We proceeded to set the stage for our spar. Darwin and Dutch went and stood over by the Tree house while Pete was standing at a closer distance to us allowing him to watch over and intervene if necessary. I knew that Navy must have some kind of blessing, so it may be best to strike first. However, I needed to get something out of this. If I ever wanted to get stronger, I would need to learn how to fight against someone with a blessing regardless of what it is. My Traveling hands are extremely useful and would allow me to strike him when he least expects it. So for the beginning of this spar, I plan to keep my hands hidden in my pockets and observe how he uses his ability. That was my plan, now all I need to do is follow through… "Alright boys, let's have a clean spar here. Avoid any kind of lethal moves if possible. If it's unavoidable then I will step in. Otherwise fight to your heart's content." Pete said with a sly smile. I noticed Pete glance over to Navy and he said, "There's no need to hold back with him." Navy nodded back in understanding. Fooo, this wasn't going to be easy. I don't know anything about knights but I vividly recall how strong that Royal Guard of Bane was all that time ago. If this guy was trying to be like that, I'm sure he will be a difficult opponent. We both got ready into our fighting stances. I stood calmly with my hands in my pockets which seemed to throw off Navy at first. But he simply said, "hmph." And then lowered his center of gravity with both of his hands held out to his sides as if he was ready to catch something. I'm sure my stance may have provoked him if he thinks I'm not being serious enough. Unfortunately, he has no idea what I am capable of at this point in time. All of my efforts in training will show right now. "BEGIN." Pete announced. Before I could even react, in a flash all I saw was a fist directly in front of my face. I narrowly dodged it by bending backwards and then kicking upwards to gain distance away from Navy. He was so fast! I had to jump backwards away from him to avoid his onslaught of ferocious punches. Even his strikes were at an insane speed. I wasn't even able to react to most of them in time, I was mostly relying on my instincts and speedily predicting where he may strike next. I was only barely missing his strikes and each time he was getting closer and closer. I ended up jumping, flipping backwards, and even sliding beneath him in order to avoid him. Eventually he spoke up while continuing to strike at me. "Is dodging the only thing you can do?" "Heh, you're pretty fast so what more do you want?" I responded. "You're holding back. Use your power!" He snarled. "You first!" I shouted with a grin. He then stopped his oncoming strikes and jumped back away from me. "Fine. If you thought I was fast before, you'll have an even harder time now." He then reached out his hand towards the sky and pointed two fingers in the air. Out of the nowhere, and massive bolt of powerful lightning struck down on him enveloping his body. His eyes were glowing a keen cerulean blue and the electricity in the air around him was sparking violently. "Oh my f*ck! Is that lightning!?" I shouted as I dove backwards and rolled away from the powerful bolt. I quickly regained my footing and prepared myself to use my blessing. Navy's power was not something I could just sit back and observe. This was serious! "You'll regret holding back Sid!" He shouted to me. Before I could even blink, Navy's lighting shrouded body appeared in front of me in the air and he kicked downwards with the back of his heel. All I could do was brace my forearms in front of me to block the attack. But the power of his kick was so strong it sent me flying backwards as my body bounced across the top of the stone spire. My forearms were throbbing and they felt numb from the lightning, electrocuting me on contact. I immediately got back up preparing myself to dodge or take another blow. But Navy didn't move from where he had struck me. Instead he remained standing with the lighting shooting out all around him. His gaze was that of someone who was looking down on me, he was utterly unimpressed. "Hmph. It was pretty easy to make you take your hands out of your pockets after all." He stated arrogantly. This fool, I knew his pride was hurt when he saw me do that. But if his goal was just to make me take them out, then he really won't be prepared for what happens next. "Ah, my pockets huh? Did you think I was doing that just for fun? He he." I proceeded to stick my hands back in my pockets and got into a running stance. I began manifesting all of my vital energy, letting it run rampant in my body. With the surge of power I exploded forwards off of my feet at my top speed. The ground beneath me cracked under the power of my stride. I wasn't nearly as fast as Navy, but this was enough. "Try and dodge this!!" I shouted at him. As soon as I had put my hands back into my pockets, I had already secured my victory. I used my traveling hands to grab hold of his ankles as hard as I possibly could. And although I was actively being shocked from the powerful lightning emitting from his body, it was a calculated risk. "What the hell is this!?" Navy shouted, unable to remove himself from my grip. Before reaching him I jumped into the air and pulled my hand out of my pockets with all of my strength. While holding onto Navy's ankles, I pulled his feet out from under him. In a single moment as he fell backwards, I struck a total of 3 times through my waypoints while focusing