"Earth Zero was peaceful compared to the other Earths. And I am living a great life there with my wife and only son. I am a photographer and own a studio; my life was also peaceful and filled with joy. And there is only one thing that makes me sleepless—that is my dream to become a knight. So I worked hard, strengthening my mind and body, and I came here about 5 years ago with only one aim: that is to become a knight, a fierce knight who can protect his universe from any threats.
But the end was my ultimate defeat. Yeah, I lost to the current knight, and I returned home with a lowered head and a broken heart. But my wife, my angel, told me to keep dreaming and try again next time. So I worked hard again, more than I did in my previous time, and I reached here. Now, in front of this unknown man who challenged me to fight—and guess what, I don't have any other option but to fight. This is the only way to keep my dreams alive."
Steve woke up from his stream of thoughts only to realize that the guy with the sword just vanished. He was there just a second ago, but now vanished like a ghost.
"Where did he go?" Steve looked around. But he can't sense his enemy's presence, and that dense forest makes that almost impossible. He pricked up his ears to get any sounds. And that try was successful; he heard a running sound on his right side. He turned and faced that side. At the same time, that guy jumped from the trees like a monkey to punch Steve. But Steve was very cautious and cunning, so he managed to escape from that attack. That guy landed a few meters away from him. Actually, he didn't think that Steve would manage to escape. He raised his head and looked fiercely towards Steve, but Steve didn't show any emotion at all. And he hold that canon ball tightly, as the ball is started to crack
Only now did Steve get to see his opponent's face properly. He had a square face with very sharp eyes, and his gaze was very serious; it looked like a predator looking at its prey.
"So you are indeed a good opponent," he looked at Steve and said seriously. His loosely tightened overcoat waved with respect to the wind, and it revealed his black and white shirt partially. His sword was in its sheath hanging on the left side of his hips. He had put the sword back in its sheath just before he attacked Steve because he thought that Steve was not worth his sword. But now, he is serious and took the sword out. He looked at the glazing sun for a moment and then sent his gaze back at Steve. Their fight is now starting to get serious.
Xavier is faster than John's expectations. He can't keep up with Xavier's speed. John is spinning and trying to catch Xavier, and Xavier, on the other hand, is just running randomly to get John off guard so he can land a fatal blow. Xavier is trying to end this fight as quickly as possible; it's because he is not confident with his stamina as well as his strength.
Xavier reached John's back within a flash of a second, and John didn't even realize it yet.
"This is the opening," Xavier rushed and smashed at his back. But it didn't affect John at all. He didn't even feel any impact from that punch. Xavier shocked and froze for a second. And that mere second was all that was needed for John to take action. He grabbed Xavier's hands and threw him forward. Xavier flew and landed on the dirt and rolled like a ball. John looked at him and shouted with a mocking smile:
"Ha… ha… I got you, fly!"
Xavier got the control of his body back and stood up quickly before John could send another attack. He got very much annoyed because of the fact that his attacks didn't work on John.
"Shit, I need to use more of my strength… damn this will be difficult," Xavier said to himself with a very mild voice.
"Now I have a chance. His power is in his speed, not his strength. But I can't leave the fact that Xavier used his full strength," John thought.
The wind was blowing with a howling sound. John bit his nails and looked at Xavier, who was now standing. They were standing there like two cowboys who were ready to fire.
*shoom*
Xavier vanished just like before. And this time he was determined to harm John. And John clenched his fist and stood there like a stone statue, completely Concentrating on his surroundings.
*boom*
Xavier's fists touched John's face. He fell down on the ground, spitting blood. Actually, John didn't think that Xavier would attack head-on like this, so he didn't concentrate on his front that much. And that was the flaw he made, and it made him pay a price.
That punch hurt John really bad. A red blood mark appeared on his cheeks. He wiped the blood drops from his face with his right hand and slowly got up.
"Ok, now I can hurt him," Xavier thought happily as he looked at John, who was standing in front of him.
Xavier dashed again to attack John. He tried to attack John head-on again. But this time John sensed it, and before Xavier could reach him, he swung his hand and hit right at Xavier's face. He flew backward like a ball and landed by hitting the back of his head. He turned sideways and covered his head in pain. It was like hell to him. His head started to ache badly, and he rolled on the ground.
John punched him so hard that his fist also started to ache. He clenched his fist to see how much it hurt. He didn't feel that much pain, but it still hurt. Xavier's breath became rigid and he struggled to stand up. The main reason for Xavier's fall was himself alone; he was very fast and because of that, the impact from John's punch increased aggressively. But Xavier couldn't hang up on some mere excuses, so he stood up using his full power. He gritted his teeth with anger. The mark of John's fist was clearly visible on Xavier's face, on his nose and forehead, and a drop of blood flowed from his nose just like a snake coming from its burrow.
"You think you can beat me with this?" Xavier shouted as he wiped the blood using his left hand. And he laughed. "You did all of this just for a drop of blood?" Xavier looked at the blood that was currently on his hand and said.
John kneeled as quickly as he could and picked up a handful of mud, then jumped toward Xavier.
"What the hell is he doing?" Xavier didn't sense any danger at all. He was being stupid. Just before John reached Xavier, he threw the mud that was in his right hand, aiming at Xavier's eyes.
"Damn… my eyes!" He rubbed his eyes but also bowed down, because he knew that John would only aim at his head.
That was a shock for John, because he thought that Xavier would stay there because of the surprise attack.
Xavier didn't only kneel; he grabbed John by his legs and pulled him toward him. John lost his control and fell down. Xavier could barely open his eyes, and he could see John in blurry vision. He jumped on John's body and grabbed him by the collar.
*bam* *bam* *bam*
The punches were so hard that John lost his consciousness.