Sasha looked on in panic, her blue eyes wide with terror as Lizard Commando lunged at Josh. She feared he would suffer the same gruesome fate as before. But this time, she felt a shift in the atmosphere. Josh wasn't trembling. He was calm—even… cocky. It was a stark contrast to the fear he had shown in the school hallway at least from her perspective just, a week ago.

  "You really think you can take me?" Lizard Commando hissed, his voice a guttural growl. "Just because you came back from the dead?" He snickered, his forked tongue flicking. "Well, you certainly grew some extra balls. But seriously, do you actually think a few extra layers of muscle will stop me from disemboweling you again?"

  Josh smirked, a flicker of amusement dancing in his eyes. "Oh, I don't know," he said, his voice dangerously low. "Try ripping my stomach out once more. See what happens."

  The villain snarled—a sound that sent shivers down Sasha's spine—but Josh stood his ground, unfazed.

  Lizard Commando lunged, a blur of orange scales and razor-sharp claws, relishing the thought of tearing the boy limb from limb. His jaws clamped down on Josh's arm with crushing force.

  But instead of tearing flesh, his teeth met resistance akin to solid steel.

  A look of confusion, then pain, flashed across the reptile's face. His teeth couldn't pierce the skin. It was an eerie echo of their first encounter, but the roles were reversed; this time, the villain was the one powerless to break through.

  Before Lizard Commando could react, Josh lashed out with a right hook. The force of the blow, amplified by the energy flowing through his veins, connected squarely with the villain's jaw.

  CRACK.

  Lizard Commando’s head snapped to the side. Teeth flew out in a shower of blood and broken enamel before he was sent careening across the field, crashing into the base of the hill with a sickening thud.

  Sasha stared in disbelief. She had just seen him move at speeds beyond what was humanly possible.

  The sensation of the impact triggered a memory in Josh’s mind—a flashback to his grueling days in Alleran.

  The towering Oni warrior, Kunshu, had been his mentor, pushing him beyond his limits.

  "Again, human! Five hundred more squats!" Kunshu bellowed, his voice rumbling like a volcano.

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  Josh gritted his teeth, his muscles screaming in protest. He was already drenched in sweat, his body aching from the endless repetitions. They had been at this for weeks: thousands of squats and push-ups, running for miles with boulders strapped to his limbs, and twelve-mile sprints through treacherous terrain.

  "Why?" Josh gasped, collapsing onto the ground. "Why are you putting me through this torture? I don't see the point!"

  Kunshu loomed over him, his red eyes burning with intensity. "Do you not see, human? Look at what you have become."

  He pointed to Josh. The boy looked down and finally saw it: the change in his body, the coiled strength in his limbs, the barely contained energy that thrummed beneath his skin. It wasn't just his physique. He could feel a wellspring of power within him, a warmth that spread through his very being.

  His Ki.

  "When you first arrived," Kunshu said, his voice softening slightly, "you could barely manage fifty squats. You struggled to lift a mere fifty pounds. You were winded after a few dozen feet. Now?"

  He gestured around them, to the weights Josh effortlessly lifted and the distances he ran without tiring.

  "You perform thousands of squats and push-ups, carry boulders that weigh over ten tons, and run for miles without tiring. Tell me, do you think the finest athletes in your world could perform such feats?"

  Josh had to admit, Kunshu was right. The things he could do now… they were superhuman. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I am a little stronger than before."

  Kunshu nodded, a rare smile gracing his features. "This was to build your Ki, human. To forge it from a mere ember into a mighty inferno. And soon, when your Ki and body are strong enough, the real training will begin."

  Back in the present, Josh looked down at his fist, then back at the groaning Lizard Commando.

  I was holding back, Josh realized. I tried to avoid seriously injuring him, thinking a pulled punch would be enough to knock him out… but I guess I need to work on my control.

  Lizard Commando was already healing. His broken teeth were regenerating, and his twisted limbs snapped back into place with wet, popping sounds. He glared at Josh, his eyes burning with murderous rage.

  "Okay, I will admit, you pack a nasty hook," the villain snarled, spitting out a final loose tooth. "But it takes more than a lucky shot to put me in the ground!"

  Josh sighed. He should have expected that, considering the lizard-enhanced physiology. The villain was too durable for a regular brawl. He needed to use more of the power he had gained in Alleran—the power he had been hesitant to unleash on Earth.

  He took a deep breath, focusing his Ki. It felt like a fire within him, a raging inferno yearning for release. He channeled it into his fist, the energy crackling and swirling around his knuckles. His muscles coiled, every fiber of his being focused on a single point of impact.

  Lizard Commando roared and charged, claws outstretched, ready to flay Josh alive.

  But this time, Josh was ready.

  When he unleashed the punch, it wasn't a simple physical strike. It was a wave of pure Ki, a force of nature contained within a human fist.

  The energy erupted outwards, a blinding flash of orange-yellow light that engulfed the hill.

  The sheer force of the output ripped Josh's gray hoodie and white dress shirt to shreds, exposing his torso—now fully ripped, the muscles he had gained in Alleran bulging and rippling with power.