Luke stepped out to thunderous applause and shouts from all of those watching. Being inside the arena was a completely different experience from seeing it from the outside. The echoes from the cheers bounced around in the sunken pit.
Luke managed to single out Jasper in the crowd and when they looked at each other Jasper just gave a casual wave.
The pressure from all the eyes watching him was enough to kick the butterflies in Luke's stomach into a frenzy. But Luke knew there was nothing wrong with nerves it was all about how he used that nervous energy that was now flowing through him.
At the same time that Luke walked out onto the sand, his opponent did the same. Up close Larry came across as far more formidable than he looked from afar, despite the weird mix of colours that he had going on. He was at least 6 foot 5 maybe taller. His face, however, didn't benefit from a closer angle. For some reason, the proportions of his features just weren't right. His nose was a little big, his ears a little small and his mouth too narrow, all combining to form a mismatched mess. Luke began to wonder if all the colour might be a way of distracting from it all.
The two met in the centre where a referee was standing. Larry's looks didn't get much better when he opened his mouth to speak to Luke as a number of his teeth were missing. "Who are you?"
"My name is Luke."
"Never heard of you."
"I am new here." This response drew a big grin, that showed Luke even more teeth were missing.
"Must be my lucky day they gave me a rookie for my 5th round. Once my ability improved the other day I just knew I would have this tournament in the bag. Be careful kid, I'm not going to kill you but you may get hurt here. You can always concede early." The guy was a few years older than him for sure, but not by enough to call him a kid.
"I wouldn't be so sure. I have done some improving myself lately and this is the perfect chance to test it out."
"Bold. But they are all bold at the beginning. Let's see if you can say the same after a couple punches, kid." The man flashed his fist and the metal knuckledusters that he had on them.
"Stop calling me kid I am 19," Luke said and it made him think about when he would be turning 20. He wasn't sure what month and day it currently was but his birthday couldn't be long now.
"Maybe, but you clearly got a lot of growing to do before you can beat me." Luke just turned around. He was done with the talk. Larry didn't wait around and headed back to his own marker as well.
The referee spoke up. "Remember no killing and if I say stop, you stop instantly. Apart from that, you are free to fight as you wish. Also, remember we are in the entertainment business so don't be afraid to put on a show."
It wasn't what Luke was expecting from the referee, but then again none of this was normal.
"When I call fight, you may start." Luke readied himself. He was glad to have the metal rod with him. Although he was far from an expert with it, it would at least mean that the reach of him and his opponent would be evened out. That said, Luke was hoping that he wouldn't need the reach if his plan came together.
"Ready..." The crowd settled down and an anticipatory hush spread through the crowd. Luke bent his legs to maximise his ability to spring off like a sprinter out of the blocks. He visualised the set of moves he wanted to pull off.
"Fight." Luke flew towards his opponent, who had not expected the frontal assault. He was slow to react, but there was a fair distance between the two fighters so he still had time to recover.
Luke kept coming in till he was just at the edge of Larry's long-armed reach. This caused Larry to throw out a pre-emptive punch with his right fist, just as Luke had hoped. Luke Stutter stepped and feinted that he was going to Larry's left, however, he instead went to the right.
In Larry's confidence, he had fallen for the feint. His arm had stretched out and curved to the left to pursue a dodging Luke, but it hit only air.
Luke was now on Larry's right side and thanks to his extended arm, Luke's opponent was horribly off balance. Pulling back his staff, he used technique number 2: "Sweep the leg." Larry came crashing down to the ground and a nasty sound echoed around of metal hitting his shin bone.
Larry tried to get up again but Luke just used technique number 1 "whack-a-rat. Delivering a blow to his back and forcing him back down.
Luke looked over at the referee who was unmoving and had a shocked expression on his face. Luke gestured with his palms up to ask if he should continue. Even with this wake-up call, it still took the referee a few moments to regain his composure, but eventually, he shouted "Stop! The fight is over Luke is the winner."
The crowd had barely had time to cheer since they had last quieted down but once again a silence fell over the crowd. Eventually, Luke heard a single person start to clap, finding the source it was Jasper, who had his massive grin on display.
The rest of the crowd, however, didn't join in the clapping. Luke had expected that almost everyone watching probably had bet against him. But he didn't mind it would mean that his odds would have been even better.
Luke had wanted to finish the match as fast as possible. If it dragged on the later waves were only going to get harder. But perhaps he had overdone it. He might have attracted too much attention just with that. If that was the case, the cat was out of the bag now, not much to be done. He was amazed at how much faster he was now, the move to avoid Larry's hit hadn't been difficult. However, it was certainly true that Luke's prior knowledge of what Larry could do had helped a great deal.
With the crowd still silent apart from Jasper, Luke wandered back to his restroom. He had received a notification when he won the fight and he wanted to check it out.
*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED*
[Gladiator] Hidden Bronze Achievement unlocked for Winning an arena fight (+3 to Attack)
[Gotta Go Fast] Hidden Bronze Achievement unlocked for Winning an arena fight in under 30 seconds (+3 to Attack)
[Manhunter] Hidden Bronze Achievement unlocked for Defeating a person (+1 to all stats)
Just that one small fight had earned him several achievements. Unfortunately, they were all bronze and didn't give huge rewards. Even so, it was an excellent start, Luke was certain if he made it further in the tournament he would definitely get some silver achievements.
The attendant came into the room to congratulate Luke on his win and give him a three minute warning before the start of the next fight. He also asked if Luke would like to repeat his bet using his winnings on the next round. Luke of course agreed, he wasn't planning on losing and he was hoping to make some decent profits from his new ability.
After he had a chance to get some water Luke was ready again. The last fight hadn't taken any real exertion, so after the small 3 minute break Luke already felt in top condition and ready to once again be called out into the arena.
As he walked out for the second time there was a very different atmosphere. His name must have been shared with the crowd as they were all chanting it loudly. It seemed that having lost their money they had decided to trust in him to win it back, which he had not expected. It was a shame it meant he wouldn't get as good returns this time but that was okay. It was just as fun to now have the crowd on his side.
The referee this time was not in the arena, which was understandable since Luke would be fighting creatures that wouldn't care if he was a referee and attack indiscriminately.
The creatures in question appeared one by one through the opposite gate.
Luke had been expecting something easy from the second round but looking at the creatures the fight was going to be tough.