Chapter 22

"Come on, son, do your old man this one favor and drop out." My dad had come to beg me to drop out, but looking over at Amethyst, I felt confident facing her. Her level was now within a range I could handle. Although I could at best reach near level 15 if I used my most restrictive Oath, I still felt it would be enough if I used my axe.

"Don't worry, Dad. Don't you have any confidence in me?" I said, watching my dad sigh as he walked away and returned to commentating, finally giving up on convincing me to drop out.

"Hello, can we get your autograph?" Turning around, I was met by Ronaldo and his girlfriend, whose eyes seemed to shine as they looked at me—or more specifically, at my suit.

"Sure." I was honestly overjoyed, as this was the first time in my life anyone had ever asked for my autograph. I didn't disappoint and quickly wrote the name of my wrestler persona, which, although not in cursive, was extremely neat thanks to my level. I also took a second to add a small sketch of the symbol on my chest, which seemed to be appreciated as both Ronaldo and his girlfriend giggled with glee as they walked away happily.

'Wonder how he didn't recognize me?' Not thinking too hard on this, I quickly realized that the other matches had wrapped up and I was the first match of the next round. Wasting no time, I entered the ring to face my new opponent, who was dressed as some sort of knight. Luckily, Dad was on point with the introductions as usual.

"Returning after a nasty injury, Sir Cumference now stands before our newest challenger. Let's see—will this spirit of the afterlife win, or will the knight of old triumph?" I initially wanted to laugh when I heard his name, but seeing the man in question pull out two massive metal protractors, I got a bit serious as he seemed decently skilled.

'This should be fun.' My thoughts proved correct as the match began, and I found myself dodging and weaving through the man's attacks with an ease that seemed to disturb him. He sped up his attacks, but I used every method of defense—redirection, deflection, even straight-up catching his blades, as my gloves were made of metal.

SCREEEEECH

"Is this the best you've got?" I asked, looking the knight in the eyes through his helmet. I revealed a feral grin as I restrained both weapons, which screeched against the metal of my gloves. My provocation wasn't muffled, and the knight quickly pulled back his weapons, his attacks becoming much more erratic. Deciding to end it, I delivered a heavy kick to the poor man's chest, sending him flying out of the ring.

"There you have it, folks! Seems a blade can't beat the supernatural! For our next fight, we have the Bulldozer vs. Man Dog. Which mighty beast will stand tall at the end of this next match? Stay tuned, folks!" With those final words marking the end of my fight, my dad quickly approached, checking my hands, which had held the blades, along with my body for any cuts and bruises.

"Oh, thank God you're fine," he said before quickly returning to the commentator table as the bell for the next fight began. I was now left alone, but not for long, as I found myself swarmed by people wanting my autograph. I even noticed Lars and Sadie somewhere close to the back of the group, so I decided to work quickly through the group of fans to meet them. It took until the end of the current match and the start of the next one.

"Hello, sir, you were really amazing out there! How do you move like that?" Sadie was the first to speak, as nice as usual, as we shook hands.

"Thanks, I just do a lot of training. If I couldn't dodge that much, it would all go to waste," I said, turning my eyes to Lars, who seemed to be acting unimpressed with me. But I didn't care and turned back to Sadie, ignoring the young adult—a move that seemed to upset him as he spoke up a second later.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Turning back to him, I tried to correct his rude behavior.

"When two people are speaking, they look at each other. You didn't look at me, so we weren't speaking. Also, it's a bit rude to just stand there and not say hello at least." My words seemed to quiet Lars as Sadie laughed, comforting him. He only let out a low "sorry," something most wouldn't have caught, but I did and responded.

"No problem, you seem kinda cool." My words seemed to put the teen in a good mood, and I talked with him and Sadie until the final match, which found Ronaldo moving on to the second round as his opponent got a bad case of diarrhea and couldn't fight.

"Anyway, I gotta go." Saying goodbye to the two, I found myself back in the ring with some guy dressed like a disco dancer, calling himself Funky Foe.

Sadly, I had to thrash his groove as the bastard had called my suit ugly, and I couldn't stand for that. Judging by the cheer I heard coming from Jessica, I earned some favor for my actions, though I did hold back. But I did leave the man with a bruise I knew would hurt for the next couple of days.

