Gerald's heart was beating fast as he had never fought for a crowd before but he had a calm demeanour.
The referee called the challenger which was Gerald and the other combatant. They both walked to the middle making sure that none of them losed eye contact with the other.
"Do you both understand the rules?" the bald referee asked.
"Yes." The man replied. Gerald nodded his head.
"I need a vocal confirmation, do you understand the rules?" the referee asked Gerald.
"Yes."
"Very well then, when you hear my whistle then you may start but before that back to your corners."
Gerald and the other man walked backwards still maintaining eye contact.
__________
Inside the room from earlier Minna and 4 other men were watching the fight. Minna had a goblet of wine in hand.
"I think place him up against Mursik is overkill," old man Xiu said. "Mursik has fought a staggering 125 matches within 25 days and he has a 64% knock out rate and a 72% win rate, he qualified for the golden championship but he refused so putting him up against a beginner like him would be a one sided slaughter."
"I thought martial artist grandmaster's like you never underestimated people. I'm telling you right now, Mursik is going to lose."
"I am not underestimating him, As you said I am a martial arts grandmaster and from what Mursik has shown ever since he has stepped foot in that ring and from what I've seen in that newcomers physical test then I would say my money is on Mursik." Old man Xiu said in a respectful manner.
"How about we bet then?" Minna said as he took a sip from his goblet of wine.
"Pardon," Old man Xiu said. He thought his ears were deceiving him. Minna was miser and he made sure to only gamble when he knew he would win. Why would he bet on Gerald? Earlier on it seemed like they knew each other, was this a setup to cheat him out of money. No, that was impossible since he knew that Minna was not that petty.
"What are you thinking so hard about? I thought you were sure that Mursik would win, or were you just running your mouth?" Minna said as he turned to old man Xiu.
When old man Xiu looked at Minna he saw that Minna wasn't smiling anymore, it seemed like he was about to swallow him right now.
"How much do you want to bet?" Old man Xiu asked.
"150 silvers."
'That's a really small amount, is he not that confident in the newcomer winning, looks like I can make something out of this situation."
"How about this? If I win you will owe me one favour that you will not deny, and if you win I will pay you 900 silver."
"999 silver, you really are uping the stakes aren't you?" Minna said. He took another sip and paused a while and finally he agreed. "Very well then."
Old man Xiu smiled. If he won then he could ask for one favour that would not be denied. There were four witnesses here and if he refused his favour then he would lose face but if he won then he all he would have to pay was a mere 999 silvers. It wasn't even one gold coin.
Minna swirled the wine in his goblet as he watched the fight and after a few seconds he grinned a little.
______
FEEEEEEEEE!
The referee blew the whistle and backed up to give the fighters some room to fight in. As soon as the sound of the whistle cut through the air loud shouts could be heard.
The atmosphere was already at peak volume but now it had reached a deafening volume. It reminded Gerald of the party that was going on within the same place.
"KNOCK HIM OUT MURSIK!!!"
"TEACH THAT FUCKER A LESSON!"
"I BET 4000 SILVER ON YOU, IF YOU LOSE I SWEAR I WILL BECOME A FIGHTER JUST TO BEAT YOU UP!"
"YOU GOT A NICE ASS NEWBIE!"
Such shouts from both woman and men with the men threatening and the woman complimenting both fighters could be heard.
Mursik ran at Gerald the moment the whistle was heard. This was basic fighting technique that a lot of cage fighters used to corner other fighters. The only down side to it was that it could be easily countered. It was rare for fighters to run at their opponents but since Gerald was new he thought he could catch him of gaurd.
"AND MURSIK LUNGES AT THE NEWCOMER IN AN ATTEMPT TO CORNER HIM!" The commentar shouted enthusiastically.
As soon as Mursik reached Gerald he tried tackling him. Gerald jumped up and managed to avoid it. He landed on Mursik's back. He dug his heels into Mursik's back. Mursik straightened himself up and threw him of him.
He turned and grabbed Gerald's throat and sweeped his feet. Gerald fell down.
As soon as Gerald fell down Old man Xiu smiled. The match seemed like a wrap. Anytime Mursik threw people down on the ground the match was considered as over because he would climb onto them and hammer at them until they lost consciousness.
