They kept fighting the whole evening, non-stop clashing, hitting each other but it was clear that Barbara was a better unarmed fighter than Leo. That was why he always used a stick to fight crime and not his fists alone. However, the boy managed to snag some victories, especially at the end of the training session when the girl was getting tired.
After the last clash and with the sun already setting on the horizon, Nigredo gave him the notification he wanted to hear.
[Combat experience gained!]
[Level 2: 100/100%]
[Congratulations! You level up]
[Level 2 -> Level 3 0/100%]
[Normal sparring with Barbara no longer offers experience points]
[New mutation-
CRASH
The mutation message was cut short as Nigredo, Barbara, and Leo quickly heard a loud crash outside.
"What the fuck is that?!" Barbara yelled, and then something her size burst into the gym through one of the broken windows.
A four-legged mutant creature that was vaguely humanoid, even if it was using its arms with long claws to move around more like a gorilla. Its whole body was covered with a mixture of green scales, black fur, and something that could be described as exposed red muscles. With a massive maw that was like something had grabbed a horse and replaced each single tooth with canines, the most distinctive was the single red eye crowning its skull.
("I will give you the mutation when the fight is over! It's not useful for fighting!") Nigredo yelled inside his head.
"It doesn't look friendly!" Leo exclaimed.
It let out a guttural roar of pure pain from its maw and locked its single eye on Barbara. However, she was already charging.
The girl jumped out of the ring and rushed to grab the broken broom handle that she almost used against Nigredo a few hours before. Without a single instant of hesitation, the improvised spear sank its wooden fang into the scales near its head, missing the eye but stabbing far enough so a burst of blood gushed from the wound.
A screech of pain was followed by the monster snapping one of its arms and barely landing a strike on Barbara that got her cheek sliced, enough to draw some blood and made her stagger for a second.
That second Leo used it as he jumped through the ring ropes and grabbed an empty barbell that was nearby and swung it like his trusty metal stick.
CRACK
Something broke on the monster as he landed a firm strike right on its shoulder, something that made it lose its balance for an instant. The victory was short-lived as even with the broken arm, the monster backhanded Leo in the ribs and shoved him a few meters across the gym, making the boy slam his back against some old machines.
("No broken ribs and your spine is fine! Only internal bruises!") Nigredo shouted inside his head with the damage report.
With Barbara becoming the closer target, the mutant lunged toward her, making the girl jump to the ground to dodge and then roll toward a 20 kg kettlebell that was nearby. She spun a single time and threw it like a meteor toward the creature and struck it mid-charge right in the middle of the exposed muscle guts.
The geyser of blood that came from the monster's crushed entrails was not enough to stop it as its claws reached, tearing her yoga pants and leaving a four-digit red mark on her fair skin. "Ah! Fuck!" Barbara yelled and limped backward.
Leo let out a groan of pain and grabbed a 5 kg dumbbell off the rack he was almost impaled on and charged. "Barb! Flank it!" He yelled, grabbed the dumbbell with both hands and slammed it onto the creature's eye as it was distracted with the other redhead.
With a gush of clear fluid and blood, the monster now blinded but not defeated whipped its head sideways, almost tearing Leo's arm off with its jaws.
Even if injured and pantless with only her black sport panties covered in sweat, she rushed to grab a battle rope that was near her. The girl whipped the heavy rope and struck the monster's back, hurting it hard enough to drag the attention from Leo to her.
"Come on! Hit me!" Barbara yelled at the monster, making noise so the mutant lizard thing would charge toward her, but she didn't dodge out of the way. The woman ran toward it and grabbed the barbell that Leo had dropped early and with a scream that burst from the deepest parts of her guts, she stabbed the monster mid-charge with the end of the bar like a spear. Even though it was completely smooth, the force of the impact was enough to impale the monster's open maw.
The monster showed its resilience by defying death even in this situation. Its arms thrashed wildly trying to remove the metal stick stuck in its mouth, the pain overpowering any hostility toward the duo.
Leo doubted for a second that the creature might be sentient, that this could be a whole misunderstanding . . . after all, Barbara attacked first. However, he couldn't risk her life for a simple hunch. The boy grabbed the dumbbell he used early again and brought punishment down on the impaled head.
CRACK
The skull of the monster finally caved in, and with that, the fight was over. It collapsed on the floor twitching for a few instants before finally completely stopping.
Silence took over the gym, both of them breathing heavily as they were on the brink of collapse. Leo rushed over to check Barbara, and she did the same. Leo's damage was only internal, and the girl's wounds were messy but not dangerous; they would know if the monster had cut any important artery.
"We need to call an amb-HMP" Before Leo could finish the sentence, Barbara kissed him. It was not a peck on the lips; it was a full frontal attack where she grabbed his hair and pulled it down to get a better angle to crush her face with his.
("I don't give a fuck anymore! Come here!") Barbara thought while wrestling Leo's tongue with hers, not caring about her wounds, her muscles screaming at her to stop, or the fact that there was a monster corpse bleeding out a meter from them.
Combat, blood, and adrenaline were all the foreplay she needed to get into the mood.