KINETIC

Leo and Brent stood opposite each other with Leonard off to their side. Both getting themselves ready by channeling their abilities.

"Begin!"

Brent charged forwards while Leo stood still and waited. When he was close enough, Brent threw a wild punch aimed for Leo's head.

Leo saw the punch coming and lifted his hand up, smacking Brent's fist to the side and causing him to miss Leo completely.

Brent's momentum carried him to the side and he spun on his heel before falling over.

There were many in the crowd who laughed at Brent's attack, wondering how he could allow himself to be pushed aside so easily.

"Is that all you've got?" Leo taunted.

"Haaaarrgggg!!!" Brent bellowed while jumping to his feet, immediately throwing out several punches one after the next.

Leo dodged some and redirected others. Brent had learned from the first punch and didn't swing as wildly as before, so even though he was missing Leo, he didn't fall over again.

That was until Leo ducked under a punch, moved to the side and stuck his leg out. This caused Brent to trip over Leo's leg and face plant into the ground.

"I thought you were going to show everyone how fake my power was? Where'd all that enthusiasm go big guy?" Leo continued to taunt Brent.

The spectators laughed again, but even louder than before. Many of them knew Leo was strong, but seeing him humiliate someone who actively bad mouthed him on a daily basis was quite the spectacle.

There were many trainees who simply didn't like Brent due to his personality. They too were enjoying this fight.

Brent's face turned red and the veins on his neck were bulging. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!!" He screamed in rage.

He threw another wild punch out towards Leo, placing everything he hand into the punch. Leo lifted his hand and placed it in front of his face to block Brent's fist.

The strike impacted and a bang was heard. A wave of air exploded from the impact, sending dust flying everywhere. Everyone watching thought the same thing. 'He's actually really strong.'

'It's a good thing my stats were raised, otherwise this would've been much harder to do.' Leo thought with a grateful tone.

"Ha, not so tough with a fist in your face are you!?" Brent exclaimed arrogantly as the dust began to settle.

"Well, it would help your point if I actually got hit by that punch." Leo said. The dust cleared and everyone could see that Leo was holding Brent's fist just away from his face.

Leo had caught the attack and stopped it dead in its tracks. He smiled when he saw Brent's face contorted from the shock.

" How did he catch that attack?"

"I could feel the power from up here, and he still stopped it..."

The crowd was filled with shock and awe. Many were struggling to believe what they had just witnessed.

Leo moved forwards and underneath Brent's arm, he then used a palm strike and pushed Brent back about 5 meters.

"My turn." Leo said while still smiling.

[Dash has been activated]

[Leap has been activated]

[Palm Strike has been activated]

Leo dashed forwards at full speed and jumped at Brent. When Leo arrived in front of Brent, he used a palm strike and placed all his energy into his hand. He then controlled the energy and made sure it spread over Brent's entire body.

Leo's palm slammed into Brent's sternum and sent his body flying across the entire courtyard and slamming into the wall of the building. His body only stopped after he had gone through 3 more walls.

~Silence~

Everyone watching was stunned. They thought Leo was just a bit more powerful than Brent when he was avoiding all of his punches earlier. But after seeing how Leo had moved forward with such speed and hit Brent with such force.

They all realized how much he was holding back at the beginning. As well as how terrifying his power actually is.

"Did you see how fast he was?"

"Yeah, only a super speed ability would be able to surpass him."

"Yeah he's faster than everyone here, but did you see how much power he got from that attack?"

"Is Brent even alive?"

Most of the people heard the last one and went silent again. Leo was standing in the middle of the courtyard, he had his Aura activated so he could feel that Brent was still breathing.

"He's not dead. If I wanted to kill him then I would've hit him harder." Leo stated. He then turned and walked back towards the other rankers.

"What!? He could have hit harder than that?"

"That's insane!"

"I guess his power is the real deal."

'Well, I wouldn't really be hitting him harder. I would just be using my energy in a different way.' Leo shrugged in his thoughts.

'They wouldn't know the difference, so I don't think it matters.' Dreifus said, also shrugging.

Leonard was shocked at what had just happened. He stood motionless, staring at the wall that Brent had been flung through. Only when one of the healers came through the hole and announced that Brent was alive and would be able to recover, did he relax.

"Uh... Ahem!" Leonard cleared his throat. "Leofalor is the winner. This concludes the first ever monthly challenges." With that Leonard walked away and towards the other rankers, following behind Leo.

Leo and Snythe were staring at each other with intense looks. So much so that Leonard could feel the pressure and felt that he had to step in.

" So I was planning on telling you guys this morning but I forgot and ended up waiting until after the challenges." Leonard said with a wry smile.

"So, I received word from Lieutenant Anders. Tomorrow the rankers, their assistants, some of class 4, as well as the top 10 in class 2, will all be going out into the forests nearby to gain combat experience.'

As for the rest of the trainees, well I've been told that they will be taken to a seperate location for their training, something less intense according to Lieutenant Anders. All of us and those coming with us need to be prepared to leave at sunrise tomorrow." He explained to all the rankers.

"The forest? Why would we be going there?" Snythe asked. He seemed to be repulsed at the idea.

"It's the only place we can hunt and practice using our abilities without worrying about our surroundings." Leonard explained.

"Thers no point in hunting a few wolves. What kind of combat experience or ability training would that provide." Snythe said, once again sounding very annoyed with the prospect of having to dredge through a forest.

"We won't be hunting wolves Snythe. We're going to be hunting monsters." Leonard said.