Lucas's first fight against Rocco had finally arrived, and it was time to fight. A considerably larger number of spectators showed up on that particular night. He flexes his hands as a throng of eager fans rushes into the arena, pounding their feet in anticipation of the match. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground as his nose was assaulted with the myriad scents of female lycans in the stand. And the tension in the air was particularly different tonight since he could sense Harper's presence among the crowd; her human scent was particularly noticeable. It's suffocating, and it's too much for his senses to tolerate.
Despite the fact that they lived under the same roof, he hadn't seen or spoken to Harper in a long time, and he yearned for her desperately.
For the sake of clarity, he dropped into a crouch to get his bearings. It was soon after the fight between a large black wolf and a smaller brown wolf that his bout against Rocco, which was the night's main event, was soon to follow. He took short breaths, once, twice, in and out, barely catching a faint whiff of Harper's smell as it drifted through the stands.
Suddenly, the crowd yelled, interrupting his thoughts of Harper. Looking back to the arena, he saw that the black wolf had swiped the gray wolf across the face with a bloodied paw. Smaller yet, but with more experience and knowledge of the bigger beast, the gray wolf managed to find his footing and leapt onto the back of the black wolf and kicked it.
The audience erupted in applause once more, and Lucas couldn't help but think of the depravity that these individuals were reveling in. For someone who was born in the modern day and in the modern world, this heinous sport was nothing short of appalling and horrifying to him.
The black wolf, who appeared to be more animal than human, struggled to his feet, his gaze fixed on the gray wolf, who was lying in a pool of blood on the sandy ground. But the gray wolf didn’t waste time and attacked the bigger wolf, pounced on it, and butchered it with his claws in a matter of seconds.
The black wolf howled before crashing to the ground with a loud thud. The crowd screamed, and a jarring barrage of ecstatic cries resonated in Lucas's head.
"What a tragic end for Lumar. Don’t you all agree?" In a humorous tone, the Master Presenter remarked. "Damn! Nearly 10 years as the sport's top champion, who knew that tonight would mark the beginning of his retirement? Lumar, have fun on the other side!"
The iron gates opened and soldiers whom Lucas had spotted wandering around the casa marched in to rid the arena of Lumar's lifeless body. The thundering applause, on the other hand, continued incessantly, and it became clear to Lucas that the audience didn't care about Lumar, who had been a champion for a decade. In fact, they were hankering for more. Hungry for the main event of the night.
As the Master Presenter declared, "And now, people of Velaris, I bring you this evening's main event," he went on to describe the fight between two fighters from Velaris' own House of Champions.
The enthusiastic crowd applauded and cheered when the left wrought iron gates opened, allowing Gillen's seasoned champion, Rocco, who was clothed in nothing but knee-length woolen shorts, to enter the round arena.
"Rocco! Rocco! Rocco!" the large crowd chanted veteran fighter's name.
He smiled and waved to the public, taking in all the applause and cheers that the audience was showering him with. He received louder and more clapping when he lifted his fist in the air. He was well-versed in manipulating the crowd, and he was well aware that they were all there to watch him defeat an outsider.
As he waited for Lucas, he could feel the grit of the sand under his sandals. He had been victorious in this arena so many times, and he took pleasure in the vicious and brutal carnage he inflicted on his opponents, but this time was different. This time, he was fighting a rookie, and the match was solely for fun. To him, Lucas was just a toy that he needed to play with in order to keep the Velarians entertained.
Back at Lucas, the first-time fighter didn't bat an eye as he began to walk up the ramp that would take him directly into the arena. He took a deep breath and felt his heart explode out of his chest when he heard the all-too-familiar screech of the gate opening. He waited until the door was completely open before moving ahead.
Stepping into the huge arena, and in front of the spectators for the first time, the Master Presenter briefly introduced Lucas. Then he gave the signal to Rocco and Lucas to begin the fight.
Their goal was to inflict as much pain as they possibly could on the other lycan in order to keep them down or knock them out and prevent them from continuing the fight.
The crowd watched with bated breath as the lycans transformed into their beastly forms. Rocco's wolf had an unusual coat; he was mostly black with gray legs, ears, and weird patterns. Among his distinguishing characteristics were the presence of a ring of black in his golden eyes, as well as two white stripes on his snout that matched one another.
