V2Ch134 New Round

My opponent was staring me down as I gawked at the other ring. A tall and slender beast-woman was bouncing in place, ready to fight at a moment's notice. Her body made me think of a kangaroo. She had short slender arms and lower legs. Her thighs were thick and muscular. Her tail was long and round. Her body was covered in short light brown fur. Her clothing showed off a lot of her fur and allowed easy movement without revealing too much.

"You had better be ready. I won't give you a moment's rest."

She taunted.

An announcer, probably the same one that we had for the Obstacle Course chimed in.

"Welcome to the annual Fighting Rings competition!

For anyone that's familiar with the Fighting Rings, you must already know that the order of matches is changed every year. This is done by the judges on the day of the competition to help prevent fixed matches.

For those of you that are new… Now you know!

To start, we have the returning champion, Grampus! Vs. the hairy beast-man, known for strangling his opponents with his long hair, Bowtie!

Our second simultaneous match is, the voracious kicker, Holly the Hopper. Vs. a newcomer with no known background, Lake!

Let's hope the newcomer knows what he is in for!"

Referees were positioning themselves on either side of each ring. Once positioning was complete, they each raised a hand with two fingers pointing up.

"Ok. The first matches are ready. Contestants, get ready to fight at the sound of the bell!"

I took one final look at the other ring. Bowtie seemed to be unafraid of Grampus. Grampus himself looked very confidant.

I took a stance and acknowledged my opponent. She looked irritated at me.

The silence was almost maddening. I felt like I was in an old western, waiting for my opponent to draw a six-shooter.

*DING*

FAST!

She leaned back and pushed herself forward using her tail to get within striking range instantaneously.

Without thinking, I dodged low and retaliated with a right punch to her abdomen.

She flew back and hit the wall outside of the ring. The sound of her crashing into the wall was in stereo. I looked behind me to see rubble falling around Bowtie, who was embedded in the wall. He was fully unconscious.

I looked back to my opponent. I only hope she isn't dead. I may have used more power than I intended.

She was awake and rubbing her head. She stood and stared at the ground. She understood her defeat and refused to look at me.

Cheers roared out from the crowd.

"Uh… AMAZING! SIMULTANEOUS RING OUTS!"

The announcer only now found his words.

"Not an unexpected result from Grampus, but a nearly identical result from the newcomer! Grampus my finally have a worthy opponent this year."

I wouldn't say identical. Grampus charged at his opponent and knocked him out. I was lucky to respond fast enough to mine.

Grampus put a wide grin on as he looked at me. It wasn't anything menacing. I think he was truly happy to see what I could do.

"Come with me. I need to take you back to the A-group."

One of the referees called out to me. I followed without hesitation. I looked back once more to see Grampus following a different referee to his own side.

When I returned to the A-group, all eyes were on me. I let out a quiet sigh. I've already put a target on my back. I sat down on a bench that was further away from the other contestants.

"Contestant fifteen, because of the match order chosen this year and the lack of a contestant 31, you will automatically be advanced to the second match. Contestant two, please follow me."

The referee called out over the silence. A dark elf followed him out of the room.

I listened to the announcer's voice, recounting everything that was going on. It sounded like a fairly even matchup. Both of the fighters were expert martial artists. Blocking each other constantly and only finding a rare opening in their opponents defenses.

Unfortunately for the dark elf from the A-group, his opponent found a critical opening and took the win from him.

The referee returned and pulled away number three and fourteen. This continued over time until every contestant had been called.

After the last group returned, one of them being worse for the wear, it was once again my turn to return to the arena. I was the sole individual to be brought out from A-group in the first match of round two.

I emerged once again into the arena. Three contestants from B-group were already waiting. Two were in the ring on my left, while the ring on my right contained my opponent.

Grampus was not present.

My opponent was a slender individual. His race could not be deciphered from a simple visual. Most of his body was covered in clean bandage wraps. He also wore tight fitting black pants and a jacket over the bandages. His eyes seemed to glow red and had thin vertical irises.

The announcers words were lost on me. I was concentrating on trying to get some kind of read on him.

*DING*

The sound of the bell almost startled me. I braced for a quick movement like my first opponent. Instead, he slowly started walking toward me. He played with the wraps on his wrists as he came closer. I couldn't sense any kind of hostility or any kind of energy at all. It was like he was here for a chore and he decided to stop and smell the flowers.

I kept my stance. He stopped just outside of my stationary striking distance. All I have to do is take a step forward and I could send him flying. For some reason, I felt like that wouldn't be the smartest of choices.

He exposed half of a smile. The other half was covered by the bandages. He threw a right punch. It was slower than my previous opponent. I caught his fist in the palm of my left hand. The power behind it was impressive. I had to brace my legs and feet to keep from flying back.

"Oh?"

That single word escaped his lips. His voice was an awkward uneven tone. He pulled his fist back and threw his punch again with a bit more backbone.

Once again, I caught it and held my ground.

Something was different. I felt something swirl around my body. Shallow cuts suddenly riddled my body in a swirling motion. My clothes were slashed through in multiple areas.

A sound behind me caught my attention. A quick glance showed me shallow cuts in the ground outside of the ring in a similar swirling motion. The further away they got, the larger and deeper they dug into the ground.

He's dangerous. Is his power only effective at range?

What do I do?