77 Battle Between Soldiers (1/2)

Carlos stood at his side of the ring while facing Hou Xin and was mirrored almost perfectly. This calm only lasted until the ”referee” for the match, yelled ”Fight!” as everything thereafter was a true battle to the death even if the rules called for one side to stop after achieving undeniable victory.

Jhan's kickboxing and Atid's dojo were akin to natural enemies; utterly immiscible. Each side hated the other and all that they stood for, so it was to no one's shock the manner in which the fight instantly reached its peak right from the get-go. This wasn't a play fight like the one between Luca and Atid. Rather, both sides were playing for keeps, and being able to ”accidentally” deal serious injury or even cripple the other side was considered a plus.

This being a true fight, representing essentially the core of what Elizabeth imagined when she first thought of joining a place to learn martial arts, she took extra special care to study the fight with her Timeworn eyes and every speck of her focus. With neither side wielding any weapons, just the strength of their bodies and the force of their Qi, this was as close to a pure battle of martial arts as Elizabeth had seen thus far.

Though Carlos was the one on the side being challenged, he actually kick-started the fight, instantly making it clear to all that his speed was marginally superior to Hou Xin. Though his staring kick was chuck full of flair as he stuck against Hou Xin, more than anything, there were several tons of force behind this first attack.

Hou Xin took the kick and stood as stable as a mountain; not at all fazed by the power Carlos displayed. His arms which formed the cross that barred Carlos' kick from damaging his internal organs blazed to life in weak orange flames, which were just faintly stronger when compared to the potency of Elizabeth's clear red flames.

Carlos kicked off from Hou Xin's arms before the flames of his enemy's Qi could do anything to him, and after bouncing down from the ceiling, he and Huo Xin started trading blow for blow as they were just about equal even after giving their best effort to hit the other.

Bang! Bang! Bang! It almost sounded as terribly as the explosions consequent of Luca and Atid's battle, as punch met arm and kick met leg. Combating Hou Xin's Fire Qi, Carlos used Earth Qi of his own as his body was coated in dense and grainy yellowish-brown energy. Because this fight was limited to just the two participant's bodies, after their physical attacks didn't yield any results, it didn't take long for all sorts of new tricks to appear and make the already impressive-looking bout all the more spectacular!

”Hmph!” Hou Xin waved his hands and a trail of flames stayed static in the air for longer than they normally would have; effectively masking the movement behind their area of obscurement. The first time he used this new method of manipulating flames, he managed to graze Carlos' cheek with the sweep of his leg as the latter was surprised and almost failed to react in time.

That ”small” grazing caused a couple drops of blood to flow out of Carlos' face, and due to the battle's nature, with Carlos' quick movements, small splatters of blood started accumulating around him in the ring. However, Carlos didn't take this lying down, as his mind charged with adrenaline worked overtime to analyze how Hou Xin's Veil of Flames would be applied as the battle progressed.

Like Hou Xin, Carlos also used his Earth Qi though not to make a veil, but rather, congeal on his person and create an extra layer of armor. He had hesitated until this point to bring out his martial skill as it was a known fact that all martial skills — including his Earth Armor and Hou Xin's Veil of Flames — burned through one's energy reserves at unsustainable rates. This didn't apply if the Practitioner used abilities of a Stage below their's, but in this true fight of life and death, neither participant doubted that the other would fight back as hard as possible.

Unfortunately for Hou Xin, Carlos' Earth Armor wasn't just a defensive skill. The properties of Carlos' Earth Armor not only elevated his defense by providing him with an extra coat of protection… The Armor also didn't weigh down on Carlos' body yet made all his attack ”heavier.”