I was too nervous to properly hear or react to anything. The judge showed me to come near him with a wave of his hand. It was then that I managed to see my opponent.

While I was out of the cage, everything felt like a disordered mess. It looked like everything was out of focus, and he was the only thing that I could see properly.

He wore loose shorts while his gloves were bluish. It was a guy that had approximately the same height as me. Though his figure was less impressive than mine. His arms looked rather flimsy, and his abs weren't prominent, to put it lightly. But after training with a lot of different guys, I knew it wasn't a substantial measure. I should look into how he fights.

His blonde hair was so short you could barely notice that they were there. His expression, though not particularly grim, was collected. While I was assessing him, he did the same thing. As our eyes met, he nodded to me with his eyebrows furrowed. He even tried to smile at me, but his lips barely moved. I think he was as nervous as I.

Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name.

"Now listen to me." The judge took one of our gloves into his hands and waited for us to shift our attention to him. As he confirmed that both of us listened to him, he continued.

"I want both of you to fight clean. Throughout the whole fight, I want you to listen and obey my commands.

Always answer my calls. There will be no foul play from both of you." He looked at the eyes of my opponent and then at my own.

After I nodded, he continued.

"No eye-gouging, no crotch strikes, no bites, no strikes to the back of the head and neck. You should always defend consciously, or I will stop the fight."

I once again nodded. Doing so, I caught a glimpse of my opponent nodding with my side vision.

"Good. You may touch the gloves now."

Both of us looked at each other, and I decided to lightly hit my opponent's gloves from above. Instead of an answer, he once again tried to smile at me.

"Now, both of you go to your respective corners and wait for my command."

After I went back, I could see the guy grabbing the cage and stretching out slightly.

By contrast, I only checked my gear one last time before returning my gaze back to the guy.

"DING!" I heard the gong ringing. At the same time, "FIGHT!" a loud command of the judge and his hand swishing down.

My remaining sense of hearing was once again robbed of me. And my vision focused on the only person in front of me. He was walking to me in a straight line, all while holding an orthodox boxing stance.

Exhaling one last deep breath, I noticed that my fists were already on the level of my neck. My chin also moved closer to the neck. I felt my brain having a short-circuit when we got into a punching range.

It all ended as he launched a straight jab that I literally slapped away.

Clenching the mouthguard tighter, I got this feeling that everything fell into place.

My legs felt lighter, my body relaxed, and my vision cleared. While I felt like this, my opponent, in return, looked slow and sluggish. He stood there like a bag.

"Hu-hu." as I exhaled some air, I returned two punches of my own. After a light jab with my right arm came a straight with my left. Seeing him blocking everything, with his arms high, I knew what to do.

"Haagh." A sharp kick, after making a small arch connected with his stomach.

Feeling my pressure, he finally started moving, and so did I. While he moved to my side, he made an attempt at kicking my thigh, but I blocked it by raising my shin and turning it a little.

He lost his balance ever so slightly after this kick. It gave me an opening. Clenching my teeth even harder, I jolted forward while diving under his line of vision. He managed to see this at the last moment. Both of my wide swings that went after his head were blocked.

In return for my bold moves, I ate a kick with my stomach. It made me back away. I managed to tense my muscles before the connection, but I still felt the pain. It made my blood boil and flow faster.

After distancing himself, he once again made a low kick. Yet, this time I let him hit me. It was a feeling almost like my blood left the thigh, and it grew numb. I shook it slightly, and after seeing this, he took a more comfortable stance while continuing to walk sideways.

A few seconds later and another kick to my thigh. As I endured the pain and numbing sensation, I looked closely at what he was doing. As he made this kick, he took half a step back while his hands lifted up.

After shaking off the kick, I made sure to pressure him. Making wide steps towards him, I made a couple of wide swings, making him back down. I made him tilt both his body and his head backward.

Though, after stopping, his body leaned forward as if it was a pendulum, and he launched a jab and another one at me. I managed to block it with my arm, which I bent. But the next thing he did, I couldn't see because of this.

"SLAP!"

A loud collision sound. A numbing sensation in my leg and the pain from the kick.

As I couldn't move fast while feeling like this, the guy made sure to circle me around so that he won't get near the net.

Go ahead, make a few more kicks. A plan started forming in my head.

I once again tried to reach him with a jab which he obviously managed to block, and my next punch that went to the side was evaded. And it was a waiting game from here on.

As I made him gain some distance yet again, I was looking at his head, but my attention was concentrated on my side vision. I was waiting for his legs to move. But one last thing was probably needed.

I shook my leg ever so slightly. The same leg that he was kicking all this time. It made him go after it. Taking half a step backward, he once again wanted to drain my leg. But it was enough time for me.

Through the numbness and pain, I used the kicked leg as a foothold. Taking a full step forward, my healthy leg made a wide arch, and soon my foot connected with his stomach, but this time was different. The base of my fingers dug deep to someplace beneath his ribcage.

