Chapter 65 2 Down
Swoosh!
Speedy Sam certainly deserved his fighter name as he burst towards Xavier with incredible speed, closing the short distance between them almost instantaneously and launching a rapid jab towards his face.
Although not the most powerful punch, it was certainly the fastest, and since Xavier had also lunged towards his opponent as soon as their match began, he couldn\'t completely avoid it and ended up being forced to block with his left arm.
There was an immediate sharp pain in his arm, which, even with the cast, was rattled by the blow, but despite the pain, he remained composed as he moved back and created some distance between himself and his swift opponent.
However, with quick footwork, he pursued Xavier, quickly closing in on him and unleashing an onslaught of rapid punches that were very difficult to avoid.
Being forced to block many of his strikes, Xavier\'s left arm was aching and eventually, he ended up dropping his arm, feeling extreme weakness and pain in it.
Seeing it as an opportunity to strike his weakened and fatigued opponent, Sam rushed in close for a powerful blow, but his move was predictable and Xavier was well-versed in boxing.
Landing a sudden powerful uppercut as his opponent came in close, Xavier landed a stunning blow, but still felt danger from his opponent and quickly backed away.
Nodding his head, Speedy Sam had a slight smile on his face and despite his dull and formal character, when it came to fighting, it was something that he enjoyed greatly and had done his entire life.
"If you were in full health, I\'m not sure if I could beat you. Sadly, you bit off more than you could chew and decided to fight more than one fight in one night."
His words weren\'t taunting or meant to be offensive, and he seemed to be speaking his genuine thoughts.
"Oh? You think you can beat me as I am now?"
Sam simply nodded his head.
"Well, sorry to break it to you buddy, but you\'re merely a stepping stone for me tonight and I\'m planning on having one more fight after you tonight."
At first, Sam thought he was joking, but seeing the fire in Xavier\'s eyes, he realised that he truly was crazy enough to commit to such a goal.
-
They stared each other down for a moment, allowing each other to recover from the blows they had just sustained, and both recognised each other\'s speed and technique, so had to be cautious of counters.
Slowly approaching each other, both with boxer guards up, Xavier\'s left arm was practically useless, and he was barely managing to keep it up, but he was drawing in his opponent.
Suddenly bursting towards each other, having a similar combat style that focused on speed, striking and explosive power, Speedy Sam was expecting a fist fight.
But instead, he was greeted with a rapid kick to the head.
Boxers weren\'t very well-versed in dealing with kicks, especially those to the lower body, but he managed to lean back just enough for Xavier\'s kick to narrowly miss his face.
His reflexes were great, while his combat experience and instincts were also top-class, but Xavier expected nothing less from his opponent and quickly followed up his first kick, that he merely used to test the waters.
Spinning around and generating great momentum, Sam expected another kick toward his head, but Xavier had a different plan in mind.
He knew that his kicking form would cause his opponent to expect a high kick, but that was exactly what he wanted, and quickly switched to a low kick.
However, instead of sweeping his opponent\'s legs like he would usually do, he struck his chin and there was a loud collision.
Sam quickly moved back and as he put his weight on his front leg that had just been struck, he felt quite heavy pain, but he could endure it.
However, if Xavier managed to land more of those strikes, he knew that the damage would start to pile up, and Sam never expected his opponent\'s kicks to be so swift and powerful.
"You didn\'t watch my last fight?"
Sam nodded his head in affirmation.
"Well, that was stupid. Now you don\'t know what I\'m capable of. And kicks are just the start of it."
He couldn\'t tell if Xavier was just bluffing, but he didn\'t underestimate him and put up his guard, planning to put his all into their bout.
And after a few minutes, the two of them were still at it, and that was rare in illegal fight club matches.
-
Since there weren\'t any gloves and almost all forms of striking were permitted, the fights would usually end quite quickly, even when the two opponents that faced each other were of similar skill levels.
All it takes is one slight mistake for one\'s opponent to find an opening and land a blow that settles the match.
And yet, despite both landing multiple powerful blows on each other and having bloodied faces, the two still stood tall and, so far, the match had been very entertaining and quite evenly matched.
Watching, Achara and most others were impressed by Xavier\'s skill and how well he was faring against Speedy Sam despite already fighting once.
However, the one-eyed demon, on the other hand, was disappointed.
"Beast? More like a little bitch. This match is dragging on for too long," the giant man commented, before turning away from the match to engage with the females beside him.
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Meanwhile, Xavier was struggling to deal his opponent the sealing blow and knew that if it went on any longer, his chances of winning another fight after that one were slim, especially with all the blows he was sustaining.
He could recover his stamina quite easily, and with an adrenaline rush, he could feel almost as good as new for a short period of time, despite pushing his body past its limits and damaging it.
But he had his limits just like everyone else and knew that it was now or never.
If he couldn\'t turn the tables, then he could forget about completing the mission that the system had set him.
Summoning a big burst of strength, Sam noticed what Xavier was doing and also decided to do the same.
"One last clash?" Xavier offered.
The dull man nodded his head, and after such an intense and tough fight, it was inevitable for there to be some mutual respect.
Swoosh!
Blitzing over towards each other, Sam decided to try to catch Xavier off guard, going in for a knee strike after only punching the entire fight, while Xavier also decided to try to catch him off guard.
And as they neared each other, both of them put all their strength into their final attack and it was all over at that moment.
Doink!
Expecting some sort of kick or powerful punch from Xavier\'s right arm, when he spotted Xavier clenching his right fist and seemingly preparing to swing with a hook, Sam thought his victory was sealed.
Planning to slip his hook and close in on him to strike his chin with an upward knee strike, never did he expect that Xavier\'s true intention was to strike with his left arm covered in a cast.
As he went under Xavier\'s sloppy right hook, by the time he realised his intentions, it was too late and Xavier\'s cast smashed into his head.
It was a loud collision that sounded like smashing a rock into concrete, but despite the blow, Sam wasn\'t completely knocked out as he stumbled backwards and tried to regain balance.
But it was to no avail and he could tell that the only reason he was barely able to clutch onto his conscious was that, just as Xavier was about to strike him, he held his power to reduce the damage he dealt him.
A man worth respecting and with integrity and charisma that made one want to follow him.
That was his last thought of Xavier, as he closed his eyes and fell backwards, knowing that their fight wouldn\'t be called to an end by the referee until he at least pretended to lose consciousness.
But he ended up truly collapsing from the fatigue and damage that had built up over their match.
And he could only imagine the state that Xavier\'s body was in, and wonder how he was possibly going to fare in his third fight of the night, that he appeared adamant about completing.
-
"2 down, 1 more to go," Xavier mumbled to himself as he walked out of the cage, with his head held high and the crowd cheering for him.
All he wanted to do was rest and his body was aching all over and screaming at him to sleep, but he couldn\'t.
Not until he won one last fight.
And the fight came sooner than he expected, just like with the fight against Speedy Sam.