Chapter 59: Inexperience
Isaac, who had been unmoving for a while, twisted his body.
Blinded by success, his opponent had gone for a finishing move, assured that Isaac couldn’t react to his speed.
Unfortunately for him, that was quickly proven false.
Shiek
A spear ran through his leg, crippling him.
He tried running away, but the best he could do was limp a few meters before falling to the ground.
Isaac calmly walked up to him, bleeding from every part of his body. There were more fractures in his shell than he could count, and he felt pain everywhere.
But he had won. He had proven his strength to Mitch. He had shown that he was not only brawn but also had some brain to match it.
The leader started struggling under Mitch, seeing that Isaac was approaching his subordinate. But Mitch’s iron grip kept him in place.
The crippled bandit was crawling on the ground, away from Isaac. He looked over his shoulder occasionally and saw that his end was getting closer and closer.
When he reached the bandit, Isaac stomped his foot on the man’s intact calf, eliciting a screech.
He tried begging, asking Isaac to spare his life, but it was useless. Isaac jerked out the spear still stuck in his thigh and raised it above his head.
With one last scream from their leader, the bandits lost one of their members.
Mitch nodded at that show of decisiveness and turned his attention to Komutan. He had glanced at their fight a few times but quickly realized how much he had underestimated Komutan.
He was like a trained veteran, weaving through his opponents swings and strikes like they were in slow motion. And contrary to Isaac’s match, he never targeted his enemy’s back or vital organs.
Instead, he aimed to maim his hands.
With such large hammers, every attack was strong but slow. Even with his opponent having a bulkier mutation from water buffaloes, there was nothing he could do against Komutan’s experience.
Not long after Isaac ended his battle, Komutan got his foe on the ground with his knee pressed against his throat. He didn’t kill him like Isaac did, finding it unnecessary after completing his assignment with minimal injuries.
Seeing that the brute had released the hold over his weapons, Komutan backed off and returned to Mitch’s side.
Mitch really thought it would have been a closer fight. Although it wasn’t as bad as Isaac, Komutan had a very aggressive fighting style.
One misstep would have been enough to knock him out of commission, and that would serve as a valuable lesson for the future.
But it seems that Komutan only fought that aggressively because he was sure he could win.
His "fight" against Mitch in the past had served as a wake-up call, making him now adapt his course of action based on the situation.
"It is now your turn, Madeline. Do you have your weapon?" He asked, knowing full well that she did. He had made it for her in the time they had been wandering.
The weapon was a spear, similar to the one Isaac had made. Mitch had also used one of the remaining lion teeth, the same material that had pierced Isaac’s opponent like he was made of butter.
Madeline was shaking with nervousness. He had never even held a weapon before, much less used one in combat. But Mitch wouldn’t take her refusal as an answer, convincing her that it was all for the future.
With no other choice, she nodded. Her grip tightened, and she pointed the spear towards the leader.
Mitch walked opposite her with the leader’s neck still in his grasp. When he reached an appropriate distance away, he released his grip and returned closer to Madeline.
He wanted her to fight, but that didn’t mean it needed to be to the death.
When he was close enough, he turned around and signaled to the bandit leader to begin.
Having chosen to follow Mitch’s instruction in hopes of being spared, he ran forward with his weapons ready.
Like his subordinate, he was afraid that the girl in front of him would be as strong as the person who caught him. After all, he had seen how strong the others were and knew that he would have a hard time winning those battles.
But the first clashing of weapons told him all he needed to know. She was durable, but not a fighter. She was just a little girl.
He prodded a few of the usual weak spots, like the joints, but found her defenses to be impenetrable.
Even the involuntary reflex of closing her eyes, a staple of inexperience, saved her multiple times because her eyelids were so hard.
Meanwhile, just getting scratched by her weapon was almost enough for the leader to lose his arm. It was just that sharp.
Luckily, his mutation helped him process the fight at much higher speeds than normal people.
He remembered every pattern Madeline had, every reflex, and every minute movement she did.
And it was that ability he would use to secure victory.
After one last clash, he backed off and gave his opponent some breathing room. Any experienced fighter would become suspicious of why he let up the pressure, becoming more alert.
But Madeline did the opposite; she relaxed slightly.
In an instant, the leader rushed right in front of her and stabbed towards her head with his dagger.
Madeline once more closed her eyes and pierced forward with her spear. It was in this exact kind of exchange that Madeline scored her first hit, and she thought that doing the same thing again would work.
But the impact she had been prepared for to hit her head never came, which caused her to lose balance slightly.
Additionally, she felt her weapon being pulled from her hands, further displacing her center of gravity.
Opening her eyes to assess the situation, she found her opponent now holding her weapon.
His initial attack had been a feint to make her close her eyes, while his real intention was sidestepping and snatching her weapon.
Now, she was falling right into the piercing trajectory of her opponent’s Infused weapon.
