29

Rubio was taller and theoretically stronger than Mouse, but his fight, which was the last of the first series, was very similar in approach to the boy's. The boy attacked and if he retreated, he could have entered like others in an exchange of blows, but he did not. Surely the boy had understood the importance of not receiving much damage during the first fights of the tournament.

But his rival was not as stupid as Gorila nor was he as slow, he did not continue to attack like crazy, at the end of the first round he began to be more cautious, he even managed to connect a couple of blows although none serious, the count is in favor of Rubio's hits, although this tactic of weak blows or those that did not seek to finish his rival was not to the public's liking as in Mouse's fight. However, an intelligent spectator would have seen that one out of every two blows thrown by Rubio had sought his enemy's right eye, not all of them had hit, but enough for that eye to begin to close.

His opponent began to protect himself more, and managed to land a few right-hand blows to avoid getting into the other boy's game, but Rubio's attacks accelerated, the combinations of blows increased, looking for that blind spot in his opponent's vision, to hit and surprise him without him being able to defend himself well. In the end his opponent changed his supporting foot, but not to advance but to be able to see better.

The first round was decided at the end by count, which ultimately went to Rubio as expected. The minute of rest recovered his rival's spirits, who returned to the ring with renewed energy and with some good advice from his sponsor.

But Rubio was not worried about this, instead of going in to hit and retreat, this time he did not look for an exit but practiced a takedown and his opponent, surprised by the change, fell on his back. Rubio managed to kick his opponent a couple of times before he got back on his feet.

The boy began to turn towards his opponent's right eye, launching quick attacks from there. They were blows that were slowly undermining his resistance, and also forcing his opponent to protect himself by disabling his right arm by hitting it against his body.

As Marcus had said, that boy was enjoying the fight, having things under control. If Mouse could find a fault with him, it was that he didn't kick. The little boy had seen several openings to do so, but he didn't take advantage of them.

He continued to punch with his fists. They weren't deep blows to the face, but the damage was accumulating in the opponent's eye and lip. The blows to the side, however, had hurt, making the other boy slower.

Fifteen seconds before the end of the second round, Rubio managed to get behind his opponent, but to everyone's surprise, he didn't hit him with his fists. He kicked one of his legs and used his arms to lever him down again.

But this time the boy on the ground didn't see the kick that hit his jaw coming, the following blows were hard and merciless while he was on top. That bloody ending was more to the liking of the public who applauded the outcome. The boy raised his fist in victory, winning the favor of the masses.

There were the kicks, which Mouse remembered from the boy's videos, blond had been clever, throughout the fight he fought with his fists, his rival was so focused on protecting himself from them that he didn't see the final knockdown coming.

The boy had been cunning, he had taken the fight exactly where he wanted it, and it had worked out well for him.

"Well, boy, nothing has gone completely off script and the predictions we had, the champion really has a good eye, we will have to make some adjustments but everything is going well for now..."

"Let's see who I have to fight tomorrow before we celebrate."

Of the sixty-four fighters, only thirty-two remained, the chances of having a matchup with any of the tough rivals were accentuated.

The draw came shortly after, Mouse had the good or bad luck of having to fight in second place, his rival was not any of the five that Marcus had pointed out, luck smiled on him but not entirely, it was a boy called Aguila because of his curved and pointed nose. He was big, strong and smart, although perhaps a little lacking in talent. However, his fight had not been without an exchange of fierce blows. Broken lip, blackened left eye, but none of these blows were as important as a nasty twist on his right ankle when trying to escape a takedown by his opponent, all of his weight had been on Aguila's foot. Despite everything, he managed to win his fight. It was a twist but it was an important detail.

In sixth place Dragon faced a nobody, a nobody among all possible rivals, a brute who won only because his enemy was worse than him, only for that reason he won and not without receiving a lot of damage.

Witch and Rubio had a little worse luck, they would face the other kids pointed out by Marcus but who were not "potential stars". But they had had tough fights, both Witch and Rubio were fresh and in almost perfect condition, that was an abysmal advantage.

Tizón and Oso had more luck with their previous rivals, this was a problem, surely neither of them would accumulate much damage, it was only a matter of one round before they won their fights.

Today had only been an appetizer, a test to overcome, but the second day he would have to fight not once but twice, the time he had left before going to sleep Mouse planned to dedicate to watching Aguila's movements. He was a tough and cumbersome fighter, it is true that he did not shine for great tactics, but for good blows and for not letting himself get carried away by a berzerker fury like many other idiots.

The right foot was not his support foot, that was a problem reaching him there would not be easy. It is not that Mouse could not beat Aguila in an equal fight, the problem was avoiding receiving damage.

That afternoon Mouse put on a loop the videos of his rival's fights the next day, it was not just a matter of seeing his movements but knowing that he had changed. The advantage of having altered his sleep patterns is that while the rest of his opponents would be tired and ready to sleep and rest he still had many hours ahead of him.

He didn't find exactly what he was looking for, but Mouse fell asleep satisfied with the idea he had in his head. He did sleep tonight. His fight had relaxed him. It's not that he had a plan, it's not that his strategy was good, he just knew it.

He knew he was superior to his rival and he used it to be able to put on his little show.

Blacker woke him up the next day with his bowl of yogurt with fruit and cereal. If there was one thing Mouse would miss from those months, it was that breakfast.

"Ready for your second day?"

"As long as I can be, Mr. Blacker, as long as I can be."