Champion of Earth: Travis Banks.
«The winner of this match is the reigning, defending, undisputed heavyweight champion, Travis "The Hook" Banks!!»
The announcer declared. The match had lasted only two rounds before it ended in a TKO. The champ, as always, let his hand be raised by the referee, his expression flat.
«The champ is 18-0 and showing no signs of slowing down. What do you think about him, Martin?»
«The man is a juggernaut, we haven't seen someone like him in a long while in the world of MMA. All eighteen of these matches ended in the first three rounds by TKO and—»
«What the fuck?»
Both commentators stopped talking as they noticed something very bizarre. Travis Banks had vanished right in front of them like he never existed.
_______
[Initializing...
Welcome, player #99, to the Warforged Trials. You have been selected to defend your planet against an interstellar threat...]
Travis Banks realized he was suddenly in an expansive forest. The fighting gear he wore had been replaced with casual, comfortable clothes.
To his surprise, he could tell what situation he was in and what was required of him. The information had been beamed directly into his mind. A smile formed on his face due to the sheer absurdity of what it implied.
'Okay, let's see my stats.'
Status
Name: Travis Banks
Physique: 1.01
Health: Peak condition
Weapons: None
Armor: None
Implants: None
Manuals: None
Kill Points: 0
Shop Points: 0
Contestants: 10,000/10,000
Map
Shop
Even though he knew this panel would appear when he commanded it to, seeing was believing.
He then gathered his thoughts and focused on the map. The forest had an area of 8,000 km² and was constantly shrinking toward the center. He got his bearings and started observing his surroundings.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The surroundings were deafeningly quiet. It slightly unnerved him, but he pushed the feeling down and moved forward.
He tried to move as quietly as possible, knowing he might run into another contestant at any moment. After walking for a bit, he heard some rustling coming from his left side.
He quickly scurried to the side of a tree and hid. He then peeked his head out to see what was moving in that direction.
His eyes met the focused gaze of a dark-skinned woman. She was tall and fairly well-built. Even with the casual clothes she had on, her well-defined muscles were visible. Her posture was confident as she declared:
"There's no need to hide. Come out so I can bash your brains in and get this over with."
Travis picked up a decent-sized rock and clenched it in his right fist. This was a fight to the death; he couldn't pull his punches.
He walked out with a calm expression, observing the woman for a few moments before strolling forward. The woman moved forward as well, her fist clenched.
"What do you have in your fist there? A rock? Do you need the extra edge to feel a little safer?"
Travis said nothing; he just watched her attentively.
When they got close to each other, they dashed forward, rushing to get the first hit in. Their feet crushed twigs and leaves with each stride, creating crunching noises that rang out.
When they got into melee range, the woman swung a devastating haymaker, a rock clenched tightly in her fist.
Travis blocked the strike with his left hand and struck at her neck with his right. She bobbed her head to the side, barely dodging the strike, and tried to step back.
Travis grabbed her arm and pulled her back in. His right fist was already cocked back, ready to strike again.
The woman didn't lose her cool. Her eyes were sharp as she countered with a crotch kick. Travis barely blocked the kick with his leg, but before he could regain his balance, his vision darkened as pain exploded on his face. He was struck in the face—once, twice—the woman's fist bashing his face repeatedly.
He staggered back and tried to gain some breathing room, but the woman could smell blood in the water.
She hammered out a powerful front kick to Travis' chest, causing him to stumble backward with a grunt and crashed into a tree with his back, he dropped the rock in the process.
The woman followed up with a running knee strike. Travis awkwardly dodged to the side and took a fighting stance when he had made some distance between them.
He had a bleeding cut above his right eye and was breathing heavily with deep, controlled breaths, but a slight smile could be seen on his face as he murmured:
"Round two."
He then dashed toward the woman without hesitation. The woman adjusted her stance and stood still. She had noticed the change in his demeanor, and her eyes became stone-cold as she analyzed him.
When Travis got in range, he threw a jab, which she weaved, and tried to close the distance between them.
Travis smiled wider as he stepped in faster than the woman and delivered a sharp uppercut directly to her chin. The force of the blow rattled her skull and caused her to stumble backward. He continued his onslaught, smashing her in the temple with a devastating right hook. He felt her skull crack against his knuckle due to the impact.
The woman crumbled to the ground like a ragdoll; she was out like a light.
Travis' expression became stoic as he walked over to her and put her in a rear-naked choke. The woman thrashed and clawed at Travis for a while, but her struggle was to no avail as he kept his hold on her neck like a coiled serpent. After he had held on for minutes on end, he suddenly heard a ping in his mind, like a notification going off.
Announcement:
You have defeated a contestant.
+1 kill point. +1 shop point.
He finally let go and took deep breaths. This was the first time he had intentionally killed someone. Even though it didn't make him want to throw up, he wasn't exactly beaming with glee either.
He stared at his bruised and aching knuckles for a few moments as the weight of his actions set in. His adrenaline rush was gone, and exhaustion was now taking over.
Although his mind wanted to ponder the origins of the woman and the implications of this fight, he knew he had to get away from his correct location first; the commotion from the fight could have been heard by other competitors.
As he moved away as quietly as he could, he opened his status screen to assign his kill point.
Due to all the information transferred to his mind the moment he arrived, he knew how to use his kill points and shop points. Now he just had to use them efficiently to give him an edge in his upcoming battles.
Physique: 1.01—>2
He had to stop moving and placed a hand on a tree beside him to stabilize himself as he felt his body changing and strengthening. He slipped into a state of euphoria for a few moments during the process, then it was suddenly over.
The hand he had on the tree clenched slightly as he tried to push off it, but to his surprise, the bark cracked, and he yanked off a piece of it as he pushed away.
He looked down at his hands and smiled.
'I'm going to love this.'
————
Status
Name: Travis Banks
Physique: 2
Health: Peak condition
Weapons: None
Armor: None
Implants: None
Manuals: None
Kill Points: 1
Shop Points: 1
Contestants: 9998/10,000
Map
Shop