In front of Luke, there was a strong man with a shaved head. The tattoos that ran down the big man's arms were two different colored dragons. The dragon on his right arm was blue, and the dragon on his left arm was green.
Waiting for the signal to start, the big guy heard some whispers from his partner, which Luke could hear even though the crowd's noise.
"See he's leaning a little to the left? That means he's got some bruised ribs, so focus on pressing them." The man with the ponytail whispered this and also some more advice.
'Oh! He has good eyes.' Luke thought because he really had some bruised ribs, and every time he straightened his spine, an intense pain plagued him in his right ribs. 'How the hell did I end up agreeing to participate in this?'
'Come on, Luke! If you win, I'm going to sit on your face!" Alexis shouted from one corner of the crowd.
'I just remembered why.' The half-wolf huffed and hid his face a little more with his wide hood.
In truth, Luke wasn't participating just for the half-dragon's indecent proposal. A few minutes ago, Alexis had learned about the tournament through a side conversation she overheard from the crowd and was thirsty for the prize of two thousand five hundred silver coins.
However, she judged that it would be unfair for her to participate, so she signed Luke up to fight. Before he knew it, the half-wolf was already in the improvised court in the center of the huge square, packed with people, but he only agreed because he wanted to keep the prize.
Four small wooden towers formed a large square, delimiting how far the spectators could go. In one of these four towers, there was the narrator, and in the other three, the judges.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Children and senile old men! I present to you the first Luck or Fight Tournament of the city of Vasconcelos. As you know, the city is experiencing a complica—"
"Huuuuuu!"
"Shut up and start right away!"
The spectators started booing the young narrator for touching such a boring subject in the middle of the party.
Now a little nervous from hearing and seeing the huge adventurers who threatened him, the narrator announced:
"The first round will be between an E-Class and a D-Class adventurer." He pointed to Luke and the big guy on the other side of the arena, respectively. "Show your identities."
Then, Luke raised his weak metal necklace, and the other man raised his copper necklace high. Surprisingly, the cries of support seemed to be more on Luke's side than Class-D's.
"Crumple that turd's face, Class-E!"
"That's it! We believe in you!"
"Ha! Are you guys kidding? He's going to die!"
"What are you talking about, you piece of shit? Grey matter eater!"
Instinctively, humans always take the side of the weakest, the losers, and that was exactly why Luke was getting so much support. Everyone knew that there was a massive difference in power and experience between an E-Class and a D-Class.
"3... 2... 1... start!"
Luke promptly bent his knees, formed a claw with his hands, and took a deep breath.
'Easy, Luke... You've played Luck or Fight dozens of times, so just focus on deflecting and immobilizing him.'
The D-Class charged fiercely at the half-wolf, trusting that the size difference between them was too clear an advantage to not take of. Moreover, the big guy was deeply angry with Luke, even looking into his eyes during the whole waiting time.
Luke waited for his opponent to get close enough to him. As soon as the man approached, Luke stopped his arms using pure force.
The man was surprised to see the half-wolf show such strength; after all, he didn't look any stronger than most. Luke held his muscular arms quite tightly, stopping him from moving further forward.
The three main rules of the game 'Luck or Fight' are simple. The first is not to get outside help, the second is not to use any kind of weapon, and the third is to make your opponent surrender by saying the phrase 'Three-Legged Smoked Lizard' or make him faint.
Luke started the match by holding back to not hurt the D-Class, but the man was not a normal person either. Taking advantage that the half-wolf didn't pull away or dodge, the big man struggled and repelled him.
When Luke least expected it, he saw the blue dragon coming toward him, which matched a right jab. Luke sidestepped and pulled away a little as he saw the potential spinning that had the blow.
"Hey! Is that allowed?!" A teenage girl questioned one of the judges.
The most common thing in 'Luck or Fight' games are martial demonstrations, and immobilizations have become so famous in recent times that the vast majority would rather see them than an exchange of punches and kicks.
Luckily, Luke had practiced with Shiro right when he arrived at the Strogueher Mansion, so defeating someone as big as his friend would be no problem. And although Shiro still hadn't paid the three months' wages bet for losing, the half-wolf still hadn't forgotten.
Concentrating, Luke took advantage of the fact that the big man was running toward him again to test something bolder. When the man came close, Luke swerved to the right and put his foot in front of the man's legs, causing him to stumble.
'Shit!' Class-D thought as he heard a crowd laughing at his tumble. Next, he felt a huge weight on his back.
"I think you'd better not get up," Luke said with a debauched smile, sitting on the man's back.
Despite being warned, the D-Class tried to use the strength of his arms to get up. Luke applied even more weight against the ground, preventing him from getting up.
When he finally lost his strength, the big man whispered low: "Three-Legged Smoked Lizard."
The spectators went wild at Luke's victory. To most, that was indeed an impressive feat, even more so the way Luke used his opponent's arrogance to his advantage.
'Such fluid movements.' Alexis noted, placing her hand on her chin. To her, Luke was an excellent warrior, and nothing could change that, but she found the way he fought this time really interesting.
"Round two begins as soon as the other first matches are over." The narrator announced, hoping that the next few rounds wouldn't go so quickly and he would have a chance to actually narrate.
The half-wolf joined Nathalia and Alexis, standing next to one of the towers, to watch the other matches.
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on fre(e)webno(v)el.𝒸𝑜𝘮