"Three thousand twenty eight wins!"
Amidst few cheers from the audience, the nameless girl twirled a short sword as she hopped towards David, her face full of smiles.
"Look! They clapping for me." She grinned proudly as she reached him.
David let himself smile, her cheerful nature vanishing his nervous thoughts.
"Well done. I knew you could fight, but this? That was fabulous!"
And indeed, it was so. Even before her opponent could make the first move, she had already closed the distance between them and slammed her bodyweight against the poor boy, who was pushed out of the ring. And instantly disqualified.
'Since the boy dropped the sword in the ring before going out himself, the veteran didn't interrupt her when she quite shamelessly picked it up for herself.'
"One thousand twenty four!"
David snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his number being called. He nodded at the girl who wished him luck before he quickly hurried to one of the rings he was supposed to be fighting in.
He stopped outside the ring as his eyes fell on his opponent who was already standing outside the ring, on the opposite side.
"No weapons?" The invigilator who was standing at the side, asked him in confusion.
David shook his head, causing his opponent to chuckle. "Well, well, it's going to be an easy victory for me then."
David didn't reply anything. The invigilator then gave a piece of silky cloth to his opponent, who quickly wrapped it around his weapon - a katana with patches of rust crawling on its metallic edge.
The young man slashed his sword in the air, testing it out for any problem.
"Facing any trouble in swinging the blade now?" The veteran Sihapi inquired to which the man replied, "Nah, it doesn't even feel like there is a cloth draped on the sword. Damn, you people are incredible."
The veteran didn't react at the obvious attempt of flattery and instead picked up two dull, brass bascinets.
"Here, each of you take one." He said as he handed over to them.
David stared at it for a moment before covering his face with the war helmet. The helmet had a pointed top and went downwards to his neck, protecting him from any backward stab.
On the front side, the bascinet had a narrow, thin visor which didn't obstruct his vision.
"Are both of you ready?" The veteran spoke in a deep voice as both the contestants adjusted their gears for the last time.
Seeing them nod at his words, he raised his voice.
"Enter the field!"
As they both stepped in, the veteran instructed. "Now both of you, bow to each other."
David bent his shoulder as did his opponent.
'Ugh, so much formalities. Just let us fight it out...'
"Remember the rules. Violate them and you can say goodbye to your dreams of becoming a Sihapi. Understand?"
" " Yes, sir. " "
"Good. Now..." Both David and the young man tensed as the veteran's words hung in the air.
Then came a sudden shout.
"Fight!"
David dashed forward as with the extra weight of the katana, his opponent failed to match his pace. But as David came close to colliding with him, the young man thrust his katana on the ground snd performed a summersault in the air, attempting to move over to the centre of the ring.
"The same trick the other girl tried won't work on me, buddy." His lips split open as he grinned while still mid-air.
Seeing that, David smirked. "Not really."
Putting his hands on the ground for support, he kicked his opponent's chest as he sprawled away to the other side of the ring.
The young man tried rising from the ground, coughing dust all around him.
But then he realised he didn't have his katana with him. His eyes widened as he looked up at his opponent - light brown hair that looked like it hadn't been washed up in years, a sharp face with a well- defined jawline and a physique that screamed of malnourishment.
And right in his hands was his katana.
"Searching for something, mister?" David joked, trying his best to hold in the smile from the horrifying expression that his opponent had on his face.
'I knew everyone had seen what the nameless girl had done. And seeing me running like that, he must have assumed I was trying to follow her trick. Well...he was certainly wrong there.'
"Damn you, savage. Fight fairly if you have the guts to." The man seered with rage, rising up from the ground and running towards him, looking like he was coming forward to take his weapon back.
"Mister, how would it be a fair fight if you were the one holding the katana instead of me? It would still be unfair; it's better yet to keep the advantage on my side then."
David spoke slowly as he dodged his opponent's punches and wild kicks, each of them missing him.
"Two more minutes." The veteran suddenly shouted, alerting both of the contestants.
"Welp, your time is up." David swung his katana at point blank range. It struck the young man's hip bone, making a deep noise as if something just shattered.
The young man hunched over as the veteran shouted, "Point!", raising one finger in David's favour.
"Let's farm some more points." After that, the battle turned into a game of chasing as the young man ran around the ring, chased by David who deliberately maintained a slow pace and struck him repetitively.
Few among the crowd of contestants and many of the audience - both in the pavilion and outside the fence - shivered in fear seeing such a cruelty. In their mind, the already stereotypical image they had of a savage - bloody, cruel and ruthless - solidified even more.
But inside his mind, David wasn't even being apathetic. Rather be found himself in an annoying situation.
'Why the hell is this guy not even surrendering? He doesn't have his weapon, he is already trailing by a good two digit points....what else is he waiting for? Just surrender buddy!'
He wasn't beating the young man out of ruthlessness. He just wanted his opponent to surrender so that he could save his energy in case he gets matched up soon enough.
After a while, the veteran raised his right hand as he bellowed. "Five minutes over! Stop wherever you are."
David stopped his sword, the dull blade hanging inches away from the young man's belly.
"One thousand twenty four has thirty one points and four hundred seventeen has zero."
From the stage, the declaration was followed by -
"One thousand twenty four wins the match!"