Instantaneously, Lucas crouched down to the ground, claws elongating, bones changing and snapping, all to the delight of the screaming audience. And in his full lycan form, Lucas roared. Compared to Rocco's scruffy fur, his thick white and gray coat looked more spruced up and made him appear more majestic and regal. Not only that, but he was also significantly larger and taller than Rocco, which caused the spectators to suddenly scream in adoration.
Gillen grinned from his seat in the imperial box as he heard the public slowly shouting for Lucas. Taking a look around, he noticed Kara staring at Lucas with a sly smirk crossing her lips, while Liv looked back at him with a big smile. She gave him a nod before shifting her focus to Lucas.
Inside the arena, Lucas blinked as Rocco roared with fervor and lunged at him. He maintained his composure until the very last instant, before sliding slightly to the side. He quickly brought one of his long, sharp claws down in a sweeping motion. However, Rocco was able to see through his tactic and retreated to the side, resulting in him only inflicting a gash on Rocco's right shoulder, rather than landing a lethal blow.
Rocco growled at Lucas. Lucas quickly regained his momentum and charged forward, but his onslaught was thwarted by the experienced fighter, who was quicker than he had anticipated. Rocco retaliated quickly, dancing out of the lunge of his arms and slicing violently across his back. Lucas howled in pain before recovering his footing. He turned to face Rocco, instantly realizing his error as he felt the cut erupt across his flesh.
Once again, Rocco charged at Lucas, but the bigger fighter dodged out of the way then seized the back of the seasoned fighter head and hurled him into the concrete wall. But with his feet up against the wall, Rocco used the force to flip off the wall and complete a somersault before landing on his feet again.
With his lack of combat experience, Lucas was at a disadvantage, but as the fight progressed, he was picking up on Rocco's movements quickly and sustaining only small injuries that healed nearly rapidly.
With fists thumping and feet stamping in unison, the crowd started to chant for a winner. They didn't seem to be interested in protracted fights, it would seem. Rather than a slow and painful conclusion, they preferred something swift and savage.
After a while, Rocco's speed wore down, and he was no longer able to keep up with the increasing pace of the fight and was unable to slip out of Lucas' reach in time to avoid his claws tearing into the flesh of his rib cage. Then Lucas' other claws clamped down on Rocco's upper arm, causing the smaller wolf to spin around and fall back into his grip.
Rocco pivoted, snarling low and kicking out at the back of Lucas' leg. But Lucas wouldn't let him go, flinging his body around against the sand.
As the fight was drawing to a close, the crowd's screams of delight increased.
Panicking, Rocco sank his sharp teeth into Lucas' upper right leg. Lucas suppressed a growl as he watched the black lycan gripped and his teeth sink halfway into his leg. Lucas fought and wrestled to free himself until he rolled over on the sand. His body jerked back up just as Rocco did, and before Rocco could attack him again, he returned the favor by stabbing one of his claws into his thigh.
Rocco screamed in agony and turned around, bent on knocking Lucas down. When Lucas didn't react quickly enough, Rocco leapt up and knocked him to the ground, trapping him with his front paws to keep him from moving. He could feel the black lycan's desire for blood as its jaws opened just inches from his face. But he was not about to let Rocco win, so he used his legs as springs and his remaining strength to launch the beast, the older lycan, into the air. With a howl, Rocco came crashing down behind him.
As Lucas climbed to his feet, he approached Rocco, expecting the next attack, but instead he saw Rocco writhing on its side and one of its front paws bent, indicating that the impact had fractured its legs. The moment Rocco attempted to stand up, Lucas dashed towards him and used his leg to quickly knock him to the ground.
Rocco struggled for a brief moment before collapsing in submission, accepting his defeat.
Soon enough, Lucas heared the cheers for him echoing around the arena. He roared loudly as he stood up and walked around, addressing different sections of the arena with each stride.
Yet, even with the raucous applause and the wave of people chanting his name, he couldn't help but notice Alex's stunned and shocked piercing nordic eyes staring at him from the stands amongst the other fighters.