Rise Of Tender Slap

'Wow. I use Floating Feather. The buoyancy is good!' 

All this time Noah was trying to mimic the feeling he felt as he fell from Twin hill. And now he managed to achieve a bit of that.

'Okay, I'm tired, let me finish this!' Noah thought and then the slapping sound became dull as he slammed with his heavy palm on Blow Horn's face, nose, chest and shoulder. In less than a minute, he was disoriented and couldn't fight straight due to dizziness.

"Winner, Tender Slap!"

"Blow Horn is still standing!" Someone shouted. But that was when he fell to his knees and he fell on his face.

There were no cheers, they just looked at him. Perhaps they were used to kids fighting and struggling as they coughed blood but Noah's fight was too precise for a normal kid.

This was taken into account that Noah was actually limiting himself. In fact, some kids can do better than he does, it's just that as a rookie he wasn't acting like one.

Noah went and sat. Elya stared at him with fear and admiration. "No wonder you are the former Rank 1!" 

Noah smiled and said, "Remember the feeling when we were falling as we thought of Feather?"

"Yes."

"Try to see if you can reflect that. In a fight!" 

"Nah. I'm not you. I barely win my last two fights without taking a blow. But I will try!"

The next fight was from Group C. They had a bunch of wounds and swollen faces. Their fight was long as they caused more injury to themselves but in the end, it was a tie. They all collapsed together.

The next 4 fights were good and Noah was amazed by one fighter, Mail Kick, that used his leg only and he has a single arm.

"Green Tiger!" 

Elya's heart skipped a beat. He knew the trial was over and now he had to fight for real against a strong opponent. These opponents want to reach 100 wins and be free, unlike the losers that weren't in that race as they were already servants and slaves.

"Stinking Balls!" 

Elya was already standing in the fighting pit when a tall boy came, he had a big nose and has short trousers were baggy. Elya looked down between his legs thinking did he have stinking balls or what.

Apparently, that made Stinking Ball angry and the moment he heard the word fight, he was upon Elya with a single step.

Wack!

The punch to the face was fast and Elya wasn't expecting it and that decided the winner because Elya became disoriented and the rain of blows further aggravated him.

"Winner is.. Stinking Balls!" 

The winner's face winced as if he was in pain but he forced a smile and walked away. Noah's observation told him that the boy must have them extra large and he doesn't like the name, perhaps it was given to him by his bullies.

"White Ball!"

"Flair Ball"

White Ball kid was an Albino while the Flair Ball had red spiky hair. Both of them seemed to be barely holding on as despair was written on their faces.

Checking more, Noah realized that they have 45 wins but 87 losses which mean they were close to being servants.

Meeting each other they fight as if their life depends on it. Flair Ball managed to win by a hair thread.

"Soon After"

"Soon Before"

Noah was surprised by the names; they seem well-organized in a way. And their fight was nothing special, it even involved biting but Soon After won.

More fights with similar names came and went which made Noah interested more because they were all decent but the 100-win requirement made them desperate and forced them to go beyond their normal technique.

Most of them were like rabid beasts desperate to feed and quench their hunger.

Gaggard came and asked, "Can you go for one more fight?" Noah nodded.

"Tender Slap VS….Roaring Beast!"

There was silence before a roar of cheers exploded from the audience. Even others far away came to see what was happening.

Noah didn't know when he smiled as his blood began pumping. He knew this might be interesting or else they would not be this happy. And the way Gaggard looked at him, he knew the guy too wanted to see what he could do.

"Roaring Beast has 96 Wins and 36 Losses."

"Tender Slap has 11 Wins and 0 Losses. It was an unfair fight to our estimation but Tender Slap's arrogant display of Slapping Technique needs to be crushed!"

The referee clapped to the audience and he then looked at the fighters with a smile. Finding Noah with a smile he was happy as he reckoned the fight would be good.

Roaring Beast was a black boy with lean muscles and green eyes. His face was plain and had no emotion but he stared at Seth up and down.

"Fight!" The referee said.

"I forfeit!" Roaring Beast's thundering voice said. 

"Fuck you. You are not allowed to forfeit."

"Yes. You must fight. Beat that Tender to submission"

"You fucker, I paid you to win. Give me back my money!"

The audience went crazy and Noah laughed before he nodded at the boy. 

Later that day, Elya asked, "Do you think you would have won!" 

"I will say this to you once. Don't ask me again. I will never lose!" Noah said with utmost certainty.

"Arrogance. I like that!" Gaggard said, "people hate me. And that implies they will do whatever they can to make sure you fail!"

Noah sighed but deep down he felt sorry for Elya, he will have a hard time here. While Noah felt his blood boiling with excitement.

In the next seven days.

"Winner is Tender Slap!"

"Winner is Green Tiger"

"Winner is Tender Slap"

"Winner is Tender Slap"

At the bare minimum, they fight 5 to 6 times a day. But It was a recurring situation that people have no way of countering as Noah never lost a fight but what he did was that he behaved as if he was going to fail then he won or managed to win. 

However, the experts can already see through that facade. As for Elya, he won some fights but he lost many more.