He took a look at Minna whose facial expression was just that of a normal person.
As Gerald fell down he placed his hand on the ground and used that hand as a stand. He aimed a kick at Mursik's head but it was blocked.
Gerald used this moment when Mursik was blinded by his own hands blocking his view to stand up.
Mursik lowered his gaurd and as soon as his field of vision was unblocked he saw a fist heading towards his face. He put up his gaurd once again and felt a strong force hit his stomach. It hit him again and again and again.
Mursik swung his fist and Gerald backed of.
"A feint? That really hurt, I'll give you that, but you won't be able to hit me again." Mursik hissed as he clutched his stomach.
Mursik once again lunged at Gerald and raised his right fist intending to strike him. Gerald easily caught the fist but what he didn't know was that it was just a distraction. He didn't notice the kick from below that was headed for his right kidney.
DAAAAA!
The crowd cheered loudly as Mursik's leg connected with Gerald's side. Gerald winced in pain. He placed Mursik's hand over his shoulder and turned around. With a quick pull Gerald pulled Mursik of the ground and over his shoulder.
DAAAAAAA!
The crowd cheered even louder as Mursik hit the ground. Some of them didn't come to gamble but to just enjoy the fight and they were getting their money's worth.
Gerald put his leg in the air and brought down a heavy axe kick. Mursik rolled to the side dodging several axe kicks. He managed to get on his knees and as soon as Gerald got closer he tackled him.
Gerald pushed forward as he was pushed backwards and placed two hands on Mursik's stomach and his chin on his back. With the powerful force exerted from his legs he managed to stop Mursik's tackle. He lifted Mursik so high up into the air that his legs were above Gerald's head and his head was at Gerald's waist.
Gerald brought the man down onto the cold dirty floor that was filled with blood. Mursik's stomach hit the bare,cold, rocky concrete floor as well as his head.
Gerald stood up and performed one last axe kick to Mursik's back just to make sure.
The crowd were cheering way to loudly now. There were lots of objects being thrown. Beer bottles, rocks, Rose's, food of different kinds and clothes at the cage.
The referee turned over Mursik only to see him foaming at the mouth. He signalled towards the commentar to tell him that the match was over.
"AND IT IS A MIRACULOUS WIN FOR THE NEWCOMER, FIRST MATCH EVER, FIRST WIN EVER, IS THIS IS THIS THE FIRST OF MANY? OR JUST A BEGINNER'S LUCK? WE WILL FIND OUT SOON. ONTO THE THE NEXT MATCH."
Gerald sat in the corner of the cage. There were men who brought stretchers and were taking Mursik out. He looked down on the concrete floor. It was full of blood and lots of teeth. Gerald could see different kinds of teeth. There were molars and incisors and the occasional canines.
The floor was rocky and rough and made of concrete. It was like the person making the floor decided to just leave midway.
_______
Minna was holding Old man Xiu by the throat. Old man Xiu was several inches of the floor and struggling to breathe.
Peter and another man had both of their guns pointed at Minna. The two other men had assault rifles pointed at Peter and the other man.
"What... Isss... the mean...ing... of this?" The old man managed to barely say.
Minna smiled and patted his cheek, "What do you think this about, you old dog? I'm pretty sure you know."
Minna's eye managed to catch Peter and his associate who had their guns pointed at him.
"I suggest you put your weapons down if you don't want to lose your lifes. These guys bullets are faster than yours." Minna said as he pointed at the other two men.
Peter did not lower his gun and neither did his associate. In fact they took a better aim at Minna.
"Alright, Ralph and Sukli aim your guns at this old man, your gonna have some target practice today." Ralph and Sukli aimed there assault rifles at old man Xiu.
Peter and his associate put down their guns.
"That's a good choice," Minna said. His face was still the same. He was amused. He then turned to the old man who was struggling to breathe.
"Oh, you sly old fox, you actually thought that I would not notice, well too bad for you I noticed." Minna was having the time of his life choking the old man. He had a twisted crazed smile on his face and he was releasing a cold, disturbing aura that was making everyone shudder.
"Mon... Monster!" the old man managed to speak in terror.
"Oh, you old fox, I told you this way too many times, flattery will get you nowhere."
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