Robin warmed himself up, practiced a few swift punches and kicks to loosen his muscles and cracked his knuckles before entering the ring bare chested. His slim, but muscular physique got him a few whistles and cheers, but were soon drowned out by the appearance of the gigantic opponent he was to face today. The crowd cheered his appearance, as the giant wiped his thumb across his neck in a threatening motion towards Robin. The antic made Robin smile for the first time in the day.
Soon the gong rang and the match had begun. The giant lunged towards Robin in an attempt to close off any areas of retreat, but Robin remained calm. At the precise moment he punched out at the giant's arm, hitting him on his shoulder, following which he dodged the incoming punch with a side step and kicked the giant's knees in a calculated manner.
The sudden attack stunned the giant who lost his balance and collapsed with a scream. His hand was numb and his leg hurt, however, he got up relatively quickly and with anger visible on his face aggressively punched Robin who failed to dodge and was hit smack in the face.
This was obviously all planned before hand, and Robin's initial attack was pretty harmless, however, when the giant retaliated and Robin humored his punch, the punch had an incredible amount of power and maliciousness to it and Robin was suckerpunched to the ground.
The giant cheered and showed off his prowess to the crowd who were screaming as well. This time Robin got up, wiped the blood off his lips, smiled with a vicious look and started an open brawl with the giant.
Calculated punches, kicks and knee shots, this time full of power and anger slammed into the giant who could not retaliate at all. Viciousness shown in Robin's eyes as he kicked with such force that the giant broke his knee cap and screamed. His face had been bloodied and he was a mess, but Robin did not stop and continued mashing into the giant's face with his own bleeding knuckles from the flurry of punches.
The crowd turned silent, while the gambling bosses smashed their mugs of beer to the ground. The giant lay in the ring, unconscious, as Robin silently exited the ring before the crowd cheered in rage again! The violence displayed by Robin had driven them into a frenzy with people patting his back as he walked out, a lonesome figure.
Half an hour later. Robin was dressing his wounded hands as a man in rich looking clothes and an air of privilege walked towards him. He was followed respectfully by the Robin's gambling bosses, which told him that this man was one of status.
Robin preempted the person by speaking first towards his superior.
"It is my mistake, I lost control and got too violent. I apologize for causing you losses boss."
The boss shook his head, but did not speak. The rich man took the initiative to converse instead.
"Mr. Robin, for a mortal you are a very good fighter. Quite unfortunate that you do not have the talent to be a cultivator."
When the boss heard the rich man's words, he became even more respectful. He knew this rich man was very influential, but he did not expect that this person was an immortal! Robin was inwardly shocked as well, but he hid his surprise and immediately followed up respectfully.
"Sir, I am just an ordinary mortal. I wonder what interest an esteemed individual like you has in me?"
The rich man nodded, there were slight hesitation in his eyes as if he were considering something, before he spoke. He turned towards the boss of the fighting den and nodded. The man understood that his presence was not required and left quickly.
"I wish to recruit you for a task. I need a courier to escort a person to another city."
Robin's eyes widened.
"Sir, I have never ventured outside Below City. Going outside city limits is dangerous for us mortals."
"I am aware of that. This is a purple card which contains 100 thousand dollars, when you complete the mission, the person you must deliver will tell you the password for it. This should be more money than you'll ever earn in your life. Are you interested?" The rich man asked Robin who was shocked even more by the reward for the task.
Robin knew that being paid so much, the task would certainly be a dangerous one, besides mortals rarely left their cities because the wilderness was a dangerous place. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Robin decided to take the risk.
"Thank you for the opportunity, Sir."
"Good, get ready and head to this location tomorrow. The person you have to guard's details and your cover are in this letter. Read the instructions carefully, you leave tomorrow morning."
The rich man spoke and quickly left the scene. However, his warning to Robin before leaving constantly rang in his head.
"If you mess up in any way, you will face the wrath of immortals, you won't be able to hide. Remember to be as discreet as possible."
Robin walked back through slums, the silence peppered with occasional shrieks from dark alleyways which he avoided, his mood pensive. He had never left the city before and he had little information about the person he had to escort, he was taking big risks to earn big this time.
While he was walking, he felt a gaze on himself, like he was being followed. To verify his feeling he had walked around a few blocks a couple of times and then disappeared into a different area. When he realized he was being followed, he decided not to go home, skipped into a different corner of the slum and secretively made his way to a dilapidated hut.
Inside the hut was an old man who was calmly preparing tea. When Robin barged in, he didn't react.
"I am shaking someone off." Robin mentioned languidly. The old man nodded, ignored Robin and continued preparing tea, the only difference being he prepared another cup.
"Come, drink some tea." He gestured to Robin, who obliged. Sipping the tea, Robin felt a calming feeling that relaxed him mentally as he smelled it. A cooling feeling spread from his head, gradually spreading to his body.
"I will be leaving Below City." Robin told the old man who smiled.
"Oh well. Did the day finally come? Leaving the city is dangerous. I still remember when you came to me as a little kid, wanting to become strong." The old man reminisced. "Stay the night here, if you were being followed, they couldn't have had good intentions."
Robin nodded and sat down in a corner of the hut. "Old man, have you ever travelled out of the city?"
The old man's eye's became mellow as he began reminiscing. "I did travel beyond the city in my youth. How time flies by, I am now a feeble old man past my prime. Here, take this with you, it might be useful."
The old man grabbed an old hand drawn map and a block of wood and handed it to Robin. The map mapped the cities as well as the surrounding terrain. There were several other spots marked with circles and crosses, as well as skulls on it.
"This used to be a map of the country we lived in. The countries don't exist anymore, but the places are still accurate. This block of wood is a mysterious object that I once found, but I never understood its use. May be you can trade it on your troop if you need."
"Old man... I can't take this. This is your treasure." Robin declined.
"Don't fuss so much kid, take it." The old man refused to budge. Robin stayed silent, but accepted the old man's gift.