Everything around them was silent.
Both of them had closed off their ears to any unnecessary sound.
Johan and Kiernan stood at the center of the ring—facing each other with only a meter separating them—and then both raised their fists.
Both punched each other in the face with full force.
Their heads snapped back from the impact, but neither of them flinched or backed down.
With their other arm, they started throwing jabs and hooks.
Smack, smack, smack, smack!
Once their left arms turned sore, they switched to their right arms and punched each other in the face.
The blood spewed from their noses, and they stumbled backwards.
Through their side eyes, they were able to see their teammates scream something, but neither cared and lunged back at each other.
They kept punching and punching. The sound of fists hitting flesh echoed through the ring.
Next to the ring, the referee was on his earpiece, talking with the chairman and others, who were debating whether they should just call off the match.
It was looking life-threatening!
"Argh!" Johan punched Kiernan in the chest and pushed him back.
"Ptui!" Kiernan spat out blood from his mouth and swiped his hair back. "Damn it…"
"Huff, huff!" Johan looked at his trembling arms and said, "I-I think I have enough energy to throw one more punch."
"Same." Kiernan said weakly. "My left arm doesn't work anymore, but my right one has one punch left."
"Huff…" Johan stepped towards him, almost falling down. "One punch…"
The two young men stepped closer, and both reeled in their arms to strike one final time.
"This is my strongest punch!" Johan screamed and punched forward. "Super Punch!"
"Ragh!" Kiernan's right arm started spinning like a drill, and then he punched forward.
Johan's fist slammed into Kiernan's chest.
Kiernan's fist slammed into Johan's chest.
As soon as the two punches landed, the two young men flew backwards from the impact of the punches.
While in the air, Kiernan's eyes rolled back to his skull, and everything around him turned dark.
Then he fell off the ring and landed outside of it with a loud thud, a blank expression on his face.
Same with Johan. His eyes had turned blank white, and he was also lying outside the ring with a blank expression on his face.
While everything around them was silence, the crowd had never been louder. Their screaming teammates ran to their side, only to see both of them unconscious.
The morning's bright lights seeped through the hospital window and landed on the face of a handsome young man, sleeping soundly like a baby.
However, then one of his eyes twitched, and slowly, his eyes opened to a strange view.
"Urgh…" Kiernan touched his chest and felt a burning sensation.
His chest was heavily bandaged, and so were his arms and legs. He couldn't see any of his fingers because they were inside casts.
"W-what the…" Kiernan looked around with a hazy expression. "Where…"
The blanket slid off his body and fell down to the ground as he tried to stand up.
He noticed that he was inside a private hospital room.
When he looked out of the window, he saw Tiamut's landscape stretching before him. It was quite a beautiful sight, especially in the morning.
'I am in Tiamut's hospital, that's for sure, but what the hell happened?' Kiernan touched his head and felt the throbbing headache.
At that moment, the door opened, and a nurse came in with a tray but then noticed that he was awake.
"Oh!" The nurse smiled sweetly. "You've finally woken up."
"Where am I, Miss Nurse?" Kiernan asked with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
"Tiamut's Main Hospital." The nurse said with a smile. "You've been asleep for nearly three days. It is currently Tuesday morning."
"Three days?!" Kiernan almost jumped out of his bed, but the nurse stopped him. "What happened with the nationals?"
"I let your coach tell you everything." The nurse said, left the tray on the table, and went to get the coach.
After a short moment, Jin entered the hospital room with a relieved expression. He looked very relieved to see him awake.
They were getting worried since it took him days to wake up, but the doctors convinced them that it was just because of exhaustion.
"You gave us a proper scare." Jin scratched the back of his head and sat beside the bed.
"What happened with the nationals?" Kiernan asked.
"We… lost at the quarterfinals." Jin said with a wry smile.
"Your match ended in a tie. You both were taken in a hurry to here, as your two's conditions were quite severe.
"The match continued, but Timothy and Klaus couldn't defeat Yves. Thus, Tiamut High advanced to the semifinals."
"…" Kiernan looked away and gritted his teeth. "I see, we lost…"
"Yeah…" Jin took a deep breath.
"Tiamut High had to fight without Johan, but they still reached the grand finals. They faced Kanyon High in the finals, against Ermenrich Kanyon, and even though he was one of the top 5 Youths, he couldn't defeat Yves and Kara alone.
"Thus, Tiamut High became the champions of the nationals!"
"Haah…" Kiernan leaned against the raised pillows. "What about Johan? How is he?"
"He woke up a day ago." Jin said. "His insane Superhuman physique allows him to heal faster, it seems. What a cheat code, honestly. He came to see you here for a moment."
"Oh, he did? What did he want?" Kiernan asked.
"Nothing, I think." Jin shrugged his shoulders. "He just looked at you in silence for a couple of minutes and then left without saying a word."
"Hmm…" Kiernan nodded. "Where are the others?"
"At the hotel," Jin said. "We wanted to wait for you to wake up before we return to Irio. The nationals are over, so we must return soon."
"I see." Kiernan nodded. "Am I allowed to leave?"
"Yes, but in a wheelchair, I am afraid." Jin said with a wry smile. "Your legs had some broken bones, and while they're mostly healed, you must take it easy."
"Well, I am fine to leave if you are." Kiernan said.
"Alright." Jin said. "I'll tell doctors to give you the wheelchair. By the way, your father was also here. He has returned to Irio already; he wanted you to know that."
"Okay," Kiernan nodded and turned back to the window to catch one long look at Tiamut's landscape.
The nationals had ended.
After a long, gruesome fight, Karuza High's journey ended at the quarterfinals. They were now officially among the top 8 best schools in the nation based on the rankings.
[High School Power Rankings]