[Chapter 28: Sweeping Victory (2)]
After John quickly defeated Bob, his body became even more energized. He felt that as his fighting experience deepened, his combat skills were improving without him even realizing it. It seemed he was getting one step closer to the legendary fighting level of the Battle Mage from his memories. With that, he motioned toward Adam.
"Adam, it's your turn."
"Karate Kid, KO Adam!" someone shouted, probably because Adam had defeated him before and this was his way of trash-talking.
"Go..."
As John struck his Karate ready stance, the crowd grew even livelier, echoing with cheers of "Karate Kid!"
John thought to himself, this stance really worked well for showboating.
Seeing the stance, Adam frowned and immediately launched an attack himself.
Adam learned from Bob's lesson -- not to use full-power sweeping kicks anymore. Such attacks, if blocked, left one vulnerable to counterattacks.
Adam sprang forward with a butterfly step, bouncing swiftly toward John. His body swayed, and fists suddenly came flying in fast jabs aimed at John's face.
Clearly, Adam was opting for close combat, ready to fight with his fists.
The butterfly step style of the legendary Ali's boxing was famous worldwide. Adam's tall but surprisingly agile butterfly step drew cheers from the crowd.
Seeing Adam's boxing approach, John prepared to reciprocate with boxing techniques, moving his feet constantly as he responded with his own unusual footwork to Adam Howells's attacks.
...
Whoosh, whoosh...
Their fists cut through the air, whistling with each strike.
This time, John pulled back a bit; after all, using his full strength in boxing would overwhelm Adam too quickly -- he wanted to improve his fighting skills through this training session. If he ended it fast, the training effect would be wasted.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Their fists collided repeatedly. Adam took a couple of punches from John and finally understood what Bob had felt earlier. John's punches hit like iron hammers, drilling into the body with a force that caused intense pain.
Adam's fists never even grazed John; all attacks were dodged cleanly, leaving Adam frustrated.
"Okay, so you have strength. But damn, your speed and footwork are crazy too. How can anyone even keep up?"
Their relentless boxing bout had no time limit, unlike official matches, so they furiously stepped and punched nonstop.
The crowd was getting wild. Adam still hadn't landed a single punch on John, while John's fists occasionally connected with Adam's head, ribs, and other spots.
The spectators almost went crazy, shouting loudly. Such an intense boxing fight was rare to see. Many rooted for Adam to land a hit, shouting encouragements, but it never happened.
...
No rules, nonstop punches -- all to knock out the opponent. This was true fighting, not like those occasional hugging matches in pro boxing tournaments.
Everyone could see Adam was no match for John. As John's footwork became sharper and more fluid, his smile grew wider and his demeanor more relaxed, while Adam's expression grew more serious.
They kept up the aggressive footwork for a full 10 minutes before pausing. When they finally stopped, everyone noticed that Adam's face was swollen and bruised, gasping heavily.
John, on the other hand, only breathed lightly, his face flushed with a radiant smile -- far from looking like he'd been through intense exercise.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Where did this monster come from? Not only was his strength immense, but his speed and reflexes were incredible. On top of that, his endurance was ridiculous. How could anyone survive against him?
...
Before these two matches, John estimated he was only using about 50% of the fighting skills from his memories. Now, he had reached 70 to 80%.
Next, he showed a crazier side. He called Bob over and promised he'd spar against both of them, letting Bob and Adam attack him together.
Amid cheers from the crowd and excitement for Bob and Adam, John eagerly began the intense training session.
Two attackers were far more challenging. John occasionally took a punch, drawing applause from the bystanders.
At this time, John gave up offense to focus on footwork transitions. As he became more skilled, he used more footwork from his memories.
From clumsy beginnings, John became increasingly proficient. By the end, even with two attackers in such a small ring, neither Bob nor Adam could touch him. He finally called the training done.
---
Watching the two panting men, John started to feel out of breath himself. He thought, 'I'm not a superhero after all.'
Little did he know, everyone else already saw him as one.
His sparring partners were gasping for air, and he only felt mildly winded. That's real superhero-level stamina.
John felt he had reached level 8 of his remembered fighting power. That was the benefit of revisiting his memories -- it allowed him to quickly adapt and get back into form.
The final two levels were something that couldn't be reached just by training -- they required life-or-death battles.
Still, John was very satisfied. With his future magical advancement, his fighting skills would surely become world-class. No wonder he had become the undisputed star of the underground fight scene -- people surrounded him eagerly.
As the crowd chatted excitedly, Adam suggested that John test his punching power, instantly sparking anticipation and pushing him to give it a try.
...
They led John to a punching force measuring machine. John was pretty excited, having heard legends about Tyson's punches being capable of more than 1800 pounds per square inch of force and wondering if it was true.
The crowd stepped back as John took his stance in front of the machine, side-stepping, then swinging his right fist powerfully into the pad.
"Boom..."
The thunderous sound echoed in everyone's ears. The onlookers froze, then gazed at the result on the display.
"1893" -- a jaw-dropping number flashed before their eyes.
"Oh my god!"
"Jesus Christ!"
"This should be a Guinness World Record!"
"Unbelievable power."
...
Everyone knew an average person could only punch with a force of around 150 to 250 lbf. Trained fighters might reach 1000 lbf; lightweight champions could hit around 1300 lbf. Heavyweight champions could manage 1200 to 1700 lbf.
Tyson at his peak was rumored to produce 1500-1800 pounds of force. That's why people were amazed at this number.
Still, no one could understand how someone so lean could explode with such strength. In the end, they had to credit it to the wonders of martial arts.
Bob and Adam were the strongest fighters in the entire Black Vipers Club, yet John defeated both with ease. This proved John had the strength to dominate the entire Black Vipers.
"What are you guys all huddled around for?"
Just as the crowd was buzzing with discussion, a voice interrupted, breaking the heated conversations.
*****
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