Arthur was getting tired and he knew the fight needed to end quick if he wanted to win. Crag lunged forward to try and tie up with Arthur, only this time keeping his head down to avoid a throat strike. Arthur stepped into his lunge and quickly grabbed Crags head and pulled it down to meet his knee. The crunch of Crags nose breaking was hear by those nearest the ring and the crowd went crazy again.
Arthur stepped back and saw blood spew everywhere from Crags crooked nose and new that this would only send his opponent into a rage. He was proven correct when Crag touched his nose and noticed the fountain of blood. He cried out, and all pretense of a civil fight were gone replaced with red.
Crag ran forward, abandoning any sort of form or protection to his vitals or weak points. Arthur knew it was all or nothing, he had to execute the strike perfectly or he'd be leaving here in a stretcher or a body bag. As Crag closed in, Arthur spun and landed a back kick right on Crags right knee. The knee cap shattered and his leg hyper extended forward, bending at an angle it was never supposed to be in. Having no time to move, Crag crashed down on top of Arthur, his leg still bent at an unnatural angle.
Blood pouring down on top of Arthur, he didn't feel Crag move anymore. Unbeknownst to him, Crag had actually passed out from the shock of his lower extremity being broken and useless. Arthur slid out from under Crag and got one of the best system notifications in his life to date.
[Quest Complete - Defeat your opponent]
[250,000 EXP Awarded]
[Level Up]
[127,000/400,000]
[You've gained one free stat point]
[Three stat points available]
[Please choose your reward from the three options]
Arthur was elated but knew that now was not the time to choose options and the screen disappeared as Arthur was hoisted up by Strong while the crowd went crazy.
"I can't believe you won!" cried Mackenzie with tears in her eyes. "I am so sorry I got us into this mess, thank the Emperor you're still alive!"
"The reward was worth it, and now you owe me one!" yelled Arthur as he was still being hoisted up by Strong, put on display for everyone to see.
Once the crowd died down, the cadets exited the ring while Crag's group of buddies put him on a makeshift stretcher and took him back to the infirmary they assumed. With everything taken care of, the cadets exited the indoor training facility and walked back to their rooms.
"What were you guys thinking!" Yelled Mackenzie at Strong and Asura. "We thought you were together and enjoying each others company. We never thought you'd be doing something like this!"
"We were enjoying each others company, just not like you thought" laughed Asura. And besides, we are all ok, Arthur even managed to beat the reigning champion somehow."
"I would not risk my neck like that again if I had the choice" replied Arthur as he thought about the fight and how close he had become to being cripple. "But seriously, what were you guys thinking?"
"It was a quick way of gaining experience" said Strong, rubbing his neck in shame. "We all want to be mecha pilots, but this years class is three times as big as the last one which means that competition is going to be fierce. There are only a few slots available for incoming students, We want to be ready."
Asura found out about it and decided to come talk to me since I was stronger than most 3rd and 4th year cadets and thought that together we could win a few matches and get some good experience from it. We had no idea that you guys would follow us, I mean, who does that? If you thought we were together, why were you following us? You trying to enjoy a show?" Asked Strong.
"I saw some unusual bruising on Asura last night and thought something strange was going on. I asked Arthur to come with me so we could figure out what was going on. I had no idea we would be led to an underground fighting ring or that Arthur would have to fight a freak of nature when we got there. I was so worried that he'd get hurt and I would miss out on all that sweet bonus experience we got from being under his command" said Mackenzie as she glanced at Arthur and gave him a wink.
"Strong and Asura apologized, but suspiciously did not mention anything about it never happening again and the cadets went to their separate rooms to get ready for bed.
In the room, Arthur took another shower and laid down in bed to check out the skills he could choose from before going to sleep.
"I do like her you know?" Said Strong as he laid down on his bed. When she asked to hang out, I thought she felt the same, but instead she led me to the ring. I only did it because I wanted her to like me too.
"That's ridiculous" said Arthur as he looked at Strong. "I do understand though. I like Mackenzie as well, but you've got to put the mission first. You came here to be a pilot and you can't let anything get in the way of that. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you lose sight of it, you may not recover. If Asura makes it to the program, you guys will get to spend a lot of time together, but if she doesn't, there will be another one, I promise. There are billions of women in the empire waiting for someone like you to sweep them off your feet."
"Thanks Wright, it's good to have a reminder from time to time" said Strong as he turned away and went to sleep.
"Now, lets see what these skill options are" thought Arthur as he pulled up his interface.