45 A Spar With Billy
"Keuk!"
Billy winced the moment he felt something land on his stomach.
The fist carried so much force that he could already feel a heavy wind pressure before it even touched him.
Fortunately, he had been fast enough to take a step backward, so that mitigated the blow by a considerable degree.
'A-ahh…!'
Billy did his best not to clutch his stomach despite the burning sensation that now swirled on it.
It stung him, to say the least, but he endured the pain.
He also tried to hide his downright shock, but Billy failed woefully at that.
His bloodshot eyes were glued to Rey, who had resumed his standby stance—almost as if prepared to deliver another volley.
'D-did Rey just land a hit… on me?'
Sure, Billy was already aware that he wasn't using any Skills, but his Stats were meant to be superior.
How was Rey able to do something like that?!
'Calm down, Billy. He just got lucky. Yes… I was distracted and he had a lucky score.'
After chalking it down to a fluke, Billy found himself regaining composure.
There was no way Rey could beat him in a thousand years.
'I'm a lot stronger now! I'm among the Top 5 in Alpha Class!'
"Let's try that once again. I wasn't paying enough attention." Billy quickly spoke.
He had been unable to show everyone watching the proper counter to give to the Martial Arts that Rey displayed.
He never thought he would make a blunder, but Billy quickly took it in stride.
'Next time… it won't happen again!'
"Begin!"
As soon as Billy said this, Rey used the same footworks as last time, but he drastically changed the rhythm.
As such, instead of arriving at Billy in six steps, he did so in eight.
'He's too… slow!'
Billy had already begun his counter the moment he saw Rey approach him, already ensuring Rey wouldn't be too fast and catch him off guard again.
Unfortunately, by acting too early, Billy's counter failed woefully.
And… the moment it failed…
~WHOOOSSH!~
… Rey closed in with a powerful fist.
~CRUNCH!~
This time, Rey's heavy blow landed right on Billy's face, causing him to stumble backwards.
The cracking sound he heard was most likely the sound of his nose breaking.
'E-eh? Again? How…?'
How was this happening?!
Billy gritted his teeth now, a heated glare traveling to Rey, who—for the purpose of the training—had gone back to his earlier position and returned to his standby stance.
It pissed Billy off to an absurd degree to see Rey appear so calm.
"Twice in a row, huh? Interesting…" Billy touched the bridge of his nose and readjusted the cartilage that had gotten shifted.
Even though he managed to smile, he was burning with rage within.
"Let's try this again."
Billy, at this point, didn't care if he was going to badly damage Rey in this next round.
'I planned on inflicting light punishment on him throughout the course of this training, but now… I've changed my mind.'
It was better to break him as early as possible.
'Come, Rey! I'll show you the difference in our abilities!'
The third try for Rey was the very opposite of the second.
Rather than utilizing six steps to draw closer to the target, Rey completed the process in four.
His swift movement allowed him to get near Billy faster, eliminating two of the tedious steps by improving his momentum.
Sure, it would come at the sacrifice of some stamina, but the speed made the improvisation worth it.
'Hehehe! I can see what you're doing, Rey!' Billy grinned internally.
Whether or not Rey was speeding towards him, it didn't matter.
He was going to counter perfectly!
Billy began to push his body forward for a counter.
'I'll match your speed! You can't escape me!'
As his body arched forward, and he made to grab Rey, who was now within distance, Rey made the final two steps and rerouted his blow.
Billy did not realize when Rey had moved to his right flank, completely evading the grapple that would have served as a perfect counter.
The result was inevitable.
~WHAM!~
Rey's blow hit Billy right in the cheek, causing Billy to stumble and finally fall to the ground.
Everyone's gasp came like a chorus, and their surprised stared greeted the surprising victor.
Several of them mouthed words like:
"H-how?!"
"What the hell?!"
"Rey actually won?!"
It was amazing—no, downright inspiring—to see someone from the Beta Class defeat an Alpha Student.
And to think it was the most average of all of them—Rey Skylar.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The voice came from the ground.
Billy was rising from his feet, having a furious expression.
He glared at Rey with a passion, not even bothering to hide his emotions any longer.
"That wasn't the Martial Arts Technique you were supposed to use. What the hell did you do?!"
Billy's words sounded like the sayings of a sore loser, but no one could say that.
They only waited patiently for how Rey would respond.
"But I used the Martial Arts Technique. Six Steps and a Thrust."
No one could deny that was what he did.
However…
"B-but you—!"
"I delayed for a brief moment and gave a feint—which is allowed in Martial Arts."
The veins on Billy's face increased slightly.
"What of the second round? You used eight steps before the thrust!"
For a moment, there was silence.
Billy was being petty about the moves, and everyone knew that, but he wasn't wrong.
Rey hadn't been faithful to the technique he was meant to use.
"I made a mistake in my footwork and ended up with eight instead of six. But, you never corrected me or said I was in the wrong back then."
As Rey said this, everyone's eyes widened instantly.
"I don't know why you're mentioning it now… Bill."
Rey's condescending words were laced properly with a respectful tone. It clearly made a mockery of Billy and his pride, but no one was complaining.
Something about the weak beating the strong—even if it was merely on the grounds of technicality—made them feel good.
Sure, they knew that if Billy was to use his Skills, he would destroy Rey.
However, the apparent nobody had found a way to grow stronger without relying on his Skills.
And whether Rey knew that or not, his action managed to inspire a lot of his fellows.
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[A/N]
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