"Who don't you like?" Shunlei had returned from her fight with her family in tow and only heard the last sentence. "Laura Everlast, the girl I fought a few minutes ago."
Shunlei hummed as she stared at Leo with narrowed eyes. "Since when do you remember your opponent's names?"
"Eh? I only know because she approached me on the tribune when you fought." Lenny cocked an eyebrow at Leo.
"What did you talk about?" Lenny asked with genuine interest.
"She made me her rival or something. She is weird believe me." Lenny was surprised at that revelation, but a relieved smile quickly formed on his face.
"Hmph. She can't make you her rival!" Shunlei said as she intensely stared at Leo.
"A-and why is that?" Leo was scared to ask but curiosity took over.
"You are already my rival!" She shouted with conviction as if she said something that made sense. The two boys were confused.
"Why am I your rival?!"
"What do you mean why? We are fighting every week already!"
"Of course, we do! We are sparring partners, not rivals!"
"Semantics!"
"This- this doesn't explain shit!! Why is it that I can only have one rival anyway??" Leo was already at the end of his wits. Was he only surrounded by weird girls??
As if to answer his thoughts a water bottle collided with the back of his head. "Language, Leonidas! This is your last warning!"
"Yes, mom!"
"I-I guess, you can have more rivals, but I will have to decide if they are worthy!" She suddenly stood up and stormed off.
"Hey, Leo? Are you perhaps building a harem?" Leo found it already tiring to give these weirded-out looks but this day was nothing but a headache until now.
"So, my next fight is against that Theo guy, isn't it? Any tips?" Leo pinched the bridge of his nose as he changed the subject and it worked like a charm.
Besides his love life, Lenny seemed to be more interested in his upcoming fight, so he took the bait. He quickly retold the introduction of the previous day with a few added tidbits and what to look out for.
Lenny emphasized to leave out any low kicks and only focus on his upper body. It seemed like Theo's legs could take a lot of beating.
It honestly tempted Leo to only go for low kicks next, but he knew that this fight was especially important to Lenny and he wasn't even the one fighting! Either way, he would just win against him quickly and then squeeze everything out of Lenny.
It couldn't be healthy to be so secretive about things, especially with his sudden confession. Although, the love is one-sided, he couldn't be too hard on his friend.
Leo patted Lenny's shoulder and gave him a wry smile that Lenny couldn't interpret. Before this could turn any weirder, Lenny's fight was announced.
He quickly stood up and went to the designated ring.
It didn't surprise Leo that Lenny vastly outmatched his opponent. Leo had already realized that almost no one in this tournament would be able to rival them.
Therefore, the few that did were obviously attracting a lot more of his attention. All kinds of martial artists participated in this tournament and all of them executed their art on a decent level. Even if they weren't quite superhuman, they were still a better than what he had seen in his past world.
Well, at least he assumed it was on a higher level since he hadn't participated in martial arts tournament until he was already a man.
As he looked around the group fights attracted his attention. He had seen it once on MyMovie, but to Leo it just looked too chaotic for any structure to be present in those fights. He just didn't have enough experience with these kinds of bouts.
At one-point Shunlei returned from wherever and even after he asked her where she had been, she wouldn't answer him properly.
Only vague statements like getting a point across or making the order they fought in clear. Leo had an inkling to what she was talking about, but he really wasn't in the mood to think about it anymore. He had an important fight in a bit after all.
After Lenny returned the three and their families went to have something bigger to eat. They had a lunch break before the next fight was announced.
In the next hours Leo just got in the right mindset. Now and then he would cheer for Lenny and Shunlei as they had their next fight before he did.
After his fight was announced he went down the tribune and warmed up a bit. He then went to the designated ring. His opponent was already standing in the middle of the ring.
Leo stepped inside and approached Theo and the referee. The referee went through his schtick as usual.
"You are very strong. I hope for an exciting fight." Theo said with a smirk as he outstretched his hand for a shake. Leo shook his hand without saying anything before going into his corner.
He was surprised to see Mang Tou there. It was the first time that he coached one of the three, so he couldn't help but be confused.
He knew that this Theo guy seemed to be a tough nut to crack but he didn't think that he needed coaching for this. Mang Tou saw his confused expression and only shrugged his shoulders.
"Lenny asked me to help you."
Leo raised an eyebrow but didn't think much of it. Lenny was probably more anxious than he was. He wondered if he should crush Theo from the get-go, but he dismissed the idea quickly. He could at least play it cautiously in the first round to feel him out.
The start of the round was announced, and the two fighters touched gloves. Leo took on his stance and slowly creeped around his opponent as did his opponent.
