The guard led the way and Joe followed quietly behind him. He did not need to think long about who the warden could be, as the answer was already clear in his mind. Steve was the only one who could summon him out of the blue, just as he had done the day before. He was also powerful and seemed to hold authority over the other officers, so it made sense that he was the one in charge of the prison.

  Joe wore a wild grin and his heart pounded with excitement. At last, he had the chance to get his revenge on that bastard.

  The officer stopped in front of a room sealed by a metal door, which caught Joe off guard. It was different from the room where he had met Steve previously, and even the route they had taken to reach it was unfamiliar. The change made him hesitate for a moment as doubt crept into his mind. Was he really about to meet Steve?

  The officer gestured for him to enter.

  Joe nodded and stepped forward.

  As he approached, the metal door slid open automatically with a low mechanical hiss. He walked through the entrance without hesitation, and the moment he crossed the threshold, the door shut behind him.

  Joe found himself standing alone in a pitch black room.

  “Ste—”

  Before he could finish the word, a fist slammed into his gut and drove the air from his lungs. Joe’s body doubled over as blood burst from his mouth. He lashed out blindly but struck nothing but air as the assailant had already moved. A moment later, a left hook smashed into the side of his face, snapping his head to the side as loose teeth and blood flew from his maw. Something grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and hurled him across the room.

  With [Body Control], Joe managed to steady himself midair and landed on his feet, but the force of the throw sent him sliding backward. Another strike slammed into his chest and he hurtled into the wall. He managed to stay upright, though his bones rattled violently and threatened to crack from the impact.

  ‘Fuck! The asshole is messing with me again! But where the hell is he coming from?’

  Joe darted his eyes around the darkness. Even with his Blessed Physique sharpening his perception, he could not see through the pitch black room, and his ears picked up nothing but silence. A barrage of fists suddenly slammed into him, pinning his body against the wall. When he tried to retaliate, the attacker had already moved again, which only made Joe grind his teeth in frustration.

  ‘Fuck! So this is what it feels like when your opponent hits and runs.'

  Another blow struck his ribs, but Joe planted his feet and fired back. This time his fist managed to graze the assailant before they slipped away again, and a savage smile spread across his face.

  Joe clenched his fists and settled into a firm fighting stance. “Come at me, you bastard!” he shouted.

  A moment later, another strike crashed into his stomach. Joe endured it with clenched teeth and swung back with a solid punch. His fist grazed the attacker again, but this time he felt the skin split as his knuckles cut their cheek.

  The exchange continued for several minutes. The attacker would strike Joe, and Joe would tank the blow and counter. Each time he retaliated, his strikes grew sharper and heavier. The damage he dealt steadily increased until his fist finally slammed flush against the attacker’s chest and he felt bone crack beneath the impact.

  Joe circulated his essence and focused it entirely into his hands while trusting his body to endure the punishment.

  When another blow struck his stomach, he shot his hand forward and seized the attacker’s wrist in a crushing grip.

  He felt them try to yank it free, but Joe refused to let go. Instead, he tightened his grip until the bones in the wrist groaned, then twisted the arm with brutal force. Joe was surprised when no scream followed, but he did not stop. He yanked the attacker forward, flooded 60% of his essence into his right hand, and activated [Heavy Blow].

  His fist smashed square into the attacker’s face.

  Bone collapsed beneath the strike as the attacker’s face folded from the impact. Joe released the wrist the instant his punch connected, and a moment later an audible crash echoed through the room as the body slammed into the wall across from him.

  Bright blue runes flickered to life across the walls and ceiling. For a brief moment Joe caught flashes of his opponent through the dim glow. The glowing inscriptions soon crumbled away and the room filled with light again.

  When Joe finally saw clearly, he found Steve slumped against a cracked wall, his face drenched in blood.

  Joe immediately felt a twinge of guilt when he saw the man in such terrible condition. “Are you okay?” he asked as Steve groaned in pain.

  Joe stepped forward with a hand pressed to his ribs. Even though he had tanked most of Steve’s blows, they had still done a number on his body. Bruises covered his face and his bones throbbed from the repeated impacts. Joe could already tell that Steve’s strikes had been far stronger than during their previous spar.

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  “You little piece of shit. You’ll pay for this!” Steve’s face twisted with fury as he pushed himself to his feet with visible effort. He breathed heavily, and his left arm hung mangled and limp at his side.

  He glared at Joe with seething hatred.

  The moment Joe met his gaze, a chill crawled down his spine. His body stiffened and his heart nearly skipped a beat. In the next instant, Steve exploded forward and vanished from Joe’s sight.

  All Joe could see were sudden bursts of air around him as the man circled at frightening speed, as if searching for the perfect angle to strike. The hostility Joe felt from him did not fade in the slightest. It was like being targeted by a bloodthirsty predator that aimed to rip him apart.

  Since he could still feel Steve’s killing intent, Joe did not need to see him directly. He used that hostility as a guide. His eyes flicked from side to side as he traced the man’s movements through the pressure he emitted. A minute later, Joe’s head tilted slightly to the left.

  A fist shot past the side of his face.

  Joe had sensed the attack a split second earlier, and [Instinctive Movement] allowed him to react without thinking. His hands snapped out and grabbed Steve’s arm the instant it passed him. Using the momentum, Joe twisted his body and hurled the man over his shoulder.

