My fist slid cleanly across the cheek of the behemoth of a man before me, rage bubbled in his unsightly red tinted eyes, veins almost bulging outwards. It seemed like the mere thought of someone he deemed "inferior" to him having the ability to force his back to the wall had made his once cocky and disingenuous attitude utterly and completely fall apart. The impact forced his body to reflexively recoil and stagger backwards. His big frame weighed him down, forcing him to adapt to my more agile style of fighting. We had returned to a standstill. The bright lights of the cage and the chanting audience of blood thirsty spectators had reminded me, no. It was better to say they showed me what I had been missing this whole time. I was getting more and more complacent with this fight, wishing to put on a show for Cristoforo, to show him I wasn't some pawn nor toy for his use. But no more.
I was calm.
Fighting in these underground death rinks had become routine at this point, even if my opponent managed to land a couple haymakers, I could more than make up for the damage normally. Yet… something about this match felt odd, this brute's will was completely out of this world. Matches with these meatheads didn't even go on for more than a minute. At best minute thirty.
'Almost astonishingly he's managed to last damn near three!'
"Hey Snake! How about actually fighting me head on, instead of this stupid out fighting Bullshit. Or are you too afraid you're gonna bite me!"
It seemed he had returned to his usual mouthing off, even after having taken a beating no more than ten seconds prior. I know how obvious of a provocation this was, Yet something about this tactless insult really rubbed me the wrong way. Normally I stay nice and calm during these "fights", locking my feelings away and swallowing the key. But this time it seems I couldn't keep my anger in check. Reflexively I bit down on my lip, trickles of blood flowing down as my abnormally sharp canines cut into my gums.
I snapped my mouth moving before I even had time to think, "Has all that muscle shrunk your brain? or is it the lack of mana? Or maybe Cris beat the smart outs your head?"
he really didn't like that one…
We were circling one another now, like two wild beasts whose territories were on the verge of colliding, the slippery wet matting of the ring almost giving way, as we both dug into its surface. Neither of us willing to give in, or submit to the other's whims. I watched as beads of sweat trickled from my opponent, his gaze sharp and piercing. Then, everything went still.
Every aspect of us was fundamentally different, I was short and had an average physique for a Cage Worker, and dirty blonde hair that seemed to never be able to stay still during these matches. Him, on the other hand. The only appropriate description would be a Science experiment, I mean even his muscles had muscles. His head on the other hand was lackluster to say the least, it appeared as though his forehead was reflecting all the light from the already stupidly bright arena. But there was no time to focus on that. We had locked eyes once more. At this crucial moment we both shared a single thought.
'To let our Mana run wild!'
"Core Technique: Engraved Boxing" I said, allowing the warming sensation of mana to saturate the muscles, bones and every other fiber of my being— heightening my once diluted senses to their pinnacle, giving me a much needed respite, I still felt the weight of this brutes punches ring out from my vitals. But compared to previously i could manage. After a seconds delay the thug responded "I Zayin call upon the inherited Core technique: Cristoforo's Stance". Hearing those words, my muscles reflexively tensed, a foul taste surfaced at the back of my throat, and a million different venomous words surfaced in my head. " All of you idolize that man like some God, huh? Are you all not capable of free thinking?" I shuffled my feet, putting my right in front of my left and raised my arms, taking the stance of a boxer, my opponent also readied himself. Instead of adopting my boxing stance, he completely abandoned all semblance of fighting etiquette and had let his hands hang, then he allowed his knees to bend, and assume a semi crouching position. Arching his back I watched as his once dilated red pupils fell back, all visible in his eyes now were the whites. A tinge of drool fell from his mouth—as his muscle spasmed, appearing to be in retaliation to whatever monstrous combat art he had engraved within his very soul.
I was determined to thoroughly beat the core technique out of this delinquent's brain, not out of malice or anything of the sort—Well not completely anyway, more so to set an example for the audience of this fight. I wanted to prove to them that falling for the lies and deceit of that "man" would bring nothing but pain.
"Let me show you the weakness with that power."
The once hulking man before me had shrunk, his frame halving as he bent over in ways that would even confuse a professional gymnast. He continued to drool, and as he did, a snarl escaped his agape mouth .A violent twitch followed through from the base of his feet to the top of his temple. After what felt like ages of this weird stand off, He stopped. I saw a muscle in his hind leg spasm as if getting ready to lunge. So before it could, I reacted, pushing mana into my own legs i bursted forward.
