The crowd roared as Benor rushed me. I could tell he was leaning too far forward to attempt a punch. No, he was going for a tackle. I spun to the side, dodging him easily, and the burly guy almost tripped and fell to the floor.

His face turned into a snarl, and he advanced. He lunged forward, this time with a fist, but I saw it coming a mile away. I had never fought a man that telegraphed his moves so obviously. Then it hit me. This was my new skill. This was the Heightened Awareness sense from the Close Quarter Combat Specialist skill I had picked.

I didn’t know how long it would last, so I decided I needed to make quick work of this. He jabbed at me twice, and I knew the hook was coming. With a clean backstep, I dodged it and followed it up with a straight of my own.

The hit caught him off guard, and I figured if it was working, I might as well keep doing it, so I hit him with three more straights. He blocked the fourth and tried to bring me to the ground, but he was dazed and unable to bring me to the floor. I elbowed him hard in the back, and he fell to his knees. I saw his body tense as he prepared to launch himself up at me in a final gambit, so I hopped back and gave him time to get back up.

This earned me some boos from the crowd.

Benor spit blood and waved his hand in the air, “Fuck this kid, I yield.”

The onlookers cheered and booed in unison.

I waved at the crowd, giving them the show they wanted until my eyes found Master Roan. “Whose up next?”

“Someone of the appropriate skill level will step forward,” Roan said.

He held his arms out to the crowd again. “Who among you will test our new brother? You’ve had a chance to see how he handles himself. Step forward now if you believe you would be a worthy test.”

A section of the crowd began to part, and a woman emerged into the ring. She had a medium, athletic build and wore trousers similar to mine. The sleeves on her off-white woolen shirt were rolled up. Her dark hair curved around her face, framing it like a portrait.

I smiled at her. She was cute but how she fought would be nothing of the sort. Her confidence scared me.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Minna,” she said as she raised her fists.

Master Roan signaled for the match to begin, and we started the slow process of evaluating and testing our opponent. We circled each other, and I threw out some quick jabs as she tested my range.

Not interested in dragging this out for too long, I decided to make the first move. I faked a jab with my left hand and sent a hard kick into the meat of her thigh, except she raised her leg and expertly deflected the blow.

That’s when she hit me for the first time. It was just a jab, but it caught me by surprise and had me scrambling back as she attempted to land more hits.

This wasn’t anything like the last fight. My Close Combat Specialist skill wasn’t active right now. I had no idea if it was on a recharge or just happened randomly.

I managed to mostly block a flurry of quick blows to my body and decided enough was enough. I lunged forward to grab her. She landed a hard right, but I got in close enough to wrap my arms around her. I spun hard and tossed her to the ground. Instead of smacking into the rough floor, she rolled with the throw and ended up back on her feet.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She winked at me and came at me again. Her right arm was extended back like she was ready to throw a punch, but I noticed her left hand make a fist. I intuitively knew the right would be a feint, and the real attack would come from the left.

My Heightened Combat Awareness had kicked in!

She went for the feint with her right, and instead of staying the defensive like she was expecting, I charged forward and shoulder-tackled her. We fell to the ground, her landing on the hard stone floor and me landing atop her.

I mounted her, ready to strike, but she was too focused on trying to breathe to defend herself. I hopped off her and yanked her up, slinging one of her arms over my shoulder.

When someone had their breath knocked out of them, I knew it was better to get them upright. It would make it easier to breath. At least, that’s what my high school football coach had told me.

Roan came forward and took her other arm so she could rest between us. “While she may not be unconscious, she is out of the fight. This win goes to John!”

I pumped my fist, but I was winded and did so with little enthusiasm. If I didn’t have Close Combat Specialist, she would have beaten me.

Minna’s breath caught not long after I was declared the winner. I thought she would be angry with me, but when she had her breath back, she slapped me gently on the face and said, ‘Never met a man who could take my breath away like that.’ The smile she gave me was playful and knowing and challenging. Minna was good in my book.

After she returned to the crowd, Roan and I were again along the in the ring. I looked for Ersabet, and found her behind me, arms crossed and surrounded by fellow hunters. She looked annoyed until she caught my eye and gave me a supportive nod.

“John has overcome the second tier or this test,” Roan said to the crowd. “Now, let’s see if he can do what few Hunters can. Let’s see if John can win a fight against one of our elites.”

I turned my eyes to the other side of the ring and saw a dark-skinned Kurskin step forward. He had a bit of an emerald tint to his dark scales.

Well, this wasn’t fair at all—or at least it wouldn’t be if I wasn’t actually a Player. The average Kurskin could easily dominate a human. I wondered if he was going to cheat and use his in-game powers. There was only one way to find out.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Djadja Ardja. Welcome to the Hunters, John. You have fought valiantly, but now it is time to give up. You’ve earned yourself a place here with those first two fights. There’s no need to get yourself hurt.”

I looked him up and down distastefully. “I think if I can take on you, there’s no monster in this world I couldn’t handle.”

Roan called for the round to begin. I put my guard up, and Djadja walked casually forward like he didn’t have a care in the world. It pissed me off, and I thought about using Devastating Strike, but I wasn’t ready to show these people that there was something different about me.

Instead of using Simple Distraction, I just took a note from it. I let my guard down and looked curiously at something behind him. Somehow, my stupid trick worked, and he turned his head. I swear people always fall for it. Anyway, the moment he did, I dashed for him and threw a punch as hard as I could.

With incredible speed, his left forearm shot up and blocked the blow, his tough, scaly skin destroying my knuckles in the process. The pain was nearly unbearable, but I saw him beginning to move and knew he was about to send his right fist into my gut.

I leaped back and to the left before he could attack and tried to shake the pain out of my hand. It didn’t work.

“If that trick is the best you have,” Djadja said. “It’s best you yield now.”

I could sense my Heightened Battle Awareness was still active, so I replied with an attack. He easily dodged my flurry of blows, deflecting one with his scaled wrist, which hurt like a bitch.

He saw an opening for an attack. His back foot braced itself on the stone floor and launched at my hip.

As he made his move, I stepped inward and managed to grab hold of the leg. I let its momentum add to my own, and I spun him halfway around and launched him a solid five feet. I said ‘solid’ because he was a heavy son of a gun.

He punched the floor and stood up—no more twinkle left in his eyes. I had embarrassed him. I smiled and waved him forward.

He rushed at me, and I barely dodged his first punch, and then I was lying on the cold stone floor, thoroughly unconscious.