CHAPTER 25: I UNDERSTAND IT NOW

Xenon after surrounding Jason with after images ran towards the edge of their stage to retrieve the stone sword Jason had discarded. Immediately he picked it he ran back towards Jason, he had to be fast because the his body was under some strain and his spiritual energy was depleting faster than before.

He was after all running around the stage continuously as the after images closing in on Jason were still just him moving very fast. Even though it was a skill, it was still him doing the work.

White arcs of lightning appeared around his arms, crackling violently and charging the stone sword with their current. As Xenon got within a few feet of Jason he jumped high, swinging the lightning charged sword from his back towards Jason with all his might as the lightning around his arms and sword lurched around the stage, cracking in air and leaving black burns across the ground where it struck.

Jason turned around and saw Xenon on air, lightning flowing from his arms into the stone sword and lurching out into their surroundings, leaving burn marks wherever it struck.

With wide eyes, Jason’s green shield covered him immediately. Xenon screamed, his after images retracting as he struck the green field.

’Shit’ Jason thought as the lightning struck the green field surrounding him with so much force that it started to crack. The tip of the now heated and cracked stone sword pierced the green field white lightning flowed from it, surrounding the shield.

The supposedly impenetrable shield exploded, pushing Xenon backwards. Xenon twisted mid air, his arms still pulsing with lightning. He grabbed the arena floor and pulled himself down, planted his feet on the ground and moved against the force of the explosion.

He grabbed the almost destroyed stone sword which appeared to be hanging on air as it was moving extremely slow relative to Xenon, because Xenon was moving at superhuman speed.

’If what he said about the green field was true, then he should be defenceless now.’ Xenon mused.

White lightning flowed through Xenon’s right arm into the stone sword, holding the crumbling pieces together with its charge. Xenon got in front of Jason, skid to a stop using his momentum to swing the sword in an upward slash.

The second of respite granted by Xenon allowed Jason to stretch his arms forward to receive the blow from the sword.

The blunt side of the sword hit Jason’s arms, the force accompanying the sword rang through his body pushing him back as the sword turned to dust, the lightning however clung to his arms as his body dived on air, spreading all around him. He hit the ground and rolled to his knees, his whole body illuminated by white lightning.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Jason screamed from the pain the lightning delivered to his body, he received light burns all around, his body was heating up by the second and there was a strange white glow under his skin.

The whole crowd except a few were shocked, wondering how the dominant contestant was now on his knees, screaming in pain. Only the hosts and the few senior students who ushered the contestants in earlier could glimpse the battle as Xenon speed skyrocketed during those few seconds.

Xenon who was expecting Jason to dispel his lightning watched as he struggled against it. With great effort, Jason managed to gather the lightning at his left arm before striking the ground furiously with his fist, sending all the charge into the ground. He fell to the floor on his back breathing heavily.

The lightning around Xenon’s arms receded, leaving the sleeves covering his forearms burnt. Xenon rested his hands on his knees for a moment, taking in deep breaths. His body was still in pain from the damage Jason’s SSBFBP had done to him earlier. He stood upright and walked towards Jason.

"Lightning. That’s the one element I can’t get the hang of transforming." Jason said as Xenon approached him. "I would have gotten much worse burns if I didn’t direct it into the ground. But still, your lightning is not enough to bring me down just yet, the battle has just begun." Jason continued while he sat up, examining the minor burns all over him, his clothes were singed in numerous places.

"I held back from attacking you when you were down because you did the same for me earlier, but my patience is wearing thin. Get up and let’s finish this fight." Xenon said standing in front of Jason, he turned back, walking a few feet away from him before turning back to face him, waiting for him to rise.

’System, show how much àse I have left’ Xenon said to the system, whose screen flickered on and off fast, but at a speed which Xenon could see the information on the screen clearly.

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Ase: 220/300

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’Good. I still have enough to use my lightning freely.’ Xenon muttered.

Jason rose to his feet, looked at Xenon and rushed towards him once more. Xenon also ran towards him, they met in the middle and threw punches at each other. Xenon evaded Jason’s punch easily and his hit Jason in the cheek squarely.

As soon as Xenon’s punch hit, Jason grabbed the arm that delivered it, preventing Xenon from retreating and brought his own right arm backwards, swinging it forward to hit Xenon. Jason’s right fist hit Xenon’s gut, he exploded the green field around his fist, the force send Xenon up into the air.

Xenon choked, pain devouring his solar plexus. Jason scooped sand from the ground and transformed it into stone around his fist. Xenon fell down only to be hit in the forehead with Jason’s stone fist.

