Forty-Eight

Kon tightened the gauntlet on his hand as he tried to look through the crowd and at his opponent. The shifting masses kept him from seeing the massive, reptilian cultivator, but he'd seen the file that had been compiled by Turja's people. He was an independent cultivator who had paid for his passage here by doing odd jobs and selling his skills. He was a body cultivator who had recently arrived, nearing the peak of E-Grade. Turja's team hadn't been able to figure out exactly what it was that Murang, the reptilian, was trying to build toward.

"I'm betting something strong. Stone or metal like me. Power to crush." Murang was two meters of bunched up muscle and wouldn't be someone he would be easily able to overpower, he'd have to rely on the skills he'd been working on with Benny and Diur. He cracked his neck side to side and wished he had his mace, but he decided to work with the heavy gauntlets instead. A way to keep others from building up a fighting profile against him.

They were heavy, cruel, pieces of steel with thick ridges along the knuckles to cut flesh with every blow. The weight was negligible now that his strength had grown so much, but he doubted he'd have been able to even carry them before his growth. He shook his shoulders out as he waited.

Up in the stands, Diur and Benny waited on him in their going out disguises. He wished they were down here with him now as the anticipation grew and grew, weight settling on him as the seconds slowly ticked by. It was different than when he'd gone to fight in the quick grudge match, then there had been no waiting, simply the exertion of muscle and pain.

"Fighters ready?" the referee called. It was another Teno warrior dressed in modern armor who stood on a floating pedestal above the crowd. He motioned Kon forward and the crowd broke apart to let him enter the pit. The break in the crowd allowed him to see Murang for the first time and he swallowed hard at the giant figure that stood at the edge of the arena.

His estimate at two meters was off, the figure was even taller, he just hid it by being a bit hunched over. Muscles bulged so thickly that even the voluminous robes couldn't hide his physique. Murang smiled and revealed a line of jagged teeth before hissing, letting a long tubular tongue to snake out.

"Oh, he's really big." Kon clicked his tongue as he walked up to the pit and hopped into the pit to mirror Murang. The heavy warrior landed at the same time, a wave of sand, pebbles, and dust flying up to bounce off of Kon's shins.

"I shall crack your bones and eat the marrow," Murang hissed. Kon froze for a moment looking over at the big alien.

"Aren't you a vegetarian?" Kon asked. Murang's race was primarily herbivores from what little intelligence he'd been able to pour over. They weren't part of Benny's detailed analysis reports. Murang's long smile disappeared as well as his hissing tongue. He straightened and shoulders squared as a look of passivity came across his long features.

"I am. I was trying to engage in some light hearted banter. I seem to have missed my mark," Murang said, suddenly much more calmly.

"Oh, sorry about that. Do you want to try to keep it going or do you want to fight?" Kon asked. He rolled his shoulders and slowly lifted his fists up into a guard position. Murang let a single one of his lips quirk in the imitation of a smile.

"I'm fine with fighting," Murang said. From his robes a heavy ball fell to his knees attached to a chain. It swung back and forth in front of Murang, slow and hypnotic, swaying in metronome fashion.

"Come on then," Kon said, waving his hand toward Murang. The cultivator moved, the ball chain sailing toward Kon in a steel blur. Kon bent at the waist, letting it sail over him in a whistling hiss. He snapped upright, lunging across the distance in a heartbeat, fist closed as he threw a controlled haymaker at the taller alien's head.

Murang dodged, spinning on his heel and dragging the chain along his body, bringing the heavy ball flying toward Kon's back. He dropped low, letting the ball pass over his head again, and kicked Murang in the leg. The top of his foot connected with the alien's quadricep. It was like hitting solid wood. Pain flared through Kon's foot as he bit back a curse, but he kept his advance coming.

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Punches came in a flurry of blows, trying to pin the bigger alien down. Murang dodged and weaved, heavy gauntlets inches from finding flesh. Kon quickly started to think that maybe the alien wasn't cultivating a stone or metal build. Not with how fast and elusive he was.

