While it is true that I had planned to fight one of the brats, I didn’t think it would happen so soon, much less did I want to do it surrounded by an audience watching my every move and decision.
My plan consisted of annoying one of them by throwing small pebbles at his body so that in his anger, he would chase me, running to a hidden place among the trees, where we would have a silent fight which would end with me giving him a piece of meat that I would have saved from breakfast, in order to avoid any deep resentment between us.
However, all that went to hell when the old fucker came up with the idea of setting up a fighting tournament or something similar to it, where there are no winners or stages to be classified, only battles in which brats fight each other to exhaustion, to then be taken by the women inside the cave, probably to be cured, that is, to be fed.
‘The weather itself points to today being a bad day’
It is not cloudy. On the contrary, I have not seen a single rain cloud since I came to this world, which is why the eternal midday sun feels unbearable while we, the old man’s slaves or dogs, stand barefoot in the clearing in front of the cave, watching the fights happening one after the other.
Not that I can blame anyone but the barbarians at my side since they were the ones who decided to get as close as possible to see the fighting better, and because staying behind would make me stand out, I had to follow them as the old wizard, the armed giant, and the women took their places under the shadows of the trees.
Thinking about how stupid these individuals are, it is remarkable that they were so quick to comply with the order given by their apparent boss.
The instant the armor-clad barbarian roared loudly, all the gorillas and their young sleeping on top of the trees woke up, and then without his saying or doing anything else, they rushed down to his side.
‘Actually, I was surprised to see none of them fell for the rush’
After we formed around him, the armored giant grabbed two of the nearby brats by the back of the neck, then threw them into the clearing, causing them to fall roughly to the ground, rolling over several times and ending up with a few wounds on their bodies.
I have to accept that it was mildly amusing to see how both of them, when they got up, looked at their aggressor with fury but without daring to do anything to take revenge. They looked just like cats throwing a tantrum, although, of course, without the cuteness that the latter have.
The pair stood there, doing nothing for a while, until, when the scratches on their bodies stopped bleeding, the sun came out, and it was then that the giant, with a crude hand signal, if you can call the loud smack between his two fists that way, signaled them to fight.
I know I’ve thought about this on more than one occasion, but it always amazes me how intelligent they are when it comes to following their most basic instincts, as it didn’t take them two seconds to understand the giant’s intentions to then, run to grab each other with blows and bites.
”As expected from the beasts, I guess”
Still, the silver lining in all of this is that now that I have been forced to group with the monkeys, while they are behaving better than usual, if I ignore the screams and roars of excitement they let out endlessly, I can see with more safety the way the brats are fighting.
Besides, I also consider myself fortunate that only the first two were forcibly thrown to fight since the others rush to the clearing every time a battle is over to start the next one. So much so that, on some occasions, the armored giant had to intervene so that fights would occur between pairs, not trios or quartets.
To top it off, when I slyly counted the brats, I discovered that the number of those left was odd. So, if I wait long enough, I might end this without having an opponent to fight.
‘A total barga-… oops’
Heck, I’ve gotten so used to spending my time in solitary that I forgot to act discreetly here. I didn’t even try to hide the sly grin that crept onto my face.
With one hand covering my mouth, I carefully turned my head to see the actions of the man behind me.
‘He’s not seeing me, that’s good’
”Phew!”
With a heavy sigh, I calmed my racing heart after imagining what that old man would do if he noticed the difference between me and the other fools. After all, it’s clear that having a faithful and powerful guard dog is good, but if it’s also intelligent, it could generate fear in cowards.
‘I remember my grandmother, when I was young, told me that every man who beats a woman is a coward. Therefore, considering what this geezer is hiding inside the cave, the word coward is an understatement for him’
For this reason and more, I must avoid being discovered at all costs.
Having come to that conclusion, I began to scream and roar as saliva flew out of my mouth. So loud was my voice that it was about to match that of the adults, plus I was waving my arms madly, imitating the wild actions of the beasts around me.
While behaving like a rampaging animal, I realized something I had ignored. Namely, I concentrated too much on thinking and remembering that I forgot to watch the fights carefully enough.
Well, I seem to have overestimated these brats. Yes, they are strong, much stronger than any child of eight, which is the age they look, but that’s about it.
Their movements are not agile, nor do they bother to dodge the blows of their opponents. They take everything and hit everything. Besides, when they get tired, instead of giving up, they throw themselves against each other to grab arms, torso, or legs, throwing them to the ground where they start scratching or biting each other, whatever they can.
‘Nothing more or less than a crude street fight’
With things like this, I shouldn’t have much trouble fighting them in single fights, as if I execute it well, a solid kick to the chin or temple would be enough to knock them out, and considering that they don’t dodge punches, it would probably be easy for me to connect.
Interesting discovery. This has led me to think that it would be good to participate in this mini-tournament. Of course, I will not do it, but it has tempted me. Although, when this is over, and they heal, it will be different…
‘Bring them meat in case things get dangerous? Ha, these little bastards don’t deserve that kind of care from me, for if they try to get out of line during practice, I’ll beat the shit out of them and show them who’s boss. Moreover, if they behave well, I might even take them in as true subordinates who I would teach to fight so that they could help me on the day of the escape’
Many plans and scenarios kept popping into my head as the fight before me was about to end.
Both boys saw each other fiercely, inches apart, as they lay on the ground pulling at the hairs that grew on their arms, chests, and backs. Baring their yellow teeth, they threatened to bite each other to death, but before they could do so, the energy in their bodies drained away, causing them to faint on the spot.
It was a draw.
However, none of that mattered to me, who lost in my imagination, continued shouting in support of the non-existent winner. I imagined myself fighting against the best young warriors so that, after defeating them with ease, as in those gang anime, I could take them to my side, where they would respect me as an older brother and then, together as heroes, save the maidens trapped here.
So many childish dreams were shattered in the instant when, suddenly, I felt a pressure on my neck and then being lifted off the ground.
Without delay, the bestial instincts that I thought were non-existent in my body kicked in with force, leading me to see my surrounding world at an even slower speed than usual. In a split second, I barely turned my head to see, out of the corner of my eye, the reflection of the sunlight on the old and darkened metal armor of the giant who held me.
Such a flash of sunlight almost blinded me, yet, with difficulty, I caught a glimpse of the reflected face of a child, one that was identical to those who looked at me with envy and expectation, only that, unlike them, this one appeared to be one or two years older. It was mine. It was I who, with eyes wide open in surprise, looked at the giant who was about to throw me through the air.
I didn’t have time to process everything that was happening, as before I could do so, the weightlessness of my body forced me to use every neuron in my being to think about how to fall without hurting myself too much.
Seeing that I was going face first, I thought about using both hands to perform a maneuver that would allow me and turn around to end up on my feet, but knowing that I did not possess the necessary skill to pull off such an acrobatic stunt, I settled for putting both arms covering my head in a fetal position so that my elbows and knees would be the first to hit the ground.
In the end, I don’t know if that was the best choice I could have made or if fear led me to act wrong, ending up with more wounds than I should have, but that’s not important for now.
Getting up as quickly as I could and taking advantage of the fact that I was not stunned by the fall, I looked directly at the brat against whom I would face, who slowly stood up while holding his head due to the pain.
Seeing his condition, I decided I couldn’t miss this opportunity to end without showing many of my skills, so I acted immediately.
I ran towards him with long strides without turning to look at those eyes full of interest that were fixed on me.
