The Deceitful One

Bryan launched his arms and firmly poked with the index and middle fingers on both his hands at four pressure points around Henry's armpit at lightning speed, making his hand movements appear as a blurry shadow in the eyes of the onlookers.

After being poked in the rotator cuff muscles which controlled his shoulder, Henry's right hand was instantly paralyzed as it limply dropped down to his side.

His eyes widened as he was completely unable to feel his right arm. With incredulity etched on his face, he mumbled, "What the fuck!?"

Bryan didn't give Henry any moment of respite as he quickly circled around him and used his fingers again to jab the latter at lightning speed.

This time, Bryan poked Henry twice in his left quadricep muscles and twice more in his hamstring muscles, at once causing the latter to drop to his knee.

Now, along with his right hand, Henry could not feel his left leg as well. He was utterly flabbergasted, to say the least. Never in his years of experience had he come across such a technique.

After dropping to his knee, Henry was now at a height where Bryan could easily attack his face without having to jump. And Bryan did exactly that!

Bryan now stood in front of Henry, swung his right leg, and delivered a right hook kick accurately on Henry's chin.

This kick to the chin caused a sudden movement in Henry's head and neck. This in turn caused his brain to move and collide with the inside of his skull.

The sudden rattling of the brain put Henry in a momentary daze. If it were a normal person, this attack would definitely cause them to lose consciousness, or worse, cause some brain damage.

Bryan didn't waste this opportunity and prepared to land the final blow to end this fight. He raised his left arm to deliver a palm strike to Henry's face.

However, at the last moment, his attack was blocked as Henry clasped his palm firmly with his own right hand which should have been paralyzed now.

Taken aback, Bryan looked at Henry who was now beginning to get up on both his feet, and thought, 'Impossible! He should have remained paralyzed for at least another few seconds!'

Henry, now towering over Bryan, looked at him and revealed a beast-like grin, "Very impressive technique. But you underestimate the body of a Strength Path Transcendent."

Bryan stared into Henry's eyes and saw the fighting spirit deep within them. This in turn ignited his own fighting spirit. His lips curled up into a smirk as he replied, "Then let's find out how much your body can endure."

Henry's grin grew wider as he raised his left arm and swung it straight at Bryan's face.

On the other hand, since Bryan's left hand was firmly in the grasp of Henry's and he had to use his right hand to block or redirect the incoming punch. Hence, he decided to attack with his left leg.

Therefore, he raised his left leg and aimed to brutally attack Henry's balls with his knee. But right at that moment, Elijah's loud voice was heard from outside the ring, "Time's up!!"

Both Henry and Bryan decisively stopped their movements. Henry's left fist was only about a hair's breadth away from Bryan's face. At the same time, Bryan's left knee was only a fraction away from Henry's scrotum.

They both withdrew their attacks and looked at each other for a moment. And then both of them burst into a hearty laugh together.

"Very impressive, Bryan, very impressive indeed! I haven't had this much fun while sparring in a long time." Henry grinned as he patted Bryan's shoulder in approbation.

Bryan too had a wide smile on his face as he replied, "This was indeed fun, I hope we can continue to spar together in the future."

It had been a week since Detective Watson left for Nadir. So naturally, Bryan didn't have anyone to spar with. Hence, he really enjoyed this sparring session with Henry.

"By the way, where did you learn that technique?" Henry asked curiously.

Bryan smiled, "From my teacher, of course!"

Meanwhile, outside the ring, everybody except Ron and Olivia had their mouths wide open. Even Olivia who was usually always expressionless had her eyebrows raised and eyes widened.

Elijah nudged Andrew with his elbow and spoke in a daze, "What the fuck did I just witness? Did Bryan just…immobilize Henry?"

Andrew was just as shocked as he replied, "It seems like it…"

All of a sudden, Ron burst into a peal of victorious laughter, "All of you, take out the money, hahaha!"

Emma walked to Ron and said in exasperation, "How did you know Bryan would make it past the minute mark? Is there something you aren't telling us? This isn't fair!"

"Oh it's fair, all right. I just had complete faith in Bryan, that's all." Ron replied with a smug smile.

"You… hmph!" Emma harrumphed ad unwillingly took 20 pounds and gave it to Ron. The rest also followed suit.

This made Ron extremely happy and he started counting the money. After making sure that the amount was right, he walked up to Bryan who had just exited the ring.

He put his arms around Bryan's shoulder as he said cheerfully, "Bryan! I'll take you out for a drink in the evening. Everything's on me!"

"Uh, sure," Bryan replied in puzzlement, not exactly sure why Ron was being so friendly with him.

"Are you gonna take us out too, Ron?" Asked Elijah with expectant eyes.

Seeing Elijah's innocent facial expression, Ron couldn't bring himself to say no. After some deliberation, he replied, "Fine, but only the first drink is on me. You guys have to buy the rest by yourself."

Everyone cheered and shamelessly praised Ron for being so generous.

Looking at the ebullient atmosphere, Bryan smiled and thought in his heart, 'Mother, looks like I've found a few friends that I can rely on.'

Recalling the words that his mother had written in that final letter, Bryan felt a little melancholic. Ever since Grace left, he didn't have any friends to spend time with. And now he had finally made some new ones.

"Why are you so zoned out? Come, let me show you around the HQ." Andrew put his arm around Bryan's shoulders and smiled.

Snapping out of his daze, Bryan looked into Andrew's blue eyes and replied with a bright smile, "Sure!"