Mackenzie and Arthur looked at each outer for a few more seconds before they walked forward into the crowd of cadets. It looked like what they were seeing was an underground fight club. Strong was in the makeshift ring taking kicks and punches left and right doing all he could to defend from the blows. It was obvious he was out of his element, but he was so heavily built that the attacker could not take him down, instead visibly slowing down and tiring out from the ineffective punches and kicks.
Strong finally saw an opening and struck his opponent with an uppercut that lifted him out of the ring and onto the floor with a loud thud. Strong held up his arms in victory as the crowd went wild. Apparently there was a betting pool going on and a lot of cadets were counting their imperial currency with a smile on their face.
1st years hadn't been given any sort of monetary currency. They would have to make it past the basic training of the 1st year to see any sort of monetary compensation. The underground fights were a good way to supplement your income if you knew what you were doing. Alas, it looked like some people had no idea as Arthur could see the look of pain and defeat on more than a few cadets who had lost the betting round.
All of the sudden one cadet that Arthur recognized from his class looked up and started shouting "Here's the master martial artist that took out the instructor! He must be here to take on the reigning champion!" The crowd went wild with cheers as they saw Arthur walk up.
He had no idea what was going on until Strong climbed down from the makeshift ring and told Arthur he had to compete or there would be quite a few people here that wouldn't let him leave this place without a few broken bones. Arthur swallowed the lump in his throat and walked up to the ring knowing that he was in way over his head. Mackenzie looked furious but there was nothing she could do except hold her tongue in this situation as they were pushed forward by the crowd. She felty guilty as Arthur was only here because of her, but said a silent prayer for him as the champion took the stage on the other side of the ring.
"Did you defeat one of the combat instructors in 30 seconds?" asked Crag as he made his way to the center of the ring. "I did" said Arthur wincing at the sight of his opponent. Arthur was tall, but this monster was at least 7ft and built even bigger than cadet Strong. He had a jaw that looked like it was chiseled out by a master sculptor, if they even had those in this world. With his towering frame, he wouldn't be surprised if this guy could fell trees with his bare hands.
"I'll make it quick" said Crag as he waited for the bell to ring.
[New Quest: Defeat your opponent]
[Quest Reward - Select one skill out of three options presented]
"Fuck" thought Arthur as he looked at the juicy quest reward. "I can't pass this up, I mean, I couldn't if I even wanted to, this guy would eat me for dinner if I didn't put up a fight"
The bell rang and both contestants stepped forward. Arthur in his Forward stance that he had been teaching and Crag standing there like he was ready to kill someone in a street fight.
Crag came forward and swung a wide left hook at Arthur, who easily deflected the blow and returned with a quick left kick of his own since his opponent was unbalanced. His shin met the side of Crag and did nothing. Crag didn't even look like he felt anything.
"This is going to be long fight" thought Arthur as he used his Break point skill to see his opponents weakness. Break point showed a bummed knee that Arthur now noticed with his regular sight as his opponent seamed to favor his right leg, keeping it slightly back and more protected than his left.
"With my 20% extra damage from my passive, I should be able to damage that knee if I can get to it" thought Arthur as he went on the defensive waiting for an opening.
Crag threw out nothing but powerful punches left and right that Arthur had to avoid or deflect. He had caught his opponent unbalanced a few times but with Crag's extended reach, he could not get to the right leg.
Arthur continued to dodge, being very careful not to take a direct hit as he felt even just one would put him out of commission. Crag got tired of this and quickly ran forward to lock up with Arthur trying to use his superior strength to grab him and throw him down so they could take the fight to the mat where Arthur would be helpless under the sheer force of his blows.
Crag managed to grab one of Arthurs arms twisting it and trying to throw Arthur down to the ground when Arthur threw out a quick strike with his free arm to Crags throat, causing him to back away and gasp for air.
The crowd cheered seeing that this fight wasn't as simple as it appeared. Crag was a brawler with no finesse, but Arthur had pinpoint accurate strikes to vital points. The difference in strength was laughable, but what Arthur couldn't make up for in strength, he made up with accuracy.
The fight continued for another 2 minutes with both opponents in a stalemate. Crag was getting worn down, not used to swinging full powered punched for minutes on end. Most of his opponents were knocked out within seconds due to the inexperience of the fighters here, but Arthur was not as simple as he seemed. "I should have known this wasn't going to be easy when the rumors of him taking out an instructor turned out to be true" thought Crag as he viciously lunged forward and tried to take Arthur out with a left uppercut that was barely redirected, hitting nothing but air.