174.8] – [Earth (8)]

"Who's next?" As his words faded away, a giant man entered the arena.

His body growing, Alexander became two meters and eleven centimeters tall. His weight changed as well, matching the heavyweight. The muscles of his body bloated faintly.

"Go ahead." Seeing Alexander gesture, the man slumped a bit.

"Grappling? Which one, I wonder? Actually, I don't care." To throw him off, Alexander made the first move. This indeed worked, the man not expecting this.

But with a mortal's physique, his speed was very slow. By the time he was a third of the way there, the man in front charged as well.

'I'm still not really used to it. But no matter.' Slowing down, Alexander awaited. A few seconds later, the giant man was close enough. The man's arms trying to grab onto his robes, Alexander used this physique to its peak potential, grabbing the man's moving elbows.

Trying to close his arms and entangle Alexander, the man was left dumbfounded. Alexander's fingers accurately blocked any path of resistance from his joints. His palms were pressing against the man's forearms while his index and middle fingers were deep inside the pits of his elbows.

Before the man could think of a plan, a knee came so fast, he was unable to react in time.

"I-" The sound of two solids clashing, the knee cracked open the man's skull. His nose was crooked, his eyes watery. All of it before a sudden collapse.

"Listen you people. I gathered you here to see something incredible. Just because you know some martial arts doesn't mean you are worth my time! I want to see talents! People who were born for this! Not a mundane Joe!"

"So now, the next time someone comes up, it will be certain death. I showed mercy out of boredom earlier, but not anymore. I will go all out."

Silence remaining after his kind words, someone then stood up. He had dark skin and a muscular build. His cold eyes gave people instinctive fear.

As he stepped onto the arena, the man only stopped once a single meter away from his opponent.

"You're the next one?" Hearing these words, the black man took a stance. His fists were high up, his legs jumping constantly.

"Boxing next..? You should know, I despise being underestimated by trashes like you people! Boxing? Seriously? Do you want to anger me or something?"

The crowd frowning, they did not understand why he was so outraged.

"Don't underestimate boxing!" Annoyed by Alexander's contempt, the man jabbed forward, but his lightning fast left fist was caught.

Gripping the fist with his palm, Alexander's body turned smaller, into an athletic build. As he finished his changes, he released the man's fist, forcing him to stumble backward.

"I don't underestimate it. But the potential is just too low. Yes, you can always make great things out of simple ones. Boxing can get you very far. But from where I was before returning to Earth, a martial art without a complete use for legs is unworthy."

"I already know what you want to say. Boxing does use legs, just not in the conventional way."

"But the way you are thinking about… every other decent martial arts out there do the same anyway! So what if you kick the ground?! You still don't know how to use them up to their highest level! But since you want to play with lesser techniques, I will help you out." Taking a boxing stance, Alexander matched the man's rhythm.

Boxing was not a bad martial art to learn. It was quite good in fact, especially since it focused more on simplicity rather than complexity. However, arts under so many rules would end up pointless against real opponents. Not just so, the lack of offensive, direct lower body usage became a handicap in the cultivation world, especially at higher levels.

There were too many reasons to not even bother with it. Just the fact that cultivators flew and used energies as a driving momentum caused boxing to become irrelevant. The same could not be said about others like muay thai and similar ones. Even with rules, if someone trained their entire body for both offensive and defensive, then it would be worth something no matter how weak or strange it was.

"I often heard back then, that a regular human's jab was too fast for even trained humans to react to. And it is indeed so."

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"Because of this, don't you boxers use other parts of the body as an indicator?"

"…" Feeling uneasy, the boxer frowned.

"We do."

"But the problem is… any half baked martial artist… actually, any random kid on the street can strike extremely fast without showing signs."

Unwilling to believe this, the boxer was about to complain as Alexander's left arm blurred.

The boxer could not even react. He only felt a sharp wind collide with his face as Alexander's left arm stopped moving.

He could however tell what had happened.

"That's not a jab though? Sir, wasn't this a flick of the hand?" He felt angered by this.

"Was it now? Doesn't matter. A jab, a flick. It's just a punch in the end. And mine was too fast for you. And that's when I barely used any force or real speed. Any teenager out there could probably do the same. Boxing may be underestimated. There is a chance of that. But a flick always will."

Taking half a step forward, Alexander reused the same move. It was telegraphed. But so what? The human body was not meant to stop such speed.

His fist colliding with the boxer's face, it crushed his nose before the force disappeared.

