Jon Stones' death affected a lot of things.
BOOM!
Not even bits of Jon Stones' blood were left after he self-destructed, every organic element about this powerful Pugilist died. Everything was ground to dust by the rampaging explosion, returning them to their basest elements.
It was in these remnant elements that Blade benefited.
Jon Stones' last ability before he died was a great sacrifice on his part, all his life experiences, battle experiences, and all his accumulations flowed to Blade.
Having been embroiled in the battle alongside his mentor, Blade already entered a special state of mind that prepped him for this inheritance.
Instantly after the accumulations entered his mind, Blade felt like an entirely new personality and existence was integrated into his being.
Bzzz!
His consciousness was affected as his vision flashed and changed.
Blade's consciousness woke up inside an unfamiliar body, Jon Stones' body when he was still a teenager and a Grade F Pugilist.
This was a memory from centuries ago when Jon Stones fought his rival for the first time, then, Newton was widely recognized as the only genius. This memory was originally hidden at the depths of Jon Stones' mind.
In the setting, the Elementalist was too talented, Newton was too good.
Despite trying his best, Jon Stones was defeated by the maverick. Not only was he defeated, he was thrashed and absolutely humiliated by Newton.
Even in defeat though, Jon Stones did not admit defeat.
Propping himself from the ground, he wiped off his blood and glared at Newton. "I'll never admit defeat to you!"
"One day, I'll fight you and I'll beat you".
"I'll smack the heck out of you, believe it!"
He grinned amid his pains. "I'm not like the others, I'm better!" freewebno(v)el.com
"I'll keep on training till I exceed you!"
"I'll keep on challenging you to battles till I win!"
"Hehe…, I'll haunt you like a ghost till I become better than you!"
That day, Jon Stones' obsession to become the best was born.
Like he promised, he trained like a maniac, giving in 10 times more effort than any other teenager of his age. From the runt of the litter, through sheer hard work, he rose from the least and joined the ranks of the elites.
After multiple battles and victories, he finally gained the chance to battle Newton again. This time, it was less humiliating but he still lost.
Even in defeat, Jon Stones did not feel bad, he still grinned.
"Hehe…, like I told you, I'll haunt you till I become better than you".
"This time, the defeat was not as convincing".
"Next time may be the time I beat you!" His voice radiated excitement.
After that day, Jon Stones put in even more effort. Blade lived through the life of this warrior as he trained like a maniac, he lived through his experiences as he braved the dangerous world outside the shelters.
Planet Darvis may seem secure but this was still a world ravaged by an apocalypse, beyond the walls of the Shelters were ancient horrors.
Jon Stones trained and tempered himself with these ancient horrors.
During this time, every time that he returned back to the shelters, he challenged Newton. After 5 more defeats, he finally forced a draw and, on their 9th public battle, Jon Stones finally broke the deadlock and won against the genius.
This became the platform for Jon Stones' rise and future fame.
Breaking one record after the other, defeating one opponent after the other, through sheer hard work and unflinching willpower, Jon Stones was finally able to work himself to the top as the strongest Pugilist alive.
Through it all, his super way was. "No Retreat!"
"No Surrender!"
After living through the life of his mentor, Blade's eyes were opened!
Through his mentor's life accumulations, he got a cheat code. Originally, to get to the peak, every single Grade C Superhuman needed to temper themselves through a thousand different battles to prove their mettle and gather experience.
Blade no longer needed to experience all these rigors himself, with Jon Stones having done the dirty work already, Blade skipped multiple levels ahead.
Blade had no more doubts, his epiphanies became clearer to him. He made more profound realizations about the Pugilist Class and his super way on the spot.
The next moment, he broke his limits repeatedly.
This was unprecedented, it was like for a moment, Blade became a level up machine that simply had no limits!
When his raging energy finally died down, Blade already became a Pugilist at Jon Stones' level. Paired with his talents, he exceeded his mentor.
"Mentor…, your legacy shall live on".
His eyes gleamed. "Special Talent: Demi-Singularity!"
