Phoenix

Chapter 32

YES!

Essence's POV
Mattia plunged face first towards Phoenix, anger fueling him. Strong punches were thrown by the hispanic giant, but were blocked with an even stronger defense tactic from the prompt leprechaun. Several grunts resounded through the room, and that's when everyone knew Mattia had lost it. He was now as dangerous as any assassin outside this academy.

Everyone held their breath, fearing for Phoenix's fate. Bodies were frozen but eyes flickered around following the movement of the two men on the ring. That's when the shocking happened.

Phoenix finally made a move. He dove in, landing a hard blow onto Mattia's stomach. When I say hard, I don't even have the right words to describe just how strong his punch was.

His opponent doubled over, but that didn't stop him. His fist flew up and so did Mattia's head, the sound of his teeth clattering against each other ricocheted against the barren walls.

All smugness from Nix's face was gone, replaced with pure obstinacy. His face was calm and neutral, yet the tightness of his jaw which flexed as his teeth clenched, the slight flaring of his nostrils and the fire in his eyes, warned not to mess with him.

I've only heard rumors about how good of a fighter he was. Some called him a killing machine, others would say he could easily rip someone apart with his own bare hands and the rest simply paled with fear as they recalled past events.

I personally have never seen him in action. In serious action. Missions not counting, since I would be too busy focusing on my own target to even glance his way. From what was unraveling before me, I could tell he always held himself back with me. He was deadly.

Blow after punch after blow after punch the two wrestled. Soon enough, just like Phoenix had intended, Mattia began to slack. Not thinking twice about it, Phoenix jabbed Mattia in the face sending his head flying back, then hitting him with a cross. Droplets of blood flew out of Mattia's mouth, but that didn't stop him.
The match continued until the latino giant ended up being cornered, consecutive punches landing onto the sides of his face and against his ribs and sides of his stomach.

Concerned whispers flew around the room as eyes widened and mouths fell open. Mattia cowered in the corner still not surrendering, landing punches to Phoenix's face every now and then. That only fueled his lethality.

When I felt like Mattia could no longer take it, I climbed up to the ring, but remained on the other side of the ropes.

_ "ENOUGH!" I yelled to snap them both out of their competitiveness. "That's enough, you can now stop." I declare, as they hesitantly back away from each other. Phoenix walked with his back towards the crowd, staring at Mattia who lay on the floor heaving, before his back connected with my hands.

He flinched before turning around, a distant look in his eyes.

_ "Hey, hey, you alright?" The sweat that covered him didn't stop me from brushing the hair out of his face. He leaned into my touch, my hand squished between his cheek and shoulder. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily, before opening them again, but this time, his caramel orbs looked grounded.

_ "Alright, show's over, pair up and start working on the usual defense exercises. One of you has to jab, cross, hook, hook, while the other ducks the jab cross, slips, then when the two hooks are performed you do a straight right jab and left hook." Phoenix orders, before jumping off the ring and rushing towards the bathroom with a towel in hand.

I grab Mattia's water bottle, and head over to him, assisting him in sitting up and handing him his flask.
It was a good thing they were both wearing gloves, because if they weren't, the damage on Mattia would've been much worse than it is, while Phoenix would've walked out unscathed.