I prepared to propel myself off the ground, attempting to use the wind attribute mana in my body to fly across the stands before he could react, as I did, my opponent did the unthinkable. He had curled himself fully into a ball-like form, and had gone completely stationary.
In my utter confusion, I hesitated to continue my attack—and let myself falter. In an instant he had spun his body, using his hands to balance himself he kicked me square across the jaw.
The impact from the blow had made me feel like I'd lost the lower half of my mouth, on top of that my left ear bled a fountain, in tandem with that my right ear rang so loud I had lost semblance of everything around me. It was as if I had been thrown directly into a bell.
I managed to catch myself against the chain-link fence. Its cold sting spread across my entire rear. I tried to regain my posture. My back spasmed. I knew that any second my opponent would be on me again. And yet I let my brazen cockiness cloud my judgment, and look where that got me. Leaning against this metal wiring made me sick, but it also made me certain.
if he landed another hit like that, I'd be done. I had to think fast.
Throughout these matches the use of external mana control was heavily looked down upon. Many saw it as a cheap tactic, or an easy win. Forcing a tornado to fling your opponent makes matches too dull, the druggies that are watching want to see blood spilled. The otherworldly nature of mana allows you to attack while keeping absolute distance from your opponent. This would lead to fights looking more like gun duels than hand to hand brawls. But most didn't factor in that mana as a concept isn't that linear. A technique that would normally require a mage to exert mana could theoretically be done inwards by reversing the flow of mana from the fingertips back to the core, forcing that spell to surge within one's body. And with enough control this effect can be used to vastly augment both strength and speed of the wielder, in short bursts of course. ' I've never tried it though…' But in this situation, what choice did I have? At any moment that bloodthirsty monster could cave my skull in with a singular punch. So as a last ditch, i casted a spell of Gale, and attempted to force it back inwards rapidly spinning the mana in my veins to reverse its route. I could feel my core begin to simmer, my entire body started to warm, my veins began to pulsate, and glow a faint emerald. Then came the burn. The feeling was both simultaneously pleasant and the most gut wrenching unimaginable pain I think my body had ever felt. Instead of my blood warming it had begun to boil, the wind magic inside of me running rampant as a twister of pain and pleasure struck my body all at once.
Then it stopped.
I felt an ecstasy that couldn't even be put into words. My entire body from my feet, to my temple. Had acquired a new state of being. At that moment I could only mumble to myself, trying to make sense of this new sensation. Until a single word crossed my mind. Power, I felt powerful. Like I could blow a whole building away with a punch.
My senses were heightened. Though I couldn't see it. My eyes felt like burning embers, a faint emerald glow reflecting onto the top of my eyelids.
My opponent began to unfold himself, preparing to finish me off. His once unsightly stance was gone, as he regained his now towering posture.
I felt my core tremble as I attempted to move, my now heightened state carried a heavy burden on my body. The best way to describe my current predicament would be:
Relearning how to walk but on hot charcoal. It felt like even the slightest movement would make my limbs burst off.
I had no time to worry about that now though.
Gritting my teeth, I steeled myself and prepared to push off the iron link fencing. I had to time this maneuver perfectly, as even the slightest misstep would mean I'd get knocked out, and then the recoil from my own mana would make me lose an arm in the process.
The brute swung his left fist, attempting to hit me square in the nose. But to my eyes now, it seemed as though he had slowed, his punch taking many seconds to even move centimeters closer to me. I watched as his fist slowly approached my face. At the last second I simply moved to the side.
I felt it. As soon as I had done this maneuver the fight was over.
Almost instinctually I used the previous motion to jump and punch this idiot square in the face. The shock from this punch sent ripples down my now bloodied right arm. A faint familiar ringing began resounding from outside of the cage. It was the bell. The match was finally over.
My eardrums were completely busted, My right arm was numb all over and not to mention the skin on my knuckles appeared to be falling off entirely.
I was a wreck.
But at least I won.
I felt my knees give way, before I even realized, I had already hit the cold cage floor. A violent outburst of pain pierced my already numbing body. I could feel my consciousness slipping, my eyes getting heavier by the moment. The last thing my tired body allowed me to make note of, was the sounds of endless cheers and banter coming from above.
"All hail Viper!"
"All hail Viper!"
"All hail Viper!"
a foggy haze filled my mind as i thought.
'I really, truly hate all of you, why don't you just die already?'