Chapter 22 Bandit Camp (Part 2)

The two bandits on the floor were calling out to the man with the halberd, "BOSS ALONZO! PLEASE HELP US!"

p 'Boss? He's their leader? What are the odds that he would make it out?" Leo was calmly walking towards Alonzo when he called out to him," So you're the leader of this bandit group, what a mess. Well, I guess you're just a regular bandit now though, since all your men are dead or injured beyond saving."

Alonzo had had enough, he completely ignored the cries of his men as he charged at Leo with his halberd.

The weapon Alonzo uses, known as a halberd, looks like a two handed double sided greataxe combined with a spear. It was a weapon that had a variety of ways it could be used.

Alonzo was a 1.9 meter tall, middle aged man. He was missing his left eye, wearing an eyepatch over it. His muscles were slightly larger than Leo's, but overall he had a similar physique to Leo. His hair was short and blonde.

Leo activated his Aura and channeled his power through his entire body, focusing a larger portion into his arms.

Alonzo swung with a horizontal slash at Leo's stomach area. Leo jumped backwards and the tip of the halberd managed to scratch him across his stomach, but only a light scratch since Leo's skin was harder when he was channeling his power through himself.

'What the hell! how did he swing that thing so fast. Does he have an ability like I do?' while Leo was still regaining his balance, Alonzo maintained the momentum from his attack and had his body spin around with it while moving forward. This allowed him to attack again, but with more speed than that last attack.

This time the attack was lower, aimed at Leo's legs. Leo's speed was at the peak of human ability without using any of his energy, but when using his energy he surpassed human limits, by how much depends on the energy used.

Leo didn't channel all his power through him, only a portion of it, because in order to defend from an attack, energy must be consumed in proportion to the strength of the attack, so Leo must have energy left to replace what is used.

The strike was fast, fast enough to rival Margraves. But with his enhanced speed, Leo jumped upwards, lifting his legs up and doing a back flip. The halberd passed harmlessly under Leo.

When Leo landed he charged at Alonzo, who was off balance from his previous attack. His halberd was pulling his left arm back from the momentum, exposing his chest. Leo used the opportunity and threw a punch.

Alonzo lifted his right arm and intercepted Leo's fist by blocking the strike from hitting his torso directly. The force was strong, and Alonzos arm was crushed, blood poured out of his mouth, leading Leo to believe Alonzo had broken a few ribs as well.

Alonzo was no fool, he knew there was no way to avoid getting hit in that moment. He also knew he would take a large amount of damage from the attack, if not outright die, should it hit his chest directly. He sacrificed his right arm to block the attack and used that moment where Leo was exposed after his punch, to swing the halberd at Leo's ribcage.

Due to Leo being so close, only the shaft of the halberd would hit Leo, meaning that Alonzo would only be able to use brute force, like hitting someone with a stick.

Leo had had his fare share of fights in his life, he was a brawler, he hadn't used tactics so much as he used his instincts. He noticed Alonzo had an opening and went to attack. Alonzo however, knew that there would be an opening and prepared to utilize it ahead of time. He was someone who was somewhat proficient in using combat tactics.

The halberd slammed into Leo, striking him at an upwards angle, sending him up and away. As Leo flew through the air, he absorbed as much energy from the movement as he could, slowing him down while also restoring his power. 'I've been meaning to try this since my fight with Margrave. If absorbing my energy makes it harder to move, then it should be able to help me when I need to forcibly stop as well!

Leo's momentum slowed and his body slowly landed on the ground, he landed on his back since he had no way of changing his orientation after being hit, but this was far better than slamming into a wall.

Leo stood up, now having restored his energy up to around 90% of his total capacity. He could feel that the right side of him was wet, with something running down his body.

Leo reached down to touch his side. One of his ribs had broken and was protruding from his skin, causing him to bleed. Leo pressed on the bone at an angle that seemed right, and pushed it back into his body.

'This guy's attack power is so strong! Even with my energy protecting me, he still managed to break my rib.'

Only one of Leo's ribs was broken, the one that was directly hit by the halberd. The rest of his ribs were only hurting slightly.

'I had a lot more energy to use for defense this time compared to when I fought Margrave. But still , this attack did more damage than margraves, but it hurt less for some reason. I'm not even struggling to breathe. Why is that? " Leo still didn't understand everything about his power or just how much his body had improved over time.

Leo was standing about 10 meters away from Alonzo now, the two of them both injured and bleeding. Alonzo spoke to Leo between pants and bursts of pain.

"Why... Why are you... Doing this. Why did you... Attack us."

Leo replied, "You sent your men to shake down a village nearby. I killed most of them and questioned the ones I left alive. If I didn't come to take care of you. Then you would have sent the rest of your men to take revenge on the village."

Alonzo had a look of understanding on his face, he was still angry, but he didn't blame Leo for taking this course of action." You're right... I would have sent them... to destroy the entire village. Well... let's get this... over with. I'm not getting...any younger over here."