Humanity's First Fight

It was at the exact promised time, that Kaden's phone began vibrating once again. He didn't even have to check to know what it was.

Was it already that late? He was in the boxing gym and had meant to go home before hand, but it seemed that he had lost track of time.

He shrugged and picked up the phone. He'd still be keeping his promise to Aria if he waited a bit before going home, it'd just be a little later than he intended. There was no way he could leave now and miss this.

"Greetings citizens of Earth. The allotted 24 hours have passed." A voice broadcasted over the phone's speakers, as the same alien creature appeared once more on the screen.

But at least this time Kaden retained control of his own device. He found that he could close the announcement if he wanted to, but there was no way anyone on Earth with half a braincell would want to do that. Everyone would be following this closely, especially him.

"We will now go to the arena, where the representative of your race, Edward Kang, is in place."

The view switched to a closed off gray room, clearly made of sturdy walls that could take a beating. On the screen, there was a HUD overlay displaying a digital clock that said one minute, the moment it had appeared it had already started ticking down.

The room itself was empty except for a miniscule human, and a bulky rhinoceros like monster that stood across from him. There was about ten meters of distance between the two beings.

Kaden recognized the human as Edward was a renowned dojo instructor. On the internet, many people had him in their personal top 3 of the strongest people on Earth. Some even put him in the top 2, though of course, in almost everyone's eyes, Li Jie was number one.

However despite his credentials, in this moment Edward didn't look like much. He was just a human of average height, maybe 180 cm or so.

This was nothing in comparison to the opponent across from him. The rhino monster was huge, being at least twice as tall as Edward. And the differences didn't end there, they had barely even begun. The monster was puffed up like a hulking rhinoceros on two legs, almost just as wide as Edward was tall, and looking ready to trample Edward into an unrecognizable pulp.

Some information about the fighters was overlaid on the screen as white text beneath the two of them. Underneath the monstrous thing it said Vachir of the Rhynehorn race. Kaden couldn't help but think that the name of that race was very accurate, considering Vachir's giant horn sprouting from his forehead and added at least 30 cm to his height.

Kaden couldn't help but gulf on behalf of Edward, right now he was very glad it wasn't him standing in front of that creature. This creature was no doubt built to battle dinosaurs, not humans. Faith wasn't enough to make him believe in humanity's chances, when all he had to go off of was the immense size difference..

The clock kept ticking down, second by second. There was already only five seconds left.

Kaden didn't know why, but he was starting to feel nervous even though he was just watching, and it wasn't him who was about to fight. Perhaps it was a sort of second hand nervousness on behalf of Edward.

Some thoughts struck him in that infinite moment before the start of the fight. What were the rules? How did it function? Nobody had told those in the audience anything about it, the alien had just quickly presented it, and then gone off to god knows where. He supposed only the fighters and the hosts of the tournament knew any of the details.

2…

Kaden found himself holding his breath, tensing up as he waited for the countdown.

1…

The digital clock reached 0, and just like a blur, the giant hulking Vachir moved at a speed that Kaden had thought was impossible for a creature of it's size.

In less than two seconds, it had already reached in front of Edward, who hadn't even moved forward himself, clearly also shocked by the creature's speed and direct attack.

Edward put up both of his hands to brace against the attack that he already knew was coming, even before Vachir had made any moves.

But it was useless, with just a single hand, Vachir struck out and punched right through Edward's guard, sending the tiny human flinging into a wall.

Edward slid down the wall, blood already dripping from the back of his head that had impacted against the wall. Behind him, the wall was also smeared with his red stains.

He stood up shakily and wobbled a bit, but managed to stay on his feet.

But he wasn't given have a moment's rest to recover, he was nowhere near prepared when Vachir's strike came again, once more sending him flying into the wall.

This time Vachir was still right in front of him, and he didn't hesitate to send a flurry of punches at Edward that shattered his bones left and right. The sound was just ghastly as the bones were crushed into pieces. The cracks were transmitted loud and clear through the phone speaker.

It wasn't long before Edward laid unmoving on the floor and Vachir was announced the winner. Vachir started beating his chest and roaring out some sort of deep and guttural war cry. And then without warning, it lifted it's giant hoof and slammed it down on top of Edward's head, crushing it and sending blood, bone, and guts flying everywhere.

Kaden just watched speechlessly, afraid to even make a sound. The fight… It… Hadn't the fight already been over?

