Part-262

  "You think you’re tough, huh?" He threw a series of punches, wild and unfocused, but fast enough to be dangerous to the untrained. However, to James, the punches were easy to read. He didn’t eveo use his Sloth View ability to slow down time. His real-time reflexes, hohrough months of training and tless dungeon battles, were more than enough.

  James ducked the first punch, sidestepped the sed, and with a quiake-like jab, he delivered a blow to the boy’s ribs, making him stagger. The boy grunted in pain but didn’t stop, swinging again in desperation. This time, James parried the strike with ease, then followed up with a series of rapid finger jabs that nded squarely on the boy’s torso. The boy’s movements grew sluggish, his bravado draining away as the pain caught up to him.

  The fight was over.

  James ered the braided-haired boy, his expression calm but stern. He grabbed the boy by the head, log him in a firm bear grip. For a split sed, the boy’s eyes widened with fear as he realized what was about to happen.

  Without hesitation, James drove his knee upward, smashing it into the boy’s face with brutal efficy. The boy let out a muffled cry before colpsing to the floor, clutg his nose as blood began to pour from it.

  The rest of the gang, now seeing their leader utterly defeated, didn’t dare approach. They hovered nearby, torween rushing to their friend’s aid and running for the exit.

  "Let’s go," James muttered to Toya, his voice steady despite the adrenaline c through him. He grabbed her hand, not waiting for a response, and they began to walk briskly toward the mall’s exit. The st thing they needed was to get caught in a situation where mall security—or worse, the police—were called.

  As they made their way through the mall, James g Toya, half-expeg some ent about how reckless he had been. But to his surprise, Toya didn’t look annoyed or worried. Instead, there was a look of approval in her eyes—a quiet aowledgment of what he had just done.

  "You hahat well," she finally said, her toral but with an edge of admiration.

  James shrugged, feeling the tension in his shoulders slowly dissipate. "I’ve had a lot of practice."

  Toya’s lips curled into a small smile. "I noticed."

  They exited the mall and stepped into the night. The cool breeze brushed against their faces, a brief moment of peace after the chaos. The streets outside were calmer, and the lights from passing cars flickered along the pavement. James kept Toya’s hand in his as they walked, the sileween them fortable.

  As they moved further away from the mall, James couldn’t help but refle the day. Rakib’s appearahe gang fight, everything seemed to pile up at once. Ahrough it all, Toya had remained posed, handling the situation with the same calm determination she always had.