The place goes quiet.
The Geomancer smirks, closing in on Rong Yizhan.
Perfect.
The moment he gets close, he throws out another Geokenesis attack, intending to keep Rong Yizhan occupied so he can deliver a more damaging blow. One problem though...
The moment he closes in, Rong Yizhan suddenly stops. He catches the metal first, dodges to the side and raises the object.
__Bam!
Like golf, Rong Yizhan slam the iron into the Sentinel’s back, knocking the man off course and straight into the metal walls
"Fuck..." The Sentinel cusses "He can’t even see..."
Rong Yizhan grips the metal, moving away from the Sentinel. He suddenly stops walking. Not because he was afraid of a sneak attack– no.
Because the floor beneath them has begun to shake. He retreats immediately.
A wall of earth suddenly surges between them. Rong Yizhan nods once like he’s impressed.
Indeed, a C-Rank Geomancer is no joke. To be able to control this amount of earth from steel, it’s impressive.
Rong Yizhan stops. His head tilts to the side. The wall is close now, too close, and the barrier hums behind him.
The Sentinel expects him to retreat again, instead, Rong Yizhan turns to the side, his hand reaching towards the barrier.
His palm strikes it. Once. Twice. He grips one of the metals hard.
The steel framework inside it answers with a faint metallic resonance. He listens, his stance straightening.
The Sentinel...is at his left. No. Right. Rong Yizhan waits– three seconds.Then he smiles.
The next attack came from beneath him. The floor rises like a platform, carrying him upward.
For anyone else, it would have been an attack, for Rong Yizhan, it’s an opportunity.
He slowly crouches on the rising slab, his hands touching the smooth surface.
The Sentinel freezes for half a second. That’s more than enough.
Rong launched himself forward, the metal he has been gripping earlier finally comes in handy. He aims for the Sentinel’s position.
The Sentinel barely has time to turn or retract, he’s controlling a lot at the moment and Rong Yizhan shouldn’t be trying to close in on him. It’s suicide!
Metal graze his clothing, and cuts through flesh, blood seeping through the white fabric of his hoodie. He ignores it. He dives through the barrage of metals, finally coming face to face with the Sentinel.
"Shit..."
The metal in Rong Yizhan’s hand slam straight into his chest. Not hard enough to injure, but just enough to break his balance.
The Sentinel staggers but he reaches out at the last moment, grabbing the scruff of Rong Yizhan’s hoodie.
A punch. Rong Yizhan dodges. Elbow. He tilts his head. It’s like a tug of war. The Sentinel throws out random attacks but Rong Yizhan just dodges.
The Sentinel tries to pull away but Rong Yizhan grabs his sleeves.
"I’m trying to drag this out as much as I can." He mutters.
The Sentinel freezes. A laughter erupts from him, sharp, disbelieving and amused.
Rong Yizhan could have ended the whole thing from the beginning, but he chose not to. He chose to make himself look weak, dodge the attacks thrown at him and try to drag it out as much as purpose. All so the C-Rank won’t look like a weakling to others.
"I appreciate the thought, Phantom." The Sentinel grips his shoulders "If you’re willing to go this far for me, I should make it worth your time and effort, don’t you think?"
The ground suddenly shakes. Hard. The floor cracks beneath them.
Rong Yizhan feels the vibration through the soles of his feet. He moves before the earth rises.
A slab shoots upward.
The Sentinel had expected Rong to jump away, to put distance between them...
Instead, Rong stepped onto it. One foot. Then the other. He uses the rising ground as a platform.
His body twists in midair. He lands behind the Sentinel.
Time seems to stop. The onlookers watch in exasperation, Xin Linhua is grinning like a fool, and the Sentinel feels nothing but danger. It all happened in a flash.
The Sentinel spins, a metal slab rising behind him with intent to attack. Too late.
Rong Yizhan grabs his wrist and pulls hard. He twists it behind the man.
His other hand catches the Sentinel’s elbow and folds the arm behind his back as well. His opponent has been rendered powerless.
"Damn..." The man chuckles.
"Can we stop now?"
"Nah!"
The Sentinel tries to use his ability. The floor trembles beneath them. Every single time he uses his ability, the impact and tremors is grander than the last. This time is no exception.
Rong tightens the lock immediately.
"Don’t."
The single word is spoken calmly but it makes the Sentinel hesitate. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
The ground beneath them continues to shake. Rong Yizhan could feel the ability gathering at the tip of his toes.
He shifts his weight subtlety, his knee presses against the back of the Sentinel’s leg whose knees hit the ground hard. His grip tightened around the wrists.
The Sentinel understands. If he forces the geokinesis now, the uneven ground will throw them both off balance, but Rong has already anchored himself against him.
One wrong movement and his own shoulder would take the strain. Rong Yizhan will be left unharmed.
The Sentinel exhales. Then laughs.
"Well, I’ll be damned."
Rong remained perfectly still.
"Yield?"
"...I yield."
The trembling stops in an instant. The training grounds become quiet again.
Rong Yizhan releases him immediately, helping him to his feet.
The Sentinel rubs his aching shoulders and stares at the blindfolded man.
"You didn’t beat me with strength." He tilts his head
"No." Rong Yizhan nods.
"You mapped the entire room. You had the whole place mapped in your head and you knew you could end the whole thing before it even began."
Rong reaches up and adjusts his blindfold.
"It wouldn’t be fair to end it that early." He says "The institute will make you hype up the training and that’ll cause a strain on you. As for your other word...i tend to listen more during a fight."
The Sentinel glances at the ruined floor around them, a teasing smile on his face.
"Then the blindfold really isn’t a disadvantage for you."
Rong Yizhan lowers his gaze, unwrapping the hand wrap on him.
"It never was."
He turns toward the edge of the training grounds, his gaze cutting through the crowd.
Xin Linhua beams, his eyes closing as he smiles brightly. He waves his hand, looking way too happy for someone who’s waving at a man who doesn’t give a damn about him.