Quoted By:
>73
Feeling emboldened by the spectators surrounding you, you rushed towards Bloodhound and launched a series of quick jabs at him. He neatly dodged and parried them all, returning a few swipes of his own while he was at it.
Your superior speed and reaction timing helped you keep up with him, giving you time to properly respond to each and every attack. That was, until he started jumping around and incorporating kicks into his combinations.
The man was unusually athletic, pulling off flawless spinning roundhouse kicks and vaulting over your head as if it were the most normal thing in the world. You were having much more trouble blocking these, and you suffered a few blows to your arms, legs and chest as a result.
You struggled to prevent your agitation from ruining your form, and instead waited patiently for the next middle kick to come your way.
And sure enough, a few seconds later, Bloodhound’s right leg flew towards your ribs with the intent of fracturing them. At the last moment, you caught his leg and pulled him towards you, making him lose his balance for a brief moment.
But that brief moment was all that you needed.
Bloodhound was <span class="mu-i">very</span> close to you now. Too close to effectively strike you or avoid your next attack, you thought.
Before he had a chance to react to this unfortunate position, you had already delivered a swift palm-strike to his chin, sending him flying backwards across the gymnasium.
You were vaguely aware of Gwen making an excited noise in the backround, but almost all of your attention was reserved for the man that was now tumbling away from you.
It didn’t take your opponent very long to recover from your attack, as he had already rolled back onto his feet. Nevertheless, you took this opportunity to press the advantage!
Knowing that his brain must’ve at least been a little bit rattled by that last hit, you peppered him with a barrage of lightning-fast punches! He blocked most of them, but a few slipped past his guard and slammed into his chest, ribs and shoulder.
Sometime during your assault, however, Bloodhound made a very unusual decision. He turned his body away from you, exposing his back and flanks. So, you punched those instead! Only, you felt as if you were pounding your fists against rocks when they did connect with his body, and you were momentarily thrown off by the bizarre sensation.
And in one, fluid movement, Bloodhound turned his body back around and slammed his forearm and elbow into your chest. It was such a simple maneuver, but for some reason, you could feel the air involuntarily leaving your lungs as your feet slid and staggered backwards.
Now, Bloodhound was back on you with the same dogged persistence that you displayed mere moments ago. Your vision was blurry, but your spider sense was acute enough to want you of the oncoming danger.
(Cont.)
