"Gah!?" Zed shouted as he was flung to the dirt in the Training Field.
"Wow," Alexx said, standing over him. "You are really bad at this."
"Shut up."
"I mean I knew I would be better at hand to hand, but this is almost silly."
"I said SHUT UP!" Zed shouted, bouncing back to his feet. He then dashed forward to strike at Alex's face.
Alexx chuckled as he dodged the attack with ease. Compared to his usual skill and ferocity with a spear, Zed's unarmed attacks were seriously lacking.
'Well, I guess he's still furious,' Alexx thought as Zed threw another wide, full-force punch.
Alexx and Zed had both learned to fight through direct combat rather than through traditional schooling, but while Zed had fought against ordinary gamers and NPCs, Alexx had fought against martial artists and fighting game professionals. That technically gave Zed more experience with video game logic and combat involving supernatural abilities, such as the use of AOE Skills, but there were currently no such Skills available to them outside of magic.
"Why did you want to do this anyway?" Alexx asked as he gently deflected another strike. "It's not like using your spear is that much of an advantage against me."
"Just....wanted....to change....things....UP!" Zed grunted between punches, finishing the combo with a low, sweeping kick.
"So...are you having fun yet?" Alexx didn't even jump to evade the attack, instead simply stepping over the telegraphed strike.
"Just fuck off and die already!"
The two continued to exchange blows for several minutes, or rather Zed continued to throw punches and kicks that hit nothing but empty air, while Alexx calmly moved out of the way. Every now and then Alexx would point out a flaw in Zed's stance or motions, but he did so by lightly pushing and pulling at his body in the worst possible locations, repeatedly knocking the unarmed spearfighter to the ground without ever performing an actual attack.
As their sparring continued Zed's movements became even more sloppy and uncoordinated as he became more exhausted and frustrated.
'I think that's enough.' As fun as it was watching Zed become so flustered, Alexx wasn't the type to enjoy such a one-sided beatdown. Choosing a moment where Zed paused to catch his breath, Alexx quickly closed in and placed his closed fist just an inch away from his chest.
Zed's eyes widened as he vaguely recognized what was about to happen. "Don't you fucking da-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Alexx's fist surged forward, carrying tremendous force despite the small motion as it struck Zed dead in the chest. The older player was sent flying back several feet, hitting the ground hard and gasping for breath.
"You good?" Alexx asked, barely holding back laughter.
"F-f-fuck, you did not j-just hit me with a f-fake one-inch punch?" Zed stuttered out.
"What made you think it was fake?" he asked as he offered a hand to his downed opponent.
"With your Strenght stat? A real punch probably would have ripped me in half," he said, having caught his breath. He took Alexx's hand and the brawler easily pulled him to his feet.
"That's fair." Although he had always thought the famous one-inch punch was interesting, the simple fact was that it was more of a party trick than a real combat technique. "Well, as fun as this was, I'm starting to get bored."
"Oh? You seemed to be laughing a ton earlier."
"Maybe, but that was then." Alexx started walking toward the village. "Let's go, I'm getting hungry."
