At the roof of Sirkus Middle School, Kiernan looked down towards the entrance of the school, where people were heading out to their cars in the parking lot.
The festival had ended, and the students finished cleaning the stalls and their workplaces before also heading out.
At that moment, Kiernan saw Travis, with his couple of friends, walking away with no sight of the gold-haired girl.
"It looks like it worked. I don't see Katherina anywhere."
Neal sighed deeply, but then another problem arose, and it was the fact that he was supposed to fight Travis in a week.
He thought that his black-haired young man had lost his mind, and he didn't even know why he was trying to help him.
'Maybe he is bored, and this is just a way to waste time…'
Neal thought to himself, then picked up his backpack and headed towards the school, but then a voice came from behind him.
"Where are you going?"
"School is over, and I am going home."
Neal turned around and said with a tilt of his face.
He thought it was pretty obvious that they couldn't possibly stay behind in the school now that it was closing.
And since there were no other mischievous plans they had to execute, he planned to go straight home.
"There is no time to waste. You'll fight Travis in a week whether you like it or not, and you must be stronger by then."
"You're still talking about that? It is impossible for me to win against him."
"You must win, or you'll lose your dear Katherina. If this is the limit of your desire to win, then go on and leave."
Kiernan said and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Neal let out a defeated sigh and dropped his backpack to the ground.
Kiernan cracked his fingers, stepped towards Neal, and said.
"You must conquer your fears first. If you're afraid to get punched, you'll lose the fight before it has even begun."
Neal nodded and stood still with his arms beside him.
With a swoosh of the wind, Kiernan swung his fist, and it appeared directly in front of Neal's face.
Red veins appeared from the edges of Neal's eyes, but when the wind of the punch hit his face, he unwillingly closed his eyes.
Kiernan stopped his punch and rolled his eyes.
"Again? I'm not even going to punch you for real, but you still can't keep your eyes open?"
Neal grabbed his knees with his hands and panted heavily with cold sweat running down his back.
"Let's try another method then."
Kiernan said, moved slightly further back, and stomped the ground, causing it to crack with broken pieces of concrete scattering across him.
Neal's eyes widened in shock at that amazing feat of strength.
'That stomp seemed very casual, but it was enough to crack the roof, but what is he planning to do now?'
Kiernan picked up a few of the pieces and then turned back to Neal, who looked confused as hell about what was going to happen.
"I'll throw these at you, and all you have to do is dodge. Simple enough?"
Neal said, and felt slightly more confident at this.
He only couldn't keep his eyes open because the fist was coming so quickly and from such a close range.
'This should be easier…'
Kiernan swung his arm back, and with a twist of his wrist, he hurled the concrete pieces forward.
With insane speed, the projectiles shot through the air, and Neal, who was taken aback, barely had time to react.
He quickly lifted his left knee close to his chest and moved his arms to protect his face, but all those concrete pieces narrowly missed him.
When they finished flying past, Neal's eyes fluttered back open, and he looked back at the annoyed Kiernan.
"T-that was so fast!"
Neal wiped the sweat off his face.
'Alright, this isn't working. I'll show him the pain of closing the eyes.'
Kiernan stepped towards him, cracked his hand into a fist, and pulled it back.
'Again this punching… it won't work.'
Neal sighed, opened his eyes wide, and tried to force them open.
At that moment, Kiernan swung his fist, but as it neared Neal's face, he again closed his eyes and just waited for the punch to end.
However, Kiernan didn't stop and smashed his fist into Neal's nose, causing his head to yank back and his body to crumple to the ground.
Neal held his nose and rolled on the ground with sounds of pain slipping out of his mouth.
"You should've dodged."
"Y-you might've broken my nose! Why the hell did you do that to me?!"
Neal screamed and tried to touch his nose, but it stung, and he winced in pain.
"I was even going easy on you. Remember this pain. It is pain that follows you if you close your fucking eyes."
Kiernan said and cracked his knuckles.
"I-I am done! What kind of teacher punches his student? I-I'd rather go to one of those dojos!"
Neal said, stumbled to his feet, and headed to the door, but Kiernan grabbed him by the shoulder, made him turn around, and kneed him in the stomach.
Neal doubled over and fell to the ground, then released his bowels, and the smell was unbearable.
"T-this pain… is excruciating."
Neal said through painful whimpers.
"It is nothing. I am not even using a fraction of my strength. How does this pain compare to the pain Travis caused? Is it worse?"
Neal choked out, tears streaming down his face.
"Then there is nothing to fear about Travis. You've already experienced greater pain than he can cause, and you survived."
Kiernan said, and then forced him back to his feet, but he was shaking so badly he could barely stand.
"Let's do this one more time—I will punch, and you will keep your eyes open, alright?"
Hearing that, Neal nodded weakly, his face drained of color, and he raised his arms close to his chin.
Kiernan reeled back his fist, stepped forward, brought the momentum of his entire body into the punch, and swung.
"Iron Style, Iron Smash!"
The fist appeared in front of Neal's eyes, which kept shaking with fear, but he forced his eyes open.
The punch stopped directly in front of his face, and his fingers were almost touching him, but there was no impact.
Kiernan smiled, lowering his fist and stepping back.