The two kept fighting, and when Mantis came in, something strange happened. Simyon saw it as his opportunity and started to strike at Mantis non-stop. Mantis felt something from his back.
Getting back up from his position, Mantis could feel the pain going away from his body. His muscles started to relax, his headache was disappearing, and he could see the opponent in front of him clearly again.
'Why did I feel that pain, why did my chest hurt, is it when I get excited during a fight, or when I use too much Qi?' Mantis thought to himself. 'I had to give more power than I thought I would; this person's body is incredibly strong. I wonder what he went through or what art he did to go through something … but that's not my concern, my concern is I just need to take you down.'
Mantis ran with his fingertips dragging through the floor again. This time when he lifted his hand, part of the floor came up from underneath. Parts of the concrete shattered, all going toward Simyon.
He stayed focused and standing as pieces of the flooring hit him and broke apart, and with focus, he could see Mantis straight ahead. He went for it, throwing his powerful fist.
At the same time, Mantis was able to lift both of his hands to block the attack. A loud clanging noise was heard, as usual, as if metal was going against metal, but with it, a shockwave, a pulse almost, was seen in the air, and Mantis was sent back.
He flew back in the air for a few moments, with his feet landing firmly on the ground. He hadn't been pushed back a great distance like Simyon had been when attacked, but it was clearly still surprising for even Mantis.
'This person's hits are heavy; if I get hit by it, I won't come out of this fight with no damage at all,' Mantis thought.
The issue was, to win this fight, he would have to head straight into danger.
The distraction technique didn't work for Mantis, so the only thing he could do was go on the attack again. In doing so, the fast movements and strikes from all sides had continued.
Mantis struck strangely with each blow and quickly moved from one side to the other. Simyon was doing well blocking them, but his body was being pushed on the floor from side to side, and he looked helpless, as if it was only a matter of time until he would be ripped to shreds or bleed out.
As Mantis continued attacking from side to side, he eventually grit his teeth, biting down as hard as he could.
'Not again, it's come back again… is it really because I'm trying too hard in this fight, is this just happening to me because I'm weak.'
Mantis pushed through as he attacked from side to side moving, but Simyon was noticing something this time as he kept an eye out.
'Something's wrong; the attacks aren't as strong or sharp as before. Is this my chance that I was looking for? Not yet, now is not the right time.'
Simyon continued to swing his arms using his strong body and reinforcing himself with Qi, blocking each of the hits.
Then Mantis could feel it, the pain was shooting from his chest all over his body, it had frozen up, and so did the attack that was mid-air.
Breaking from a blocking stance, as if waiting for this moment the entire time, Simyon had wound up his fist back, condensed the Qi in his strike, and swung it, hitting Mantis right in the stomach from below, delivering a strong uppercut, lifting his feet in the air.
A small shockwave was seen through the body due to the impact, and blood had even come partly out from Mantis's mouth.
Before Mantis could go further in the air, Simyon knew something was up because his opponent still wasn't reacting.
'I was right, he must have some type of stamina issue; he tried too hard to finish me off, and his body is getting blowback. This is my chance; I can't let this opportunity go away.'
Jumping from the ground, Simyon grabbed Mantis's hand and then smashed him onto the floor. It was a hard hit, breaking part of the floor. Immediately after, while still holding onto his opponent's hand, Simyon stepped right on top of Mantis's chest.
Mantis had managed to grab Simyon's legs just in time, but part of the impact was felt, and more of the flooring broke with the heavy hit.
'He can still move; I need to take him out before he can recover!' Simyon tensed his fist and went to throw it at Mantis's head, but changed direction at the last moment and blasted it right into his stomach.
A large amount of air was thrown out of his body, and veins could be seen on Mantis's neck; a hand was over his face, ready to block the attack, but Mantis had made the wrong call.
Simyon lifted his hand again and started to gather his Qi.
'Maybe I won't be able to beat him before he recovers, but I can still win this fight if I get the Warriors to intervene and bring it to a stop.'
Simyon was right with his thought because both of the middle-stage warriors that were on the arena floor looked at each other. They were wondering if enough damage had been taken to warrant a stop.
Was the student's life in danger, and was the other person able to make a comeback? As another hit blasted into Mantis's stomach, they nearly moved before they remembered the words of the clan heads.
That they were to intervene only at the last moment, and if a death was to occur, it wouldn't be their fault at all.
Simyon continued to hit Mantis more frequently with less power as he was getting desperate.
'Why won't they stop the fight, and why are Mantis's eyes still burning with fire!'
While Simyon was continuing to hit Mantis, the pain from his chest was starting to spread. He could feel it concentrated on the shoulder blades on his back, and something underneath his skin was beginning to move, trying to break out.