Looking at Hawkeye, who was standing in the arena without any protective gear, Leon felt quite helpless.
"Just get on stage and fight like this? Don't we need protective measures like bandages or gloves?"
"No need. Without any protective measures, we can see your true strength," Hawkeye said with great confidence.
"You're the boss, you call the shots," Leon naturally said, noncommittally.
He took off his jacket, wearing only a white T-shirt, and then pulled open the ropes and stepped into the arena.
The two stood face to face in the center of the arena, less than a meter apart.
"What do you know?"
"Karate, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA..."
Hearing such an answer, Clint Barton couldn't help but frown. "So many? You should know that in fighting, the more styles you learn, the stronger you are is not necessarily."
Leon chuckled awkwardly, "No choice, I'm a bit of a quick learner."
He couldn't just say that these were all fighting techniques learned from various "friends," and he didn't need to spend time taking classes or practicing them.
Besides, it doesn't hurt to have many skills.
"Alright, let me see the strength that won you first place in the Four Forces Combined Combat Specialization!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hawkeye took a step forward, and a whistling punch came straight at him!
The sudden attack made Leon's pores instantly open in shock.
Watching the fist grow from small to large, about to make intimate contact with his face, Leon reacted: he tilted his head to the left!
Whoosh!
A gust of wind from the punch blew past his ear, and before Leon could fully register it, Hawkeye's second attack forced him back two steps.
It was a powerful spinning kick!
Leon hadn't expected Hawkeye's fighting skills to be so outstanding.
Just these two attacks alone were enough to conclude that even without his most potent bow and arrow, his combat level was sufficient to crush the elites of various special forces.
Of course, that didn't include Leon.
"As expected of the famous Hawkeye!"
Leon praised him inwardly, his eyes narrowing as he began to focus.
The two attacks missed Leon, but instead ignited Hawkeye's fighting spirit. After a loud shout of "Continue!", he quickly took a few steps and charged at Leon again with extremely fast footwork!
Facing the aggressive Hawkeye, Leon didn't avoid his edge but met him head-on.
First, he used his left arm to parry Hawkeye's attack, then his right hand followed immediately with a punch to the face.
However, such a simple move could hardly pose a threat to the quick-reacting Hawkeye.
With just a slight dodge, Hawkeye regained the initiative.
He pulled Leon's fist towards him and followed with a hidden knee strike aimed at Leon's abdomen.
Leon felt that if he took that hit, he would definitely be seriously injured, making the rest of the fight difficult.
So, he struggled with both hands, his left hand over his right, forming a barrier that barely blocked the powerful knee strike.
Thump, thump, thump... The immense impact forced him to retreat two steps before he could dissipate it.
After creating some distance, Leon frowned, gently shook his numb hands, and muttered, "So much strength..."
After a few back-and-forth rounds, both their bodies began to warm up slightly, seemingly entering a state of combat.
Hawkeye, in particular, hadn't encountered such a formidable (or beatable) opponent in a long time, making him more excited with each exchange, and his attacks grew heavier.
However, this was tough for Leon, the guy who knew many skills.
A series of exchanges quickly made him realize his difficult situation.
In this sparring match, he was at a distinct disadvantage.
It wasn't that his fighting skills were inferior to Hawkeye's, but that his reaction speed couldn't keep up with Hawkeye's attack frequency!
Hawkeye's attacks could hit him, but he found it very difficult to hit Hawkeye.
Coupled with Hawkeye's strength, which was close to the critical point of human limits, every one of his attacks was full of threat.
If he wasn't careful and got hit in the abdomen or face, Leon felt that he would definitely be knocked out...
Therefore, facing the opponent's rapid attacks, he dodged whenever possible, and if he couldn't dodge, he tried to block with his arms to avoid being hit in the torso and losing his combat ability.
Even so, being passively beaten, he eventually lost after holding on for ten minutes.
"That was exhilarating! I haven't had such a satisfying fight in a long time!"
"Huff... huff..."
Leon, his face covered in sweat, lay ungracefully on the ring, panting heavily while verbally chastising a certain inconsiderate fellow, "You had your fun, but I'm so tired I can't even move my fingers..."
"Hahahaha..." The other person burst into another hearty laugh.
As the saying goes, you get to know each other through fighting. This sparring match between Leon and Clint Barton indeed made their relationship much more harmonious.
Although Clint Barton's favorability rating above his head was still "enthusiastic," Leon had a premonition that the next favorability level, "Fondness," was just a thin pane of glass away.
After their workout, the two leaned against the ropes of the arena and started chatting idly.
"Your combat techniques are very refined; even I sometimes can't predict your next move."
"But I still lost..."
"Do you know why you lost?"
Hearing this, Leon looked up at Hawkeye, his eyes full of inquiry, "Why?"
"Because your reactions aren't fast enough! Even if I don't know what your next move is, I still anticipated the trajectory of your attack using my senses and reacted a step ahead."
Hearing this answer, Leon couldn't help but roll his eyes, muttering in his heart, "Of course! If I had your skills, who would win and who would lose wouldn't be certain..."
Huh?
Thinking of this, Leon suddenly remembered that he still had over twelve thousand experience points in his pocket!?!
Originally, he hadn't immediately used the experience to learn Hawkeye's skills because he was struggling with which extraordinary skill to learn with that experience.
Because extraordinary skills require ten thousand experience points.
So, with his current experience points, he could only choose one of Hawkeye's two extraordinary skills: [ Archery] or [Acute Senses].
However, after this brutal sparring match, Leon felt he no longer needed to struggle!
[ Archery]? Pass!
[Acute Senses], you're the one!