"It"s even quite the opposite!", SoftGum"s voice appeared behind Fell. His body had rebounded against the trees dozens of times due to a single exchange of strength between him and Fell. "I"ve been told that I"m quite strong!"Fell swiftly turned around, and hurled another fist toward his opponent to test the water. Their fists connected another time, and Fell took a step back while SoftGum"s body was sent back with even more strength.
SoftGum"s rebounding speed doubled, thankfully it was still in a range where Fell could see his figure propel himself every time he hit a tree. Fell couldn"t help but doubt his eyes when he saw his opponent"s tactics; it could be said that he fought diverse opponents, but it was the first time in his life that he faced someone that moved like this.
"The universe is quite vast. A little bit of humility is never bad…", he thought as his eyes followed the rebounding SoftGum. "His speed keeps growing every time he makes contact with an object.", he a.s.sessed while following his opponent"s position with his senses.
He recorded the different angles SoftGum was using to rebound in his mind, but the actions revealed to be quite difficult as the mult.i.tude of trees helped his opponent"s way of fighting. "Let"s try to avoid confrontation!", he thought as he took a step to the left, evading a dashing SoftGum that came hurling to his chest.
"If I"m not wrong, the more I deal damage to him, the higher his speed will get!", he thought as he felt the net around of him tighten. "But If I stay too pa.s.sive, there is no way for me to deal him any subsequent damage, and I"ll just end up losing.", his mind worked at a fast pace to devise a plan.
If he fought mindlessly against this type of opponent, he would only be walking towards defeat, and that wasn"t an acceptable outcome. He began dodging SoftGum"s bodily attacks one after the other, while his mind looked for his win condition.
"First, I need to find a way to reduce his speed!", the moment he took his decision, he patiently waited for an opening. SoftGum"s body produced a sound behind a tree, and rebounded several times before hurling towards Fell from the side. Fell faked that he didn"t see him, and waited for the last moment before softly setting on the ground. He evaded the attack in the last moment, and with a twist of his waist, he sent a devastating upward kick to SoftGum"s stomach.
He felt as if his kick made contact with a soft ball, one that was used by kids to play around. SoftGum was sent piercing toward the air, there were no obstacles in his path, and Fell doubted that the man could rebound using the air.
"Hahahaha! Nice kick, it felt quite great.", SoftGum"s childish laughter resounded from the sky. "My last opponent used the same technique. Yet he still lost!". SoftGum"s body produced a sound similar to rolling waves, "You see, I don"t just store the momentum of the attack I receive. I can also release them, like this!".
His body changed trajectory in a split second, and as if he had hit an invisible wall, he rebounded with even more strength than before. "My body has already acc.u.mulated the strength of more than a hundred rebounds!", his voice escaped from his body as he turned into a meteor that was flying straight toward Fell"s position.
SoftGum"s body acquired a red hue, fire and sparks appeared around his body as he descended toward the ground in a meteoric descent.
A grin appeared on Fell"s lips as his body felt the tremendous danger that was closing the gap on him. The same sensation he felt when fighting Karukobi and the black skeleton resurfaced; he felt as if his mind was boosted by the adrenaline he was releasing due to the pressure produced by SoftGum.
His hand flashed, and his sword appeared in his hand. "Solary Dive" was swiftly executed by legs as he mimicked SoftGum"s technique. He used his legs as he began propelling himself against the trees. A few of them were leveled entirely due to the strength his legs produced, and after a few rebounds, he attained his top speed as he felt the air friction hinder him.
Then with one last jump, he flew toward the sky in the same trajectory as the red meteor that was flying toward the ground. Sun Below was activated in an instant, and his sword turned into an incandescent light as it turned into ablaze.
"Let"s if you can rebound from a piercing blow!", Fell exclaimed with a grin on his lips. The sharpness from the sword forest disappeared and was replaced by the sword intent that came from his sword. SoftGum laughed at the provocation, and his speed grew by a little before they made contact with each other.
"You fell for it, just like the other!", SoftGum laughed before feeling the tip of a sword make contact with his body. "You see, softness is the ultimate tool!"
"f.u.c.k!", Fell couldn"t help but curse as he didn"t feel any weight at the end of his sword. He felt as if all the momentum he had acc.u.mulated was being sucked out at the tip of his sword. A sound similar to gelatin traveling at the speed of sound resounded through the fighting arena, and SoftGum"s figure disappeared in the sky.
Fell"s feet landed on the ground. He raised his head toward the sky as he looked at SoftGum, but his bizarre opponent"s figure didn"t appear in his sight.
"Where the f.u.c.k did he go?", he couldn"t help but exclaim as he didn"t see his opponent even after a few seconds pa.s.sed. Time ticked slowly as it was now minute, then in the center of his field of view appeared a system"s notification.
"User Stroke win! W:4/L:0"
His figure trembled as he nearly tumbled down from the information. He didn"t know the exact reason for his win, but SoftGum had given him the impression that the match would be tough.