Horus kicked Brachus in the face as he got up. He was annoyed and he wasn't having any more of Edith's nonsense. He took a stance— left foot in front, right behind. His chest to the side, his gaze on Edith. He raised his left arm to his chest, his hand relaxed. His right was lowered to the waist, carrying a stick.
He saw Edith standing. Arms open, falling to the side. Fists clenched. And a stick in his right. His legs were wide and his pose was balanced.
Horus stepped forward and delivered a roundhouse kick to his friend's rib. Edith skillfully caught the kick as he retreated sideways. And then with well practiced footwork, delivered a kick to Horus's shin causing the latter to fall down.
Edith then stepped forward to smash Horus's head with the stick but the latter saved himself by sending a sharp kick to Edith's knee causing him to limp back.
Taking the moment, Horus immediately got up and whipped his stick at Edith's injured leg causing him to buckle down. Then letting go of his stick, Hours clenched his fist and brought it down to smother the kneeling Edith.
Dear readers, our MC was sent rolling away! That must've hurt. Ooof!
***
Carla was laying flat down. She struggled to open her eyes under the bright sky. Her head was throbbing as was her jaw. Slowly she recalled the scene earlier. She had been fighting Rinnie but the latter brokethrough and immediately used a rock.
Carla sighed as she struggled to get up. She had lost strength in her limbs not only due to having been beaten black and blue, but also because her Stage had dropped.
She wasn't at Stage 2 anymore. Being left unconscious for some time had caused her body to relax and the insights she had gained to slip away.
She sat up as she regretted her carelessness. She looked around to find three figures at one spot. Rinnie was one of them. She had grabbed a girl by the hair while the said girl was being kicked around by Astus.
Their fight was chaotic mix of Rinnie's grapples, Astus's measured kicks and Jenny's clumsy flailing of arms.
Turning her head, Carla noticed a short, burly figure limping towards her. As the figure got close, she slowly took in the battered features of the guy. She had a few guesses for why the guy was in bad shape.
As the figure got close, she heard him say, "Ouch! Horus and Edith did a number on me. Would you believe that they ganged up on me?!"
Carla was stunned momentarily as she struggled to say, "You're still in a better shape than me."
"Yeah, I can see that much. Just what favour did Rinnie pay you back for?"
As she saw Brachus sitting next to her, she said, "She was sour about her hair being pulled I guess."
Laughing a bit, Brachus said,
"Apparently, me butting in the fight turned Hours sour too."
Carla shared in the giggles, continuing.
"Serves you right."
She turned to look at the guy Brachus mentioned who happened to be her crush as well. He was covered in as much blood as the guy he had been fighting.They both were barely standing under the barage of blows they hurled at one another.
From their rhyme and rhythm, Carla could se that they were about to breakthrough to Stage 3, the same level as the patrol guards and many other adults of the village!
These advancements weren't permanent, of course. Take Carla, for example. Due to her inactivity while being unconscious, she fell back to stage 1. She lost the insights she had gained from her battle and had retained only a small percentage of the advancements she had experienced.
With a sigh she turned her attention back at Horus. The guy was gonna leave the village. He was gonna study in the city and he was gonna make further breakthroughs through proper, tried and tested training methods. The guy was an absolute genius, he could easily immerse himself even in spars. That came naturally to him and that was why he was advancing so fast. Carla could tell that with just a few more blows Horus would definitely advance to Stage 3.
She was just curious though. Would the two pick swords and aim it at each other or would they continue their brawl bare handed?
Like Horus, Carla too had wanted to go to the city. She had different reasons though. Wanting to explore more, see the people outside being only a few of them.
She wasn't worried about losing the match though. It was just a ceremony for the children to let go of their built up grudges and frustration. What mattered to Carla was that she needed a breakthrough again. She wanted to reach Stage 2 again. And for that, she needed a battle. A bloody battle!
With a smile, she turned to look at Brachus. As he met her gaze, a chill ran down his spine.
He was in a much better shape than Carla but he could feel that she was far lost from reason at the moment. He slowly got up and distanced himself as he said, "Let's get this over with. I wanna go home."
***
Astus and Rinnie had finally gotten a chance to fight. Jenny had been made unconscious under their combined attacks. Astus didn't hesitate as he raised his leg to deliver a powerful kick to Rinnie's face.
Thud!
Rinnie blocked the blow with her arms but was thrown away as a result. He rushed forward to pick up a rock and threw it at Rinnie. She tilted to the side avoiding a fatal blow to her head, but lost her balance as a result causing her to injure her knee.
Astus made use of the moment, reeled his leg backward and swung his leg up as he stepped forward to smash his leg into Rinnie. She had been lying on her knees, looking down, holding herself up with her arms.
The kick hit it's mark. Her eyes turned white and she felt the wind get knocked out of her. She immediately fell down, getting unconscious.
Astus wanted to help his family with the family business and thus wanted to go to the city not only to learn the relevant sciences but also, develop good connections with other merchants. He had a little sister as well and he wanted to bring he lots of toys. Although Astus fought wild, he really cared for his family just like a beast would for its pack.