29: Entering the Underground Fighting Ring

Kei is in front of a building and he thinks "How should I enter it?" but he hears a ruckus at the back of the building so he rushes there.

"Do you not know WHO I AM?" a man in a red suit says this as he dodges a punch from a buff guy. "Do you know the consequences of the actions you are doing right now?" and the buff guy replies"I don't know who you are and I don't care about the consequences."

"You DON'T KNOW WHO I AM!! I AM GOLDSTRIDER. I AM 'THE' GOLDSTRIDER." The guy who was dodging the punches said.

Kei eyes instantly locked at the proclaimed GoldStrider. 'Even though it might not be the most optimal option, I will still do it because I have to get in as fast as possible and see this underground fighting ring and try to crumble it from the ground and while I am doing that I will also get revenge for Marshall.' and then he rushes in.

As soon GoldStrider dodged another punch, the buff guy was lying on the ground infront of him and GoldStrider became shocked because of it. Then he looks up from the buff guy to see a man with a black mask on and his white hair sticking out for standing there with a chop position and GoldStrider instantly realises that the man had knocked out the buff guy in a choo. Then he notices that the man and he calls "Wait a minute." but Kei starts to walk even faster. "Are you interested in earning a huge amount of money?" and Kei stops and GoldStrider thinks 'Gotcha you Sucker! Who doesn't love earning money huh! Everyone loves it!'

Kei thinks 'Gotcha!' and then he turns and he asks in a deep voice "How do I do that?" 'I learned a keen little trick in the previous week and that is to use Mana to vibrate my vocal cords to distort my voice.'

GoldStrider wraps his arm around Kei's shoulders and tells him "Let's go in and discuss there as we have a lot of nuisance present here." then they start to walk in the building.

They boarded the elevator to the basement and passed through the security. Security didn't check them as GoldStrider was a VIP.

The whole area was covered in black but all the lights were focused on the ring where two fighters and they were fighting without weapons, it was pure hand to hand combat. The whole crowd was cheering and screaming and they were looking towards the ring.

GoldStrider then introduces himself "I am Vincent Strider also known as GoldStrider and this is the Underground Fighting Ring!"

Then he walks through the crowd and towards a private meeting chamber and while going there he asks "What rank are you currently?" and Kei responds instantly "D-rank" and GoldStrider instantly becomes suspicious of two things 'If he really is an D-rank hunter then how did he manage to knock that guy in a single attack? Even if I believe he is a D-rank then he must have been earning good enough to support h-' but he shakes his head and thinks 'What am I doing? I shouldn't think like this. Even if he is here to cause trouble we can even handle an S-rank hunter so I shouldn't be worried.'

"Do you use a weapon?" and Kei agrees then Vincent asks another question"Are you proficient in hand to hand combat? " and Kei says "I am confident." "Good, because weapons aren't allowed here."

Then they enter the private room where multiple beautiful girls are sitting and Vincent goes and sits in between them and they start to get close to them while being them close to him and he says "Don't mind them. They won't say anything to anyone so don't worry and sit down." but Kei remains standing there and Vincent shrugs and continues "It's your choice. Anyways let's move on to the main thing. You have to fight in that ring tonight and many people will bet on you and if you win against your opponent then you will get some margin of the bet that has been placed."

Kei nods and he asks"Whom will I fight tonight?" and Vincent smiles and says "I can't disclose that. But I suggest that you be prepared because it might be hard for you. If you want to do some warmup then you can ask the security outside to fight you. You can also ask him to take you to the equipment room and get some pump." then he stands up and starts to leave the room but he suddenly turns and asks "What should we call you?" and Kei remains silent for a few moments but then he says "Zephyr." "Zephyr? A soft breeze? Oh whatever. Let's hope that you put up a good match." and then he leaves.

Kei turns and stares at the girls and says "Move out."the girls get scared and they quickly leave the room. Then Kei sits down and starts to think 'I wonder who will I be fighting and what his rank would be.'

Timeskip 3 hours

In the three hours Kei scoped out the whole underground fighting ring. The areas were divided into three parts. The first part had the fighting ring where all the fighting took place and the crowd would cheer for them. The second part consisted of private rooms where private meetings were being held and the third part had bet placing booth.

Then he registered himself in the competition. At first, Kei was nervous registering himself as his face, name and address would all be given as he has to give his hunter card to them but when the person at the counter saw Kei being nervous he shouted "You're not a celebrity right? Nobody will give a fuck about your identity! Now hurry up or leave! I already have a lot of things pending." and Kei just gives him dead stare. The person starts to sweat a little as Kei was radiating a little Mana off his body which gave off a beastly aura to everyone around and the person was going to speak but Kei handed his hunter id. 'I'll destroy my records later.'