Chapter 35: Accelerate Vs Pause: Part 1 (2/2)
[Do you wish to allocate four stat points into Strength?]
With just the thought of doing so, the system got the message instantly displaying the screen in front of his eyes.
”Yeah.” Said Gray with the swing already in motion.
[Allocated]
Gray put all his power into the swing. The anger from the past, from all those years of torture. He was consumed with rage and hatred. All of it together caused Gray's instincts to take over.
'No... Wait, Dont-!' Axel tried to stop him.
*THUMP!*
Without even realising it, he had imitated the same form the labyrinth's first floor boss had used against him. He shifted all of his body's weight and power into the fist, resembling a pitcher as he dragged his fist deep into the middle of Axel's face.
All of his emotions were carried by that punch.
Axel's heart sunk as he watched his flesh and skin get pushed inside, his face froze in that very same position. There was no pain.
Thinking that was the end of it, and he could just counter after this attack, his pupils dilated once he saw Gray winding up for another.punch. There were still two seconds left.
*THUMP!*
Gray unleashed another one, an upper cut right beneath his chin. Gray grit his teeth, squeezed his buttocks as he unleashed all of his power into that punch.
Then came the finish, with only a second left, Gray sent a kick right at Axel's face, hitting it cleanly across his face.
[Unpause]
The timer ended.
”Fuc-”
*BO-BOO-BOOOM!*
The attacks which were being held back suddenly registered as if finally catching up. Axel's head bopped backwards twice, a burst of wind was felt from behind, stressing just how powerful the pressure and force were.
Blood spurted out of his nose, as his head bounced to the back a third time. Gray's foot and hand print could be seen on his face, at that moment.
Painful. It was excruciatingly painful. His mind struggled to register the pain as he flew across the air, crashing into another table.
He laid there motionless whilst Gray approached him. During those moments, he thought to himself, was this really Gray? Was he really losing to Gray? The Gray?
.
.
.
”Hello Class, This is your new student, Gray. Treat him well.” Said the teacher.
Gray hair, gray eyes, and a small frame. Because of his looks however, he was intially welcomed greatly by the class, quite famous even. Especially amongst the girls.
”Hey~ Isn't he kind of cute?”
”I wonder if he' single...”
”His eyes and hair, is that natural? It looks so cool...!”
Axel who had always been number one, felt challenged by Gray's existence. He had an unnaproachable presence, a cold and dark one looming over him all the time as if he was depressed.
That made it harder for the people to talk to him. At the time, no one knew it wasn't his fault, he was just bad at socialising, but they took it as him just being the quiet type. Nevertheless they continued to try to get to know him.
Seeing Gray, Axel would constantly find himself being pissed off. Not simply because he was getting all the attention, but because he looked as if he was better off dead.
Because of that, he began lightly bullying him, smacking him on the back of the head or insulting him from time to time during lessons. The girls would have his back at first, but over time they stopped.
After all, Gray would never complain or fight back even, he would just go on with his day, his eyes void of emotion. No matter how badly he was bullied, he never uttered a word of complaint.
And that pissed Axel off, even more.
He didn't cry, he didn't ask him to stop, he would just take the beating and walk away. Because of that, the bullying only got worse, and worse and worst. Until eventually it had reached the point where he didn't even need to conceal the injuries he'd sustained all over his body at home from the school.
But no matter how much he tried, Unlike others, Gray never broke. And that was precisely the reason he had grown to hate him more than anyone else.
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'There's no way... That's Gray.' He thought to himself as he watched Gray's approaching figure. His head spun whilst he was overcome with diziness.
The people who had been watching quietly and in awe, were shocked. Axel lost?
”Hey... Shouldn't we stop this?”
”A-At this rate, will we really be reimbursed?”
”It's the apocalypse for fuck sakes, why are we fighting against each other?!”
A crowd could no longer bear to watch. They were all interrupted however, as Axel slowly got up, yelling out his opponents name.
”GRAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!”
”Be quiet.” Said Gray as he suddenly appeared before him, grabbing him by the neck.
He was so disorientated that he hadn't noticed. He was hit in his chin, causing his body's responsiveness to have taken a hit.
”You... You said you would kill me, didn't you? Then... It's only fair if I kill you, right?” Gray asked with a smile.
Fear clouded Axel's mind as he tried to break free of Gray's grasp. However he failed, his body was frozen.