Must go faster! (Macht)

Levi smiled as Macht came in. He had been confident that a man like Macht wouldn't pass it up, if nothing else, to satisfy his curiosity, but Levi barely knew him, so this was only a guess. He would stand casually as he waved at the man, laughing at Macht's comment.

"Haha! Not quite, maybe next time...Well, like I said I want to see more of your speed. More to the point: You're not the only speed demon in this school, and I can't measure up, not yet. So I need to come up with methods for dealing with that speed, if nothing else, get my eyes used to it."

Levi put his hands up in a boxer like stance, but with hands open and out as he placed his left leg forward, solidifying his stance. He stared into the man's eyes, an excited grin on his face. 

"Feel like helping me out?" 

Levi stood ready, watching as well as he could, Machts speed catching him off guard. He struggled to maintain his stance as he fought to read his opponent's movements. The jab was fast and Levi narrowly avoided as he swayed back. That's right, he fell for Macht's trap as the man pivoted and sent a kick into his ribs. Levi managed to jump backwards just before impact, reducing the damage. He took a couple of steps back to regain his balance, sliding back a couple of feet. He smiled 

"No doubt about it, you're fast alright."

He had somewhat dealt with Macht's speedy attacks, but he had gained no ground either. He was simply just fast enough to mitigate the damage. Being reactive was not working. He would need to anticipate Macht's actions. He readied himself again, his stance still sturdy, but more relaxed and fluid, his hand out and open, but his left remained around neck level where his right was now level with his abdomen. This served to reduce the amount of time he would need to react in time. He continued to smile as he looked at his opponent. 

"Let's see some more."

Levi watched for the preemptive movements of his opponent's attacks to give himself a head start on Macht's movements and it actually worked, to a degree. As Macht's shoulder rolled to throw the jab, Levi read the punch, bringing his right hand up to absorb the jab with his palm, pushing the punch down and away.

Nice!

Levi's eyes would track the beginning of the uppercut, reacting quickly as he swayed backwards. The problem? He swayed too early as Macht had slowed down, allowing him to correct the trajectory before he threw the punch. With no way to stop his sway or change direction, Levi took the uppercut cleanly, throwing his head upwards to reduce the recoil to his head as Macht's punch landed true on his chin, forcing Levi to take a step backwards to maintain his balance. 

"guh!"

As he regained his footing, Levi took his stance again as he began to think on what he had observed so far. Macht's strikes were fast, but certainly not the hardest punches he'd ever taken. To deal with Macht's speed, he would need to more than anticipate for a perfect counter; He would need to take away the man's mobility. Levi smiled and beckoned the man on again after rubbing his chin.

"Nice trick, I'll have to keep that one in mind."

With that, Levi took a swift step in to close the distance between them as he threw a trio of left jabs, the first one faster and stronger as he hand turned and snapped shut to give the ending a quick burst of speed and power. As Macht dealt with these, Levi's forward foot, his right, would snap out to try to catch the side of Macht's shin. He hoped this simultaneous, two-pronged attack would bear some fruit. 

Levi would take that as a confirmation that he was on the right track. Part of one of the strategies he had come up with had a goal with something like that in mind. Levi wasn't entirely surprised as Macht seemed more than capable of dealing with his jabs, but his attack had not been entirely unsuccessful.  

Here's my chance!

Levi would capitalize on Macht's imbalance, as the first palm strike hit lightly enough to allow Levi to keep his footing and snatch Macht's left arm at the wrist, the grip of his right hand tight. Levi would then quickly follow-up, pulling his left hand back forcefully as he stepped in and placed his right foot on the ground, turning his body to face Macht's right arm as he pulled the man's wrist across his own body to hopefully pull Macht off balance. If all went according to plan, Levi would finish his maneuver with a crossing left palm strike aimed at the bridge of Macht's nose.  

Levi reflexively turned his face away from the headbutt, though not quickly enough to avoid the hit completely, Macht's forehead crashing into his cheekbone.

not yet!

Levi forced himself to whether the sharp pain in his face to turn his head back to face his opponent as he grabbed the side of Macht's head with his left hand, releasing the man's wrist as he swiftly brought his right elbow in and upwards, aiming for the underside of Macht's jaw. He wouldn't be able to torque his body behind the strike, but it would still have some good power and hopefully manage to be a good trade for the headbutt that had managed to break a little bit of the skin where it had struck. He would let go of Macht's head immediately after the elbow would strike, regardless of whether or not it hit, hopefully creating a little distance again.

Weaknesses? You don't mean...

Levi hoped Macht was not talking about his patched eye. Levi was more concerned with learning how to deal with opponent's faster than himself, not winning. If the two of them had separated, Levi would shake his head with a small smile a chuckle in his voice with his last sentence.  

"Well, if I was trying to beat you, I might try that, but that doesn't really help me learn how to deal with people with your kind of speed does it?"

Levi shrugged as he decided it was time to take the man's advice. He was trying to help and Levi would be folly to not learn everything Macht was willing to teach him. He didn't like the idea of using a weakness like that to his advantage when he wasn't really trying to beat the guy up. This was supposed to be a friendly sparring match and a chance for him to learn, but he supposed this was part of that learning experience because in a real fight, this would be critical. He gave a small smile as he took his stance again, left foot forward. 

"If you insist..."

Levi would find it difficult to exploit the weakness in an initial attack given Macht's speed, but he had some ideas for if he could get inside again. Levi dashed in as fast as he could, bending his knees slightly to throw a short, compact right uppercut. He would lean slightly to the right as he did this to direct his attention to his left to set up for his next move. He would quickly follow with a high, wide roundhouse from wit his left, targeting Macht's blind right side to land the kick directly into the side of the man's head.