Free Web NovelChapter 42: Throwing hands
"Let’s go," Vlad said, tapping lightly on Max’s back. Max was still processing what he had just seen, his eyes fixed on the dust settling over Noah’s crumpled form.
Vlad had only taken two steps forward when a voice came from behind.
"So you aren’t just all talk."
Vlad pivoted on his feet and found Noah lying on the ground with an amused smile spreading across his face. The earlier daze was gone, replaced by something closer to excitement.
Noah bent his knees, drawing them close to his chest. Then he suddenly hurled them forward, slamming the soles of his feet against the ground. His back formed an arc as he pushed himself upright, rising to his feet in one fluid motion.
"It’s round two," he declared, pulling his sleeves upward. The fabric bunched around his elbows, revealing his wide forearms.
Vlad analysed his posture. There was no opening, no wasted angle or sagging shoulder. He had already noticed that Noah’s muscles were not those of an average teenager back when he saw him fast asleep. But now, in a fighting posture, Vlad could tell from just how the veins across his forearms twitched and how his muscles strained that he might as well be the real deal.
Vlad grabbed the zip of his jacket, slid it down, and removed it from his shoulders, letting it fall on the ground behind him. His crimson eyes never left Noah.
Beneath the skintight black sweatshirt, the contours of his arms, chest, and abdomen stood clearly defined, every muscle forged through ten years of unwavering discipline.
"Oh?" Noah raised an eyebrow, slightly taken aback. He had never imagined that Vlad, who looked average in size from the outside, was hiding such a physique underneath.
Vlad raised both hands closer to his face. One hand clenched into a fist, while the fingers of the other hand called Noah forward in a slow, deliberate beckoning gesture.
"Come."
The smirk on Noah’s face widened. He bolted forward, but this time he was exponentially faster. Max’s eyes could barely keep up with the speed. The wind stirred in Noah’s wake, scattering loose dust across the stone path.
He covered the distance in the blink of an eye. His one leg planted firmly on the ground, while his other leg swung widely like an axe in a vicious side kick. The air hissed as his foot sliced through it.
Vlad slammed his own leg down, his palm slapping against the tip of Noah’s foot and driving it to the ground. The impact sent a dull shock through both their frames. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
But the moment that foot touched the ground, Noah had already launched the kick from the other side. His left leg whipped around, heel aimed at Vlad’s face.
Vlad blocked it as well, his forearm meeting the strike with a sharp crack. Yet again, another kick was launched. Noah flooded Vlad with a barrage of heavy side kicks, each one echoing through the air like a thunderclap.
Left, right, left, right.
The strikes connected against Vlad’s blocking arms, forcing him to shift his weight backward step by step.
Only for a split second, Vlad’s defences created an opening. His left arm dropped just a hair too low, his right foot shifted a fraction too far.
Noah did not miss the chance. He thrust his fist forward, knuckles driving through the gap. The punch connected squarely with Vlad’s jaw, his head snapping sideways from the force.
Instead of retreating or taking a defensive position, Vlad grabbed the arm that had struck him across the face and launched his own punch in retaliation. His fist drove into Noah’s abdomen, forcing a spray of spit from his mouth. Noah’s feet staggered several steps backward, his boots scraping against the stone.
"Wh-whoa... cough, cough... you pack quite the punch," Noah muttered, holding his guts. His face was pale, but his eyes still burned. "And what is with your face? It felt like I hit steel."
"Do you want to continue?" Vlad asked, his tone serious. "I would advise otherwis—"
Before Vlad could complete his sentence, Noah was already high in the air. His silver hair rustled backward in the night breeze, and his blue eyes stared down at Vlad like a hawk diving for prey. His one arm was stretched backward, bent at the elbow, his fist clenched tightly.
Vlad clenched his own fist and threw it upward.
Bam!
The two punches collided, sending a gust of air rippling outward. A cracking sound followed, the unmistakable noise of something breaking. Noah’s knuckles bent at an unnatural angle, his hand folding backward from the wrist. A deep frown carved itself across his face, but he did not cry out.
Yet, while still in the air, he twisted his body and launched a kick at Vlad’s neck. His heel sliced through the darkness, aimed straight for the throat.
Vlad caught his leg with his other hand, his face unreadable, his crimson eyes fixed on Noah without a flicker of emotion.
With one smooth, brutal swipe, he slammed Noah back into the ground.
Before Noah could push himself up again, Vlad was already behind him on the ground, his arms locking around his neck in a choke. The pressure was precise and relentless, cutting off air and blood alike. Noah’s fingers clawed weakly at Vlad’s forearm, but the grip only tightened.
"I g-give up, man! I give up," Noah blurted out in a low whisper, quickly tapping out.
Vlad released his grip and pushed him forward.
"Tch, you stink like a rotten corpse," Vlad muttered with a disgusted expression. "I would have been the one to pass out if you hadn’t tapped out."
"I-is this what they call destroying your enemy both physically and emotionally?" Max murmured, his lips parted as his brain slowly processed what his eyes had just witnessed.
Vlad rose to his feet and dusted the dirt off his trousers and sweatshirt while Noah continued coughing on the ground, his face red from choking.
Vlad picked up his jacket from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and walked toward Noah again, his expression unreadable.
’Is he going to beat him again?’ Max wondered inwardly before calling out to Vlad.
"Bro, he has already lo—"
"Vlad Lumberjack," Vlad said, extending his hand toward Noah on the ground.
Confusion flickered across Noah’s face for a brief moment before it was swept away by an excited grin.
He reached out, clasped Vlad’s hand firmly, and replied,
"Noah Silva."
