Less than thirty seconds remain before the bell. Ryoma's eyes flick to the HUD overlay in his vision. The countdown ticks: 27… 26… 25.
So far, he has gathered enough data from the first round, enough to know he is ahead. Now he only needs to maintain that advantage, conserve energy, and control the flow without revealing too much of his hand.
From the Philly stance, he flicks his left, starting from a lower position. One angle, then another, and again. It's not much, just occasionally, but enough to keep Thanid busy, reacting, measuring, adjusting.
A twitch of Ryoma's right shoulder here, a subtle shift there; enough to make the challenger hesitate without giving away intent.
"Look at that control!"
"Ryoma's not even committed yet… and Thanid's already working just to keep up!"
Reaching to the last ten seconds, Kiet Anurak slams the apron hard. But before Thanid can respond, Ryoma immediately ups the gear, and Nakahara freezes his own hand mid-slam, realizing the shift.
