10 Moving Forward (1/2)
The seconds continued to count down, but Reed felt as if time had stopped. Reed knew that from the day he decided to embark down the path of conquerors, he'd have to fight for his dreams.
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There was nothing he could do about the harsh reality of the world; one needed the will to claim what they desired. Nothing in life was for free.
Reed hated fighting, but he understood that he did not possess the right to object. He would have to fight; he would have to kill. There were some things people had to do out of necessity to move forward.
Reed thought back on his past failures and loosened up his shoulders. He tossed away his worries and shame; they were holding him back. He would put one foot forward and keep walking. Nothing else mattered.
The android lifelessly stood as it stared at Reed in a stanceless position. It cared not for Reed's feelings and simply waited for orders. The soulless android thought of its opponent as nothing more than an obstacle.
Silence reigned across the platform. Nothing could be heard aside from the gentle tune of the wind. The boy and the android were solely focused on one another. The world shrunk down; the only thing that existed for them was the enemy and the ring.
Moonlight descended past the cloudy sky and landed on them. Finally, the ring lit up with green light, signaling to them that it had begun.
Reed's eyes gleamed. Without any hesitation, he shot forward like a bullet toward his enemy and threw out a simple, but explosive strike that packed all of his momenta. His fist rocketed towards the android's face but hit empty air. The android swiftly ducked and countered with an uppercut aimed square at his jaw; it intended on knocking him out with a decisive blow.
He had anticipated that the android would take the bait he put out, and lo and behold, look at what happened. Risk and reward were intrinsically linked together; Reed knew that his cowardly nature was why he had never won once.
Every time he had been allowed to counter the android, he hesitated. He always lacked the resolve to follow through with his thoughts. Afraid of messing up, Reed would choke up mid-fight and eventually lose once the android broke through his guard.
He continued to lose because he did not understand - no, rejected the essence of Yohua. Yohua was designed to end a fight as quickly as possible; it was the bane of warriors who fought defensively, like Reed. After a month and a half of failing, Reed finally accepted his weakness: his mind.
The android would always take advantage of Reed's indecisive fighting style and defeat him ruthlessly. In that sense, the android was better suited for Yohua than Reed. A machine would never hesitate, after all.
But this time it was different. Reed cast away his mental shackles and resolved himself to fight. He no longer fought against his instincts; his powerful body and clear mind finally synched up for the first time.
The android's uppercut never landed; Reed willingly entered the android's range and started the match with a classic feint attack. As soon as the android ducked down and countered, Reed instantly followed through with a vicious knee strike at the android's face. The machine furiously flew backward like a cannonball and Reed immediately chased after it.
Reed understood that he couldn't let the android build up any momentum during the fight, or he'd surely lose. The damn thing was a machine and would never tire; on the other hand, he'd slowly become fatigued as the fight progressed.
He had to start strong and end the fight as quickly as possible. He had to keep the heat up and keep the android oppressed.
Reed leaped into the air and came hurtling down from above; his leg aimed directly at the android's head. The android recognized that the strike would kill it and hurried rolled out the way as Reed plunged. An enormous crack formed where his leg struck, and he promptly continued his assault.
He lunged at the android and threw himself on top of it, aiming to break its arms. The easiest way to secure a permanent advantage over the android would if he crippled it. He tossed out a punch at the android's arm joint, where it was weakest, but it was intercepted by the android. It grabbed onto Reed's arm and pulled him even closer to it.
The android rapidly coiled around Reed and strangled him mercilessly as they tossed about on the ring. Reed knew he'd lose if he failed to escape within a couple of seconds and furiously struggled to break out of the chokehold. Reflexively, he grabbed onto the arm that was choking him and pulled on it with a maniacal effort. He strained himself to his limits and pushed through the incredible pain he felt as his muscles tore.