Central Mountain City, Scout Division training ground.
Fights in wars or disputes, before the Scout Division was formed, depended on the weapons each party had. If there were spears or clubs, they fought with these weapons, although they fought solely with instinct; there was no serious, methodical training.
In the case of unarmed fights, there were simply erratic struggles and blows; there was no fixed fighting style, not even special techniques. Just shoves and poorly delivered blows until the other party tired.
However, when I began training the first group of people with my brother Upqua when they were two years old, they all discovered a whole new world. They were so shocked and excited by the fighting style I was teaching them that many of them practiced in the city in their free time.
This caught people's attention, and they began to view these fights, which the first apprentices engaged in, as entertainment. From these fights, one of the sports that many would watch for fun was born in the five major cities, mainly in Central Mountain City.
As the years passed, and I grew a little older, I was able to remember many more things from my past life and fine-tune a few details of the martial arts we were using, thus giving rise to a blend of many of the martial arts I saw in movies and videos on YouTube.
These techniques, which the people in the division wanted to name "Kicka" after me, had two modes: restraint and fatal. Restraint primarily used movements and takedown and restraint techniques, just as the name suggests, although non-lethal strikes were also used.
Fatal mode primarily used movements and strikes, which could quickly incapacitate or kill people. This mode primarily used quick movements that allowed the focus to be on offense rather than defense.
"Begin!", shouted Upqua.
When he gave the signal to start, I quickly approached Goca and tried a few direct blows to his face, but I couldn't connect since he had chosen a defensive fighting style.
I followed up by throwing a few more punches mixed in with some feints. Although I managed to connect a few to his torso, I could only do so because he seemed to be testing my moves. Each blow I landed told me that Goca was quite resistant to pain. While they weren't powerful, some of them landed in very sensitive areas, the only reaction I saw on his face was a slight grimace.
"He's pretty tough", I thought as I stepped back a bit to catch my breath.
Once I'd regained my energy, I closed in again, but this time I tried to use a few kicks in the combination. He skillfully dodged the first blow aimed at his ribs, though I caught him by surprise when I changed the direction of the blow mid-strike, landing a hard kick on his left shoulder. He just backed away, but just like before, he didn't complain.
However, the moment he raised his guard again, I noticed his left arm movements were more erratic. I continued throwing a few punches, testing the stability of his guard with that partially injured shoulder, but apparently this injury didn't prevent him from continuing to fight.
So far, Goca hadn't thrown a single punch, and this was already bothering me. At first, I thought this was his fighting style and that he would counterattack at any moment, but he didn't. I also thought he was the kind of guy who held back, and I tried to annoy him, but that didn't work either.
"I asked for an opponent, not a punching bag", I said, annoyed.
The moment I said this, something seemed to change in his posture. He now looked more relaxed, with a more determined look. I even saw him slightly rise on his toes. With a sudden leap, he closed several meters between us, and the first thing he did was throw a powerful hook to my ribs, which I deflected with difficulty. He then followed that up with a series of blows to my torso from different directions.
"He's very strong", I thought, slightly frightened.
Each of his blows seemed to have more power than the last, and due to the difference in speed between us, all I could do was block some and deflect others. After a couple of intense seconds, he managed to land a massive blow to my stomach that left me struggling to breathe.
I immediately backed away and knelt on one leg. The pain was excruciating, so much so that it made me sweat instantly. Not only did I feel superficial pain in my skin and muscles, but I felt my organs suddenly shift and return to their original position.
As I caught my breath, I noticed Goca forcefully adjusting his shoulder and patiently waiting for me to recover, which I greatly appreciated. After half a minute, I got back up and stood right in front of him.
When we both realized we were ready to continue, we launched into the fight. I decided to go straight for the attack, as he would obviously suffer much more with a defensive style; at least by attacking, I could find some flaws to attack.
I started with some hooks and punches straight to the face as feints, then followed with knees and elbows. I tried to use some of the moves I saw in MMA videos, which were quite effective, as I caught him by surprise, managing to land some of the direct blows. However, at the same time, he was now actively counterattacking, also landing some blows to my torso.
