GETTING SERIOUS

Orion was enjoying himself immensely. The young boy definitely had some fighting experience judging from how he had incapacitated Nuk. Everything was timed and perfect. The young slave hadn't rushed in like most amateurs did. He had waited, then used Nuk's own speed against him with just a single attack. Simple but brilliant.

'Now let's see how he deals with another fighter with a bit of experience.' Orion thought. If this boy was as good as he was hoping, then Orion had found a catch.

Thrall had been against the fight from the beginning. Not because he liked Joda. Quite the contrary. He hated that kid's gut and he didn't mind his son pummelling him from time to time. But not too much that it will cause the kid permanent damage. He had spent a lot on the boy and didn't want to lose him just yet. He had plans to sell him after beating the hell out of him for a year or two. But now, things may not go as planned.

The situation the young arrogant fool had placed himself in by pushing his son could complicate everything. Thrall knew his son. Rollo was hotheaded. He wouldn't hesitate to deal serious damage to the slave that could be fatal after the trial. Thrall would have liked to intervene before the trial had even been proposed, but between the guests and his own surprise, he had failed to stop things from escalating and had given his foolish son the chance to propose that trial.

Now things couldn't go worse. The boy was certainly going to get pummelled by the two men he was going to face. Or so Thrall had thought until he saw Joda drop another giant with just a single attack in the span of a few minutes. The look in the boy's eyes and the contempt in his voice that went against his poker face made Thrall shiver.

There was something about that boy. Even though he didn't look all that better from when he had first stepped foot into Thrall's house, now he spoke and moved with so much confidence and exuded so much power that it was hard not to notice. Thrall didn't know if he was being paranoid or reasonable but something about the slave made him worry for the safety of his foolish son. Something was telling him that, this time, Rollo had bitten off more than he could chew.

Rollo felt the same way. The way the slave was looking at him like a piece of steak didn't make him feel good. Not at all. Something was telling him to forfeit. Something was telling him to leave that boy alone, else he will be in so much pain. But Rollo wasn't Rollo for nothing. Even when his father's social and financial Status had almost been crippled due to Rollo incurring more debt in a day than his father made profit in a year, Rollo had never stopped being stubborn.

Whenever he wanted something, Rollo took it. Whether it was his or not, Rollo didn't give a damn. He will take it. The same was true for when he hunted. Be it alone or with a group, Rollo didn't mind putting himself or his colleagues' lives in danger to get the kill. To Rollo, victory was victory, no matter how you achieved it. This attitude would have been exemplary if it wasn't fueled by stupidity instead of bravery.

Rollo didn't know when to retreat. He didn't know when to make peace instead of forcing his way through everything with brute force. Another person would have retreated seeing how the much smaller boy had dropped two bigger men with no effort at all. But not Rollo.

He couldn't let a Stinky slave scare him. He was a soldier. He would soon go on his first raid for the kingdom. He had been training for months to be the best. If he couldn't take down a skinny slave, then how was he going to survive against seasoned warriors?, Retreat wasn't an option. He had too much to lose. He had to get into Orion's good books.

Fear and uncertainty turned to smoldering rage as Rollo saw the calm expression of the slave as he watched Rollo with a mocking gaze. Rollo dashed towards Joda with a yell full of anguish and drowned him in a flurry of punches. Rollo's hands flew fast and strong. With every hit, a sound like two wooden canes clashing would be heard by the guests.

Rollo wasn't a bad fighter. Far from it. With his experience as a hunter plus the training he had undergone for the upcoming raid, he was far from a noob and could wipe the floor with most of his friends. Alas, he wasn't fighting any of his friends.

The guest's watched with open mouths as they saw Rollo's fists throw punch after punch at the slave's face, his chest, belly, and even his sides with surgical precision. But that wasn't the source of their astonishment. The slave boy was showing a battle experience they had no understanding of.

The guests watched as the slave dodged each and every single hit aimed at his face by simply moving his head either to the sides, by ducking or simply leaning back without moving an inch from his original position. When Rollo started throwing body shots, the slave stopped dodging and started parrying the hits with just a single hand whiles the other was folded behind his back whiles still standing his ground. It didn't take any time at all for the guests to realize that Rollo was no match for the slave.

Even though Joda hadn't landed even a single hit from the start of the fight, he hadn't been hit either. The most embarrassing thing of all was that he was parrying and dodging Rollo's attacks with so little effort that the guests felt second-hand shame for Rollo. It was now apparent that the slave was only toying with Rollo and that the fight would be over the moment the slave decided to move from his position.

Orion was smiling widely as he watched what was going on. It was obvious who was going to emerge victorious from the trial. The skill gap between the two men was too wide to ignore. Whiles one was attacking with his whole being, the other seemed almost bored as he negated all the attacks.

The royal trainer didn't know how such a young person like that slave could have such combat prowess but he didn't care. He was enjoying himself too much to give a damn. Plus, he had found just the person to invest in for his entertainment and profit as well. 'tine to end this thing boy. End him so that I and you can talk'. The royal trainer thought.

As if answering the royal trainer's thoughts, Joda ducked under a wild but powerful right swing aimed at his face and propelled himself forward before driving his right shoulder into Rollo's midsection with such force that the much bigger man was pushed back a few feet away.

Rollo's knees buckled the moment there was space between him and Joda and he fell to his knee as he clutched his stomach. He could feel the bile rise in his throat as all the food he had eaten that day threatened to pour out but he forced it back again before getting back to his feet. Things weren't going the way he had anticipated at all. He didn't know how that filthy slave had gotten his strength and skill but he would be damned if he let that slave beat him.

"Enough is enough! You're dead, slave. I'm done going easy on you!" Rollo shouted as he changed his stance. Ready for round two.

"And I'm done playing with you too. Let's see how good I know the human body." Joda replied with a calm smile that made the hair on Thrall's neck stand up in fear and worry for his foolish son.