As Lyren was sent flying backwards with blood spraying from his mouth, he had that one single glance of The Bear and he saw the raised knee.
That explained everything and he actually realized that he was too wet in the ears to be arrogant but that did not mean that he had lost.
Instead, that one kick had taken him back in time to the ruins.
The ruins were his forge and they had not created a fragile boy. He had grown accustomed to the pain and there was a reason he could match The Bear in brute strength.
The stairs pressure had been refining him too and he recalled the first time he received the pattern in his hand. It had hurt so much that he had felt his hand was going to melt from the heat.
Yet, here he was. Alive with both hands and the palm pattern having proven itself to be very vital to him.
He had even forgotten the basic function of this pattern in his desperation to draw arrays on his own.
He could not help but feel the sect mistress really had him fully figured out. Had he not taken that hit and gotten the small blank mind moment, he would have forever stagnated.
The pattern had first proven useful by drawing Elyria and lighting up patterns by drawing his Elyria forcefully.
He had forgotten this function and maybe attempting to draw arrays on his own should have come second after he had attempted drawing the arrays using the pattern.
It did not make sense yet but he had a feeling that he just might be able to do it. This was also the reason the pattern was very important especially to noobs like him.
Drawing arrays in the air was not easy but using the palm pattern, it could even be described as the easiest thing out there.
This was because he recalled the first time he was lighting the first row's patterns. It had only required his mental energy as long as he could visualize it.
He recalled the creation scroll and all its information on using his mental energy to draw arrays and then Elyria to light them.
Then it seemed to all make sense.
The secret was not him struggling to do something that he could not do yet. The secret was letting the palm pattern do everything before you got the hang of it.
This reminded him about his choice of giving his soul to the pattern. As things stood, he could not draw an array even if he spent the rest of his time trying.
But with the pattern…
His body crashed into the wall behind him as he sprayed another mouthful of blood. His eyes had closed and one could have thought that he was done for but he was very much well alive and kicking.
He just had to stop himself from taking unplanned hits and he was going to have an easier time. With this breakthrough, his victory was assured.
He could hear the cheers and the hushes that came after he hit the wall. They were cheering for him to stand up so that he would continue entertaining them.
He felt a sharp pain in his belly and he could feel that he had actually taken a good hit because it was slowing him down.
Even his consciousness had almost vanished and losing it here was the same as throwing his life away.
The Bear finally coughed his own mouthful of blood as he wiped it with his hand. He took in shallow breaths as he reached for his axe once more.
He then dragged it like a wood cutter under the cheers of the crowd. He stood unwavering beside Lyren and raised his axe.
"Are you done kid?" He asked hoarsely as he was going to take a hand for himself for the humiliation.
He watched as the kid painfully to open his eyes and this surprised him because the kid should have passed out from that hit.
"Don't blame me for losing your hand, boy."
Those words were like thunder in Lyren's ears as he felt a strong repulsion to that threat. As though he could not take such a threat.
Anyone who dared threaten him deserved to suffer the same pain as the threat they had thrown at him.
His eyes opened and he could see the blurry figure with the raised axe. His fingers moved as his blood started rushing with his heart racing.
He stood up like a zombie with his back pressed on the wall. His hands drooping from the shoulders.
His feet knocked each other at the knees and his neck clinged upwards as he stared at The Bear.
This was his willpower forcing him on his feet and is organs being beaten into functionality. He finally stood straight and even The Bear had stopped with his axe raised as he witnessed the strength of willpower.
Lyren took a step forward bridging the gap with the bear who took several steps back so that he could still maintain his swinging position.
Well, this was exactly as planned because Lyren had been banking on the fact he was going to step back if he tried to bridge the distance.
With this success, he could finally try drawing, no, letting the pattern do its job.
All the first row's arrays were attack arrays with amplification properties. They were the first arrays he had memorized even before he had awakened his mind's eye.
He had even memorized the core pattern and that was what he was banking on. He was going to use the remaining of his mental energy to attempt drawing it.
This was a gamble but he knew he had a 10/10 chance of succeeding. That is if he had not miscalculated again and he was pretty confident he had not.
Then the two attacked.
Lyren did the most natural thing he could do as he punched outwards but also at the same time, in his mind's eyes, he projected his mental energy outwards as the outline of the core pattern seemed to manifest outside him.
The palm pattern as though reading his intention released a golden glow and then it happened.
A golden structure appeared before Lyren.
It was a familiar complex pattern form the ruins and it was around half a meter in diameter. Its core seemed to glow brighter than the rest of the parts and Lyren's fist suddenly lit up with deep orange flames.
The fist and the array seemed to collide and the array disappeared momentarily before it picked up a red glow from the flames.
The array then turned to a fireball that curved under the pressure of Lyren's fist behind it.
The axe was just in time to collide with the curved flame and this resulted in an explosion.
A heatwave spread throughout the room and then the axe which The Bear had been swinging downwards finally lost its grip and it was sent flying.
His hands were forced open when the axe flew away and he could feel he was losing his footing.
The damage should have gone both ways but it had only gone one way because the kid appeared between the dispersed flames with his fist still glowing.
The Bear watched horrified as the kid jumped.
This forced him to take steps back trying to create some distance but he had been played because had he not moved, he might have had a chance but now, the kid had gotten the distance he wanted to create momentum.
The Bear watched as the fist started falling towards his chest. It was a brute forced attack combined with an elemental attack.
The power was impeccable and there was no evading it. The burning fist connected with his chest and his bear clothing could not take it as it gave way to the fist.
The sound of cracking bones filled the atmosphere as The Bear watched with horror as he fell backward. The kid did not remove his fist and he was connected to the floor with a thud that broke it.
His chest carved in and his eyes strained. His face contorted and his nose twitched. He coughed but he stopped midway as a roar left his throat.
His body quivered and disbelief was written in his eyes. He was no longer The Bear but the defeated bear.
His eyes turned to white slates as he lost consciousness. His hand reaching out to his group who had already started running towards him.
Lyren stood with a straight back as he glared at the dumbfounded crowd. The incoming group stopped when they saw he was not moving as the wore self-deprecating smiles when his eyes landed on them.
They all could gang up on The Bear and still lose and so they knew their position.
"You still want the silver?" Lyren asked looking around as everyone avoided his gaze.
Lyren had heard that this guy had ten copper coins and he had heard the coins clang in the chest of the bear.
That was going to be compensation. Lyren looted the pouch and walked back to his seat under the astonished gazes of the group.
Had they just been looted?
"You…"