Every blow he received made me want to retreat immediately, but at the same time, it awakened a more combative side in me that I wasn't used to showing. I continued to hold on and try to test my current limits.
Goca suddenly switched to attacking, closing the distance between us and limiting my ability to use kicks as an attack. Since I already knew his attacks were very strong, I tried to lure him away by lowering my guard for a moment, which was successful as he quickly threw a punch I'd already anticipated. I dodged the blow and delivered a precise elbow to his stomach, knocking him back a couple of steps.
Goca showed signs of pain for the first time in the entire fight; the blow had caused him more pain than he'd realized. I waited for him to recover, just as he had. After a few seconds, he stood in front of me again.
We were both breathing heavily; there were clear marks of scrapes and bruises on our arms and bodies. The sweat was bothering me considerably; I felt it burning my eyes and making it difficult to see. My breathing was erratic, and every involuntary movement made the pain constantly return. Knowing this would be the last confrontation, we both threw ourselves at it with everything we had. However, it was clear that defense was no longer a priority.
Every blow was deflected or resisted, only to launch a quick and accurate counterattack. At one point, I noticed he unconsciously widened his stance, giving me the opportunity to destabilize him. I threw a swift kick to his leg, destabilizing him.
"I've got him", I thought excitedly. However, not everything seemed to be going according to script.
Goca, who looked like he was about to fall, used the movement of his fall as momentum to launch a hook between my ribs. I had expected him to fall and had already prepared a knee to his stomach to end the fight, but I wasn't expecting that sudden movement.
"Now I understand why they called him a genius", I thought resignedly.
I took the blow full on and almost fainted from the pain. I managed to take a few steps back to my kneel and hold my stomach. I felt like I was about to throw up, but I managed to hold it back with sheer willpower. I'd never felt so much pain in my two lives combined.
I remained kneeling while I tried to regain some energy to get up. Goca was breathing heavily, just like me, but it was clear he could go on for a few more rounds.
After recovering, I stood in front of him and placed my right hand on my chest.
"I can't take it anymore... Great fight", I gasped.
"Wow! What a great fight! The Son of Heaven is incredible! Goca is excellent!", everyone shouted at the end of the fight.
At first, everyone was cheering, but after a minute, they were as focused as we were fighting. They hadn't expected a fight between two children to be so intense and exciting. Every technique seemed like a professional, both with their strengths and weaknesses.
"I didn't know you were such a good fighter", Upqua said as he approached with two containers of water.
"I got really involved in the fight… Besides, it's Goca who should impress you", I commented as I drank some of the water.
"Why do you say that?", Upqua asked, confused, as he handed the water to Goca.
"He spent the first part of the fight just taking blows without attacking, for fear of hitting me. Then, he spent much of the fight with his shoulder out of place. Only at the end of the fight, when he got his shoulder back in place, did he fight with everything he had", I explained to my brother. "Isn't that right, Goca?", I asked the boy who was slowly sipping his water.
"It's just as you say, Son of Heaven", Goca replied respectfully.
"I didn't notice… The fight was so exciting that I didn't notice the details", Upqua commented with a big smile. "By the way, it seems you were quite restrained in your battles with your companions earlier", he added, looking at Goca.
"I did it so they could learn", he replied frankly. "The Son of Heaven made me do my best", he commented.
"I think you could have ended the fight much sooner if you had gone on the attack from the start", I said with conviction.
"I can't imagine the fatal method Goca might use", I thought, amazed by the 9-year-old's skills.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Hello everyone.
Today, Chuta fights with a genius, but not in soft arts like the previous characters. Goca, as well as a group of other people, mostly in the Shadows, are experts Chuta has found in the army.
As an unnecessary fact of the day, most villages of the time fought with clubs instead of spears or other weapons. This was because they selected resistant trees and subjected some of their parts to hardening. Furthermore, most villages didn't have armor, so these types of blunt weapons were sufficient.
Read my other novel, The Walking Dead: Vision of the Future.
You can find it on my profile.]