New text appeared on the screen, announcing the current rankings of the two races that had just fought. The Rhynehorn's were in first place with 1 win and 0 losses, while the Earthlings were in last with 0 wins and 1 loss.

"The next fight will commence in 24 hours." The screen had switched back to the alien, who promptly announced this, and then the feed cut off again, leaving behind a black empty screen.

It was completely silent now.

Was that it? Just like that? Kaden didn't know what to say.

They had lost so fast, so brutally, and they ended it just like that? Humanity had lost one of their own, even though it wasn't necessary. Nobody had needed to die! The fight was already over for god sakes.

Would no punishment be given for that indiscriminate murder? That was what it was, pure cold blooded murder.

It was only now that Kaden realized the kind of situation they were in. These alien overlords, they had no regard for human life. And clearly, the Rhynehorn race did not care either. They were just like ants, annoying pests to be trampled underneath their feet.

It was hard to stomach and he was starting to feel kind of sick.

He'd never considered himself a soft person, but even he had trouble watching this senseless murder. Even he found it hard to watch someone die so brutally, being murdered in front of the entire human population watching, not to mention however many there were on the Rhynehorn planet.

They were probably rejoicing right now. Cheering over their win and senseless slaughter of the human race.

He clenched his fist and teeth, something about it just made him so furious. He felt an overwhelming urge to just punch something, to do whatever it took to get revenge for just how much that Rhynehorn looked down on them and treated their people like dirt.

Without even thinking about it, his fist flew out like it had done a thousand times before, and struck the punching bag.

Fist met bag, but something felt… Different.

And unlike the other times, the sound produced was a lot louder, there was a sort of fullness to it as it echoed in the gym, something it had never done before.

He stood in a sort of daze when the punching bag swung back and hit him hard, bringing him back to the present as he was sent sprawling onto the floor.

What had he just done? What had just happened?

He sat up and held up his own fist, looking at in wonder. He'd never hit anything that hard before, and the punching bag had for sure never come flying back at him.

He did everything to memorize that feeling he had felt as he punched and struck the punching bag. Aware of it now, he readied himself and hit the bag again.

But this time he was prepared for it and just like before, the sound was loud and full, echoing in the gym like it did last time. And when the punching bag came swinging back this time, he easily side stepped it.

This was incredible, a euphoric feeling washed over him as he considered the ramifications. He'd been stuck for so long, unable to channel his strength like he'd seen those martial artists do. But somehow his fit of anger had helped him cross that barrier and unlock his true potential.

He smiled and stepped up to the punching bag, striking it once more. It was almost like a boom as the sound reverberated, it was so loud compared to what he was used to.

Once more side stepping the bag, he punched it again which sent it flying in another direction.

He stayed like this for a long time, forgetting the time as he lost himself in exploring this new power. It was like there had been a seal on his Aether flow, and it was now unlocked, letting him make full use of it all.

Sweat was dripping and the ground was covered in a pool of it when he finally came back to himself.

Now he that he had exhausted himself completely, he was a bit more level headed. He realized that while this was definitely a big power increase for him, it was still nothing in the grand scheme of things. The martial artists he had seen could do a lot more.

In the grand scheme of things, he still wasn't all that strong. But he'd finally learned to use Aether, and that was a giant leap forward. And perhaps most importantly, he'd managed it on his own. A feat not many others had managed.

Now, he just needed the final piece of the puzzle. If he learned to meditate, he could take this power he now knew how to use, and cultivate it.

But he already knew that he was stuck here. The cultivation part wasn't that simple, and it was also something he had been wrestling with for a long time.

Most of the techniques were kept secret by the big dojos, and little information about it was made public. People didn't want to give away their secrets for free, which was why so many renowned martial artists had opened dojos and charged exorbitant prices.

Only the rich could really afford it, and many of them sent their children to dojo's to train.

He would have to do it on his own, no matter how impossible it seemed.

It would be easier if he had the patience, but he didn't, and that made it hard for him to sit still and meditate. A flurry of thoughts were always flying around inside his head, and pent up energy wrestled for control over his body, urging him to make use of it. He was just not the type to sit still for long periods, but if he wanted to get anywhere with this, he had to get past this obstacle.

He cleared his head and brought himself back to the present. That would all have to wait, right now… He checked the time, already knowing that it was very late. Yeah, he had a habit of not being on time for anything lately.

Aria would probably already be asleep, but it was Saturday tomorrow so he would be able to see her then. He would still be keeping his promise, at least kind of.

He locked the gym and began the long trek home in the pitch black winter night, still covered in his sweat from training.