Crack
The sound of bone cracking went unnoticed by both, covered under the noise of the motorbike dragging against the highway, but both could feel it, especially David, who was experiencing the pain of having his ribcage bone broken.
Both the masked man and David ended up rolling across the road.
When David was still lying on the highway trying to cope with both the pain in his ribcage and the burning pain on the left side of his face, which had been scratched against the rough road while rolling, a voice filled with amusement entered his ear.
"Well, well, I don't know that I can be this cool; what do you think, boy? Aren't I badass just now, right?"
David shifted his face toward the voice, and there' he was, the lunatic. The masked man is standing with such ease, as if he was not the one who jumped straight at him like it's a shooting set of an action movie.
David ignored the pain and pushed his body to stand up.
Looking at his own condition, then looking at his opponent's condition, David is clear about the fact that fighting is a waste of time even if he somehow defeated this masked man, so what? It's not like Kevin will come back on his own, so he asked the most important question.
"Are you... the one who kidnapped Kevin?" Despite trying his best, his voice came out hoarse due to the pain.
"Who knows, maybe he is, maybe he is not? Why should I tell you in the first place?" The masked man keeps speaking in an amused tone, clearly not taking the young family member seriously.
David's face turned grim; he hated situations like this, but still he controlled his anger, knowing that every second the truck was moving away from his reach.
"You should answer me honestly because your answer will decide whether my family forces should blow that truck into ash or not." David spoke with a forced grin but good enough to make him appear like a crazy youngster.
For the first time, the air around the masked man changed; his tone changed.
"Wow! What if you ended up killing your friend who may be inside that truck?" The masked man's words remained playful, but now there was a subtle edge in them.
Listening to the masked man question David, he became seventy percent sure that Kevin was truly inside that truck, so he pushed both switches present in his shoes that act as a signal transmitter when both are pushed simultaneously, notifying Anora about his own present location, but he still decided to keep up with this act to get more information.
"It doesn't matter, after all; a tool that cannot be used by his master is better to be discarded right in the beginning,"
David spoke with such conviction that he praised himself in his brain.
"How can I be so good at everything, even acting? Ah! May my luck bless my friend too," David thought.
To make his act more believable, David made the action of taking out a device from his clothes, but the masked man was already above him with his leg raised, ready to subdue him just like David himself was ready to confront this bastard who dared to touch his best friend and then snap every bone in his body to make him suffer true pain.
David dodged the kick by backing off slightly.
He put his one leg backward and punched at the face of his opponent, who avoided it with minimum effort.
again
again
again
punch, kick, hook, jab, uppercut, feint, takedown, sweep.
Everything David had learned from his teacher, every technique, every move, he used everything he had learned till now.
Frustratingly, nothing managed to touch even the clothes of the masked man, who kept avoiding every attack with such ease that David appeared like a child throwing a tantrum in front of an adult.
Those who rise from beneath the darkness of society, those who observe all the inhumane activities that took place in the shadow of the shining face of a glorious civilization very closely.
Those people who suffer the oppression of every part of society but still somehow manage to rise above it and forge an identity of their own as an individual through any means necessary are often much more sensitive to other emotions, especially negative emotions.
just like the masked man, who is not just fighting but analyzing not only his moves but also his emotions.
The masked man can see everything like a predator locking onto its prey, anticipating the next attack.
David's desperate attacks, his crumbling confidence, his breaking false sense of power, and above all, the constantly seeping self-doubt—a stage where everyone takes their first step toward either self-realization or self-destruction, something the maskman can easily detect and direct.
After all, many people have been deceived into joining their organization as cannon fodder after pushing them into this same process, something he himself has done many times when he was just a level one superhuman.
So he repeated his same, ever-used line.
"Can you feel it?" the masked man questioned in a mocking tone.
"The difference in power between us, the fact that you are beneath me despite having so many resources, a great backing all wasted on someone like you."
He is trying to push David into deeper emotional instability and perhaps exploit him. He knows how dangerous it is to manipulate someone connected with the Keeper's family, but.
"A man should have ambitions, right?" the masked man thought.
A Mistake
Everyone has a different way of looking at things or situations; some are more special than others, just like David.
The masked man's words had the opposite effect on David because instead of being induced into a state of misery, he began to calm down; he stopped attacking and closed his eyes.
The masked man was delighted at this sight, convinced that his efforts were bearing fruit, but his happiness did not last long.
When David opened his eyes, his eyes were as calm as a lake with no hint of anger or desperation; instead, all those emotions were replaced by a calculative glint.
He moved once again, but this time his fighting style changed. Instead of repeating the same mistakes, he began to minimize them.
His every movement started to become flexible and precise.
He began improving in the middle of this clash, and before the masked man could understand what was wrong, a punch finally connected with his shoulder.
The masked man did not expect this opposite change, but still he does not mind that his little plan does not work; after all, it's not his main task, so he diverted his attention toward the moving truck while still dodging all of David's attacks, not taking him seriously.
It was a mistake that almost ended up with a punch in his face, but he protected his face by shifting his body at the last moment and diverting the upcoming punch toward his shoulder.
"This bastard is improving in the middle of the fight?" the masked man thought.
"What am I, a clown for practice?" Anger started shimmering in the masked man's mind.
The fact that this little brat has managed to land a punch on him is humiliating for him. After all, compared to David, who has only stepped into the second level, the masked man has already reached the peak.
"Ah, so that's why; each of them should be a little genius like him."
The masked man understood why his superiors did not allow anyone to get involved with the Keeper's family.
"Heh, did you lose your arrogance in just one punch? How sad. Let me clear your tears with my punches."
David taunted while still attacking when the masked man became silent after a single hit.
"I should end this little play," the masked man thought.
No more than one minute has passed since the collision between the masked man and David took place.
The constantly moving vehicle has already crossed quite a lot of distance from their current position, so the masked man decided to put an end to his boring act by proving the difference in both power and experience to this stupid fool of the Keeper family.
The masked man eluded David's attack once more with utter ease and then punched straight at David's chest with all his strength.
crack
A sound rang once again, but this time both individuals heard it loud and clear.
Another bone has broken.
A metallic taste of sulfur appeared on his tongue, and blood began to seep out from David's mouth.
The masked man did not stop his assault; instead, a vertical elbow strike followed, which connected with David's nose.
For a moment, David began to see stars, and when he regained control, he was lying on the highway with his nose running with a fountain of blood.
The pain, which had subsided due to the fast recovery speed of evolved humans, flared once again with more intensity.
The masked man moved with the utmost precision, not ready to give any breathing space to David to avoid any complication.
A pin appeared in the masked man's hand.
Before David could recover, the masked man closed the gap, his hand darting forward like a striking snake. The pin in his grasp found its mark—a sharp jab to David's neck.
three seconds
That's all it took for the masked man to subdue David.