Chapter 45

"Weeewooo!"

After hearing the siren that I've already gotten sick of, I turned it off. As I sat up, I closed my eyes to bring at least a little bit of peace to my mind.

Today is the day that will change my life.

"Actually, no." I rubbed my face. "To change your life, you should change yourself."

I went to sleep early yesterday, judging it to be necessary for me because of the whole fight thing. Yet the conversation I had with Mara still weighed me down. The pressure I felt from being in need of money, the pressure of being driven into a stalemate where my only option is to fight. It tore my sanity apart.

"No matter what I do, I can't control a single thing."

I stood up and went to the bathroom. Greg and Annie were not at home, which was logical, as I didn't tell them a thing yesterday. The reflection of my pale and haggard face was the only thing that greeted me this morning.

"Is it even my face?" I looked at it from every angle possible, pulling my eyelids, baring my teeth, and scrunching my nose. Everything I did was, of course, repeated by the one who stood on the other side.

I closed my eyes for a second while holding the washbasin. If I remember it correctly, in my world…

"In your old world," I said with a quiet yet confident tone. There was a thing some athletes did.

"SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!" As I once again made eye contact with my reflection, I gave myself three strong slaps right onto my cheeks.

"AAAARGH!" I shook my head hard. "AAH! I will go straight through this!"

After psyching myself up, I quickly washed up. Heating some leftover food, I shoved whatever I could into myself and started getting ready. Throwing everything that I would need into my bag, I dressed up.

While I was doing all of this, I got a message from Jessie that she and Paul would get me to the place.

Taking one last glance at my grim face, I couldn't help but shake my head.

Quickly getting down, I could feel the jitters. My body found its way towards the car of Arndt's family on its own. All while my eyes couldn't focus on anything.

Getting on the backseat and buckling up, I absentmindedly stared into the windows.

"Erlig, Erlig!"

"Ah! Yes?" I caught up, someone saying my name.

"Erlig, are you alright? Nervous?" It was Paul who was looking at me and talking.

"I guess." I tried to squeeze a smile out of my lips, but I bet it looked pathetic.

"Maybe we should cancel this fight? I think it's rather early for you to do this." as he was talking to me, his brows gradually furrowed. It looked to me like I was judged for stealing at least a few briefcases full of gold bars.

"We can't." That's when I heard another voice.

You were here all along, Jessie? I almost said it aloud before understanding that it won't show me from a good side. Also, as she said this, Paul started burning a hole in her with his gaze.

"She is right." I took some air into my lungs. "I will do it anyway. Why not do this earlier? After all, it's an expectation that makes me more…" I tried to find an appropriate word but feeling the gaze of Paul gave up. "Nervous."

"Hmm, if you think so." he shook his head once. " We will be there in an hour or so. You can take your time for now."

"Don't panic. Everything will be okay. You are good enough to win the whole thing." Jessie turned around and slapped my shoulder while trying to give me a reassuring smile.

I nodded once with some kind of a twist on my lips.

It was not so long ago that the sun came up, yet the streets were already bustling with people while roads were full of cars. As my home was closer to the center, it was easier to go around using public transport. That way, you won't get stuck in a traffic jam.

However, despite the fact that it was rush hour, we were making our way smoothly. I was looking out the window during our ride. It helped me to calm down in my previous life. It helped me here as well.

Entering a strange state of reminiscences and alienation, I didn't notice how we got to the appointed place.

Taking my bag, I stared at the building. And I couldn't make out the small details. Everything that I understood was that it resembled the gym of Brave and Bold, a big, plain, one-story building.

"Come on. It will start soon." I felt a grip on my shoulders as Paul stood right next to me.

"We should hurry up so you will have enough time." Jessie looked back at the two of us and went ahead.

"Erm, ehem. Let's listen to Jessie." As he said this, Paul had a mixture of embarrassment and anger on his face.

Why though?

In the end, we both went after Jessie. Walking through the small reception, which wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be, we made our way into the central part of the building.

White walls, a high ceiling, and adequate lighting. A small number of benches for people to watch the fights alongside three cages. It was almost identical to the gym I used to frequent so much these days. All those 'gym' buildings were probably built by the same company.

The cages were all placed in approximately the middle and made a small line. There was also a table and a few chairs near every cage. People were already sitting here and there. Some of them were writing in small notepads, while others talked with each other. They mostly wore suits that looked rather loose on some of them.

"It's the judges," Jessie appeared out of nowhere when she answered my silent question.

"Why are there so many of them?" I had a strange feeling looking at this.

"To judge the fights. There will be a lot of them." She looked at them, and then her gaze stopped at my face. "These fights would be something akin to a baptism, as well as a rating calibration for newbies."

"Rating?" I remembered something about it when I was trying to learn about the whole MMA culture in this world. Though it completely flew away from my mind due to my nervousness.

"Of course, you should know that every win and loss are strictly counted. It goes to the united database. All the fighters in the world have their own data stored there." Her eyes glinted.

"Uh-huh."

"And after every win, you would be able to get points that affect your rating, while losing would lead to a deduction."