Then they stopped and the two just stood there for a moment with no one making a move. At one point Leo dropped his guard and leaned forward with his chin exposed.
He tapped his chin with his glove as if to say, "Hit me here.". His opponent didn't seem to take it lightly as he directly swung a hook at Leo's face.
Leo quickly leaned back a bit to dodge the hook. As he was leaning back from Theo's punch his leg shot out and collided with his opponent's ribs.
Theo quickly stepped back and held his sides. He grimaced and it almost looked like he would go down, but he quickly regained his composure. Theo now knew to be careful if he attacked. Leo's counterattacks were vicious and needed to be accounted for if he attacked. Obviously, Leo didn't stand still and was already on him jabbing on his opponent's guard.
It only took two jabs before Theo jumped back to create more distance between the two. He frowned as he felt his sore lower arms.
Leo just pursued his target and was now headhunting. He didn't let his opponent rest and directly went for the knockout. He had planned to go easy on the first round, but he was too disappointed with the fight.
He had been warned by Lenny multiple times and he even sent their mentor to coach him. Now he had almost sent his opponent to the ground with a single kick. Theo was barely able to hold on as he was only focused on his defensive.
That was what he and all the other spectators thought but he quickly realized that he was in a little predicament.
He quickly ended his onslaught with another kick to ribs. Theo almost went down again but Leo didn't continue attacking and chose to fall back instead.
Leo opened and closed his hands for a bit before he approached Theo again. Now he had figured out what Theo's specialty was, and he had to be careful or else he won't be able to participate in the tournament again.
He sent out a fast but weak jab towards Theo who immediately used his guard to block it and it confirmed Leo's worries. This particular guard was called a high elbow guard in which Theo was blocking the straight punches from his opponent on the way to his head with his elbows.
The small bones in the hand lose out against a clash with elbows. Essentially this guard is a hand breaker. Leo had already seen it in his past when Yoel Romero broke Robert Whittaker's hands twice when they fought.
The gloves they were wearing were the same MMA gloves, so they didn't give as much protection as boxing gloves would, so Leo had to be careful when he was headhunting.
Obviously, to get into the guard Theo had to raise his arms high, leaving his body open. It wouldn't be a free hit for Leo though as he can quickly lower his arm to block the blows to the body.
The guard was tight and dangerous. Leo knew that he had to time his strikes better or tire his opponent out, so he wouldn't react fast enough.
If he wanted to win this tournament, he needed to be in top condition but fortunately Leo already had a game plan, and he would need to make sure to execute it quickly.
As he distracted Theo with his jabs, he used the opportunity to get some vicious kicks to the ribs in. Every time he landed one Theo seemed to be almost knocked out.
As Leo went in for another kick, Theo suddenly raised his leg and turned with it towards his roundhouse kick. Leo reacted quickly and redirected his kick a bit higher, making his kick completely fly over Theo's head.
As soon as Leo retracted his leg, he leaned forward to attack again, but Theo was onto him with a kick. An oblique kick to be precise. A thrusting kick with outturned foot just above the knee to overextend the leg or break it.
Leo quickly jumped away with cold sweat running down his back. Of course, he realized in what danger he was in just a second ago. Not only the oblique kick but the block as well. It might not have seemed like much but if his shin had hit Theo's knee or even shin with that kind of power, his shin could have snapped in half.
It would be worse if Theo had been closer and smashed his own knee against Leo's. Considering that Theo was specialized in defense, Leo had no doubt that he would lose in that confrontation. If it happened a couple of times, Leo's knee might break, and he could forget about becoming the greatest.
A broken knee is no joke but despite his fear coming up he didn't show anything to Theo. His opponent on the other hand was smirking and waving Leo with his index finger to him.
Leo didn't hesitate and rushed towards Theo. To Theo's surprise Leo's leg shot to his midsection with a roundhouse kick. There was no distraction this time just a direct kick!
Theo couldn't help but be confused to this decision, but he had no time to ponder about it! A counterattack with his knee like before would take too long. He was just able to lower his arm to block the kick.
With a loud clap Theo blocked the attack with his arm and then quickly moved backwards. His arm that had been kicked was throbbing. Theo had obviously felt Leo's kick beforehand but this one was different. It was much quicker and more powerful.
He knew than and there that he couldn't be hit by it! If he let only one such kick through, it will at the very least shatter his ribs. He would be open for slaughter if that happened!
'I have to catch his kick with my knee only once! I have to break his leg before he completely demolishes my arm!'
Theo thought as the two cautiously circled each other. Both fighters knew one hit could decide it.