CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Man VS Men

A huge circular podium in the middle of the hall was emptied as the people gave shouts expectant of the ones to climb into the podium to fight first. They did not have to wait for long however as two men made their way to the podium. One was a man that was almost seven feet tall with a huge body that had so much muscles, one would think they were about to burst while the other was a man six feet tall with a little fine lean but which body was beautifully built and which carried a calm but terrifying aura. He had a hood on that hid his face from the crowd only showing his nose and mouth. This man was Young and the one he was about to fight was the captain Rune who he had gotten on a little shuffle with the day before.

Young who never liked to be in situations like this had no idea why he had accepted the challenge of this man. Whether it was because he had not fought in a long time or because of what the man had said earlier, he did not know. Yet all he just wanted to do was teach the man a good lesson and though he had been taught to never underestimate an opponent, Young was pretty sure he could take the man down with no stress.

"We all know the rules." The man from earlier announced. "As soon as one is knocked out of the podium, he has eventually lost the match giving the others a chance to fight who had fought before."

"Let the fight begin!!!!!"

The moment those words left the man's lips, the crowd made known their excitement as their voices increased.

"Come on I will give you the chance to try touching me." Rune hand went over to his mouth as he faked a yawn which caused the crowd to go wild at his action.

Young simply looked at him the usual way he moved forward. In a blink, he was already in front of Rune not giving him a chance to react as his right leg was raised sending a jaw breaking kick at his face which made Rune wave a little as his right knee slumped to the ground as he tried to balance himself.

Shaking his head at the power the kick carried, Rune stood facing Young who simply stood waiting for his move as he decided to get serious. Moving towards Young, for his size he was fast and gotten to Young in a few seconds as he threw out a punch which Young dodged effortlessly by tilting his head and moving away. Rune however threw a fast kick just as Young had moved and it seemed it will connect only for Young to move backwards quickly evading the kick. The next moments were filled with Rune sending out punches and kicks all of which Young dodged.

However he could notice that Rune was getting faster with each strike which showed he hadn't used everything he got. Young however did not wait to see his all as he finally moved to attack. Rune had thrown a punch at him with his face showing extreme anger at the fact of not touching Young even once in the fight but instead of Young to simply dodge like before, he countered the punch by dodging while at the same time sending out a punch of his own which landed and crushed into Rune's face breaking his nose and making some teeth's fly out.

Rune had not even recovered when Young's fist connected to his jaw in an uppercut lifting him from the ground. Young threw out a kick once more as it landed on the left side of Rune's face, the force so powerful it sent him flying out of the podium as his body slumped on the floor with him showing no sign of getting up.

The crowds chatters increased as the first man had been knocked out within a few moments of entering the podium. They were all fired up for the next fighter to enter. Young seeing that he was already involved decided to continue and see if anyone was a worthy opponent. The next man walked with confidence to the podium, his blond long hair flowing upward. He was just as built as Young and had his black coat loosened.

Young only glanced at him once before the signal of the fight starting was given and the man had dashed towards him. Young this time had no intention of delaying match as he stepped sideways dodging the man's fist then sending out a streak of fast punches at his vital points before kicking him out of the stage. The crowd went quiet for a while surprised at how fast the match ended before it went on a roar once more. Another person entered into the podium and though he had faired a little better than the last, he still got kicked out of the stage quickly.

No one went up for a while as they tried to gather their wits. The man had taken three people out and had not even gotten as much a scratch on his body. Infact he did not even look like he had even fought a while ago.

From the podium where the King and governors sat, they watched in interest at the man standing on the fight stage.

"He is fast." The General Gerald praised the man after watching him for a while.

"Indeed but let's not be quick to speak." Adam watched with his hand on his beard as he was one who liked battles a lot

Another man had come into the ring, he was slightly older with a black mustache and black air. His clothing spoke elegance and riches but his appearance seemed calm yet daring. The both of them had gone at it with the man showing a good amount of skills that got the people blazing with excitement but the shouts were louder when they noticed that none of the man's attack had hit home instead they had all been evaded by Young which seemed a little difficult as the man was just almost as fast as he was.

Young had dodged one of his kick jumping backwards when the man landed yet immediately jumped in the air as his movement suddenly got faster as he twisted his body in the air to send out a powerful kick at Young who had just landed. Surprisingly, Young suddenly got faster as his body went downwards putting his right hand which he used in supporting in lifting himself as he sent back a kick twice the force the man used which went straight to his belly causing him to spit out blood and sending him out of the ring and landing with a thud.

"He is good!!" Adam couldn't help but exclaim as his face showed excitement.

"He has not met any real threats yet." Lenny's sarcastic voice dulled Adam's excitement earning him a scornful look of which he avoided.

By now, men came one by one and at the time fifteen men were already defeated and kicked out of the match. Young was a little bit disappointed at them being too easy and was wondering if anyone normal could still go toe to toe with him. Not that he voiced it but he had expected for something better.

He was about to forfeit after a while of waiting for the next fighter but was stopped as a thin figure dressed in a faded black jacket with a flower on the left pocket walked into the podium. He had an hood covering his face and was whistling.

"A fine warrior you are." A sweet soft voice almost like a woman spoke. "A good opponent to fight. I was becoming a little weary but since you are here."

He stopped raising his head for only Young to see the blazing orange color eyes he hid under the hood as his lips went up in a smile. "Brace yourself."

Young had not even been able to see him clearly and had only managed to bend his body slightly away from the fist that suddenly appeared at his sight as he quickly moved away afterwards.