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-2 HP

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HP: 25/35

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Xenon fell but rolled to his feet immediately only to be greeted by a kick from Jason’s right feet covered in stone. He raised his left arm blocking the kick.

’Sprint.’ He ignored the pain in his left forearm and rushed towards Jason only for the air around him to turn to fog and block his view, that earned him another force field powered punch to his gut. He flew a few feet through the air and fell.

"And that is my Natural Disaster and Exploding Fist Gut Punch combo." Jason said with a smile.

"You know? Natural disaster because I’m using different altered elements to attack you and ex..."

"Yeah, yeah I get it!" Xenon interrupted Jason while standing up to his feet.

"I was expecting more lightning. Why aren’t you using it?" Jason asked.

"Because I don’t want to burn you to crisp... yet"

"Ha ha. Aren’t you being to full of yourself?"

"Yeah. I also regret holding back now." Xenon held his gut and glared at Jason.

’Sprint’ He crossed the distance between them in a split second, his fist going for Jason’s gut. Just before his blow could hit it’s mark, the air condensed around his arm turning a hundred times more dense. He lost balance and plunged downwards, he would have hit the ground headfirst if not for Jason’s knee which hit him, breaking his nose.

"Ah, fuck this!" Xenon stood to his feet, his nose bleeding and went in for another punch. The air turned extremely dense this time also but Xenon just phased through it and Jason.

He had been avoiding phasing to prevent the accident that occurred when he was escaping the manor from repeating itself, but he couldn’t be less concerned anymore. He solidified behind Jason and swung a lightning charged fist towards his back. The punch hit and lifted Jason a few inches into the air.

Xenon dismissed his lightning immediately the punch hit, preventing it from spreading through Jason’s body, but the impact was enough to send blinding pain through his spine.

Jason fell forward, paralyzed for about 3 seconds. He turned back just in time to see Xenon’s feet connect with his face. His head flung back from the impact, his nose also breaking.

The soil below Xenon’s feet turned into ice, caused him to slip from the momentum of his kick. He slid a metre forward and fell. He and Jason stood up at the same time, they lunged at each other, their arms raised ready for a punch.

Xenon phased through Jason again. He spun around and delivered a kick to his neck. Jason rolled away, coughing. He stood to his feet and glared at Xenon.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked

"A great magician never reveals his secret." Xenon replied with a subtle smile on his lips. He ran forward again.

Jason who had stopped using the shield in order to conserve his àse extended the green field forward as Xenon ran toward him. Xenon phased through the green field and delivered a lightning charged punch to Jason’s gut, exacting his revenge.

Jason had expected the bubble to protect him and so was shocked when Xenon bypassed it, earning him a pain filled punch to the gut. Xenon didn’t give him any moment of rest and delivered about a dozen more punches to the same spot before letting him fall to the ground.

Xenon looked down at him and smirked. "Justice is served!" He said.

Jason crawled backwards and got to his feet holding his gut in pain. He smiled at Xenon. "I understand it now." He said.

Xenon stared at him indifferently and dashed forward again, his body vibrated very fast it matched the frequency of air, he was planning to phase through Jason, but as soon as his body came into contact with Jason’s, his skin glowed slightly green and Xenon was flung back violently by the force of the shield around Jason’s skin.

Xenon was flung back violently, but before he could land, the air behind him condensed and burst pushing him back towards Jason who swung a stone covered fist at his gut, landing a gut punch punch once again. Xenon’s body was flung back again and the air behind him condensed and burst once more send him towards Jason.

Jason who now had a stone club, extracted from the the stage’s stone floor didn’t hesitate to swing it towards Xenon who blocked it with his arms. He dropped the club and delivered consecutive uppercuts to Xenon before finishing it with and Exploding Fist Gut Punch.

Xenon fell to the floor groaning.

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-5 HP

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HP: 20/35

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"I am satisfied with using you as my punching bag. It’s time for you to go." Jason said to Xenon and moved to the middle of the stage, he simply stood there as the green field spread out from him in a dome moving outward, slowly this time.

Xenon stood up as the field approached him, he wasn’t too far away from Jason. He tried to phase through the constantly growing shield but failed, he tried again, and again and again but failed, the shield pushing him back slowly.

"Ah ha." Jason chuckled. "That won’t work anymore. I figured out how you do it, you somehow move your body very fast that you vibrate, allowing you to pass through things, but there’s a limit to things you can phase through, I confirmed that when you bounced back after try to phase through my shield covered skin. I knew you’d try to phase through my shield if I try to push you off the stage, so all I had to do was compress the air both around it and inside it, leaving only an adequate amount required for me to breathe. Just accept your loss and allow yourself to be pushed out or surrender."