Beating to death

Julie closed her eyes and tightened her arms, preparing to receive Alexander’s vertical kick, but moments later, the expected pain did not arrive.

Her eyelids widened and she suddenly saw Alexander’s leg stopping in the air.

Alexander smiled and quickly retreated to the side after canceling his attack. If it weren’t for this, he would have already been injured by Elyan’s punch.

‘Has he noticed me already?’ Elyan, in a black shirt, appeared in Alexander’s place, holding his fist. He looked at Alexander, and then his eyes fell on Julie’s messy figure.

He was already stalking Alexander from the moment he struck Gray. He originally thought of waiting for the three of them to assemble together and then try to overthrow him. This was definitely a more effective plan. However, Alexander did not give them a chance, and if he continued to procrastinate for additional time, who knows how dire their situation would be under Alexander’s merciless blows. That’s why he decided to wait until Alexander completely ignored him. This required some sacrifice on the part of his two companions of course.

But even with all these factors, he could not reach Alexander. However, he still managed to save Julie in time.

“Elyan!” Julie was happy when she identified the image of that black-haired young man appearing next to her at the time she needed help the most. Although this was not able to suppress her fear of Alexander, seeing Elyan’s back facing her, she felt a little safer.

Remembering the first aid exercises they have learned during his time in Peace City, Gray pulled his hand and pressed his chest forcefully. Although it was painful, it was necessary for him to regain his ability to breathe normally. After seeing Elyan’s reappearance, he hurried to join them as well.

At the same time, Alexander, who did not have a single scratch, took his time and was able to notice the spiteful glances directed at him. He didn’t attack them directly this time.

He took out his beloved pipe from the pocket of his black pants, and began to light the dry tobacco with a point of light that was floating above his finger. As he pulled for the first time, he paused before saying strangely: “Do you know what the answer of the strongest martial arts master in the world was when a trainee asked him: What was the quickest and best way to reach his level?”

Without waiting for an answer from them, Alexander hastily added: “Beating to death!” When he said this, he looked towards the sky and seemed as if he was immersed in old memories.

“Just like the first stage, you will also spend another three months being beaten every day by me.” Alexander continued with a devilish smile on his face: “Whether you can withstand my blows or end up in the dirt is none of my business.”

‘Three months?!’ Gray’s heart sank, he wanted to kneel down and cry for Alexander to forgive him, but he backed down in front of this evil master.

While Julie was also in despair as she thought of a way to escape death in the future, the calm Elyan had another point of view. He thought optimistically: ‘It seems that this is the real purpose of the training program during the previous months. On one hand, we have strengthened our bodies in preparation for controlling mana, and on the other hand, our endurance has been developed in order to be able to fight.’

‘Also Uncle Alexander doesn’t seem to be fighting all that seriously, maybe even less than half his strength. This never leaves us with no way out. Otherwise if he really wanted to go all out, even without using magic we still would have been killed in less than one breath.’

“So, let’s start!” Alexander said, excitement reflected in his sharp eyes.

***

“Your timing is still not perfect.” Alexander avoided Elyan fist by ducking his head, and in the process, he threw his leg towards the latter’s stomach.

Elyan was also not that naive to leave his defense open. He controlled his other hand and it collided with Alexander’s leg. Although this made his hand a little numb, he succeeded in canceling the attack.

At the same time Elyan shouted: “Gray, Julie now!”

Gray rushed towards Alexander’s right side, where he lost his balance, and hit his torso with his hand, while Julie came from behind and kicked Alexander’s back with her hard leg.

With the three gathering against him, his options were limited, yet Alexander remained calm: “Your teamwork has improved greatly, your mistakes have become fewer, however, this is still not enough!” As Alexander smiled, his eyes turned towards Gray, he pulled out his right hand and grabbed the latter’s fist.

Although he lost his body stability due to his leg being tied by Elyan, all their movements fell before his eyes.

At this moment, he took advantage of Gray’s rush, which made him move slightly to the left side and evade Julie’s hidden attack from behind him before he stepped on him. Not only that, but Gray became the target of Julie’s kick, which was unable to change its course.

