Jerry awoke early in the morning, took a shower because his hair was very greasy from yesterday, and made himself breakfast. He then sat deep in thought about what to do this Saturday. While thinking he spotted a geode that had spawned at 8 AM, and inside it were 100 Coins.
"When was it that I started feeling so down." Albert said, looking out of his window at the bright sun. He stood up from his chair, on his computer many tabs were open in his browser, all of them had something to do with Mana. "Think positive!" he tried to reassure himself. "Guess I'll go meditate again." Albert had read something online about the benefits of mental training on Mana. He would meditate for hours at a time, all in a vain hope of something happening.
A few days had already passed since Johanthan and the unknown big man fought, so Johnathan was justly surprised when he heard the ring of his doorbell and found that same man standing outside.
"Umm, hello?" The one holding the door open said.
"Yes, hello Johnathan." the man said, just before introducing himself. "I probably didn't introduce myself on the day we fought, so I'll do it now." "I am Darren, my last name does not matter."
Darren was clothed in a T-shirt and jeans, a semi official outfit, while Johnathan was just wearing a T-shirt and some short pants, for the weather was quite hot.
"Okay, and why are you here?" Johnathan asked.
"I wanted to talk." the taller man said.
"About what?"
"About your ex-girlfriend, and some other things." Darren spoke.
"I don't care about my ex." Johnathan announced. "What other things did you want to talk about?"
"Are we really going to have a long conversation on your doorstep?" Darren wanted to lead the conversation somewhere else.
"Okay, fine." Although Johnathan had trust issues and wasn't going to let his guard down easily around Darren, he was interested about what the man had to say. A phone and wallet were grabbed and pocketed before Johnathan left and locked the door. "Where are we even going?"
"Ah, I don't know." Darren said.
"Seriously?" Johnathan thought. "Alright, we're going to this one place that serves the best cheeseburgers in the city."
"So you've tried all cheeseburgers in the city, huh?" Darren tried to start small talk, but Johnathan just stared at him.
Johnathan was just 4 years younger than the 24 year old Darren, but Darren could easily pass for a 30 year old.
They sat down in the diner with their food, 1 normal cheeseburger with fries for Johnathan and 2 extra large cheeseburgers with fries for Darren.
"Yo these are kinda good!" the one who had ordered the 2 XLs exclaimed.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh yeah." Darren began. "Your ex-girlfriend broke up with me as well, just a few hours after the fight, and I don't know where she is right now."
"I do not care even one bit about her, what were the other things you wanted to tell me about?" Johnathan declared.
"So you don't have a job, right?" Darren asked.
"What a weird question." Johnathan said, quite confused.
"Do you have a job or not?" Darren repeated.
"No, I don't have a job." Johnathan answered after a few seconds of silence.
The taller and more muscular man finished the rest of his food and stood up. "Alright, follow me." he said, which immediately triggered an alarm in the head of the overall smaller man "Where will he lead me?" Johnathan thought.
They walked out of the diner after Darren paid for their food, although Johnathan would've liked to pay for his meal himself.
After some walking, they ended in front of a weird hangar looking building.
"Let me introduce you to one of the most popular underground fighting associations in the entire world, 'Epithagon'." Darren presented it while he opened the door. "Here is where a small scale underground fight will be held."
"Weird name." Johnathan was then awe stricken by the emptiness of the entire thing, because there was no one inside.
"Right now it's empty." Darren spoke "We're here about 10 minutes too early, and it seems we're the only ones."
Then slowly but surely people started coming in, quite to the surprise of Johnathan. Some were wearing suits, and looked rich, while others were just normal looking people. A circle was left in the middle, where after 2 people walked in after a few minutes.
An announcer's voice came from the middle "Are you both ready? Go!" he shouted. Then the 2 fighters in the middle started fighting each other.
"This one seems to be a fight without Mana abilties." said Darren and then some silence followed. "I don't know who the guy on the left is, but on the right is John Garthlom, met him like once or twice."
"That's nice and all, but why am I even here?" Johnathan questioned the man who had led him here.
"I thought that this might interest you." responded the man.
"What?" Johnathan was just confused.
"I don't know." he said and turned to the fight scene. "But it pays really well."
Of course Darren knew why he brought him here. That was because of what could be seen on the day that they fought. Johnathan actually subconsciously enjoyed fighting and he even had some talent, even without his Mana abilities. Given some time, a name could be made for himself in the underground fighting world.
After the entire thing was over, Johnathan walked back home alone, because he didn't live that far away from where the fight had taken place. "That was such a peculiar day, it all felt like a dream." he thought to himself. "Underground fighting? Some joke? Those guys bloodied each other, I've never seen something like that."
After some hours it was night and Johnathan was lying in bed, reminiscing about what had happened today "Why am I even considering this?" "Why am I considering the offer to go and fight in underground arenas?" "I mean, I don't have a job and that money does sound enticing" "Wait, did my ego get too big because I beat Darren with my abilities?" he was in deep thought until he drifted off to sleep.
Just as he fell asleep, his ex-girlfriend was boarding a plane to somewhere else, because there was nothing left for her in the city.
It was now Sunday for Jerry and Quast, the last week of school was nearing. And the Summer would only get hotter and the days longer.