Chương 54: Power gap

Evel blinked, and only the grey stone ceiling stared back. Am I… lying down? With a groan, Evel slowly flipped his body over and picked himself up on his feet. Just as he was getting his thoughts together, he heard a familiar voice.

"Sorry, sorry. Forgot you were so weak." Evel looked up. Albert was awkwardly scratching his head as he struggled to get back on his feet. Right, we were about to start sparring. Evel stabilized his stance and looked at his slightly shaky hands as the pieces fell together. They had already begun sparring. And Evel had lost faster than he could blink. Swallowing hard, Evel raised his fists up in front of him once more. Albert smirked. Evel zoned in his shaky vision to one singular point.

He would never be able to beat Albert in a fight; he knew that, but at the very least, he should be able to see his movement, right? He took a deep inhale. His eyes remained focused on Albert, who was slowly lowering his stance. He blinked – the world changed. A gust of wind blew his hair backward as he tried to understand what he was seeing. Albert – no, his entire vision – had been replaced by a single dominating object. A fist.

"For now, I'll hold back my speed and strength to your level." Albert calmly explained as he paced back a few steps. Evel exhaled. The gap was just too large. And another similar gap between him and the ferrum badges… how many more gaps of that level until Alaric? The Emperor? Evel shook his head. Focus. Albert lunged. His right arm reeled back— a heavy, telegraphing motion that Evel's eyes locked on to. He braced, throwing his guard up to meet the impact. But the air stayed silent.

Before Evel could even register the trick, the floor vanished. The world tilted into a blur of grey stone and rushing air as Evel's shoulders crashed onto the ground.

"Heh," Albert smirked, pacing back again. Evel got up once again and took a deep breath. Maybe under normal circumstances, he'd have been able to notice the feint, but Albert was just far too domineering. Evel took a deep breath and cleared his mind. I need to do something to throw him off. Albert's figure closed in, once again with his right arm reeled back. This time, Evel got low, really low. Then kicked off the ground with all his strength.

Albert's expression twisted into confusion as Evel's body flew across the basement and latched onto Albert's waist. Albert toppled, slamming the ground with his back. Evel refused to let go. Albert's fist crashed into Evel's side, causing a blunt throbbing, but he kept holding on tightly.

"It's not a bad idea…" Albert twisted his body, using the force of his legs to flip Evel over. His grip loosened as Albert stood over him, with his forearm dug into Evel's neck. The air in his lungs turned to lead. He thrashed, fingers clawing uselessly at Albert's forearm, but the pressure wouldn't give. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"But you have no idea what to do after I'm on the ground." He lightened the pressure of his forearm and stood back up once again, leaving Evel curled on the floor, gasping desperately.

"I'll go even slower." Albert chuckled.

"This time, use your ability." By the time Evel got to his feet, Albert was already approaching. This time, Evel could see each of his movements clearly. He approached with the same maneuver: right arm reeled back. His movements were slow, which should have allowed Evel to perfectly react to every attack. This time, the punch actually came, and Evel quickly dodged right. Getting low, Evel got closer to Albert's body, taking advantage of the overextended arm. His stomach was fully exposed! BAM!

Evel landed a clean hit on Albert's core, as his mind raced to find the next sequence of attacks. With how much slower Albert was, he actually stood a chance! A motion tugged at his vision as the previously overextended arm began crashing down on him. Pull back! But he couldn't! Albert's other arm had wrapped around the one he had used to punch him. Shit! Evel activated his aura, summoning the spectral hand and commanded it to intercept the incoming fist. No! Redirecting it will be cheaper!

Eth danced, slightly nudging the incoming hand a few hairs from Evel's face.

"Oh?" Albert said, continuing to tightly grip onto one of Evel's hands.

"I was pretty sure that punch was gonna land." Evel clenched his jaw. Even with the usage of his ability and higher speed, he still couldn't even put up a fight. Evel got tugged forward, and at the same time, Albert's knee came crashing upward, knocking the wind out of his lungs. As he fought to reclaim his breath, Albert finally let go of Evel's hand and reeled back his fist. Evel watched helplessly as the fist slowly approached his face. He could see it move; his mind could even react to it.

But his body couldn't, not in its current state. His vision darkened as he flew backwards, landing hard on the stone floor. A sharp throbbing heat bloomed across his jaw while his lungs seized, desperate for the air the impact had stolen. Heaving deep with heavy breath and gritting his teeth, he scrambled back to his feet. Slowly, he raised his shaky hands again.

"This time, I'll walk you through what you're doing wrong." Evel steadied his breath and refocused his vision. These lessons were an extreme privilege. He wouldn't – no, he couldn't waste them. Not if he ever wanted to keep up with his peers. Meanwhile, on the eastern side of Ichoris's slums, a seated copper-haired man impatiently bounced his legs, taking occasional glances at the watch on his wrist. On his chest was a glass badge with the symbol of a knife.

11: 00am He sat on a stool in front of a tall building, five stories tall and with pristine white walls – the only clean building in the area – occasionally taking glances at the front door. Beside the door was a jet-black banner with an image of rusted chains. At the bottom, it read: Redigo. Hearing the door behind him finally open, the man stood up.

"Hey, Blake." The short, brown-haired man greeted. Blake spat on the ground.

"Don't you dare fucking 'Hey Blake' me after making me wait for 40 fucking minutes, you piece of shit."

"Dude, language." The man replied, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Fuck you, Graham. Can we finally leave now?" As Blake turned to walk away from the building, he heard a single clap from Graham.

"Ah!" Graham exclaimed, a look of practiced innocence lighting up his features.

"I forgot something, could you give me like five minutes?" Blake turned back to face Graham, his nostrils flaring and his hand slowly reaching for the sword on his belt. Graham snickered.

"Joking, joking. Let's go."

"Piece of shit," Blake muttered under his breath, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. Graham quickened his pace to catch up.

"I don't understand you." Graham threw his arms up in a shrug.

"Your brother is so talented, yet here you are doing shake-ups with someone like me. You really gotta get a hold on your life."

"Fuck you." He replied plainly, keeping his eyes focused on the path ahead of him.

"Also, today's not a shakeup."

"Oh?" Graham immediately perked up.

"There's been a new guy on the block who's been acting suspicious. We're to get some basic information to profile him."

"Ooo, it's about time we got some action in the slums. I still don't know how I managed to be stuck with the ONE Banner that has its base in the slums. They didn't even have the courtesy to extend the lights down here." Blake crushed the dry leaf below his feet.

"If you care so much, just buy a place in the Upper."

"And leave my good friend behind?"

"Tch."

"What do we know about this new guy? Part of a competing Banner?"

"He was spotted in the slums for the first time yesterday, but I'm not sure how long he's been in Ichoris. Apparently, he was walking around yesterday looking at buildings. They say his name is 'Eth'."

"Oh, so it's just another businessman who thinks they'll be able to get something to work down here. Also, Eth?"

"Yup."

"Are you sure they didn't mishear him?"

"It's possible," Blake smirked.

"That or his parents had a lisp." Graham chuckled, "Where's the first spot?"

"Apparently, he was talking to some guy named Mateo, and previously gave some food to a girl named Clara." Blake took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Graham.

"We have a few other places to check out afterwards as well." Graham smiled, looking up at the rising sun.

"Hopefully, things start to get a little more interesting in these parts."