I Can Make Everything Level UP

In the end, they charged, ready to punch the crap out of each other, and while Billy came up with a good idea on how to finish things efficiently, he changed his mind in the end… it would be better if they just saw who can fight better at an instinctual level… more fun too.

Billy and Alexander got in the center of the ring and began to punch each other without holding back. The first few hits landed clearly, to the point where Billy felt his eyesight getting hazy several times. Still, thanks to his extra speed, he began to dodge a few punches here and there while delivering counters. He only dodged those aimed at his temples and solar plexus. He accepted all the others, and then every time he landed a counter, he aimed at Alexander's solar plexus.

After three hits there, Alexander realized that he was quickly losing his stamina. So, he tightened his guard and made sure to try to react to those counters. He failed on the first time, but then he managed to block the following ones with his left hand.

Billy clicked his tongue at that adaptability. Still, he didn't give up with only that much. He insisted on his tactic and packed more stamina on his counters, and that made Alexander's solar plexus suffer some damage even when he blocked the punches. He did the same thing to counter that, focusing more energy on defending since he was stronger physically.

That same thing happened several times. Billy did something to gain the upper hand, and Alexander did another, reacting to it and stopping his plans. While they were doing that, they kept punching each other's faces and bodies without leaving the ring. Eventually, the ring got red with their blood, and their faces were too damaged due to the continuous punches. Despite that, the smiles on their faces didn't fade away. It was painful, but Billy felt excited about fighting his best friend, giving his all.

As for Alexander, he knew that Billy could do better than that with magic, but achieving the same things as his best friend with martial skills alone made him feel proud. Billy was a genius when it came to most things, so achieving the same thing as him in the field he wanted to specialize in made him feel proud. Still, eventually, they began to hear their ears ringing, so punching each other for longer might become dangerous. They have families waiting for them, so they couldn't die or get lasting damage because of their fight.

"Let's finish this in a way that we can feel satisfied with the result but without killing ourselves while we are at it," Alexander said.

"There is only one way we can do that," Billy said.

"I agree…" Alexander said and then jumped backward.

Billy gained some distance as well, and both of them assumed the Palm Cannon stance. Actually, there were two ways to solve that dispute. The first was by punching each other's fists with their best attack. Still, even the winner would end with some serious injuries, and the loser will probably break all the bones of their dominant arm. With Palm Cannon, things will be less bloody, and then also will end up using all of their energy in a single instant. That certainly would define the winner…

Both of them prepared themselves while using all of their skills available to enhance their power for a single moment, and then they attacked. Both attacks collided in the middle of the ring, creating a powerful shockwave that made the entire platform crack and falls apart. Only a few blocks of the stones stayed in their places while the others turned into pebbles and dust. The shockwaves became two half-spheres fighting against each other for several seconds that tried to push away both fighters to beyond the ring. Still, they resisted for a while until the stalemate was broken and Alexander was pushed to beyond the ring. He rolled on the ground several times until his back collided against the wall of the arena. Still, he didn't suffer much damage thanks to his Fierce Aura, that was on its limits… He got up a bit hurt, but nothing more.

Meanwhile, Billy still was standing at the top of the ring with only a few scratches across his body that were caused by the last attack. The damage of the punches still was there, though. Nevertheless, Billy won.

In the end, both of them left the area feeling pretty accomplished. While the audience was confused… As for their families and friends, they were satisfied just like them. The organizers of the tournament were unsatisfied since the ring was mostly completely broken. Still, as if something similar had happened in the past, some guys appeared carrying extra blocks of that same type of stone and fixed it in no time.

"I guess I need even more training…" Alexander said. "Let's return next year and fight again."

"Nah, I will escape with my victory, and I shall preserve my historic without shedding any more drop of blood," Billy replied.

"That is a pretty scummy way to remain victorious," Alexander said.

"Watch and learn," Billy said.

Usually, Natalie would congratulate Billy after returning, but she just stayed silent that day. Billy sighed… How would he be able to win against his wife without hurting her too much? Even if it was a match, he couldn't hurt the mother of one of his kids. Pulling back his punches will only make things worse since she wasn't stupid. Billy won this time, but he felt like he was going to lose something in the next round in one way or the other.

At the end of that day, the audience was speechless at the fact that out of the four fighters that won until the semifinals, three of them were foreigners… The people from other states weren't as weak as they had thought.