  Steve slammed spine first into the floor in front of him. The warden coughed up blood from the impact.

  Joe immediately dropped his knee against the side of Steve’s face and pinned him down while wrenching his arm into a position that threatened to snap it in half.

  “Do you surrender?” Joe asked coldly.

  “Yes, damn it, you win,” Steve said quickly, grunting in pain.

  Joe broke into a satisfied smile and immediately released his grip.

  “Did you have to be so rough?” Steve groaned as he sat upright in front of Joe. He flexed his right arm, relief clear on his face that Joe had shown mercy and had not shattered it.

  “Yes,” Joe replied instantly. “You locked me in a dark room and started assaulting me without warning. I had to defend myself. For all I knew you were trying to assassinate me."

  “Good point,” Steve admitted. “In my defense though, I was trying to help you learn a skill you could practice alongside [Instinctive Movement]. It’s called [Danger Sense] and it allows you to pick up on another person’s hostility. Since [Instinctive Movement] only works when you sense an attack, [Danger Sense] is perfect to pair with it in ambush situations.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

  “To make sure you learned it, I had to attack you in a room where you couldn’t sense anything else. That way you’d be forced to rely on my hostility to track me. Makes sense?”

  “Yes,” Joe said flatly, “but I still don’t appreciate being ambushed like that.”

  Steve laughed. “It was the only way to help you acquire the ability, but you ruined it when you broke my left arm and punched me like that. I got really pissed and wanted to teach you a lesson. But to my surprise, not only were you able to react to my attack, I could actually see your eyes tracking me.”

  He leaned forward slightly.

  “Did you already learn both [Instinctive Movement] and [Danger Sense]?”

  “I learned [Instinctive Movement] yesterday not long after our spar,” Joe replied casually. “And I figured out how to sense hostility when you glared at me with murderous intent and threatened to make me pay.”

  Steve’s eyes widened and his jaw nearly hit the floor.

  “You mean to tell me you learned a Silver Ranked skill in a single day without a manual?” he blurted. “I only told you about [Instinctive Movement] so you could research it and start practicing over the next few months. I didn’t think you’d learn it immediately. Hell, it took me three months just to get the basics down and that was with a manual. How did you learn it so quickly?”

  Joe shrugged with a relaxed smile. “What can I say? I’m a fast learner.”

  Steve stared at him as if he were looking at a monster that might devour him at any moment.

  “Are you alright?” Joe asked after Steve remained silent for over a minute.

  Steve shook his head and chuckled quietly. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “I hear that a lot,” Joe replied, reassuring him that he was not the only one who thought so. Even the strongest God had called him an anomaly.

  “I should’ve shown my killing intent from the start, I held back because I thought you might get overwhelmed, but you handled it like it was nothing.”

  “It was scary for a moment,” Joe admitted. “But I've been through worse, so i shrugged it off quickly. ” He said, thinking back to the Lord of the Woods and even his uncle back on Earth, both of whom had been far more intimidating than Steve.

  “That’s not a nice thing to say to a Combat Specialist, we take pride in our blood lust." Steve sighed.

  He reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a small glass vial filled with red liquid. He uncorked it and drank the potion in one gulp.

  Almost instantly, his injuries began to heal. The blood dried, the swelling faded, and the bruises vanished as the broken bone in his arm and face slowly reformed.

  Steve pulled out another identical vial and tossed it to Joe.

  “Here. Sorry I went so hard on you, but I needed to get serious if I wanted to push you to your limit.”

  Joe caught the vial easily and uncorked it.

  “Don’t sweat it,” he said. “That was actually fun. Your blows are no joke. I can tell you were holding back a lot during our previous fight even though you said you were serious.”

  “That’s because I actually used an Enhancement Skill this time,” Steve replied. “And to think I was worried I might be going overboard. You freak managed to tank everything I threw at you.”

  He studied Joe for a moment.

  “What’s scarier than your defense is your offense. That grip of yours and those punches are brutal. I doubt many Second Rankers would stand a chance against you. Are you really Unawakened?”

  “We’ve been over this,” Joe said as he drank the potion. “I can’t use mana.”

  A refreshing wave spread through his body. Joe circulated his essence and used its restorative nature to amplify the potion’s effect. The pain and bruises covering his body faded until his skin looked perfectly normal again.

  “I know,” Steve said, still staring at him in disbelief, “but it’s just so unbelievable. Your existence is like a slap in the face to us Awakened who pride ourselves on wielding mana.”

  “Yeah, it seems my existence is very offensive to a lot of people,” Joe chuckled. “You shouldn’t feel too bad though. At least this time I had to use an Enhancement Skill of my own. You’re really strong, Steve.”

  Joe leaned forward slightly with excitement.

  “Tell me, was that your full strength just now?”

  Steve blinked in disbelief.

  “You’re joking, right? I know I didn’t look like it during the fight, but I’m a Fourth Ranker. If I fought without restraint, the entire building would collapse.”

  Joe’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Cool! We should definitely fight again,” he said enthusiastically. “To avoid collateral so that you can go all out, we'll take it outside.”

  Steve stared at him, stunned. He had expected fear or at least a hint of caution. Instead, Joe looked at him like a kid who had just been promised another round of his favorite game.

  A chill ran down Steve’s spine.

  ‘Where the hell did this freak come from?’ he wondered, forcing a strained smile.