Chapter 143 - Sparring Match

Seeing that the princess didn't seem eager to be the one to make the first move. Jovani decided that he would be the first to attack. She most likely was waiting him out in hopes of being able to assess his ability before she made her first move. She certainly was a bright one. 

The first strike Jovani did was a soft hit that was aimed towards the left side of her face which he presumed as her less dominant side. She was quick to react to this thought and ducked to the side and hit out with her left hand. He felt it brush against his cheek, but it didn't quite hit the mark. 

He countered with another quick strike aimed at the inside of her right shoulder towards her chest. It wasn't a very effective place to hit for damage but center mass was always easier to strike. She brought her right arm up to block it and push back. 

The sparring continued like this for a few minutes. Lena was much better at aiming than Jovani was she began to get a feel for the way he moved. He mostly held a defensive position while she was on the offensive. He didn't miss though how unlike him, she moved to avoid hitting anywhere vital, was it on purpose or subconsciously he didn't know. The distracting thought was enough for him to be thrown off from missing her next move.

Taking advantage of the open position he had put himself in, rather than aiming with her arms, she kicked out with her left leg aiming to hit the lower half of his right one. Jovani hissed, he had moved enough so that her boot didn't fully make contact with this shin, but not enough to completely dodge the hit. 

"Steel toed boots princess, you really did come prepared." He commented as he was quick to shift the weight off his leg and onto that other to do a well rounded kick aimed at her non-dominant side. She was quick to block with her arm which diffused some of the force of the blow, but she was surprised by how heavily the weight behind the kick was- he was taking this just as seriously as she was. 

If he had been a smaller opponent, she would've been able to use such a position to her advantage to use a hip or shoulder throw, but because of he was built, she knew it wouldn't be possible especially since she wasn't in top condition due to the lack of sleep from the night before. He didn't give her much of a chance to react once she had pushed him back as he step forward into the momentum with a jab that was aimed at her stomach. 

She braced herself for that as she tried to step back without stumbling knowing that it was a hard hit to miss since she didn't have enough time to recover. His fighting style was a mixed one that didn't cause him to refrain from hitting weak points. The best she could was twist her body enough so that the blow wouldn't directly hit her stomach. The concrete floor at least helped to less some of the friction that came from such sudden moves. 

If he had no problem using more street style fighting in this type of match, then she could match him on that. Lurching forward at the same time he was set to hit her stomach, she head butted him rather roughly under the chin. It wasn't as well aimed or prepared as she wanted which meant that she also felt some of the recoil from hitting him so hard. It was enough to knock him back over and deflect some of the strength of the blow though she was still fairly certain she would have a bruise on her stomach latter on. 

The next move that had happened completely caught her off guard. Despite being slightly disoriented from the hit, he grabbed the arm closes to him and pulled her back with him. She knew that it was meant for him to angle for a throw. One that she wasn't going to have much of a chance to stop because of her position. Her balance wasn't just right for her to be able to dig her feet in to stop it or pull back. She could only brace herself when she felt the lift from the throw and try to make sure she didn't hit her back fully on the floor. 

She managed to angle herself so that the primary weight of the throw landed on her right shoulder. She winced at the pain that shot through it. She didn't think that it was broken, but Jovani's toss had hardly been a light one and the position left her in a rather tight stop knowing that being on the floor was one of the most vulnerable positions in these type of situations plus the clock was ticking down every second closer. 

If she had longer time she knew that she would've been able to handle him quite well. But she didn't have the time and she knew it was running out. She hardly thought that she would lose, but she didn't want to risk anything happening to Samuel. Thus before he had a chance to make his next move which would've most likely been a pin or kick based upon their position.

She pulled her gun at the same time he turned around. The safety was still in place, but it would take hardly anything for her to remove it and fire before he had a chance to react and grab it due to their positions. Jovani smirked in response to this but made no move to do anything. 

"Quite a well played move there, princess. I guess I shouldn't have been expecting anything less from you." He told her, taking a slight step back in order to respect the space around her. Considering how serious she was taking everything. He didn't doubt for one second that she would pull the trigger if he gave her a reason to.