"Good afternoon, Shang. It's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and I'm better, thanks for asking." Kayden kept his tone respectful, he still didn't know the man very well.
"I just woke up now, you know, I worked all night." The blonde gave a shameless smile along with an excuse that neither of them spent a millisecond believing. "No further ado, let's go to the club." The man changed the subject.
The two walked for a few minutes until they entered an abandoned house near the school. Kayden had read the meeting points and was surprised by the number, there were hundreds and this was the closest to the school.
The door was hidden in the underground floor, they had to go down at least four flights of stairs to get there, there were often doors that needed to be opened with the amulet.
Similar to the other time, a cart came to pick them up in a hallway after the last door, it was the same model, if Kayden hadn't entered the house he would have said he was still at the hotel. Shang began to speak as they waited for the route to end.
"You won 3 silvers in that fight, but I'm going to give you a bonus of 30 silvers." The man once again smiled from ear to ear. "I only bet 5 bucks on you and won something close to 250 coins." He laughed contentedly.
Kayden wasn't surprised at how much the man won, probably just some crazy people bet on him, it must have been almost 99 to 1 against him. Shang took out a small bag similar to the one used in medieval times, but before he could hand it over, Kayden asked:
"Please send my money to this address." Kayden showed David's address, he had already organized everything with the scientist and Shang quickly accepted.
"Very well, now let's talk about other details, your category has fought every day paying 10 silver and on weekends we have life-or-death fights, how many times will you want to fight?"
Kayden reflected for a few seconds and replied:
"Just normal fights for now, I plan to fight once a day, maybe more depending on whether I was able to digest the combat experience." This would give the boy time to analyze what he did wrong in each fight and improve his technique. "What is the prize in the life and death struggle? It can't just be 5 bucks."
Kayden didn't plan on entering that category, he was afraid of not being able to submit the other person or even dying.
"All." Shang's eyes lit up. "You get 10 bucks and all the winner's possessions, from houses or anything they have, even if it's in someone else's name, the club will find a way."
Kayden was surprised and finally understood why this category had participants, whether or not you could become a millionaire with just one fight. It was a matter of luck.
"But before that, we need to resolve your hesitation. Don't worry, it's normal and I have training for that." Shang subtly reminded the boy of his little problem.
"What would this training be?" Kayden couldn't think of anything that would help him with this.
"I don't really know. In the building where we go, there is a black market headquarters. There is a group of assassins who specialize in introducing people to this... the real world." That was the best definition he could find.
"I have no idea what they do, but I've never seen any of my fighters complain about their methods." Kayden first thought they were just going to set him up to kill some people, but after that sentence, he had no idea what it could be.
"How much does it cost?" Kayden knew that nothing in this world came for free.
"10 gold coins." The amount caused Kayden's thoughts to freeze a little, this was a lot of money. Typically, a family had an income of 30 to 50 silver a month. "But don't worry about the price, this is something I pay out of my pocket for my fighters with potential."
'Out of his pocket... how rich is he?' This question arose for Kayden.
"I would like to participate in this, please, Shang." Kayden had no doubt that such training could not be found or purchased by normal people.
"Win 10 fights, Kayden, and then I'll order." With that, the conversation between the two ended with a thoughtful Kayden.
After a few more minutes, the carriage reached its final destination. This time, the two headed towards the administration. It was on one of the sides with more flying platforms, clearly a place for the club's elite.
The administration was a small two-story building with a radius of about 25 meters. Its appearance resembled that of a medieval guild, it was truly beautiful. When Kayden entered, he found several items being sold in displays and some attendants milling around people.
Before they could do anything, one of the attendants approached them. His attire was an ordinary butler's suit. There were no masks or any striking details.
"Can I help you?" The man seemed helpful with a smile.
"I want to register the boy." As soon as Shang said this, the two were led to a room on the second floor. The second floor was a cluster of office rooms.
Kayden sat in front of a computer and had to answer a questionnaire with several questions. From your date of birth to your favorite food, they were very specific things...
In the end, he received an amulet from the person who helped them. The way it worked was very simple, just inject your mana into it. The object only recognized the owner who put in mana first, so there weren't many security measures.
"Can I fight today, Shang?" As soon as they stepped outside the building, Kayden ordered, he didn't want to waste time.
"Of course, kid, time is money." Shang's eyes lit up.
...
A few weeks later...
Kayden took a while to reach 10 victories in his fights. After his name became known as the Reaper, his opponents did not treat him as lightly as the Muppet. In that time, he fought around 30 fights.
After a while, he realized the difference a nickname made in the stadium, it was a matter of respect. Some unnamed wrestlers were booed just for going on stage. Most of his victories were against these opponents.
During this time, his cultivation did not improve significantly, however, his fighting power grew significantly. The Kayden who fought against Muppet wouldn't be able to last 1 minute against his new version.
Why? It was very simple, all his fights were savage, and there was no protection or attacks that were not aimed at fatal points. Many times, Kayden has had limbs completely destroyed, incinerated, electrocuted, or bitten.
Everyone fought to win, even if it meant taking the opponent's life. Kayden slowly lost his fear of killing his opponent. Over time, he realized that healing mages were capable of healing practically anything.
There weren't many fights, but each one brought experiences he couldn't get elsewhere. Every fight had the intoxicating feeling of life and death. His battles were constant during this period.
Sometimes twice a day or more. From wizards to tamers, the boy faced a little bit of everything. For the first time, he had to battle different beasts simultaneously.
It goes without saying that he didn't win any of his fights against tamers, it was a fighting style he had never faced before. His calmest fights were against melee fighters, his heart gave him a natural advantage in this regard.
Since he was the same level or better than a swordsman in the same rank and could still use magic with the strength of a conventional mage.
It had been 3 days since Kayden had fought, he was just waiting for the training that Shang said he was going to buy. After spending time with the man, Kayden understood where his money came from.
AN: we reached 50 chapters, I didn't expect to write so much, I thought it would end up dropping in a few days, but I got attached to this activity. thx guys