"What affects the number of points, though?" I remembered the whole ranking thing. The set of conditions about gaining and losing those ranks were rather vague.

"Good question!" She flashed me a smile. "Everything counts. From the win\loss records of your opponents to the quality and the level of prominence of the fighter. Which in turn is affected by the way you fight."

It was still vague, but it piqued my interest. "How much do you have?"

"Just enough…" She stumbled in the middle but managed to recover. "To be a top dog, of course." She patted herself on the chest. "Anyway, go and get yourself ready. It's a tournament, so it would be best to get ready as soon as you can, but don't warm up yet. We should time this up nicely."

I almost choked, "To-to-tournament?"

"An old-school eight people one-night tournament." Jessie had a smug face when she said this.

But I thought it would be a single fight, my first fight.

"What!?" Paul made his way to us. Oh, where did he go? I looked around. Was he talking with an acquaintance?

I wanted to ask him if I should withdraw, "Should I just go and…" but I quickly swallowed the end of my phrase after looking at Paul. His eyes were throwing lightning and thunder while there was a vein popping out on his temple.

"I think I will go and change."

As I slipped away from the duo of parent and child, I found my way to the changing room. There were already a few guys talking to each other. Some were already putting on their gloves, while others were casually looking through their smartphones. Most of them were already in their shorts.

An erratic group. There were fat guys, fit ones, tall, short, and so on. Looking at them and thinking that any of them could be my opponent made me slightly nauseous. I made my way to a cubicle trying not to attract any attention. As I finally was left in relative isolation, I changed my clothes.

Making my way back from the changing room with my gloves under my armpit and my mouthguard in my hand, I started looking for the duo. As I turned my head a few times, I finally saw Jessie standing near the wall while having a contemplative expression on her face.

"Hey, um, where's your dad?"

"He went there." she pointed to the bench near the cage with her thumb.

"You had a fight?" I shuddered internally. Why am I saying this? It was partially because this building wasn't as warm when you were in trunks. But most importantly, it was because I didn't want to get my nose to where it didn't belong.

"You can say it like that, yeah." Her creased eyebrows straightened up, and she bit the edge of her lip slightly. "It's my father's fault."

I thought it was Jessie's fault but ultimately decided to keep my silence.

Her eyes darted here and there while she thought about how to say her next part. "He wanted to surprise you, and I kind of spoiled it."

It was strange, but if their relationship suffered because of me, it would leave a bad aftertaste in my mouth. "I am surprised. I can say this to your father, so he won't, erm…" I glanced at Paul and saw that he was still fuming. "Sulk."

"No need." Jessie gently shook her head. "Just do your thing and remember that we believe in you." She stood up before me. "You are more than ready. Breathe deeply."

"Suuu…Haaa…Suuu…Haaa…Like this." She motioned with her hands an upward-downward movement. "And look at the time! We should start warming you up." She glanced towards the big electronic clock that was hanging from the ceiling. "Put your gloves on. I will help you."

Obeying her commands, I did all the things she said. As she used her own palms, we did a slow, simple boxing routine, after that a few squats, and so on.

All the time I was warming up, I tried to maintain my deep breathing. And the more I breathed, the more noises that surrounded me faded into non-existence. As I concentrated, the only sounds that I heard were the sounds of my breathing and the slow but methodical thumping of my heart.

"Erlig Grimes!" I heard my voice being called from somewhere.

"It's time, Erlig." Jessie clenched the tips of my fingers and pointed toward the cage that was in the middle. "Your first fight would start there."

Right, it was a tournament.

As I went towards the cage, I saw a small platform with a few guys crowding near it. One of them had a black and white striped shirt.

"It's a ref that would assess and check if everything is okay." I heard Jessie's whisper and a reassuring tap on my back.

Since I made my way towards the said platform, one of the guys glanced at the list. "Erlig Grimes, I presume?"

"Right!" As I was nervous, my voice was kind of funny.

"Your first time?" The referee looked at me and started checking my equipment as well as my body. He took my mouthguard and sprayed it with something from a small pulverizer. As he helped me to put it back, my mouth stung a bit, all while my nose felt like it was cleared from anything that obstructed my breathing.

"Uhm-ehem, yes." Clearing the lump in my throat, I confirmed it.

"Don't worry, we are professional here, and we hope that you will keep it professional as well." After placing my hands down, he turned sideways and took a small tin. Scooping up a small amount of petroleum jelly, he applied it to my face.

"Now you are ready to go." He looked at me one last time. "Go and stand over there." he pointed towards the side of the cage that had blue-colored padding on the top. "Your opponent would be ready in a few minutes."

I was in a cage a few times already. I sparred, I trained there, but the feeling this time was different. The canvas under me was drenched in blood that would never be washed out. The glint of the steel was menacing, while the cage itself looked more imposing than ever before.

I went towards the 'corner' that I was appointed to and wanted to rub the scar on my nose."

"Right, the vaseline." I stopped myself midway and started walking here and there.

I felt like the ability to hear any sound was taken from me one more time. The seconds of waiting that stretched to be far longer than hours finally ended.

My opponent, along with the judge, made their way into the cage.