NOVPUBWhen Kiernan was ready to punch again, Leon and the owner of the stall quickly stopped him.
"?"
Kiernan's eyebrow rose.
"It is now my turn. We will change whoever punches first after every turn. Keeps things fair, y'know."
Leon said.
"Oh, very well."
Kiernan lowered his arm and looked towards the punching machine's score.
Leon jabbed towards the machine, his four fingers of the fist landing on the red cushion, and watched as the score rose high.
[SCORE: 554]
With a smile on his face, Leon eased his fist back and looked very relaxed, as if it was just a simple punch that he could do at any point in time.
Based on the score, that punch was five times stronger than previous punches, and it didn't look like Leon put any effort into that punch either.
Kiernan swung his right fist, and it landed right in the middle of the red cushion, making the score jump immediately.
[SCORE: 555]
"Whoah~"
Aoi giggled and clapped her hands in amazement.
It was clear that Leon was showing off his control at the previous round, and to respond back, Kiernan showed that what he did wasn't anything special since he could do it as well.
It made her realize just how competitive her fiancé was, but it only made her fall deeper in love with him.
"Not bad…"
Leon said with a smirk.
'Maybe this won't be as boring as I expected. To win in Punch or Splash, you must reserve your energy, so when you have to punch last, you must ensure that you don't waste too much energy and show your opponent the true extent of your strength.
'Which is why it's wise to aim close to the required score, and with my control, it's been easy. I haven't found anyone that can match my control… until now.'
Leon crossed his arms, and with a nod, waited for Kiernan to punch next.
'Maybe I could try tricking him? I can make it look like I gave everything to my punch.'
Kiernan thought to himself and decided to do just that.
With a deep breath, he eased back his fist, lowered his stance, and activated some of his aura to make it seem like he was doing an all-out punch.
"?!"
Leon frowned.
At that moment, Kiernan's fist swooshed through the air and smashed into the red cushion.
Bam!
With the number rising, it soon reached four digits.
[SCORE: 1667]
"Whew…"
Kiernan breathed heavily, eased back into his standing stance, and shook his right little bit as if punching it hurt him.
The owner looked at the score, thought it was a decently average score, but it was far from what Leon was capable of doing.
'If that is his limit, this match won't even be close.'
He thought to himself.
"…"
Aoi nipped on her fingers nervously and knew that score wasn't close to being good, but she still hoped that Kiernan had more in store.
'I know Kiernan is master of defense, but this couldn't be the limit of his offensive prowess. I know for a fact… his body is strong.'
Aoi thought with a slight blush creeping up her cheeks and shook her head again, shaking off those dirty thoughts.
Leon narrowed his gaze, and this time, put a little bit more effort into his punch and rocked the punching machine with a powerful blow.
The score rose high.
[SCORE: 1697]
'It looks like the higher the score, the harder it is for Leon to control his punches. It makes sense since when you try to punch strong, there is less room for error, and since he doesn't want to lose, he is playing it safe.'
Kiernan thought.
As the score got reset again, Leon didn't waste a second, and with a grunt, he smashed his fist into the machine.
[SCORE: 2011]
"Whoo…"
Kiernan breathed heavily, lowered his stance, and smashed his fist into the machine.
[SCORE: 2050]
"Oh?"
The owner rubbed his chin as it looked like Kiernan had more strength in store, but he saw him breathing heavily and thought that the match would end soon.
"I know you're pretending. Those punches you threw weren't anywhere close to your limit, isn't that right? Should we stop playing around and do this for real?"
Leon said.
"Hah… that obvious?"
Kiernan wryly smiled, stopped pretending like he had breathing problems, and stood tall with a relaxed expression.
"Last year, I played in about five games of Punch or Splash. I won them all, and back then, my record score was 4998.
"You're a participant in the tournament of the dojos, so don't think for a second that I am underestimating you." 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝖈𝖔𝔪
Leon said with a serious tone.
"Good. You're talented, yet not arrogant. I am done playing around too—4998 score, was it?"
Kiernan looked at the punching machine, reeled back his arm, and rooted his feet on the ground.
It was instantly clear that something had changed with Kiernan's mood, as if a switch was flicked inside him that made him turn instantly serious.
"IRON SMASH!"
Kiernan punched the machine, making it creak and groan under the force of his blow.
The owner of the stall didn't like that sound, as it sounded like all the gears inside the machine were ready to completely break.
[SCORE: 5789]
"Good!"
Leon's pupils dilated, as if they were the eyes of a predator, and then he raised his fist.
"Ghoul Style, Fractura Ossi!"
Black smoke began to billow around his fist, and then he smashed it into the punching machine with enough force to push it back a step.
[SCORE: 5994]
"It will break…"
The owner wiped the sweat off his forehead and wanted to stop the match immediately, but he was afraid that they would punch him instead!
"I hope that wasn't your strongest punch. I have more in store."
Leon said and rubbed his fists together.
A small crowd had gathered around the stall without them noticing, and when they saw the score of the previous round, they knew it was a very high-level match!
A few people from the rival dojos watched with sharp gazes, as these two were their rivals and whom they would most likely meet tomorrow in the matches.
