16

Despite having many potential sponsors, Mouse experienced the same thing as when many are given a skinny, old horse. Not only would they not buy it, but they would reject the gift. His small size was the key. Many had seen the boy's talent, but investing in talent was a risk compared to investing in physicality and violence. A stratagem in combat could work or not, but the blows hurt.

That skilled boy would be caught sooner or later with a blow and he would not have the luck like today to be able to react. However, Blacker was different. Precisely because he had not had the talent to have reached the top in the fights with Battle Suit, he valued more than anyone else that the boy had it, and he also let himself be guided by his intuition.

Because his sponsor had managed to fight in the three fights, Fang had already earned one hundred and twenty salaries, but he had earned much more from the bets. Now the boy would fly in another league, but children with possibilities always came out, he just had to keep having a good eye.

Marcus looked at the boy, he actually reminded him a bit of himself when he was his age, not because of his size, the former champion had actually belonged to the type of child most typical of bullies, big and strong in comparison, but because of his talent. It had been a while since he had had so much fun in a fight and it was not precisely because of Mouse's superiority, but rather the opposite, because of how he had fought against an unfavorable situation.

Blacker sat at the table while the boy stuck his paws in Rata's plate of stew.

"Well done boy, although you made us suffer until the end..."

"Wait, your face sounds familiar, and your name too... Blacker, Blacker, didn't I beat you up in the round of 16 of a Hurricane at Paxis Station? I think I beat you again in the intergalactic league but I'm not sure about that..."

"You have a good memory champion, although it wasn't in the round of 16 but in the quarterfinals, and it wasn't the Páxis Station but the Irquea, and it's true that in the league you beat me not once but twice more, after a few more fights I retired and became an engineer..."

"Normal, you did well, you were a real package, you would have ended up dead if you continued..."

If this insulted or bothered Balcker he didn't say anything, he was a simple chief engineer of a station lost in a corner of the universe, a class E but Marcus was not only the champion but he had surely reached a class C at least. Nimus Blacker knew his place and just smiled and praised the champion.

"So boy, what are you going to do? Do you accept my invitation to participate in the Hurricane and for me to train and sponsor you?"

"Of course Mr. Blacker, I will give my best"

But Marcus made a face, from what he remembered of Blacker he was a guy without talent, a big body, a certain taste for violence, but in combat he was dumber and more predictable than a charging mule.

"Are you going to train him?"

"I am not as good as you champion, but in the months that remain he will learn something..."

Marcus shook his head, that guy would not teach him anything good, he would insist on teaching him two or three blows or combinations, but not having talent he would force the boy to train like a donkey, the boy would gain weight, and muscle surely but he would become slow, and in three months the mouse could not be expected to grow so much to break his difference with his rivals. If the boy was trained like that he would have no chance.

"Blacker, you said you were an engineer, right?"

"Yes, I am the head of engineering of this station..."

"Would you be able to prepare a Battle Suit?"

"Sure, although here in Gretia there aren't many pieces or cutting-edge materials, but with the pieces and the money it wouldn't be impossible. What do you propose, champion?"

"I'll train the boy, just six hours a day, the rest I need to keep fighting and resting, the rest of the time you'll just have to make sure the boy follows the program I set, plus I'll give you the money to be able to assemble the Battle Suit, as long as it's a little better than those shitty things they use here that's fine with me, then I'll be able to get out of this pigsty and your boy will have some chance, at least he won't be eliminated in the first round."

Marcus was right, the boy would have a much better chance with a good guide, and it wasn't the first Battle Suit he had assembled. He was actually a much better engineer than a fighter, it wasn't a bad deal. And if Mouse went far in the Hurricane, his prestige at the station would increase, he could even get closer to his goal of being able to get out of there.

Mouse ate, the boy didn't understand why there would be so much difference if deep down he was going to dedicate himself to what the adults called training, he hadn't really noticed much of a difference in these weeks.

"It can be done, champ, but I have one condition, I have to officially be listed as the boy's trainer"

"Well, I don't care, the only thing I don't want is for you to put your clumsy hooves on the boy, consider it a done deal"

The two men shook hands to seal the deal. Mouse didn't know those two adults, he had just learned that that drunk guy was a champion, he had seen him fight but it was impossible that in three months he could teach him something that would make him fight that well.

Mouse didn't understand any of the things the adults were talking about, he only knew that his life was about to change completely. And the first change was when Blacker didn't put him in any bin to leave the premises, the man was a sponsor, an important guy, he had permission to take him even if he was a small pooper.

Mouse's eyes were wide open, the open gallery they came to, where more than twenty children could fit in the width, one next to the other, overwhelmed them a little, he was barely able to see the end of the street, the only thing he saw were the signs of the different businesses that were there.

Reparaciones Besugo, Comestibles Manolarga, Coñitos Frescos, the boy didn't really understand this last one, but there were endless businesses, even despite the hour there were people eating at some street food stalls that Mouse thought smelled divine.

Blacker put the boy in a vehicle with a driver and they left. It was the first time that Mouse sat in such a comfortable seat, unlike the trips curled up in the cube or the box, he could hardly notice any vibrations. Only on some curves and with certain accelerations could the child notice strange butterflies in his stomach.

Mr. Blacker did not speak during the whole trip, this was nothing new for him, he only left the ring of the underprivileged class to go deeper and deeper into the area of ​​the city destined for the upper classes.

The lights, the corridors with traffic and other vehicles and finally the small city with its large dome and its beautiful houses overwhelmed Mouse's heart. Accustomed to seeing a grey world of tunnels and shit, he even felt a little afraid of those large open spaces, of the groups of people in the street.

The vehicle arrived at a large house, a hangar opened giving access to the passengers, for Mouse that single room seemed like a paradise. But Blacker didn't let him into the house, even though he was his sponsor, Mouse was only a G-class pooper, he took him to a basement. This obvious disdain was not perceived by the child, he only saw a huge space.

"For the next three months you will live and train here, rest, tomorrow you will surely live a hell, you have to have energy, you can sleep there"

Blacker had pointed to a small cot, when he left Mouse was really impressed, with an enclosure of more than seven by five meters this room full of machines and gadgets seemed luxurious to him.

He had been sleeping on the hard and cold floor since he left the farm, he didn't even remember the feeling of sleeping in a bed, as soon as he lay down he fell deeply asleep, it had been a day of many emotions.