"Forbidden Pugilist Ability: 3rd Ultimate Form!"
Blade exploded with power!
"For my mentor!" He punched as a sonic boom was induced.
BOOM!
Blade did not hold back. With his newfound powers, he fully embodied the super way of his mentor that he already inherited as he bombarded Giant Norman with the incredible power that his body could now harness.
The power displayed by him at this moment already far exceeded the Grade C realm, only a tiny bit demarcated it from Grade B power.
Jon Stones' sudden death was shocking, but Blade's rise stole the show as morale that was already dying before rose high again.
With Blade at the lead, all the Grade C Superhumans fought with more vigor.
Despite Blade's current power, despite how much he managed to injure Giant Norman, in the end, he was still the weaker one. For every injury that Giant Norman suffered, he suffered 5 more.
Bam!
Blade was slammed into the ground but he grinned in reply.
"Pugilists never give up!"
He pounced back at Giant Norman with gusto.
At this point, Alexander was already shocked beyond measure. He originally thought that the execution of his plan would be easygoing and smooth, he never expected Jon Stones and Blade to enter their freak state.
The 2 Pugilists were the sole reason for the delay.
Despite feeling annoyed, he became wary after witnessing such power as he finally started using his brain more in a bid to take down Blade.
Alexander's means proved superior in the end, combined attacks from the Draconic Praying Mantis and the Draconic Crocodile claimed another life.
The Grade C death count increased to a ridiculous 24!
After another combo, Blade was slammed into the earth again.
Bam!
"Ugh…!" This Pugilist coughed blood as pain flooded his brain cells, his body felt like it was stuck inside a burning furnace, it felt agonizing.
Giant Norman pinned him to the ground with his gigantic right arm.
With the Pugilist pinned down, Alexander spoke to him.
"Blade, you're talented, surrender and survive".
"What's the use of fighting for a lost cause when you have the potential for more? Planet Darvis does not deserve your loyalty, you deserve more".
"Newton already recognized the inevitable and escaped from the battlefield, don't be a fool, use your brain to avoid facing the same outcome as your mentor".
On top the pool of blood, Blade only grinned in reply.
"That's your problem…, you think you can control everyone".
"My master may have died but I can tell you this, he didn't die sad".
"He died happy!"
"He died for what he loved and believed in!"
"We're Pugilists, we don't follow trends, wo follow our instincts rather than our brain and my instincts urges me to keep on challenging myself and fighting you to save my Planet".
"Your instinct is foolish!"
"So be it". Blade calmly replied.
"You…!" Alexander glared at him while lost for words.
"You really want to die?"
Blade grinned. "No Retreat!"
"No Surrender!"
Alexander grimaced. After witnessing the incredible talent displayed by this Pugilist and what happened after Jon Stones died, this Shadow Elementalist was extremely unwilling to see him die such a meaningless death.
He rather wanted him to become his subordinate, too bad that Blade was too passionate to give a damn about using his brain appropriately.
"Are you a masochist? Why are you doing this?" He asked in frustration.
"Because I trust my master". Blade finally gave a slightly sensible answer.
"I don't know why he left but my master never desert battles, he vowed to bring an end to the Clown Society and I believe he'll fulfill it".
"If there's anyone that will kill you and your test subjects, it's him".
"All I did was buying time for him".
"I just hope it was enough". Blade grinned again as he coughed blood.
"…" Alexander silently stared at this crazy Pugilist.
He shook his head. "If you wish to die so much, so be it".
"Do it!"
Giant Norman acknowledged the orders as his eyes glowed powerfully. Blade could only groan as the Giant's right hand applied pressure to his small vulnerable body, he could not withstand it, his body exploded the next moment.
Boom!
Like his mentor, Blade made the decision bravely.
He faced death without flinching for his humanity, for his master, for his dead family and tribe, and for Planet Darvis.
Today, Blade died.
*****
For the beast illustrations, go to my discord server through this link
https://discord.gg/bHhPRtxe
Follow current novℯls on f(r)eewebnov𝒆l