The subsequent fights passed quickly, and I found myself standing in the arena once more. This time, though, due to the odd number of competitors left, it was decided to be a three-way match, something I was glad to accept. I quickly dealt with both Ronaldo and the other no-name wrestler.

"Thanks for being gentle," I heard from the two now-defeated wrestlers. I gave a thumbs up as I now stood leaning against the ropes, waiting for what came next.

"Wraith has defeated every opponent that came his way with efficiency, which stands in stark contrast to our champion ruthless playfulness, lets give it up for the Puuuurrrrpppppleeee PUMA!" Shouting the last part, I watched as Amethyst, in her towering wrestling form, approached the arena with arms raised as she was booed into the ring.

"Yo," I greeted her as she entered the ring. A grin etched itself across her face as we entered a stare-off that didn't last long. She soon spoke, seeming ready to begin the match.

"I like your style. Try not to get beat too fast." Confidence radiated from her in waves, but I kept my relaxed demeanor. I placed my hands behind my back, summoning my axe as I waited for the match to start.

DING

The bell had barely finished echoing when I found myself ducking under a tackle as Amethyst cleared the distance between us in a blur of speed.

BOOM

The turnbuckle I had been leaning against was now bent at a weird angle as Amethyst slammed into it, causing my brow to break out in a cold sweat. She quickly turned around and charged at me once again.

"Come here, little man!" Ducking under another one of her charges, I quickly stuck out my axe and hooked it around the fast-moving gem's leg, causing her to trip as she barreled headfirst into another turnbuckle.

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Choosing not to celebrate too early, I charged toward the downed gem, aiming to deliver a heavy kick to her back—something she didn't see coming due to her disorientation from hitting the turnbuckle.

"Oh, it seems our champion is having trouble, folks!" My dad's voice grew excited as I attempted to pin Amethyst down with my leg. Unfortunately for me, what she lacked in speed, she made up for in strength and durability. She quickly pushed herself up, throwing me off as I stumbled backward.

"You're good, but Momma's had enough!" Amethyst growled as she charged at me, her fist balled for a powerful jab aimed at my face. I narrowly weaved out of the way and used my axe like a bat to push her back. The blow didn't do much damage, but it did throw her off balance, giving me a small opening to press the advantage.

But it wasn't to last. Regaining her bearings, Amethyst performed several backflips and used the ropes to slingshot herself toward me at a speed I could barely react to, clotheslining me hard.

'That hurt like hell,' I cursed internally, but there was no time to recover. Amethyst grappled me, tossing me around like a ragdoll. It wasn't particularly damaging, but it was humiliating.

"Is this the best you've got?" Amethyst taunted, her celebration grating on my nerves. I swung my axe without hesitation, this time not bothering to avoid the axe head.

"WOW!" Amethyst quickly released her grip and retreated, giving me a moment to regain my footing. We faced off again, and I adjusted my grip on the axe as we began to circle each other. My focus never wavered as I charged forward, determined to find and exploit her weaknesses.

The first weak spot I noticed was her lower legs. A massive kick to that area destabilized her, and I followed up by using the axe as a club, striking her side and knocking the wind out of her.

"Come on, fight BACK!" I yelled, too exhausted to think of anything clever. I kept battering the now-defenseless Amethyst, slowly pushing her to the edge of the ring. With each hit, she struggled to defend herself, her unbalanced stats leaning heavily toward strength rather than speed. Her telegraphed attacks became easier to avoid and counter.

But victory wasn't destined to be mine.

[Purple Puma (Amethyst): Lv 21]

Her level increased by one, but I kept up the assault, my eyes widening as I saw her level continue to climb.

[Purple Puma (Amethyst): Lv 27]

By now, Amethyst wasn't budging. My attacks were becoming less effective, and desperation crept in as I noticed the anger growing on her face.

[Purple Puma (Amethyst): Lv 34]

I halted my assault as soon as her level passed thirty, quickly retreating and preparing to surrender. But it was too late. In the next instant, a massive purple hand filled my vision, and everything went dark. The last thing I saw was her level.

[Purple Puma (Amethyst): Lv 56]

'Shit.'

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That was fun will check to see what next couple episodes are up next and will perform a time skip if I can