"See, it seems he has found one that will give him a good fight." Lenny smiled in mockery at Adam.

"The fight has just started." General Gerald spoke while observing the two men fighting. "Hmm the other one seems a little familiar."

"Ha!" Gretha's small laugh got the three men looking at her with raised eyebrows. Avoiding their gaze she continued. "It is one of Lenny's special ones."

"I see."

Back at the fight, Young had managed to evade two more of the man's attacks while being a little weary seeing that the man had yet to get serious in the fight.

"You won't keep on dodging, will you." The man struck forward twice as fast as before, his hand going down in a swipe aiming at Young's shoulder but once again surprisingly, Young had dodged with the attack missing his hand by a few inch.

Suddenly Young leaped back but the moment his feet landed, he had charge forward in an insane speed throwing a punch which the man had raised his hand to block but still got pushed backwards due to the force the punch packed. Young however wasn't done with him as he went on the attack catching the man by surprise once more, his movement becoming faster as he dealt out his attacks. The man had barely been able to keep up with Young's barrage of attacks with him being able to dodge or block a few while still getting hit at times.

"It seems the tides has changed Lenny." Adam couldn't help but comment seeing the shocked look on Lenny's face.

"He was actually hiding his true strength all along." General Gerald was amazed by Young's strength.

"He has not shown all." The king Splinter words caused every other person to watch Young with interest.

Young after getting a direct hit into the other man's face and suddenly leaped back and stopped attacking. By now, the man had been hit so many times that his legs was barely standing. That was just how devastating Young's attacks were.

"Interesting." Was his last words before he was kicked out of the podium making once again that Young had won another fight without his opponent being able to land an attack on him.

The people simply looked at him in awe at the awesome feat as a question rang in their minds. "Who will be able to touch him."

Some other men had also gone in to fight and got brutally sent back out not still being able to touch him.

The people were literally beginning to make bets on if he would be touched or defeated or he would simply decide to walk of the stage after no one would be able to beat him.

Some people at one side of the hall was watching the match with interest. A fat tall man with a huge cup of wine looked over to the rest will speaking loudly.

"How about we see who is interested in being the one to touch him."

"Hnnn, I will beat him without much of bringing a sweat." The woman beside him with a long purple hair and slightly beautiful face boasted.

"I would like to see his full strength." A blonde haired man with a green hat on his head spoke earning him shocked stares from the others.

"Oh oh oh." The fat man laughed amused. "Maybe he could make you serious in a fight apart from us here, ha ha!!"

By now Young had kneed the twentieth challenger of the podium who landed on the floor with blood rushing from his mouth. Now the crowd was simply bored with how no one seemed good enough to do anything to Young. However an interesting character made his way to the ring and this time Young was thinking he might actually be a little bit tougher than the rest.

Dressed in a nice vest with tight trousers and leather boots, his dirty dark brown hair complemented his brown fierce eyes and a smirk was placed in his lips.This person Young had recognized to be the one who had intervened in his shuffle with the captain Rune. The man was Valdo.

There was no exchange of words between them before the fight started with both charging forward at the same time and throwing out their fists which connected to each other. They separated just as the crowds voices got louder and Valdo had went on to strike at Young with punches and kicks. Surprisingly he was just as fast as Young and was doing good at almost being able to get a hit in. Young was impressed by the man's strength which he noticed to be stronger as he sent out his attacks. Valdo had managed to push Young backwards as he continuously dodged his attacks till the point when Young was just a few distance from falling over the stage. Seeing this, Young had moved forward side stepping him while throwing out a punch which Valdo was able to evade leaping to the side before he went once again to jump and throw a kick at Young who ducked and rolled over moving back further into the stage. Impressed at how good Young was, Valdo decided to take the fight up the notch.

Moving speedily in a zig zag, he made to try deceiving Young by twisting a little while sending a kick at his right leg to which Young raised his leg making the kick pass by. However the momentum in the kick didn't stop as Valdo used it in turning around once more sending out a kick at Young's face. The kick had become a lot faster than before making him certain that Young would not be able to dodge it.

Though a little surprised by the speed, Young quick reflexes had him moving his head by just a second early to dodge the kick. Surprisingly, Valdo hadn't stopped and turned once more becoming faster as he sent the kick once more.

"Thoom."

A small sound was made making the air separate as Valdo's leg connected to Young's hand which he had used in blocking the attack. The crowd was a little shock as it was the first time Young had blocked an opponents attack instead of dodging it. Valdo was shocked however at how fast he was able to raise his hand to block the attack. He didn't have time to ponder further on it as the moment he was about to drop his leg, Young gripped it and turned while using it to lift Valdo of the ground and smash him hard on the hard podium which surprisingly made a dent on it.

The force was so strong it had Valdo coughing out blood. Young gripped his other leg and once again raised him from the ground before slamming him on another side. He went on to do this five more times before picking him with great strength and tossing him of the stage.

"Oh oh oh, this one is brutal." Falcon praised him with a clap of his hand. "I will certainly like to make him a guard of mine."

"Don't even think of it Falcon, I have already shown interest in him." Adam protested immediately.

A shout from the crowd made them turning their attention back at the stage to see the new person who had stepped in to challenge Young.

"What does he think he is about to do?" The General spoke in disbelief.

"It seemed one of your special recruits has decided to test that man's strength general, ha ha." Gretha voiced out once again in a laugh.

"And it just had to be Atres huh! Haha."

"Fight me with your best." Atres voiced out to Young as he readied himself for a good fight.