Kon gritted his teeth and kept the pressure coming, the ball-chain weapon kept coming at surprising angles threatening to brain him or shatter bone if it ever landed. Each time the fist sized metal ball hit stone it left shattered craters behind it, spraying shrapnel all around that dug into his flesh. Small pinpoints of blood darkened his clothes as Kon slowly worked on pinning Murang into a corner.

The independent cultivator wasn't so willing to allow himself to be pinned into a single spot. He lashed out with clawed feet that had the potential to disembowel him if one of the long, sweeping kicks managed to land.

"Stand still for a moment," Kon growled as he threw himself to the side as the heavy ball flew by his head close enough to ruffle his hair. Murang spun, the chain winding around his arm before sliding back toward Kon. The momentum of the weapon was never ceasing, a ceaseless tide of blows that got closer and closer to hitting Kon.

"Fuck this." Kon sped up, using a tad bit of extra energy, and twisted his shoulders as the chain flew by. His armored hand reached out to catch the chain, metal on metal grating loudly as his fingers tightened around the weapon. Murang pulled, as if to yank Kon off his feet and toward him.

"Not happening," Kon snarled as his entire body pulsed with power, digging his feet deep into the dirt as he resisted the strong pull. Murang growled as he pulled harder, metal groaning as Kon held firm.

"My turn," Kon said, letting his own teeth show a bit in a feral smile. Murang's yellow eyes widened as Kon pulled the chain toward himself. The larger alien's feet left the dirty floor as he threw himself at Kon, using the momentum of Kon's pull to launch himself.

Kon kicked straight up, the timing perfect as his heel slammed into the cultivator's jaw. Teeth flew as Murang landed in a roll, his grip on the chain loosening as he hit the wall. Kon threw the chain and ball out of the fighting pit and watched as Murang got back to his feet, rubbing his jaw with one hand.

"That's not bad," Murang said as he got to his feet. Kon shrugged a shoulder and walked toward him. Without the wild angles of the ball-chain Kon quickly positioned Murang where he wanted him. Gauntleted fists hit the big alien's shoulders, bone cracking with each blow, but Murang didn't utter a single sound as he dropped low, slashing at Kon's stomach.

Cloth tore, skin pulled back, blood welled and fell down his pants, but Kon kept himself moving. He sent a combination of strikes into Murang's face, bone and teeth breaking in equal measure as the larger alien reeled back bouncing off of the wall of the pit before he lunged forward again, tanking the shots.

Murang's fist hit Kon's chest with the power of a falling star, bones cracked and he bit back a curse as he took a step back. Rage flowed up his chest as he tried to keep from pulling on the stored energy in his body. It was harder to handle than he had thought, his natural strength and speed enhanced beyond human limitations, but without the pool of energy in his body he couldn't overwhelm Murang.

"They exchanged a series of blows, blocks and strikes in a flurry that was more muscle memory than conscious thought. Kon got a grip on Murang's wrist, jerking him close and twisting, tossing Murang over his hip to slam into the ground. He kept his grip on Murang's wrist, twisting his arm and ramming his foot into the bigger alien's ribcage and twisting the arm to the breaking point.

"Yield?" Kon asked through a bloody mouth, a few teeth wobbling as he stared down at the big fellow.

"Yes. I am defeated," Murang hissed, his own voice whistling through his missing teeth.

"Victory to the human!" the referee said, pointing toward Kon. Now that the tunnel view of the fight had ended, Kon suddenly realized that the crowd had been on their feet, a roar of bloodlust and excitement washing over him as normally stately cultivators were screaming like drunken sports fans.

Kon went to the edge of the pit and leapt up, grabbing the edge and pulling himself free. Hands clapped his sides, shoulders, and head as screaming faces of cultivators got in front of him. He'd won them a large amount of money from what he had managed to piece through the garbled translations he heard. Murang had been a heavy favorite.

Kon spat, clearing his mouth filled with blood and a broken tooth to the ground as he staggered out of the crowd. Diur and Benny stood and clapped with the rest, with only a bit more modicum. Benny offered a thumb up while Diur gave a stately nod as he went past.

"I really don't like fighting with one hand behind my back. All of it for the sake of the con."

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