Rock slam

Baligh let go of Kane's hands and rolled backward into a standing position before quickly jumping back a few times to widen the gap between them.

His face not only sported a broken nose, but abrasion wounds also covered almost every part of his exposed body. Kane had made sure to hunch lower to the ground when he used lunge to make sure his opponent's body was in contact with the floor.

Abel was not surprised to see what had just happened. Kane's breakthrough happened the previous night and that was the reason why he went to bed as early as 10 pm.

It happened when Kane was practicing his skills that night. He was almost completely focused on the lunge skill as he wanted to see if there would be any changes before his next match.

It just happened that during his final activation of the skill, there was a sudden increase in the elemental energy supplied to his legs, thereby drastically increasing his speed.

He could no longer control himself and he ended up crashing heavily into a wall.

Not only did he suffer pain from crashing into the wall, but the pain in the muscles of his legs was also excruciating.

Through the guidance of the lunge skill, the user's core supplies elemental energy to the user's leg muscles which increases the speed of their next unidirectional movement.

This puts a strain on the user's muscles and could not be used consecutively too many times.

Kane, whose lunge skill suddenly upgraded to the intermediate proficiency level had his core supply so much elemental energy that the strain on his legs could not be borne by him.

His leg muscles tore in many places. He also strained his muscles and sprained his ankles.

After rolling around in pain for some minutes, he calmed down enough to drink a health potion before going back to bed.

When he woke up this morning, he noticed that his leg muscles had become more pronounced and firm. He could no longer feel any pain and it seemed like his body had adapted to the improved lunge skill.

….

Baligh took a defensive stance again. He thought he could beat Kane in his own game and paid the price.

Although Kane's legs had become stronger, his overall body strength was still not able to fully bear the cost of using his two intermediate proficiency level skills freely.

He could already feel slight pain in his muscles and estimated that he could use the skill about four more times before it cramps up again.

"Use your speed to your advantage. Finish the fight" Abel said from within his Plain.

Kane's face hardened. He crossed his arms in front of him and activated his rock body skill. The skill covered his upper body.

Baligh instinctively moved back a little. He did not know why he felt fear as he was looking at the tier 2 mutant in front of him.

Kane activated the lunge skill. He felt a surge of elemental energy rush into his legs. His legs felt full of energy as he charged his opponent.

Baligh's eyes widened in shock. He thought the distance between him and Kane was enough to be able to think of ways to respond to his opponent's actions.

The distance was covered in almost an instant and Kane was already before him.

The kid's momentum was too high for him to parry the tackle in any way and he was left with no other choice but to dodge.

His was not fast enough though. His left shoulder and leg were still in Kane's path.

BAM!!!

There was an intense collision sound when Baligh was hit. His body spun a few times in the air before he crashed heavily into the ground.

Kane who had lesser strength than his opponent also lost his balance and toppled to the floor. He immediately stood on his feet as the damage he received was almost negligible.

He crossed his arms in front of him once more and activated lunge before dashing toward his opponent at high speed.

Baligh who just stood back up from his fall looked up only to see Kane's solidified body smash into his chest.

BAM!!!

He coughed up blood from the impact and it seemed like his ribs were broken. He fell flat on his back and almost rebounded on the hard ground.

Kane also tumbled in the air after the impact before falling flat on his back. He quickly stood up on his feet only to see Baligh was almost up too.

He activated lunge again and charged his opponent.

Baligh saw the attack coming and wanted to move out of the way but his body did not respond to his command. He only managed to stagger on the spot while bringing up his hands in a defensive stance.

Kane arrived before Baligh but instead of simply ramming into him like before, Kane bent down and tackled his opponent.

He slammed his shoulder on Baligh's stomach and grabbed onto his waist with his arms. He then exerted strength and lifted Baligh into the air while running a few feet forward.

When he felt that he had built up enough force in his upper body, Kane slammed Baligh's body into the floor.

BAM!!!

This time Baligh's body rebounded about ten inches into the air as he spat blood from his mouth. His eyes rolled back until only the whites of his eyes could be seen.

Kane stood up immediately and raised his legs to stomp down on his opponent's chest as he transferred his rock body skill onto the raised leg.

He stomped down the foot but before it could connect, the referee had held onto it.

He finally calmed down a bit and stepped back, allowing the referee to check on his opponent.

When his heart rate came down a bit and the adrenaline in his blood receded, he could now feel the pain in his legs. His leg muscles were constantly twitching and he found it hard to maintain his balance.

He was right in his estimation. He could use lunge four times safely. The fifth use would cramp up his legs and he won't be able to use them for a while, that is if he was not rolling around in pain on the floor.

Haytham stood up and waved his hand, signifying the end of the match. He declared Kane the winner of the match while glancing at him weirdly.

.....

Kane was teleported back into the waiting room. He did not bother to look at the people staring at him as he stepped down from the platform.

His steps were wobbly and unsteady and it took him a while to get to his chair. Qusay watched Kane wobble his way back to his chair beside him while breaking into a radiant smile.

Kane plopped down on the chair and did not talk as he took out a healing potion from his waist pack and emptied the contents of the bottle into his stomach in a single gulp.

After waiting a while, Qusay thought it was okay to talk to Kane now. He patted Kane's back and his voice was full of laughter.

"You pull out something new every single time you step onto that stage. You are a walking miracle, my friend.

I can't wait to see you fight. Better still, I hope I get to fight you" said Qusay as he looked at Kane as if he was a fat piece of ham.

Kane found his gaze unnerving and shuddered a little before breaking eye contact and saying "I hope we don't get matched up".

"Come on, don't be like that. It's just an examination. It's not like our lives are on the line.

That last move of yours, what is the name?" asked Qusay. He looked eager to hear the answer.

"Huh? The name? Must it have a name?" asked Kane looking a little bit confused.

"Of course! It has to have a name. Every combination move or special move has to have a name. It's just like when you throw your clenched fist at something you call the action a punch. And besides, it makes the move much cooler if it has a badass name" replied Qusay.

"Okay. Hmm, let me think…" muttered Kane as he dug around his head and let his creative juices flow.

"Rock slam! I will call it rock slam" said Kane with so much enthusiasm that it looked like he had found the solution to world hunger.

"Okay… rock slam. Nice name. Although it sounded like a move where you attack your enemy with a heavy rock" said Qusay hesitantly.

"What do you mean by that tone? I am slamming a heavy rock at my enemy aren't I?" asked Kane a little bit annoyed.

"Alright, alright. I already said it's a nice name. Sheesh" chuckled Qusay as he did not want to look at Kane's glaring eyes.

After a few minutes' break, the announcement for the second match of the third round was made. The competitors were Ferran Azzi and Qusay Moghadam.