At last, Karuza High's cheerleaders received their much-needed energy boost, and they started to cheer for Ryan with the banners flying high in the air.
At the Liberty High bench, Isaiah kept a close eye on Ryan.
'Crazy natural athleticism. If he were Martial Fighter, I don't think anyone in these high school circles could match him in terms of speed.'
Tyler wasn't that interested in the ongoing matches.
He felt like they were just opening acts before the main event.
'I am sure he is thinking the same.' Tyler looked to Kiernan. 'We, the aces, are carrying our school's hopes on our shoulders. We're very same in that regard, Kiernan!'
At the ring, the flurry of punches kept pummeling Cole till he was bruised and bloody. Their supporters were cheering loudly, their voices blending together in a cacophony of support.
'I must make him use his Super Acceleration!' Cole thought. 'Even if I get defeated, he can't use his speed in the next match, and Isaiah will have easy victory!'
He'd seen that Ryan's body couldn't handle the immense stress of Super Acceleration.
"Rakuya Style, Cheetah's Lunge!" Cole suddenly ducked under Ryan's fist and tackled his legs out from under him.
"?!" Ryan quickly kneed Cole in the waist and made his arms loosen around his legs.
With a quick flip, Ryan broke free from Cole's tackle and flipped back to his feet.
"Argh!" Cole touched his injured waist that had a deep bruise mark. 'In that split second, he managed to react to my tackle and kneed me in my ribs?!'
"Whew, that was close!" Klaus touched his head and laughed. "How did Ryan react to that?!"
"Natural Fighter," Jin said. "The principle of his 'martial arts' is instincts. While there aren't really any techniques, the instincts make him move."
'Not yet. I am not defeated yet!' Cole stumbled back to his feet. 'I must make him use Super Acceleration!'
Ryan stayed silent, and to everyone's surprise, he moved to a sprinting stance.
"What?!" Jin cried out. "No, don't!"
'Super Acceleration!' Cole grinned and immediately ran towards Ryan.
'Super Acceleration's strongest weapon is its momentum. If I go close enough, the Super Acceleration won't be able to damage me as much!
'I'll tank the attack, no matter how much it hurts!'
'Ryan will still be damaged from Super Acceleration!'
At that moment, Ryan smiled and lunged forward. It was a quick launch, but nowhere as fast as with Super Acceleration.
"?!" Cole looked scared. 'He didn't use Super Acceleration? It was just ordinary acceleration!'
Ryan jumped off the ground and kneed Cole in the face.
The sound of contact sounded horrendous.
Cole's head got pushed back, and he stumbled like a drunken man.
'Hah.' Kiernan smiled.
'Ryan is well aware of Super Acceleration's weaknesses. He guessed that Cole must've also found out some of those weaknesses like he did with Nathaniel.
'Thus, Ryan tricked Cole into coming closer and then did a quick sneak attack. While it was only ordinary acceleration, it was still so fast that Cole couldn't do anything to defend against it.'
With his nose bleeding furiously, Cole wasn't in the correct state of mind, as his brain was also trying to process the shock of the unexpected attack.
The knee attack really took a toll on him.
Ryan suddenly grabbed him by the jersey and hurled him away.
Without Cole understanding what was happening, he flew off the edge of the ring and landed outside with a thud.
After a moment of silence, Karuza High's cheers turned much louder than before.
"Yes!" Klaus and Timothy clapped their hands loudly.
Jin clenched his fist with a grin.
Nathaniel finally looked up and whispered. "Amazing as ever…"
At the crowd, Azer and Julia clapped their hands.
"Great job, Karuza High!" Azer shouted.
"Natural Fighters sure are scary." Julia said. "I wish he was more interested in martial arts."
"What do you mean?" Azer asked from his daughter.
"Oh, you don't know?" Julia asked with a giggle. "Ryan is also a professional video game player. To him, martial arts are just some exercise for him."
"Oh, really?" Azer said in a surprise. "I had no idea."
"Yeah, if I have to guess, Ryan might quit martial arts once he has graduated." Julia said. "Which is shame because I truly think he has a talent for greatness."
"The match is over!" The referee shouted. "Winner is Ryan Lee!"
Without a second of waiting, Isaiah stood up and made his way up to the ring.
He didn't want to allow Ryan even a moment to catch his breath, even though he looked like he was far from being exhausted.
"Ryan Lee vs. Isaiah Kelley!" The referee shouted. "The third match!"
Isaiah raised his fist high.
Ryan shook his legs as if he were trying to get them ready.
"Are both fighters ready?!"
"Yes!" Isaiah screamed.
"I am," Ryan replied.
Isaiah made the first move.
He crossed the distance and punched.
Ryan dodged to the side.
Isaiah followed after him and threw another punch.
Ryan smacked his forearm against the side of the punch and steered it away from his body.
"Morning Sun Art!" Isaiah pressed his hands together. "Dawning Light!!"
He thrust his fingers forward and stabbed them directly at Ryan's chest.
It was a shallow wound, as Ryan immediately retreated backwards. If he hadn't moved, the damage could be much worse.
The coach of Liberty High nodded.
'Isaiah is from the Morning Sun's temple. As he lived among monks, he learned their fighting art of Morning Sun Art. He had conditioned his hands to be as durable as knives.'
While others would be worried of his hands, Ryan charged forward and unleashed his punches with full force.
Isaiah stood on one spot, moved into a horse-standing stance, and tanked all the punches without making a sound.
"Morning Sun Art, Pain of the Morning!"
Instead, it was Ryan's fists that started bleeding.
'Crazy. His body is as strong as steel!' Ryan thought and retreated a couple of steps. 'That's some impressive body conditioning.'