Perceived Fate

Jake was thinking through his several options here. He could fight the Leader but he both didn’t want to go through that and because the result was pretty obvious.

He looked at Malum, and remembered his words. Surrendering may give him some extra training but Jake knew deep down that was for the best.

His Leader was looking at him. Those yellow eyes were looking at him so seriously. Jake sometimes wished he held Malums resolve.

In his mind, hope led to despair so he lived with as little hope as he could. Expectations were poisons but Jake still wanted to survive. Now he had Alicia, he couldn’t so lazy.

With some resolution towards his future extra training, Jake announced,

“I surrender!”

`...... Oh thank god.` Malum thought.

The instructors looked at Jake and then at Malum and nodded. It was good strategy actually, if they wore each other out and then ended up losing first place because of it then that was simply dumb. They were better of sending their best combatant in the best condition.

Malum went to go hug his comrade, he didn’t want to ask Jake to throw the match especially because the points were related directly to being sent home. The fact he did so anyway spoke highly of his intelligence and his teamwork.

After a short chat, they both walked over to the other match where Malum could see his other team member fighting as best he could.

Bear was big, at 26 he was around 6 foot’ 6 and whilst Gerald was also a pretty big lad, he wasn’t as big as the Bear. However, Malum observed the fact that Gerald was far better with techniques than Bear and seemed to have more experience in combat.

Bears moves were also flashy, as Malum noted his hand-to-hand techniques were unlikely to have been sourced from the army and were instead some family legacy.

The sound of fist meeting shield and sword resounded throughout the training ground. The loud beating between opponents caused many in the crowd to grimace from imagining the pain, let alone feeling it.

Except both sides refused to show any sign of weakness, instead they continued to bicker even inside the ring.

“Using that little shield of yours you little bitch, where’s all your confidence gone?” Bear chided.

“Is your brain mode of stone? Genuine question here. You do know you have one yourself. Or did Mr Stonehead lose it! Haha, it happens to the bets of us buddy.”

“I DID NOT LOSE IT!” Screamed an enraged Bear, who continued to pummel Gerald with an endless barrage of attacks.

Behind his defence, Gerald continued to rile up his opponent, “Don’t be mad, like I said it happens to all of us. Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your weapon, don’t tell me you lost it on your first day. Haha”

Bear was only getting madder, and his attacks only grew in strength but at the cost of what little technique was binding them. They were now just mindless hurls of brute strength and that was not a good way to punch.

Gerald waited for a right moment before he launched a counterattack. It would need to be quick as some sense would be knocked into his opponent once he started getting hit so he wanted to win before he could recover.

Slash, bash, defensive block into a stab. Malum saw fundamentals before him come together into a masterful counterattack. It left Bear out of the ring, stumbling down onto his arse.

Was Gerald going to accept his win as an adult, hell no.

He shoved his hips forward in a thrusting motion whilst he said, “LET’S GO, HAVE THAT BEAR!”

Malum was both proud, and ashamed at the same time. Well, he would just need to sort out his rowdy teammate in the next round. Before that, congratulations were in order.

The instructor announced the victor for the crowd to cheer before Malum and his group reconvened one last time as Bear was being dragged off to the infirmary.

“That was a fantastic counterattack, with some great taunting it was really a good fight.” Praise was something Gerald was weak to, so his reaction consisted of slightly blushing and saying,

“Thanks Leader, it’s because of our daily sparing that I grew so strong.”

Malum could have pushed back on the praise, saying it was due to his own effort or something of the sort, but he decided against it and just accepted the praise. To change the topic Malum decided to show a grim face,

“I’m afraid Gerald that I won’t be able to spare any mercy in our next match although I hope you treat it the same. Unlike Jake, I want you to go all out, and who knows perhaps you’ll win.”

Gerald looked at Malum, “Yeah right, monster, as if. I’ll give it a good go though, one day the monster must fall, perhaps today is the day.”

Hope was good, in war even moreso. Malum would still have to crush it, but it was all in an effort of making him stronger so feeling bad would be pointless. `It’s all for his own sake` Malum thought, his grin growing slightly too twisted.

The group waited a little longer before the match was announced. The rain had now completely died down and the sun had come through the clouds for a short while. Sundown would be soon and both Malum and Gerald wanted to end the fight before complete darkness.

With that in mind, one the instructors arrived they wasted no time in getting on opposite corners of the square. With one final look in each other’s eyes and with the crowd around them turning silent, the match began.

As with every fight prior, Malum began with testing out his opponent attacks. He liked to get an idea of whome he was fighting against and how they fought. This gave him an idea on how potentially he would win, and also how he could lose.

This phase consisted of Malum getting a full beating. His defence was rock solid, but the muscles behind every blow he took could only handle so much. He also needed to check his opponents defensive style, so he transitioned into attack using an opportunity that presented itself.

Gerald was good, and although he sometimes act like it, he did have a brain which allowed him to win against objectively stronger opponents. He also used his speech to wind up his opponents to better create opportunities. What Malum would say was wrong with Gerald's style was that it was too reliant on the opponent making a mistake.

To be fair, every opponent Malum had faced so far he had won by the exact same method but the different between Gerald and Malum was that Malum was an objectively stronger opponent and so if neither made a mistake then he would win by default.

He knew all of Geralds both good and bad habits and had only lost on a few select occasions when he had made a mistake. He didn’t need to go through the testing phase, he already knew what he would find but that would not be the case in an actual fight.

Forming bad habits early was a good way to ruin long term success, that wasn’t even a quote from his Uncle but something Malum knew from his days of hunting.

Continuing to attack, Malum kept at his advantage for as long as he could. A mistake was sadly inevitable as he was only human although he did hope that one day he could eliminate them entirely.

That ended up with Malum back on defence where they two sides entered a repeated cycle. Attack, mistake, defence, mistake, repeat.

Malum had more stamina and like that he would likely win although a key mistake on defence and he would still lose. That was what Gerald was looking for, and what Malum was defending most against.

The crowd around them had grown bored after a few cycles and had been long dismissed so they went to do their own thing. Only a few ambitious folk stayed to get a better idea of their competition.

Sundown was nearing and Malum was back on the attack. Both sides were sweating, and their clothes were starting to dampen. Dehydration was becoming the larger threat, and the lack of food was causing issues as well.

If before the tournament fight had been like a 200-metre sprint, then this fight was a marathon. With fatigue building up mistakes became more common although this really only effected Gerald as Malums stamina was seemingly endless.

A few mistakes on Malum’s defence had costed him a painful chest, and legs which had been battered by the side of a sword. Both sides now held injuries to their bodies but neither had enough to call it quits.

Every hit they took, they got back into the fight immediately. Almost like they were ghouls from myths.

Finally as the sun began to glow a dim orange, Malum spoke.

“Oi, Mate. This needs to end.” He breathed heavily after every break, his muscles aching with the stress.

“Monstrous. Bastard. Fine, one more good hit, and, it’s over.”

“Fine.”

The deal had been set and with it Malum went on a full out attack. Gerald showed what last reserved he had but Malum was still running around like he hadn’t been fighting for several hours compared to the ragged Gerald and the outcome was obvious.

A hit to Gerald's thigh and the fight was over.

Promptly, Gerald fell unconscious it seemed he could hold back sleep not a moment longer. Picking him up to take him to the dorms, Malum noticed the strange beast still had a smile even as he slept.

Malum said a thank you to the instructor and headed back. He had discreetly told the rest of his team mid-match to go have some early rest as they would need it for the next day. The group phases were going to be tough, but Malum still reckoned they would come out on top. Especially with himself and the sleeping idiot he was carrying.