"No, wait, this is my fight. You guys better stay the fuck out, because I'll be damned if I let you in the way of my growth," Luke said in a tense tone. His eyes were fixed on the towering Spectral before him.
Yoji, Rei, Kaito, and Hana hesitated but nodded, stepping back to give Luke the space he demanded.
"I've been training for three months now. I'm only around Multi-City Block Level," Luke said once more, his voice steady as he approached the Spectral. Each step he took was filled with determination and a resolve to prove himself.
Luke threw a punch, but the Spectral dodged effortlessly, its movements swift and fluid.
The two ran at each other in a sumo position, clashing with a force that shook the ground. The Spectral easily overpowered Luke, its sheer strength and higher tier making it a formidable opponent.
Luke threw a right hook but stopped just inches away from the Spectral's face to catch it off guard, then quickly followed with a left hook that connected with a satisfying thud. The Spectral staggered back slightly but quickly regained its footing.
Not giving the Spectral a break, Luke rushed in, throwing haymaker after haymaker. His fists moved like blurs, each strike aimed with precision and intent. "I don't have an ability yet, but I'll still kick your ass!" Luke shouted, his voice echoing across the field. He landed a powerful punch to the Spectral's throat, followed by a swift kick to its jaw.
The force of his attacks created a cloud of dust that enveloped the battlefield. Luke couldn't see much with all the dust in the air, but when it cleared, he saw something horrifying. Something so horrifying that it shocked him to his bones.
The Spectral stood before him, completely healed. Every wound Luke had inflicted had disappeared. The creature, resembling a naked human with no genitals, stood at 2.5 meters tall. Its skin was tinted an orangey yellow, and its eyes had deep and gloomy shadows over them.
"W-What are you...?" Luke said in a shaky voice, his knees dropping to the ground as he felt the weight of his situation.
"GUYS, WE NEED TO HELP LUKE NOOOOW!" Yoji yelled in an extremely loud tone, his voice filled with urgency and fear.
The Spectral muttered something, its voice a distorted mimicry of Luke's own words, "I don't have an ability yet, but I'll still kick your ass!" It repeated a few more of Luke's lines before its voice began to adapt, becoming clearer and more human-like.
It had learned the human language. It developed a voice.
"You... Luke, was your name? Consider this the first installment," the creature said. Its voice was impossibly deep, not a single crack in it. It was perfect, a perfect and divine voice one could only dream of having.
Without uttering a single word, the Spectral moved so fast it looked like it appeared in front of Luke in an instant. The Spectral performed a combo. It was a nasty combo.
Jab, cross, hook, uppercut that sent Luke flying about three dozen meters into the air. The Spectral followed with an overhand punch, a front kick, a side kick, an axe kick, a roundhouse kick, a horizontal elbow strike, a straight knee, thirteen rapid jabs, and finally a devastating headbutt.
Luke was covered in blood from head to toe, his body battered and broken. "A-A-Augh..." Luke choked, barely able to speak before the Spectral focused 1/30th of its energy into a single punch and decked him in the face, launching him back several dozen meters.
"Human." The Spectral laughed, the sound chilling and devoid of any humanity.
After a few seconds, the Spectral glared at the group, its eyes filled with a predatory malice. They were next.
Yoji, Rei, Kaito, and Hana rushed to Luke's side, Hana immediately beginning to heal his severe injuries. "Stay with us, Luke," she pleaded, her hands glowing with healing energy.
"We can't let it take us down," Yoji said, his voice resolute. "We need to work together."
Rei's shadows started to wrap around the Spectral, trying to restrain it. Kaito's gadgets activated, creating barriers and launching energy blasts to distract and weaken the creature. Yoji stood ready with his blade, eyes locked on the Spectral, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Luke, you did great," Yoji said, his voice calm yet filled with determination. "Now let us handle this."
Luke near death encounter?! To Be Continued!