Samuel lay on the flat concrete and stared up at the cracked ceiling. He didn't move for a long time.
"Jake... I've been getting ready for this day. I don't even know how this is possible. But after going through those experiments done by that madman, I started being able to control something in my body. Maybe the hormones themselves."
Jake stood a few feet away and gripped his bruised ribs. He stared at Samuel with a confused look. He didn't understand a single thing Samuel was talking about.
Samuel slowly stood up in an unnatural way. His joints popped and his muscles began to swell and twitch under his skin. His expression was cold.
Jake's eyes widened and he took a step forward to Samuel.
"Samuel... what the hell are you doing?"
Samuel didn't listen to him. He let out a jagged breath and lunged across the gap. He moved twice as fast as he had before.
WHAM!
Samuel swung a massive overhead punch. Jake raised his arms to block the strike. The force was so great that Jake's knees buckled and the floor beneath him shattered into dust.
"Ribs!"
Samuel shouted and drove a fist into Jake's side. Jake saw it coming and tried to shift his weight, but the punch was faster. It connected and sent Jake sliding ten feet across the room.
"Stomach!"
Samuel was on him before he could stop sliding. He buried a hook deep into Jake's midsection. Jake tried to tense his core, but the blow felt like it went right through his muscle and hit his spine.
"Face!"
Samuel roared and launched a brutal straight right. He didn't just hit Jake. He drove his entire weight through the punch.
BOOM!
The impact launched Jake backward through the air. He smashed into the brick wall with a sickening crunch. The bricks shattered and a web of cracks raced up to the ceiling as Jake's body became embedded in the masonry.
Jake coughed up blood and slumped out of the crater in the wall. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted back at Samuel with everything he had left. He unleashed a flurry of hooks and uppercuts.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Jake's fists landed cleanly on Samuel's jaw and chest. Samuel didn't even bother to guard. He stood there and took every hit with a wide, eerie grin on his face. He didn't even blink.
"Is that it? I thought the son of a legend would hit harder than a middle schooler."
Samuel reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it with one hand while Jake continued to pound on his chest. The strikes didn't move Samuel an inch.
"Stop wasting my time, Jake. You're barely tickling me."
Samuel blew a cloud of smoke right into Jake's face. He suddenly grabbed Jake by the hair and slammed his forehead into the wall.
CRACK!
Jake fell to his knees. He was getting beaten one-sidedly. Suddenly, Jinrang's words flashed in his mind. He remembered his training in Busan.
"You're definitely fast. I didn't expect you to awaken the power of Conviction so quickly. Guess the blood of a legend really is different."
"So, should I fight just as you taught me now?"
Jinrang shook his head and looked at Jake's hands.
"That won't be possible. Your body still can't fully withstand that power. At your best, you'll only be able to use it for a few seconds."
"... So awakening it wasn't the whole equation."
"For you to fight properly, this is only the beginning. You need endless training to build the body Gapryong Kim had in his prime."
"Just how strong was he? Anyways, can I do what I've always wanted to try?"
"What'd you wanna try?"
"I've only thought about it before. But now that I've awakened his power... I'm gonna channel it into my MMA."
Jake opened his eyes. He focused on the heat rising in his chest. He didn't unleash it yet. He closed the gap before Samuel could finish his cigarette weaved through Samuel's wild swings.
WHACK!
Jake stepped inside Samuel's guard and drove a sharp elbow into his jaw. He didn't stop there. He grabbed Samuel's neck and delivered a series of rapid-fire knees to his chest and stomach.
Samuel's eyes went wide as the first knee landed. He had been completely dominating, but these strikes felt different. They weren't just fast. They carried a terrifying weight that made his organs scream.
"What is this?"
Samuel tried to grab him, but Jake was too evasive. He spun around Samuel and launched a heavy roundhouse kick that caught the side of Samuel's head.
CRUNCH!
Samuel's head snapped sideways and he stumbled three steps back. He touched his ear and felt blood trickling down his neck. His face twisted in disbelief as he realized Jake's power had suddenly eclipsed his own.
The two of them traded blows in the center of the room. Jake used his elbows and shins like weapons, landing precise strikes that finally began to damage Samuel. Every hit sounded like a cannon going off.
The fight turned into a brutal exchange of endurance. Jake took heavy hits to his shoulders and chest, but he kept moving, keeping his power coiled deep inside his muscles. He was waiting for the exact moment Jinrang had told him about.
"Fist. Gapryong Kim's fists were special. Fists loaded with 'Conviction'. That was his one-hit kill move. The timing to use that punch is when victory is in your hand."
Jake saw Samuel overextend on a massive horizontal swing. The opening was there. Jake planted his feet and felt the air around him hum as he finally flooded his right arm with the power of Conviction.
"NOW!"
Jake let out a deafening roar.
Samuel saw the change in Jake's eyes and didn't try to dodge. He pulled his own fist back, his muscles bulging to their absolute limit.
"JAKE, I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STRENGTH YOU GET FROM YOUR BLOODLINE! BUT I WON'T FALL BACK EITHER!"
Both of them threw their final punches at the exact same time.
BOOM!
The collision of their fists created a shockwave that blew the remaining windows out of the room and sent concrete dust swirling into a vortex. Both strikes landed cleanly on their targets.
Samuel and Jake both collapsed at the same moment. They hit the floor and lay still among the rubble. Both of them were completely unconscious, their eyes white.