Lazarus threw off his coat and raised his fist. Standing before him was his opponent, Kane the Crane. Kane stood in his signature crane stance, his leg raised and ready to burst forth. Lazarus made sure to keep his distance, not wanting to be in his kicking range.
'I first need to examine how he moves. I'm sure he's very accustomed to fighting, while I just got out of being a man cursed with the cripple gene. I need to study him, and then attack.'
As Lazarus was in his thoughts, he would soon be brought back to reality as a swift toe struck his chin, causing him to fly backward. Lazarus didn't expect the speed and power of Kane's kick, and he didn't expect him to come so suddenly.
Lazarus held his chin, having just bitten his tongue, which drew blood; he had to recover himself while staying on guard. He placed his gaze back onto Kane, not wanting to allow himself to get lost in his thoughts again. He raised his fist once more, and this time he wouldn't allow Kane to get the first hit.
Kane watched as the chicken-headed man rushed at him, their fist cocked to the side and ready to fire. Lazarus felt the speed at which he moved, with one burst from his back foot, he was already in front of Kane. With his agility stat being increased, he felt like a new person. And he hits like one, too.
Kane goes to block the punch, but isn't ready for the amount of power and energy in Lazarus's fist. His forearms became bruised, and he was sent flying back onto the weak ropes of the ring. Kane felt his arms going numb as they ached in pain. He clicked his tongue, trying to compose himself.
'It worked; that did a ton of damage to him.'
[Gene: Feral Pulse (Sprout Rank)]
[Ability: Launch a burst of raw gene energy through your arm, adding a short-range shockwave to a punch.]
"That felt amazing, nothing like that power coursing through me."
But Kane was thinking something different, 'What the hell was that? It looked like a normal punch. Was it a gene ability? It must be. I was planning on doing just normal combat, but I guess I have to bring out my ability.'
"So, that's how you wanna play, hm?" Kane looked at Lazarus through half-lidded eyes of determination. Lazarus stood still, looking and waiting as he adjusted his chicken mask. Then, he moved tactically, keeping his distance.
'I lost track of what I was going to do already. Calm down, watch him, see how he moves...and attack.' Lazarus spoke to himself in his mind, trying to calm his thumping heart, quick breath, and racing mind.
Kane then launched himself at Lazarus, as he moved, he raised his leg as if to kick Lazarus. Upon seeing this, the chicken mask-wearing man went to block. Kane smirked, stopping his kick, before doing a swift spin and back-kicking Lazarus directly in the abdomen. This caused Lazarus to be winded and for his eyes to go unfocused. He was sent back onto the ring floor, struggling to get up.
'What the hell was that? I didn't expect that one bit.'
Lazarus knew he couldn't stay down for too long and instantly jumped back on his feet while still trying to ignore the pain. He looked at Kane, growing angry as Kane's face grew a wider and wider smile, full of cockiness and contempt. "I guess you really are as much of a rookie as you say you are. Most people know that's one of my signature moves," Kane told him.
"Hah..." Lazarus took a breath before raising his fist and getting back in stance. "Thanks for telling me, now I can kick your ass more efficiently."
His words caused Kane's smirk to crumble, "Idiots like you piss me off."
"You haven't seen anything yet," Lazarus snapped back.
The two of them rushed ahead, Kane spun like a top, trying to send the heel of his foot into Lazarus's jaw. But, with his newfound agility, Lazarus dodged by a hair. Seeing a clear path to Kane's side, Lazarus took his chance. He used his [Feral Pulse] gene power, feeling the energy well up and get ready to burst ahead. He clenched his fist, twisted his hips, and sent a hook and burst of power directly into Kane's liver.
"GAH!"
Pain isn't the word that Kane would use to describe what he was feeling throughout his body. He felt like everything was aching, and that he would be sick. He felt like vomiting, and couldn't bother to stand up, as his body just didn't allow him to.
Lazarus held him down, charging his fist with the power of the [Feral Pulse]. He let it burst forth, striking Kane in the face and knocking him out cold. Lazarus flicked the blood from his hand and knuckles while also rolling his wrist to ease the pain of his punches. Lazarus then stood up, looking at the announcer to do his job, and announce his win.
"Ah. Th-This is...Our new fighter, Chicken Head...has WON!"
The crowd was in shock, but gradually, the cheers and claps pierced the silence. And in that moment, Lazarus felt like his life was truly changing once and for all. And with those cheers came a load of system interfaces and rewards.
Lazarus stepped down from the ring, walking away from everyone to recover. He took off the chicken mask, rubbing and adjusting his jaw and chin, while touching his tongue to make sure it's fine. The damage from that opening kick from Kane was still weighing on him, but those thoughts were quickly replaced with ecstatic happiness as he opened the system panels.
[You have defeated an enemy way stronger than yourself.]
[You have won and embarrassed an enemy publicly.]
[+15 points in all stats]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You are currently being fused with Kane's Gene power.]
[They have a 'Vibrant' Rank Gene.]
Lazarus then opened his system panel.
'Status,' He thought.
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(Transcendent Gene System)
[
[
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As his stats each rose by 15 points, he felt an immense growth of power throughout the entirety of his body. He flexed his body, feeling the amount of power he could put into his fist and body.
"I don't think I'll ever get tired of this! Oh yeah, and Kane's gene. Driving boot? I guess it has something to do with his kicks. And, I think I'll save those 12 points too."
[Gene: Driving Boot (Vibrant Rank)]
[Ability: Each time you land a kick, the power that you can output from a single kick will increase by 1.5x. The stacked multiplier will be lost if a kick misses.]
"Wow, that's good. And No wonder his kicks were so inconsistent in strength."
After coming to terms with his new strength and abilities, he got ready for his next fights.
Lazarus was planning on fighting until he was tired. By the time he left, he wanted to max out his stats, and he was only going to grow stronger with each fight, so to him, this was a win-win situation.
Lazarus then felt a hand on his shoulder, and without thinking, he put on his mask and turned around. "Who is touching me?"
It was the man who sat at the wooden desk and helped him sign up, "I guess you were right, chicken head. I didn't trust nothin' you said, but I guess my gut told me too. And so, I bet on you and won back nearly half of what I lost! Man, you're a lifesaver."
Lazarus smiled beneath the mask, "See, I told you. But you're not satisfied with just that, are you? Just keep betting on me for the night, and you'll be swimming in money. Now, if you excuse me, I have some fights to attend."
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