Chapter 18: Fight Night
The arrangements for the 'fight' that Sido had suggested were quickly sorted out. He was the best fighter in the Underground fight club and as such his opinions and needs were taken care of with the utmost priority.
Sido quickly sorted out the minor details with Geiko, who Arnik discovered was playing the role of acting manager, he was also the one Olea had contacted earlier on Sido's whereabouts.
Arnik was booked to fight one of the clubs promising young talents, a mage with the fire affinity called Rui.
Rui was young and looked only a few years older than Arnik, plus he could use magic which meant that his Magic circuit had already been awakened. He didn't look like someone who belonged to any prestigious family or that could afford the payment to use a Soulgate so Arnik wondered how he'd been able to jumpstart his circuit. He quickly voiced his astonishment to Olea who promptly answered him.
"The safest way to activate a Magic circuit is a Soulgate, but it isn't the only way. There are quite a lot of unorthodox ways to ways to do it but these methods are quite unsafe and even considered illegal in Lirdunia. Nevertheless more people in the lower class are obliged to use these methods even though they usually come with major drawbacks"
Arnik nodded, he was slowly beginning to understand, he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind though. He had to win to earn the favor of Sido. He had changed his attire in the locker room and now wore only a black trunk similar to what Sido had worn previously. Just as he was about to leave and head towards the small cages where his fight would hold, he felt Olea holding his shoulder, she whispered some words into his ears,
"I know you're more inclined to use your flames in this situation but we can't have that. Their unique color and power make them stand out too much and we don't want any unnecessary attention on you right now. That being said, you can only use your Lightning affinity okay?".
Arnik thought about what she said for a while before nodding his head in agreement. He was a bit skeptical though as he had never really used his lightning in a fight but he felt confident that he could adapt quickly.
He began walking towards one of the smaller cages situated at the far end of the room. Once her got there he found Sido waiting for him with a smile on his face.
"Show me what you got kid, " he said and Arnik simply nodded in agreement. He entered the ring and saw his opponent already waiting for him. Rui was a little shorter than him and quite slim, he had a small scar on his nose and his knuckles were quite bruised.
Arnik immediately concluded that he had been in many fights and was probably more experienced in the field, yet that didn't deter him. He had learned a lot in the academy and had gotten stronger since he enrolled, he felt confident that he could win this fight.
Both fighters took their stances on either side of the ring and fixed their attention on each other. The atmosphere suddenly became tense with the crowd becoming silent.
Arnik began using that period to gather mana and assess his opponent. He also tried to predict his opponent's moves once the fight began. Fire mages were usually quite explosive and could work with both long-range and short-range attacks. The same could be said about lightning mages with the main difference being that Lightning users held more penetrative force, the downside was that most times, lightning mages needed time to charge up their attacks.
The bell suddenly rang signaling the start of the fight and Rui immediately launched several fireballs in his opponent's direction.
Arnik had already anticipated this however, it was a simple tactic by his opponent to stop him from charging up his attacks as well as keeping him at a distance, this would be an advantageous position for Rui who could simply wear him out with his spells.
However, Arnik dodged the initial attack by sliding under the fireballs and running toward his opponent. More fireballs kept coming at him but Arnik kept dodging and avoiding all the while, closing the distance between both of them.
Rui noticed this and simply smiled while gathering mana in his legs,
"You want a fist fight, you'll get a fist fight " he shouted.
Suddenly an explosion propelled him at high speed towards Arnik, and he stretched his hand out as he prepared to hit him. Arnik had anticipated the clash too and prepared, sparks of lightning began coating his hand like a form of armor the same way flames had coated Rui's.
Their fists clashed and the explosion sent both of them some steps back.
" Just as I thought, his flames are weaker than mine. If I could use my flames, this fight would end quickly", Arnik thought to himself.
Rui didn't give him any time to relax though and began launching several fireballs at his opponents, Arnik dodged these attacks and quickly covered the distance between two of them. They began throwing blows and kicks at each other and just as Arnik had anticipated, Rui had the upper hand in the fight, still, everything was going according to plan.
Arnik deliberately kept dodging and defending during their exchange of blows, he also avoided using as much mana as possible. Rui, however, kept on attacking, the fact that he couldn't deal much damage to his opponent infuriated him and led to him throwing more reckless blows, eventually, he lost control, and a fireball he had launched at Arnik exploded before it could reach the target.
"Bingo, " Arnik thought to himself. This was one of the potential drawbacks that could affect people that activated their magic circuit using unconventional methods as Olea had told him previously.
It would be more difficult for them to maximize the potential of their elemental affinity and eventually lead to their inability to control it properly as they lost stamina, meaning that they weren't suited to long-term battles.
Arnik quickly took the opportunity, he began charging a ball of Lightning which he launched at Rui who stood panting some meters away. Rui however managed to erect a wall of flames which he used to parry the ball of lightning, however, he had completely put all his focus into his defending the attack in front of him and was completely unaware of the attack that was being prepared above him and by the time he noticed, it was too late.
A jolt of lightning descended on his defenseless figure which knocked him out cold. Arnik easily won the fight and the cheers around the ring intensified.
He came out of the ring and met Sido smiling.
"I didn't expect you to fight like that kid, I was sure you'd be some reckless hothead," he said still smiling.
Arnik however was still apprehensive, even though he had won the fight, he still wasn't sure if he had met Sido's requirements after all he had mostly dodged and only taken advantage of his opponents' weakness to win the fight, he hadn't even used any form of martial arts during the fight.
Sido noticed his behavior and gestured for him to follow him to where Olea was standing. She had watched the fight from a distance and didn't try to hide her approval of the fight's results.
All three made their way to the locker room which was still empty, but before they could speak, Geiko interrupted with a smile on his face.
"No one told me the kid had some tricks," he said still smiling. He faced Arnik and asked what his name was to which Arnik simply said Brid, the name he and Olea had decided on before.
"Well kid, here's your earnings from the fight, feel free to come back and fight anytime," he said as he handed Arnik some money and then left the room.
Arnik looked at the few notes in his hand before turning to face Sido, he was still anxious as to what his response would be.
Sido however let out a sigh,
"Relax kid, I can tell that you're not too happy about the fight since you didn't get to show your full abilities. It's not about fighting hard but fighting smart" he said as he tapped his index finger against his forehead.
"So…?" Arnik asked hesitantly, Sido let out another sigh,
"It's not like I can refuse anyway, she'd kill me," he said gesturing towards Olea.
" Looks like you've got yourself a new teacher kid, " he said smiling at Arnik with an outstretched arm.
Arnik opened his eyes in surprise and then smiled as he proceeded to shake the outstretched arm.
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