With the crowd turning silent as if he had turned on the mute button, Neal moved his fist right next to his waist and sprang towards Travis.
'If you're pushed into a corner, forced to defend, shift your strategy, and punch till you can't anymore.
'Well, this is an absolute last resort, and I wouldn't want to end up in that situation in the first place. It is a suicide tactic, as you'll abandon your defenses and put all your energy into attacking.'
Kiernan's words echoed inside his ears, and it was the only thing he kept hearing.
Neal gritted his teeth, but this was the last thing he could possibly do.
Neal straightened his arm, his fist stabbing through the air, and smashed into Travis' guard like a battering ram.
Travis whipped his leg and kicked Neal in the thigh with enough power to make him stumble back a few steps.
'That hurts so fucking much, but no, don't stop, keep going!'
Neal's bloody teeth gritted together, the taste of iron filling his mouth, and he punched through the rising pain.
Travis blocked the punch with a frown and wanted to punch back, but Neal was already punching again, forcing him to raise his guard.
The guard blocked the punch once again!
Without allowing Travis to fight back, Neal repeatedly rammed his fists against the guard and kept going it till his boxing gloves were worn and tattered.
The boxing gloves weren't softening the blows anymore!
Travis' face crunched up in pain as he tried to endure the relentless assault, but there was a limit to how much his arms could handle.
As Neal reeled his arm back, his eyes suddenly widened as he felt like something opened up inside his body.
It felt like his stomach grew in size like a balloon.
Unknown power flowed into his arm, and as he punched again, he smashed through Travis' guard, and his fist connected with Travis' jaw in a powerful blow.
The boxing glove surrounding his left fist exploded on impact, revealing his bloody knuckles.
Travis, with his eyes rolling back to his skull, slowly started to fall down to the ground, and soon enough, his back hit the hard concrete floor with a sickening thud.
Neal looked at his own fist, wondering where the hell that strength suddenly came from.
At that moment, he started hearing again, and thunderous applause showered him from all sides, shouting his name as if it were a chant.
The referee ran over to Travis and started the countdown.
"Yes! Let's fucking go, Neal!"
Kiernan screamed at the top of his lungs.
Neal turned to Kiernan with rounded eyes and then back at Travis, not really believing what happened just now.
"I… knocked him down?"
At that moment, the referee finished the countdown, walked to Neal, and lifted his arm in victory.
"The match is over—the winner is Neal Yoxall!"
When those words reached Neal's ears, his body started trembling, and he wanted to cry tears of joy, but to not show weakness, he stopped his tears and screamed at the top of his lungs instead.
Silently, his father stood up from his seat and left the arena, but the Yoxall Bloodline inside him was burning brighter than ever before.
Katherina's mother cheered for the boy and clapped her hands with a gentle smile, her eyes joyful.
It was clear that his victory meant a lot for Neal, and even though she didn't know the boy, she couldn't help but feel happy for him.
"A strong one. I suppose Sirkus has another talented individual among us."
Her father said, rubbing his beard and watching Neal with a nod of approval.
Katherina clapped slowly, but her heart was beating rapidly, and a small smile appeared across her face.
Neal stepped down from the ring, his body burning with pain, but he couldn't help but keep smiling, as this was the happiest moment of his life so far.
Kiernan offered a high-five, but as Neal lifted his arm, he cringed in pain and had to lower his arm.
"Ouch… I think I might have broken something."
"Yeah, let's take you to the infirmary."
Kiernan escorted him to the infirmary, and after he got some medicine pumped into his veins, he asked.
"At that last attack… I felt so strong out of nowhere, and I was easily able to just punch through Travis' guard."
Neal said with a frown.
"Yeah, well, Neal, at that moment you awakened your martial soul. Congratulations, you're Martial Recruit."
"W-what? I awakened? I am only a middle school student, though…"
Neal said with disbelief and thought that maybe Kiernan was wrong this time around.
"It might be rare in here, but outside this country, it's not that surprising. Congratulations, Neal, you've a bright future ahead of you if you choose to pursue a martial arts career.
"Who knows, maybe you'll become champion one day~"
Kiernan said with a smile.
"Huff… yeah, I should…"
Neal said with a smile, laid down on the bed, and closed his eyes with a look of satisfaction.
At that moment, the sound of a notification reverberated in Kiernan's ears with annoyingly high volume.
[Congratulations, you've completed the Mentor Quest!]
Kiernan leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief.
'Hey, system. I don't know if you can hear my thoughts, but since this quest cleared, Neal's death has been prevented, right?'
[…Correct. His destiny has changed thanks to you, and you don't have to worry about him anymore
[…This is the Mentor Quest, after all, and its primary focus is to change the destiny of your students and help them reach greatness]
[…You've succeeded in that with Neal Yoxall, who will become a great martial artist one day, and he shall remember your teachings, forever]
'That's good… very good…'
Kiernan smiled and saw that Neal was snoring softly, sleeping his pain away peacefully in his bed.
'Well, since I am done here… time to go…'
Kiernan stood up, took a last look at Neal, and then left the infirmary, closing the door behind him.