The fight, although exciting, there were things I didn't understand during the fight, especially the spearman's technique. I wondered if it was some kind of movement technique or something similar.
Either way, I didn't expect to learn anything from that, not at the moment. Body practitioners couldn't do much more than rely on their bodies in a fight, and their battle techniques weren't usually as flashy as those of Spirit practitioners.
Things could be different in the future, but he still had a long way to go if he wanted to get there.
A man's thunderous voice interrupted my thoughts — White-knuckle contestant, you will enter the next round, you will be notified when to enter the fighting ring, so get ready —
There was no need to prepare, apart from the fee of 10 gold coins, I had nothing else with me, which was a shame, but I had to sell the three copper pills I still had left in order to participate in the circus.
The martial arts school provides you with all kinds of resources in exchange for working for them, but that also means you wouldn't receive any kind of payment; you'd have to manage on your own.
As for the pills, as long as no one has proof that I sold them, there shouldn't be any problems. I sold them at a very low price to various immortal arts colleagues, so they wouldn't be able to accuse him of selling the martial arts school's pills, or they would all get into trouble for trading with the martial arts school's resources.
After several minutes, the same voice shouted again.
—White Fist, step into the ring! —
At the man's shout requesting my presence, I got up from the floor, walking towards the fighting rings.
actually hoping it would take longer for him to call me back, as fights between practitioners didn't usually last too long.
Arriving at a circular stone platform that rose high with stone steps on either side.
I climbed the stairs until I reached the top, on the other side of the ring there was already someone waiting, a man with a sword at one side of his waist.
In our midst there was also a man standing, he was wearing armor made of some unknown material, from his aura I could tell he was much stronger than me, perhaps to avoid any setbacks during the fights they did this for the practitioners' benefit.
—Fighters, take your positions, you know the rules, murder is prohibited, anything else is fine —
Once we both nodded, the man who was the referee raised one of his hands up.
Looking at each other, we both listened attentively to the referee's shout.
— Fight! — The referee shouted once he lowered his hand.
The man with the sword didn't hesitate to rush towards me, slashing his sword forward at astonishing speed.
I was barely able to dodge it at the last moment and counterattack with a blow, the swordsman did not stay still and with the arm he still had free, he was able to block my attack.
However, the moment my fist touched his arm, a notch of pain could be seen on his face, taking advantage of the fact that we were at a distance where he could not use his sword freely, I continued delivering blows to important points that could destabilize his balance.
The swordsman, of course, would not be defeated so easily and with the hilt of his sword, he hit the side of my chest, a sharp pain invaded that part of my body, I tried to ignore it, but my arm became unable to move as I wanted.
I had no choice but to take a little distance, the swordsman did the same, it was not good for him not to be able to use his sword freely, because apparently unarmed combat was not his style.
. . . . .
From the stands, there were people commenting enthusiastically about the fight.
—Is that guy new? I haven't seen him participate in the circus—
—Yeah, I haven't heard of him either, so he must be, he seems good, he seems to be on equal terms against the flashing swordsman —
Some people were commenting on the flashing swordsman and his rival, and the discussions reached the point where they started making bets to see who would be the winner.
The flashing swordsman was a small-time star in the circus after all, finishing off his opponents with a single blow, so the fact that a new entrant was giving him a fight was something new to many of the fight fans.
. . . . .
Without giving me time to breathe, the swordsman launched himself at me again with impressive speed, barely giving me time to react. Moving to the side, I managed to avoid the slash of his sword, but in return I received a large cut on my face.
The blood pouring from my face made it difficult for me to see clearly, I could only rely on my right eye now.
Taking great strides to try to close the gap with the swordsman, I managed to land a few minor blows, they weren't enough, but at least I managed to gain the upper hand.
The swordsman was slightly distracted by the multiple blows and made a mistake by leaving an area of his chest uncovered.
Throwing a punch with all my strength, I thought victory was mine, however, a sharp pain ran through my head causing me to lose my sense of balance for a few seconds.
The swordsman, taking advantage of the fact that my guard was exposed, gave me a strong kick in the chest, sending me a few meters away from him.
I had barely recovered from the blow and the fall when the swordsman launched himself at me again, perhaps because this time he was sure that I would not be able to dodge the slash of his sword; his eyes looked confident.
As I waited in my position I could hear the shouts of the people, some mocking me and others encouraging me to keep fighting.
I ignored each of those screams and kept my gaze fixed on the leaf that was just a meter away from me.
I continued waiting a bit without moving from my position and just as the blade was in front of me, I lowered my whole body, with my arm semi-paralyzed, I struck with all my strength on the upper right side of the swordsman, sending him flying a few meters away.
The swordsman tried to recover from my blow, but a grimace of pain took over his body, he even spat out bile and blood before fainting on the ground.
The people in the stands started shouting my name once they saw that I managed to win against my opponent.
"White fist, we win!" the referee shouted, further increasing the excitement of the people in the stands.
Once the winner was announced, the referee said a few words to me before leaving the fight ring — Well done, you can collect your award at the ticket window —
As the referee instructed, I left the ring in tatters and headed towards the gate, the pain in various parts of my body making me grimace a few times, but that didn't stop me from continuing to walk.
Along the way, some of the fighters who were waiting to be called, raised their thumbs as soon as they saw me, congratulating me on my victory , there were some who sent me contemptuous glances and others indifferent looks.
. . . . .
—Congratulations kid, it's not very common for someone to win their first fight, here you go, some ointment for small wounds, ten gold coins and five extra for doing a great job, I hope to see you soon — once I received the award, the man behind the window continued doing his job without paying me any more attention.
I didn't know if it was professionalism or just that cold.
Now that I had 25 gold coins with me, I could buy a few beginner-grade alchemy pills and a weapon.
The pills could be purchased at the alchemy hall of the martial arts school since they were a bit cheaper for members of the martial arts school, so that could wait; the important thing was to buy a weapon or something that would protect him from certain attacks.
If he had had a weapon or at least something to cover his head or some other important point, he wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble in the fighting ring.
The fault was still his either way, having trusted me in the fight could have caused my defeat, even if this was only my first battle, I could only continue training to avoid this kind of events in the future.
More importantly, during the fight I thought I heard the sound of a small bell, similar to when I made progress in my immortal practices.
With a thought I invoked the transparent window.
Boxing Methods (Expert 4/40)
In fact, I managed to gain two experience points in boxing methods, and I managed to make more profit than expected on my first visit to the circus. If I continued like this, I could very well improve my boxing methods to the perfection stage without having to spend any skill points.
Now I had some ways to make money and become stronger in the process.
However, this might only be a short-term thing, he had to find different ways to earn money, he couldn't fight every day, although the body of an immortal practitioner was strong and recovered faster than that of ordinary people.
With my current injuries, it would take me at least three to four days to fully recover, I couldn't risk my body suffering any fractures that would leave me crippled indefinitely.
But it wasn't all bad, during my recovery time I could continue practicing my skills.
Cleaning my wounds a little, which had already acquired a bit of a scab, I applied the ointment that the man at the window gave me. Now that my affairs are settled, I should go to a blacksmith's shop and take a look to see what I can buy.