He was paralyzed from the kick, and this was everything that I needed. A moment. His lifted hands went down on their own while his face grimaced. Leaning forward, I went after his head, but he managed to lift his guard.

Punching him a few times in the block to distract him. I took enough time to make as strong of an uppercut as I managed to do. But instead of his head, it connected with the place that I kicked before.

As he froze in place for one more second, I grabbed his head into a clinch. My knee connected with the same place. Letting him go, after he tried to make an uppercut of his own, I had a resolve to follow him.

But taking a few steps was everything he could do.

"Argh!" crouching down from the pain, he groaned while I was stopped by the judge.

"The fight is over, the fight is over." As he made sure that I understood everything, he went towards my opponent, who was still crouching down. The other personnel started coming into the cage. Strangely, I could see everyone clearly. All the feelings came back to me, and I noticed the conversation between the two guys. They wore white shirts with red crosses on their shoulders and white leather gloves. I heard clamoring from the crowd that was sitting on the benches. I heard all the different noises that I was deprived of just a few seconds ago.

A few doctors checked if I could still continue. After making sure that I was alright, they let me go and rest. Taking the first few steps, I saw tight jeans, a baggy hoodie with the logo of "Brave and Bold", and most importantly, the cloudy, angry face of Jessie.

"What was that!?"

I felt confident after my first win, though I couldn't quite get what the hell happened. I started feeling elevated. But this all broke down seeing my coach.

"Didn't…didn't I win?" Why was she angry? I didn't know, but I do know that I should appease her.

"What was that!!! You just stood there eating his kicks as if it was your breakfast."

"Eh…" I didn't know how to answer. Glancing at her eyes for a second made my eyes wander to somewhere else. I couldn't meet her gaze straight.

"How could you fight so stupidly? Didn't we train your wrestling for so long? You even had exceptional results! Yet you wanted to trade blows!?" She said with her arms akimbo.

Hearing her so unnaturally angry, I couldn't help myself from looking down in shame. I don't even remember when was the last time that I got scolded by someone teacher-like. I always made the bare minimum in all tasks, jobs, and so on.

I was waiting for her judgment while occasionally making way for people who were going here and there.

"How did you even manage to think about such stupidity? Let him strike you the way he wanted, using your sore leg." She ruffled her hair. "Raagh!" She pointed to the side, a little bit away from the cages and benches. "Let these people pass and follow me." The tone she used didn't leave me with any other choice.

"Gosh, and what if he was a little bit better? Do you honestly think you could've used your leg? You will fall down and let him take the initiative. When you lunged forward, you left yourself completely open. You should be more calm and collected, restrain your aggression, and use your brain!"

She turned around abruptly, and I almost bumped into her.

"Your brain is the most important instrument!"

"SLAP!" she clasped my cheeks and looked into my eyes. "Now listen to me!" Her eyes were burning with fire I've never seen before. My Adam's apple moved as I gulped down.

"Your next opponent is already decided, so we don't have much time. I will remind you how you should handle the low kicks in most situations." she let go of my cheeks and took a stance. "Now, raise your hands."

I raised my hands.

"Now, if you see a kick coming after your thigh," she raised her leg and slowly put it on the side of my left thigh. "With your reaction, you would be able to grab it. We trained a lot, didn't we?"

"Uh-huh."

"What are you mumbling there? Grab it!"

"Do I really need to…"

"Grab it." her voice became several times colder.

Obeying her command, I took her calf in my hand. Despite the fact that she wore jeans, it felt squishy.

"Now, move closer."

"Ugh…You know, I remembered everything." initial shock was replaced by embarrassment.

"No bickering, do what I say."

Shuddering, I obeyed and came closer, almost hugging her, all while holding her calf.

"Good, from this position, you can…"

"Move my opponent to the ground... I know this. Jessie, I was simply nervous." I tried to release her, but this time she held me tight.

"I will see this with my own eyes in the next fight." she squinted her eyes that were covered with her ruffled hair. "If you forget the basics, I would step up the training." She finally let me go, and I hurriedly put everything in place.

"ERLIG GRIMES!"

"You heard it? We should go to your next fight."

As she walked next to me, a question popped up in my head. "Aren't coaches and trainers usually giving advice in fights?"

"This tournament forbids the help from coaches."

"Why?"

"We don't have any time to go into the rules." We made our way to the cage. The mouthguard that I held in my free hand was once again in my mouth.

"Let me look at you one last time." She gave me a look. "Soldier stance."

I winced from the understanding of what would come next. Still, I obeyed. I stood near the cage, with my hands slightly raised from the sides, my legs shoulder-width apart.

"SLAP!" she slapped the sides of my thighs. "SLAP!" Then came my shoulder. "SLAP!" and then my chest.

"GO!" as I turned around with my face beet red, I tried to evade the last slap, but she still managed to land a hit.

"SLAP!" my buttocks were slapped.

"And remember, if something goes wrong with your basics, training with Tanya would feel like a vacation."

Hearing this chilling warning, I stepped into the cage for my second fight.