31

While Mouse ate that thing called steak that was giving him the highest doses of pleasure the boy could have ever wanted, the fights continued. Just as Marcus had predicted, the normal fighters were accumulating considerable damage; in the second fight, luck played an important role, but above all, the damage they had already received.

A stronger opponent could just as easily lose because he couldn't open an eye yet, or because the bones in his hand were broken. By the time Dragon's fight came, there was nothing left of the steak, so Mouse could see it completely and not miss a single detail.

The red-haired dragon seemed like he was going to use the same strategy, hard counterattacks, taking advantage of his moment and demolishing his rival step by step. Four hits after the start, most of his rival's wounds that were poorly closed reopened. The boy's skill and strength were doing the job so well that the other boy soon stopped attacking to try to defend himself.

A kick to the stomach, an elbow to the face, another knee, and a left punch, the crowd was excited, it was clear who was the dominant one in this fight.

However, Mouse was aware of the sequence, knee, elbow, leg, left punch, left punch, headbutt, kick, left punch, knee.

Everyone saw Dragón's rival tremble in the ring, this had the crowd on their feet wanting to see this demolition of a young man blow by blow.

"Dragon has a problem with his right hand, he must have damaged it at the end of the other fight, he's saving it, maybe a broken bone..."

"I think the same kid, despite being dominating anyone with eyes it would be clear to him that he would have finished off his rival much sooner with the opportunities he's wasted to land a good right punch, even so he's dangerous, but if he's paired up with a tough opponent he's going to have a bad time..."

The fight ended, Dragon's victory was declared, it was expected, but even despite the tactics to preserve himself this kid had suffered damage in the previous fight, damage that wouldn't heal before the end of the tournament. The same could happen to Mouse if he wasn't careful, actually to anyone.

Witch's rival was a boy called Whip, he was tall, one of the tallest among the sixty-four original fighters, but this was not his most characteristic feature, he had abnormally long arms and legs, which he used for a very different fighting style that lived up to his name.

But Witch didn't seem worried, she was just as tall and surely stronger than him.

The girl didn't think twice about launching an attack as soon as the fight started, her kick was a bit short, or rather her rival had moved strangely, it was an almost lateral guard but the open legs and the way he shifted his weight from one leg to the other made it difficult to determine the correct distance.

Just after the witch's leg retreated, and at the moment before she chained another terrible blow, a whiplash in the form of a slap hit her in the face. It was not something serious but it surprised her enough not to react to the next two whiplashes that those arms and hands launched mercilessly.

Whip had shown some of these blows in his previous fight, but now it seemed that he had left all guile to show himself as he was, just as the videos of the qualifying fights indicated.

A nice kick back finally forced the witch's rival to retreat two steps, she did not waste the opportunity to hit the other boy with the sole of her foot and push him with all her strength. It seemed that Whip would fall on his back but somehow despite receiving the impact he grabbed the girl's foot as best he could, an elbow stuck in the girl's thigh while a kick hit her supporting foot.

To everyone's astonishment, it was Witch who was on the ground and the rain of lashes from above began, one slap, two, five. The girl tried to get away, but she was in a very disadvantageous position, the blows continued, Witch protected herself with one arm, but the other was almost immobilized under Whip's body.

However, the boy's face suddenly turned pale, that hand that was supposedly immobilized twisted the balls of the boy who tried to get away while screaming. Bruised but with the situation under control, Witch managed to stand up. She had to release her grip to get away.

"Whore! Pig!"

Whip threw a violent backhand, but the girl had already bent down kicking her rival's leg, the boy lost his balance and this time he couldn't catch the other kick that hit him in the temple with a heel. The angle of the kick had been strange and extreme but it hit clearly.

The next blow was intended to be another direct blow to his opponent's battered balls, but Witch's supporting leg slipped, or he didn't hold it due to his low stance, and the boy was able to stumble away from danger despite the dizziness caused by the blow to the head.

Witch and Whip looked at each other with hostility, from a distance, thinking about how to restart the fight. At that moment the referee ended the round.

The beating that Witch had received tilted the judges' count, despite the fact that he had almost knocked out his rival at the last moment.

"He was close, that boy is going to have a sore balls for a long time..."

"It wasn't a bad start, although I don't think those slaps are going to knock Witch down, she must not be fresh..."

When the referee resumed the fight, the tense situation and study of the situation increased. They looked at each other without wanting to take risks. Whip had shown to have good reflexes, catching that kick to the chest was not an easy thing.

Witch finally advanced, her kick missed just barely again, but Whip didn't hit either with his two blows. Witch took advantage to attack but her blow wasn't forceful, it hit the boy's body as he retreated. But the girl didn't follow him, she stayed waiting.

For some reason, Mouse thought of one of the many conversations he had had with Marcus.

"Listen to me Mouse, in a fight there are many times when a wound is not seen or is not reflected in an apparent external sign. But if an enemy abruptly changes his routine or attitude, it will always be due to one of these reasons, either he is afraid, or the count is in his favor, or he is protecting himself from an injury"

It was clear that despite the damage, Whip could continue, in his case the count of the previous Round was in his favor, if he managed to land two hits he would equal Witch in this Round. The question was why Witch did not attack without stopping as was his custom, even after coming out of the crisis during the first Round his attack had not stopped.

The public was getting impatient, the fight was becoming tedious, half of the first round flew by with Witch on the defensive trying to reach Whip with a blow before retreating, however the count of this Round was in his favor.

Whip began to get impatient, he was not managing to connect any of his quick punches, if he risked it he would be kicked again. It's true that the blows weren't as hard as they had been at the beginning of the first round, but if she continued like this, she would lose her chance to easily win the fight.

Whip's stance changed, her guard became more conventional, she closed her fists, and launched into the attack. However, Witch smiled at this. The first combination of blows was launched by Whip, it didn't hit, but she was getting into the distance with each movement. Witch slowly retreated, the cage wall was close, and this was turning Whip on, who launched himself forward, he managed to dodge the girl's obvious front kick, however when she used that momentum to launch a powerful roundhouse kick, the boy simply couldn't dodge it and the impact on his shoulder made him lose his balance.

But this time the girl didn't stop there, the next thing was a kick to the head that turned Whip's neck at a strange angle. By the time the referee arrived, the boy was unconscious, surely he had some serious cervical injury.

In the VIP room Blacker had seen how the end of the second round had been rushed.

"That girl looked like she was saving it for the end"

"I don't think that's it Mr. Blacker, I think that the elbow at the beginning in her thigh left her leg numb or sore, she didn't trust herself to lose her balance, because she was on the defensive until her legs responded again"

"Do you think it will be a serious injury?"

"I'm afraid not, although we should take note of it"

Shortly after, Rubio's fight was announced.