Chapter 38: 1st Year Practical Sparring Part 3
Akshar and Peyton stepped into the circle as they carefully eyed each other.
Peyton got into his stance, but the muscle fiber in his arms was visibly tighter; it was as if, at any moment, his hands could go for the punch in a blink of an eye.
Akshar, although crude, got into a primary stance, his legs slightly bent and his hands raised to protect his torso.
Every student in Class-C waited for the two of them to fight since the previous time that the both of them fought, Peyton had managed to win fairly easily.
But, winner of the spar was still unclear because from what they have learned from the first round, the stronger fighter had the advantage, not the more skilled one.
Jame, at the back of the class, was collecting coins from the students who wanted to bet. He kept an eye on the instructor to make sure he wasn't looking.
"2 silver on Peyton," One of them whispered.
"2 on the barbarian."
"Are you crazy? Didn't you see how the barbarian got his ass kicked in class?"
"Uhm, well you never know…"
"10 on the barbarian." A more mature voice spoke.
"Sure." Jame replied before turning to where the voice came from, realizing that his fellow classmates around him were silent for some reason.
As he turned, he too fell silent, "Uhh… Instructor?"
"Here, 10 on the barbarian." The Instructor replied before giving Jame 10 silver on the barbarian.
'Ah, it seems that he isn't getting paid enough.' The students, observing that the Instructor had joined in, didn't even bother hiding and started putting their bets.
"Hup!!" Akshar breathed loudly. He dashed at Peyton with his hands extended to push him out of the circle.
Peyton responded by taking a step to the left before rolling, dodging the barbarian by a small margin.
He then ran towards the barbarian's back, trying to push him towards the line.
However, without even trying, the barbarian stood up, not moving an inch from Peyton's weak attempt at moving him.
"Shoot!" Peyton quickly distanced himself from the purist and got back to his stance.
Akshar turned, his hands extended again.
Peyton understood before slowly walking forward; the both of them locked their extended hands and started pushing each other with all they had.
Akshar would have no problem pushing everyone out of the line in the position, but Peyton would take a step and change the direction of where Akshar was pushing him, making it impossible for Akshar to get Peyton out of the circle.
"If I can't push, I THROW!" Akshar shouted before he started spinning, causing Peyton to float above the ground while still holding onto the barbarian.
"This monster!" Peyton tried planning, but the spinning had caused his thinking to be a bit blurry, stopping him from doing any proper plan to recover from the current circumstance.
Akshar smiled before letting go of Peyton.
"Whaoh!" Peyton shouted as he tried to control where he was going to land, but the moment he tried to change the direction, he had already landed past the circle line.
Peyton punched the floor as he stared at Akshar, who didn't even bother staring him down but was staring at George instead.
"YES! I KNEW IT!" The student who put their bet on Akshar shouted before making fun of the ones who placed it on Peyton.
Jame started handing the winners their profit before George stepped into the circle with his opponent following.
His opponent, Healend, was a commoner, also similar to Peyton, but was skilled enough to be admitted into the academy.
And by the way he stood and the way he got into his stance, he could tell that Healend had learned the same exact martial arts which Peyton used.
The only thing that he lacked was experience and strength.
George started moving first by circling around Healend, repeating the same technique which he did in his previous spar.
'I knew you would do that…' Healend thought, standing still and only turning his head to maintain eye contact on where George was at all times.
Seeing that Healend was open from the back, he quickly rushed forward and attempted to do a single-leg takedown from that side.
Quickly turning, Healend blocked the attempt. George quickly got out of his failed attempt before he continued circling him as he tried to think of something.
George extended his hands before walking forward.
Healend, by practice, did the same thing and was about to lock hands with George before suddenly George ducked under and grabbed one of Healend's legs, 'These guys want a fast win. I will who them a fast win!' He thought before trying to carry his legs, attempting a one-leg takedown.
But Healend quickly bent the leg which George grabbed, increasing his stability and making it harder for George to even attempt to carry him.
But unlike what Healend expected, George didn't stop there and continued holding onto the legs.
"Get off…" He tried pushing George away with his hands, but from close quarters his hands couldn't extend fully to generate enough force to push George away.
To combat this, he quickly used his other leg to push George, before suddenly seeing a smile on his face, 'What?'
George quickly grabbed his other legs, holding two of them, 'If I can't do a one leg takedown, I will do a double leg takedown!' He quickly jumped, keeping Healend up, and continued running before slamming him on the floor.
"Cough!" Healend felt his breath being taken away for a second and rested on the floor to regain his composure.
George stood up, massaging his back as he felt the pain caused by carrying Healend in such a vulnerable position that he could hurt his back.
But as all of this was going on, Akshar kept on smiling at how weak George was since he had to use all his strength to run and carry Healend.
Peyton, who thought decently of George, also changed his opinion quickly upon seeing the spar, 'So he doesn't really have any strength… But still, he seems to have a very good understanding at fighting.'
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