Marcus stumbled slightly, his momentum carrying him
forward. He recovered instantly, spinning around to deliver a
devastating roundhouse kick to Elias's ribs. It was a technique that
had broken ribs in tournaments.
Elias didn't block. Blocking meant absorbing force. Instead, he
took a half-step inside the arc of the kick, neutralizing its power
before it could accelerate. He casually placed a hand on Marcus's
thigh as it rose, applying just enough downward pressure to disrupt
Marcus's balance. Marcus’s foot slammed harmlessly back onto the
mat, jarring his knee.
"Stand still!" Marcus roared, his frustration boiling over. He
unleashed a flurry of rapid-fire punches, pressing forward like a
storm.
To the students watching, it looked like a magic trick. Elias
flowed like water around rocks. He parried a jab with the back of
his wrist, slipped a cross with a tilt of his head, and deflected a hook
by gently guiding Marcus's elbow slightly off trajectory. Every strike
missed by millimeters. Elias was entirely relaxed, his breathing
slow and even, his eyes completely focused not on Marcus's fists,
but on his center of mass.
Marcus was breathing heavily now, sweat pouring down his face.
The physical exertion of throwing full-power strikes and hitting
nothing but air was exhausting him rapidly. More than that, the
psychological toll was devastating. His entire identity in the dojo
was built on his physical dominance, and this stranger was making
him look like a flailing child.
"Fight back!" Marcus screamed, abandoning all technique. He
lunged forward with a wild, looping overhand right, putting every
ounce of his weight behind it.
This time, Elias did not just evade. As Marcus lunged, Elias
stepped forward, intercepting the attack. He didn't strike. His left
hand slid smoothly under Marcus's striking arm, wrapping around
the triceps, while his right hand cupped Marcus's shoulder.
Using Marcus's own massive forward momentum, Elias
pivoted his hips, dropping his center of gravity. With effortless
grace, he guided Marcus through the air. It wasn't a brutal slam; it
was a perfect, sweeping throw. Marcus sailed over Elias's hip and
crashed onto the tatami with a resounding thud that shook the
floorboards.
Before Marcus could even process what had happened, Elias
was kneeling beside him. He hadn't struck Marcus, but he had him
completely immobilized. Elias's knee was lightly pressed against
Marcus's ribs, and his hands held Marcus's wrist and elbow in a
lock that required only an ounce of pressure to break the joint.
The dojo was dead silent. The undisputed king of Kensei