Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

In any case, as long as Joe didn't smile maniacally and wield my mom's kitchen knife, I'd be able to hold myself from lopping his head off—but let's just say that if I really wanted to, I could do just that.

But while we were on the topic of murderous tendencies, I was surprised by Joe's second move—which was a lunge—and it was not about the lunge itself but because he didn't even bother to pick up his shield.

This would sound weird coming from me but a shield was just as important as one's primary weapon be it an axe, a club, or a sword—because it had more uses than to defend oneself.

It can be used to deflect, block, and parry blows usually but it could also hide one's next move, a good 'ol shield bash, or even be used as a throwing weapon if you represent America for having the best ass.

And now, with half of Joe's loadout away from his known fighting style, it may look like we were on the same standing but we were not.

Ignoring how great I fucking was, the difference between being able to hold your sword with one hand, a hand a half, and two hands was fucking night and day. In addition, it looked like Joe didn't even know how to stand without his shield because his other half was completely open and he was acting as if he still had the huge-ass riot shield protecting his side.

So I decided to put him in an impromptu lesson.

"YOU'RE TOO EXPOSED!"
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"HU— WHAT?!"

"BECAUSE OF THIS!"

Because the moment he came in with the intent to stab my heart, I easily deflected it by fanning my blade clockwise before kicking his exposed torso which made him reel back from pain. But one thing to note was that he slightly twitched the moment our blades met and produced that metal-on-metal sound—though he still kept his eyes open and it was all on me.

"MAKE YOURSELF SMALLER BY STANDING LIKE A FENCER—"

"BUT YOU AIN'T DOING IT!"

"BECAUSE I'M NOT A FENCER!"

"NO OFFENSE, SIR, BUT I AIN'T ONE TOO!"

"THEN YOU'RE GONNA EAT MORE THAN MY KICKS!"

"GLADLY!"

But yeah, despite his "twitch" he still stepped in my range and went for his third move because let's face it, his sword had a shorter length than my katana and the only way he'd get a shot in was to have me in his range. It might sound dumb to get inside a one-man army, but that was just the way to fucking go and I give him props for that.

With that said, his third move was the simplest of downward strikes and it seemed like he wanted to test his power against me.

I would've cut him down to pieces already—since he still didn't bother with his defense—but this honest attack of his was one of the perfect times for me to gauge how much power everyone was putting into their attacks, and how I could match it perfectly.

I could easily regulate how much I'd put into my blows but matching it with someone else's to do something similar to Artem's defensive technique was tricky to perform in real life.

The way I'd go about it was to assume someone's body weight, stance they were using, weapon used against mine, angle it was coming from, etc., and then giving it a tight allowance to meet it in its opposite end.

So yeah, I met his overhead swing coming from above and my upward swing coming from below—and it made this teeth-numbing sound that made Joe twitch once more though his expression changed when he thought he finally overpowered me.

It was because my hand flew back—which also surprised everyone—but as of this moment, Joe was in a stance that looked like he was about to perform a shoulder tackle.

I'd hate to frickin' do this but only my right hand was thrown out of the picture while his whole body was still in transition and out of balance—but I still gritted my teeth for impact as I met his head with my head, going for who'd get a concussion. Don't fucking ask me why but the opportunity just presented itself and yeah… I was regretting my very decision.

I didn't think I'd meet another who has a head as hard as mine—but the only reason it looked like Joe was the only one who took damage was because of our differing pain tolerance.

It was very obvious even from his matches with Isaac—but it didn't mean that he was that sensitive—or I may have been getting duped again or I'm totally overthinking at this moment.

Then again, I had plenty of chances to end this but with the ten-move clause still in effect, I was being careful to not end it as fast as I usually would.

Still, there had only been a few people in Joe's age range who wanted more than a minute with me—and it was honestly a breath of fresh air.

But as he gripped his Sollingen hard for his fourth move, I wasn't able to hide the smile on my face when he suddenly sent a high kick over to my right temple—and then swung his sword at me when I dodged to the left.

It was only a few centimeters before his sword would've nicked my carotid artery but as he completed his swing, he was more confused that the tip of his blade didn't have any blood but everyone else who sucked in a cold breathe was more surprised that Joe swung in a wide arc and didn't make contact.

"HOW?!"

At this point, I would've loved to give them an explanation but I simply altered the course of his swing by tapping his elbow with my left foot and watching the tip of his blade go past my neck a few centimeters short.

But then I mimicked the same attack to see how he'd react.