The smaller boy came out to apply his strategy from the beginning, approach, strike quickly and retreat, he didn't dare to stay within range of Bear. Bear seemed impassive, he barely moved, Viper was already out of range before he had time to throw a blow.
After a minute of these fleeting attacks that didn't make a dent in Bear, and with Bear having barely thrown two blows, the audience began to boo. Given the way Mouse moved, Viper doubted that Viper couldn't do longer combinations, it was simply that the boy didn't trust himself. He should have seen Bear's previous fights just as Mouse had done.
He wondered how many blows he would be able to land before having to retreat. Viper barely had to dodge at that distance, his guard was deficient, if Bear hit him even once, it would really hurt the boy.
To say that Viper's punches were fast but weak would be an easy description, as would saying that Bear's were hard but slow. It was an absurd fight, but if Viper managed to avoid being caught he would win the fight on points.
However, Mouse's eyes widened. Blacker looked at him in surprise.
"What's wrong Mouse, what did you see?"
"Bear changed his support foot..."
"And what does that matter right now?"
At that moment the boy was remembering one of the days of practice with Marcus, they were practicing the subject of distance. The boy had learned to stay just outside the distance of the champion's gloved sticks.
However, at one point the champion changed his foot and therefore his guard, Mouse did not give it importance, but just before he realized it with a simple and fast step of his back foot the champion reached him.
"When you play at staying out of range you have to be careful not to always stay at the same distance, if you stay right on the edge, your opponent can notice, being children who barely know how to hit, move away if you see that your opponent changes his forward foot, you don't have the knowledge to do a change of guard so that can only mean that your rival is going to take a step to get closer before throwing the blow..."
Mouse looked at Bear's face, it seemed that inside that giant body insensitive to pain there was also a mind thinking.
Viper moved his arms, but not his legs, however Bear was not looking at the boy's eyes, his gaze from above was really focused on his legs. When Viper's thigh contracted announcing his rapid advance, but Bear showing a certain rehearsed speed moved at the same time.
Due to a question of range his blow arrived before Viper could retreat or move away, more than a punch it seemed that the boy had thrown a blow. The impact hit the smaller boy in the arm, but it was strong enough to send him bouncing across the floor.
He tried to get up but this time the left hook hit the boy on the temple, the boy's eyes glazed over as he fell like a broken doll to the floor. Oso went to finish him off but the referee stopped him, the boy had clearly been knocked unconscious.
The audience that had been booing applauded this final explosion of violence, in many of the reserved areas the various participants who were watching the fight in different places in the venue gulped.
"Wow, that was tough... you have to be careful if you face him..."
"rest assured that if I hadn't practiced with the champion I would surely end up like viper... at least he didn't kill him..."
They had plenty of time left for the next witch fight so they kept one eye on the videos of their rival and another on the fights in case there was any interesting one. Of the rivals pointed out by the champion as interesting types but not particularly notable, most of them won their fights. Some were a matter of special physique, others were even more extreme violence, but they were not pretty fights to watch.
The rain of incessant blows was the usual tone, Mouse could assure that among the winners there was more than one broken nose or hand. But in the end the Witch's fight came. Nature makes girls grow faster than boys, so the difference in size had even increased a little with that girl. Even though her rival was a big guy, the girl didn't seem small or weak next to him.
The Witch's rival was a brute called Melon, perhaps because of the disproportionate size of his head, he reminded Mouse a little of Balloon Head, his friend who had died some time ago in the sewers. He couldn't help but feel a certain reflex sympathy for the boy, they were children, and with Balloon Head, Mouse had felt that feeling of having a family.
But Melon wasn't his friend, he was a brute who launched himself headlong into the fight to receive a first kick in the belly from the girl, even so the boy managed to retreat and throw two or three crazy punches in his retreat.
Witch jumped on his heels, with a very lateral guard, but stayed in his position, with a gesture inviting the other boy to try again. Melon charged brutally, his sponsor could be heard insulting him for it from the corner.
The first blow was a kick to his supporting leg that with the momentum the boy had sent him stumbling forward. However, the next kick was much more vicious and went for Melon's head but missed by a hair and hit his arm, twisting him by force.
The next knee to the face was brutal, the bones in the nose were heard breaking and blood splashed on the witch, but she was not satisfied with that, another kick to the jaw knocked out Melon, who even received another three quick kicks before the referee dragged the girl away.
It was the expected result, but she really was a tough and brutal opponent, those legs could make a difference in a fight at this age.
"Haha, a girl with character, reminds me of my wife..."
"You are married, Mr. Blacker."
"Of course, boy, life would be very sad living alone in this mining station lost in space..."
"Where is your wife? I haven't heard or seen her in all this time?"
"You ask your adults too many questions, Mouse, but I will tell you, she is receiving treatment in an inland city. We want to reverse the sterilization process, but here in Gretia it is impossible."
Dragon's fight was surprisingly fast and technical, although Mouse appreciated the boy's tactics. Instead of attacking violently at first, he let his rival take the initiative during the first half of the first round. His hard and violent counterattacks took their toll on his opponent. When he hesitated a little, Dragon devastated him with hard and accurate blows, until before the round ended, his opponent was on the canvas, unable to move. Three more blows to the head landed before the referee separated Dragon.
The fights continued and the time came for Mouse to start preparing for his battle.