from him before the momentum of the spar took a twist. I mentioned a while ago that I was attacking while he defended. Now it is vice versa.













The way his hands and legs were moving seemed to be a little difficult for me. The impact was even something that I would not really want to talk about asides from the fact that his hands were much stronger than mine. Probably even more than the other two I last fought.













I have even started to question myself on whether or not I will get through this fight but what made me continue was the fact that I realized that I have to stay strong. I have never lost a fight before. And even if I am going to lost one, it should be because I fought a hard fight.













‘You need to slow down, Soma,’ Mark’s voice suddenly gets into my head, and briefly, I look to the side to see him standing beside Leonard.













‘Slow down? How do you expect me to slow down? I’m not even attacking.’ I respond telepathically, and at the same time move my head to the side to avoid a hit to my face.













‘I know. But you going to wear yourself out if you keep using too much of your speed. Do you want to get through this?’













‘I do!’













‘Then listen to me. Stop trying to get the job done in time. You might eventually lose if you continue this way,’













I frown despite knowing he will not see me. ‘Does that even make sense?’













‘Listen to him, Soma. He’s right. That’s the only way you’ll be able to get this done.’ this time, it was Rainia that spoke into my head. It made me start to speculate and I think it’s making much sense now because I was starting to feel myself wear out as mentioned.













‘Fine then.’













And from there I start to do what was asked of me. Firstly, I reduce my speed, such that my movements were now slower than before, to the extent that the hits were coming through. But that didn’t mean any of the hits got me because I blocked as fast as possible.













From there, I started giving back to him what he was giving to me. One hit from him brought one from me. It became more like we were exchanging the hits to see who will get down first and this went on for way too long. But no, I was not exhausted yet.













“That’s enough!”













The voice from the head warrior was so loud that in midair we both had to stop ourselves from hitting each other. My leg was being directed to the side of his body while his hand was on the way to my neck. I don’t even know which was more lethal.













The moment I put my leg down to relax, I start to pant hard with my hands on my knee for support. Beads of sweat were dripping down every part of my body and my clothing was completely drenched.













Looking at him, I could see that it was the same situation for him. The only difference was that he wasn’t panting as hard as I am. Well, you won’t expect the same thing from someone that went through one fight as compared to the one that went through three.













“That... That was unexpected,” I manage to say in between the pants. “It has never happened before...”













I still cannot believe I could not beat him like I did the others. It literally ended in a stalemate, and who knows what would have happened if we continued with it.













A hand was suddenly put over my back. Judging from the scent exuding, I could tell it was Mark standing beside, or probably behind, me. And as he helped me stand straight, he wrapped my jacket around me which I believe was the right thing to do due to how exposed I was after being drenched.













“Good that you listened,” Mark whispers into my ear. I nod in response while still staring at my opponent. That was what I kept on doing even when Mark starts to pull me away from the scene. I only stop when I begin to back him.













When Mark and I get to the top of the pavement where Leonard has been standing all along, I could see that he still had a smirk on him. But it was not that creepy this time around, which I will say I appreciated. The creepy vibe from him never sits well with me.













“Is that enough to convince you about how good I am?” I ask Leonard with my brows raised at him, stopping briefly to speak to him in the process.













“It sure did. But you stalemated one of the fights. I think that shows how strong our warriors are,”













“That was the first,” I say as I pass by his side, “and it’s never going to happen again.”