As for Elyan, he also followed Alexander’s movement, he did not use his left hand or leg because he would have hit Gray. He raised his right knee and gave Alexander a surprise strike.

Alexander was only able to rely on the left side of his body as well, because although he survived Julie’s attack, he was still restrained by Gray, and it is true that Gray was vulnerable to Julie’s attack, which failed, but he was able to block it with the palm of his hand.

In fact, if it had been two months ago he would have been lying down for two days due to Julie’s improved kick, or even earlier, Alexander would have been able to fight his way through him without any difficulty, but now Gray wasn’t the same as before.

Elyan was the main attacker, while Julie played the role of support and beguilement, and as for Gray, he had to continue harassing and restraining Alexander. No one would lie if they said that he was the most difficult of the three, especially since the other party was Alexander, a veteran fighter whom they could not defeat even once during this period.

Alexander smiled, he did not expect these children to bring him to this state, yet he was also proud of their development.

But it was time to act. Against Elyan’s attack, he did not object, but rather took a step back, away from the attack field. Not only that, through an unexpected angle, he also sent a punch in Elyan’s face. With his careful control, the fist and knee did not collide, which made Elyan’s eyes widen, but deflected down a little.

When it was about to smash his chin, Elyan clenched his teeth. Alexander’s fist was like a huge mountain. He had the feeling that no matter what he did, he would not be able to avoid it, so he did not try to. He clenched his right fist while blue veins formed along his arm. He also punched and made the two fists collide.

“Boom!”

Elyan’s expression twisted and he fell to his knees. He felt that it was a steel rock he was entangled with and not a human hand. His hand immediately went numb and he held it towards his stomach and was unable to lift it again. The pain was severe.

The fight only lasted a few moments since it began, and speed was the key. Alexander did not care about Elyan’s position, but rather gave Gray a long smile, grabbed him by the hand that was clasped around him and threw him forcefully into the sky for several meters.

Alexander passed his place and he reached in front of Julie, who had fallen as a result of the collision a moment ago with Gray.

Julie was not oblivious to the battle, as soon as she saw that she was Alexander’s next target, she raised her legs and, with the support of her hands, acrobatically jumped back, forming an arc in the air and giving herself space to confront Alexander.

With one leg, Alexander pressed himself to the grassy ground and lunged at Julie, ready to throw his punch. Julie had no choice but to cross her arms in front of her chest to defend her body.

In an instant, Alexander was at Julie’s side, and yet he was not about to hit her until he stopped. His control over his acceleration was frighteningly amazing. He did not complete his attack, instead he changed the angle of his leg and jumped behind her with a strange movement.

“Tak!” He raised his hand and gave her a quick stroke on the back of the neck.

Before she could react to the image of Alexander that had disappeared in front of her, Julie suddenly felt numb. Darkness slowly appeared in front of her.

Her arms dangled and the world seemed to turn upside down around her. She swayed sideways and fell to the ground with her hair covering her entire face.

Alexander was decisive this time. He no longer mocked the abilities of his students and treated them seriously.

In the air, Gray managed to adjust his body balance and was about to land, but when he looked under him, he saw Alexander’s face in front of him: ‘Damn, did he come that fast?!’

Gray was unable to control his body comfortably, all he could do was push his leg down in a desperate attempt.

Elyan managed to grit his teeth and suppress the pain, there was no time to enjoy it. He raised his head and was able to imagine Gray’s ending, he couldn’t help it but he wanted to take advantage of the lapse of time when Alexander was also in the air and gain the initiative.

At Gray’s simple attack, Alexander snorted. He turned his body and turned around, avoiding his opponent’s kick with ease, then at the moment when the two were on the same level, he raised his knee and struck with precision.

It was a direct hit to the face that made Gray lose his clarity, his nose was twisted and blood seeped through it, and his face turned blue.

When he landed on the ground, he staggered diagonally and found it difficult to stand. In the next second, he fell and fainted.

Elyan stood next to Gray and stared at the sky. He was waiting for the moment Alexander would land to attack as well, where his chance of success was greater.