Alexander had retrieved his arm.

"So? You can see it, somewhat, but can't react, right? That's why you should be careful of techniques. Boxing trains you to show shoulder and such movements before a proper strike. It may be required for a powerful strike. But… But the biggest issue is there as well. In a real fight, you don't want your opponent to see anything. You don't want your opponent to catch anything. Sometimes you can't do anything about it, I get it."

"But even so, you should be careful. You should have been careful. Now, you are on the tiles of the arena."

Cold sweats dripping from his body, the boxer felt his lips and throat dry into sand.

"Therefore, you have to die now." Seeing Alexander's arm blur again, he barely had time to move a few centimeters back before a fist passed between his forearms and smashed into his skull. The power was enough to send his lights upstairs into a flickering mess. Darkness began to fade in, his lucidity fading out.

"A shame your body is not strong enough, you will have to endure a few dozens more." His arm never stopping, Alexander felt a strain inside the pit of his elbow. Extending one's arm so fast and so brutally was easy, but to do so dozens of times in a row was not advised.

However, be it the pain in his ligaments and tendons or the numbness of his entire arm, he did not care one bit. The only thing he left behind were afterimages.

The soft flesh of his face bombarded, the boxer felt each blow spread his skin, crush his flesh and crack his bones. It only took thirty or so for the seemingly weak flicks to collapse him. But it was not over yet.

"And when the opponent's lights are out, you actually take some time for your next blow." Making a wide swing, Alexander's left fist suddenly crashed into the boxer's throat, his knuckles digging deep and thoroughly. The boxer's carotid artery was squeezed too much, exploding midway. The sudden shock brought the boxer back from the abyss, feeling his body even better. It was like enlightenment from so much adrenaline. But there was no such good deal. He felt himself better. Better die that is.

He could not really tell why he felt so unwell, unable to discern pain from anything at all.

But after eight seconds, he began to limp. His entire body did. He easily caught himself with his legs, but his head, his whole upper body began to rock back and forth at rapid pace, unable to compensate properly from the unending limping.

Another two seconds later, he collapsed, convulsing for a bit more before turning into a fresh corpse.

The boxer died on the arena, for all to see, of a gruesome blood loss caused by internal bleeding. The strange movements he did prior to collapsing were extremely creepy, giving goosebumps to everyone present. It was like seeing someone slowly take each step into the doorway to Hell.

Unfazed by yet another death to his unforgiving hands, Alexander spoke, not sparing another look down.

"Next."

"Why is nobody coming forward?"

"Are you guys scared perhaps? Well, that's too bad. But you see…" Aiming his arm in a random direction, a woman was brought from the bleachers onto the arena.

"…I don't care."

"Let's put a girl in here. I'm not fond of hitting one over the other, but people will get bored if only the same type comes out. So let's see." His body changing again, he mimicked her appearance. Be it hair or even breasts, he created them all.

"Here we go. Quite short for a woman. But oh well… makes it more fun and fresh for the spectators. Watching giants is fun, but it gets boring quickly." Each one of his words eased the woman. Because it meant one more second without having to fight this monster. Nobody could blame her. They even wondered if the boxer from earlier tried to do the same? If he did not, maybe he should have?

"…so…"

"…se…vi…and…"

"…anyway, let's start." Without realizing a few tens of seconds to have passed as Alexander blabbered to the air, the woman paled. So what if her opponent had her own build? What about the victims prior? She had no chance! Nobody had a chance! No one!

"Sir…" Reluctantly lifting her arms, she took a stance.

"Can you go easy on me?"

"Mmmh…" Stroking his chin, or maybe her chin, Alexander puckered his lips.

"Well, I did drag you out by force, so it isn't the same as the last one. But… it wouldn't be fun then. I said I would go for the kill, never said I would be fair in handing these hands to you people."

"Basically..?" Swallowing a large amount of saliva, representing her current anxiousness, she heard expected words.

"Basically, tough luck."

"I see…" She teared up at these dreaded words. She never intended to fight after watching him demolish everyone. Clearly, he was not human. Why should she bother with it?

It appeared that, her curiosity had gotten the better of her this time. Entering the portal ended up being her biggest mistake. However, there was no time to complain anymore. It was too late for regrets.

Resolute, she forwarded her left side. Her position stable and masterful.

"That's better!" Her opponent taking the first step, she prepared for the worst, ready to fight tooth and nail.