on all different areas of his body. He was completely unable to react as my punches struck him in his gut, his chin, and his spine. Then as I descended through the air from my powerful leap, I twisted my body forwards and prepared a downward heel strike towards his head as he laid on the ground. I thought I had him, but at the very last moment he rolled to the side and out of the way of my strike. As my heel hit the ground, a massive crack formed where he initially laid. By the time I was able to regain my footing after the heel strike, Navy was already up and holding his gut with one of his hands. He has a distinct red mark on his chin where I had struck him. Damn, he was sturdy! That would have surely knocked out any average person. Lightning was still raging around him. He yelled out, "Lets see you escape this!" He proceeded to gather lightning around one of his hands that he held in the air while still grasping his stomach with the other. A massive ball of lighting began forming at the tips of his two fingers. This was bad! All of my senses were telling me to get away from that. I couldn't try and grab hold of him again like I did before. My hands felt incredibly numb and burnt from the shock I felt earlier. There was also no way I could move fast enough to escape a bolt of lightning. My only option was to strike him first. I formed my hand into that of a spear, and my eyes began to glow a fierce golden light. I yelled out, "UUUURRRRRAAAHHHH!!!" And struck my hand forward. However, before either of us could let off our final attacks we heard Pete shout in a powerful and suppressing voice, "THAT'S ENOUGH." At the sound of his words, I immediately retracted my hand from striking and held both of my hands up in the air. Navy also proceeded to disperse all of his lightning into the sky and held his hands up into the air as well. "Well done boys, That was an incredible match." Pete said as he clapped his hands. Darwin was also cheering by the tree as he hid himself behind Dutch. "Navy, you know what to do when you've met someone worthy of your respect." Pete said while looking to Navy. Navy nodded and turned towards me. He bowed and said, "I thank you for your efforts Sid. You are definitely strong. I have learned a lot during this fight. I sincerely thank you." I was a bit taken aback by his formality but I could tell that this was a great display of respect and wanted to return his earnest intentions. I continued to bow in return and said, "haha, no need to be so formal Navy. You are also very strong. I am not sure if I would be able to take that last attack you had prepared. I never expected you would be able to control lightning. That was absolutely amazing." Navy's serious face once again turned to a smile. He walked towards me and reached out his hand. "Let me re-introduce myself. I am Navy Columbo, son of the former first night of Morland, Peter Columbo. Please accept my friendship going forward. You are more than a worthy rival." Did he say the first Knight? Damn, so old black eyed Pete really isn't some ordinary Knight after all. I never thought I would gain a rival during my travels, but competing with Navy was exilerating. Even though I felt like his last attack could have killed me, a part of me was itching to face it again to see if I could take it on. I reached out and shook his hand. "I am Cassidy Jones. I look forward to sparring with a future Knight of Morland again soon." I said with a smile. "Hoh ho hoh, the feeling of watching two young sprouts grow into mighty trees is always a pleasure. You both did great. Navy, you were smart to roll away when Sid kicked downwards. If you were to have tried to block it he would have broken your arms. However, your mobility is lacking. Rather than moving in a linear path with your speed, learn to attack different angles and use your quickness to your advantage. Sid I understand wanting to observe your opponents at first, however more often than not you will not have any time to do such a thing in a real battle. Instead, you should strike first and adapt as you go. I'm unsure of the exact details of your blessing, but with an ability like that you should try to focus on dislocating your opponents joints by striking them. If you can disable their ability to move efficiently you have already won half the battle. You both showed great instincts and reflexively responded to each other when attacking. I am proud of you both.Thank you for helping my son, young Sid." Pete said with a smile. "Yes father." Navy replied with a nod. His words really struck me, it was a perfect critique that I generally wouldn't have thought of. If I was able to focus on certain areas of people's bodies when attacking I could do a lot more damage as it builds up throughout a fight. My traveling hands can uniquely allow me to do that. "Thank you mister Pete. It seems like you may have already gotten a grasp of my ability just from seeing it once. That's pretty amazing!" "Ho ho, well… that's mainly from experience, young Sid. I have seen many strange abilities throughout this world and the power of blessings certainly takes the cake. But I wouldn't say I entirely understand your ability or what class it would fall under." Pete replied. "Huh? A class? I've never heard of such a thing." I said curiously. "Hmmm is that so? Alright, well how about we go inside and sit down. We can discuss this more with some dinner. Does that sound alright Darwin?" Pete said as he waved to Darwin. "O-of course! Come on in!" He replied excitedly.
