"Twenty years old?!" One of the judges mused with shock. "I'm sorry but-" Andrew who patiently waited for them to make a decision shot up.
"The bare minimum of the age that one had to be in to apply was eighteen, right so why can't I participate?" His tone flat and lackluster. The two judges took a quick glance at him before they looked at each other over their shoulders, their voices reduced down to a whisper.
"Can we allow such a young candidate to run against some of the other contestants?" One of them spoke. "He's young and stupid, thinking that after watching too much television that he's the next star. Just let him complete and when he loses, the only person he'll have to blame is himself."
The two finally looked back at Andrew who was patiently waiting. "Okay, you can run but don't think the rest of your opponents will go easy on you. This is a tournament with real stakes here so be ready for anything."
And with that, he was handed a small ID token that draped effortlessly down his chest before he was granted access to go inside the stadium. After taking his seat and with a bit of patience, the rest of the contestants arrived and the mixed martial arts debut was about to begin.
They wouldn't start right off the bat with the tournament as they had to first assess whether those who had applied were worthy to continue and participate in the contest. A man, dressed in a referee outfit stepped up with a small mic dangling at the ceiling.
He was looking at the rows of benches that were packed with participants of all ages and sizes. "I'm sure that all of you are here for the same goal thus I'll keep this short. We'll run some tests to determine whether you're qualified to keep on running or whether you should be disqualified."
As his eyes swept the crowd, he was amazed with the powerhouses that were present, some by a mere glance could tell that they were veterans at the sport which would no doubt raise hype and attention later on.
"Now, we have a some spaces that are allotted for your examinations all over." His hand gesturing the small mats put out for smaller and quicker events laying all over the place. "Now, all you have to do is simple, just take out an average of two instructors present however given how many there are of you, this will take turns."
And with that, according to their numbering of their ID's given beforehand, those who had arrived first went on and among them was Andrew. "Wait! Is that a kid competing?! They really do allow anyone to participate in these events, huh?"
A snarky comment which resulted with an explosion of laughter however Andrew treated it all as noise as he made his way to the mat. It wasn't that big, spanning around about two meters in diameter and the rest was covered with a soft white material to cushion the fall.
The one that was to evaluate him gave his instructions quick. "All you have to do is knock me out of the ring, make me tap out or perform a knock out." Andrew could tell that he didn't think much of him and that was his disadvantage.
The trainer letting him take the initiative was flabbergasted with his movement and before he knew it...
*Bam*
His fist connected with his lower jaw which resulted with him staggering out of the ring making him score his first point. With that out of the way, he went over to his second trainer who unlike the first one was wary of him as his guard was heavy on his head.
The second exchange however was short lived as Andrew kept on barreling fists on the trainers guard to which he was tempted to lower them but doing so would result with his defeat.
However Andrew wasn't planning on knocking him out with his fists as he dabbled on the side a dash of high kicks which were even more potent that his fists.
"Ahhh!!" With a resounding groan of defeat, the second obstacle was taken care of to which he made his way to the bench where the referee was. Not just him but the rest were shocked that a kid could do such a feat and in record time as well as he was the first one to finish.
"You got talent kid I'll give you that but it'll take you more than that to win. Best of luck to you." And with that, he handed him a certified ID that he was a proper contestant and after signing some documents, he took his leave.
"I can't believe that that kid was able to clear it so easily!" Some of the onlookers expressed their shock whereas others didn't think much of it.
"The first one was just cocky and put his guard down, as for the second one, sure he lasted much longer but given that he was attacking while the trainer was defending, it was clear that he had the upper hand."
Another added. "It would seem that he puts all of his energy into quick and short attacks which will make it detrimental to him when it comes to slower and more dormant contestants. He has speed and potency sure but endurance and stamina is something matters as well."
Some came up with their own conclusions as to why and how he won and not to long after, the interest in his case was dropped. "Let me guess, you lost." One of the judges mused with a ridiculing scoff as he saw Andrew leave so early.
Without a care, he brushed him aside and left for home tow which he took a light shower and scrolled through his phone.
[{How's it going over there?}]
He sent a text to Diana who didn't take long to respond.
[{It's fine and Juliette is actually a great roommate. Thanks Andrew.}]
From there, Diana took the initiative and explained what had been going on with her life as Andrew exposed his tournament to her.
[{Will you be okay? I know that MMA fighters don't fuck around.}]
[{I'll be fine}]
A light reassurance was able to ease her soul but still, she couldn't help but be worried for him.
[{Just stay safe and don't push yourself too hard, okay}]
[{I won't push myself all that hard, goodbye}]
[{Goodbye}]
She responded back and with that, he put his phone down and made himself a more healthy diet due to the circumstances that he was in. After that, retuning to his phone, he was met with messages from Hector.
'Hector, you still want to throw it? Very well.' He wasn't going to smother him given that he was an adult for crying out loud. The message on his phone was an invitation to a party that was going to happen later on down the week.
*Ding*
The front door rang to which he could tell that his package had been delivered. After making a signage with the papers, he was handed his brand new computer. It had all the latest specs in the market thanks to his financial bank.
Thirty minutes later, he was done assembling it all from scratch in his room and fired it up. It gave a soft purr as it sprang to life and before he knew it, it was fully operational.
And with it, he shifted all his work from the laptop to the PC to which he burned the day away. He went to a famous novel app and began writing a novel by dropping five chapters at once.
Other than that, he dowsed himself in rpg and fps games alike. Given his god tier awareness and foresight, he could tell either where the opponents were, what the best gear was and the mechanics of it all.
As for him, experience wax something that came with what he interacted with the first time, something that deprived him from fully enjoying what he did given that he would always know what to do. He didn't learn from his mistakes but rather he succeeded on his first attempt which became rather lackluster extremely quickly.
Just like clockwork, that was how it was. Like a robot, it all became mundane and passive to him in a couple of hours as he made a name for himself that was constant with all that he did. From his games to his alias in his novel.
[{King Of Losers}]
For aggravating purposes to his opponents as he would feel nothing but apathy which made him come to a conclusion. 'If I can't feel then I might as well make the rest feel anything but that. Sadism no doubt but I don't feel any pleasure from this.'
It felt like running a simulation, he knew the outcome of his actions and yet he felt nothing from it. He decided to take a break and make supper. "You're able to become a participant? Bravo." Lucy went on with her praises as she cuddled with her son on his achievement.
"Yeah, but the actual contest begins two days from now." Hw mused as he took a bite out of his meal. "Well I'm sorry that I won't be there but I'm sure that you'll win. I'll try and see whether I can have some days off and cheer you on, okay."
"Thanks mom." His tone robotic like however Lucy was content with it. "Don't worry, I'll clean up this time." Lucy proposed to which he decided to call it a night.
The following day, much to the surprise of Hector, Andrew came over. "Andrew, you're here!" His tone mixed with shock and eagerness. "I thought that you had that tournament going on?" He proposed to which his response was short and curtly.
"I'm done with the tryouts." Glancing around, he could tell that Charlotte was absent. "Don't worry, Charlotte isn't here but my dad is." The two made their way to the balcony where his father happened to be chilling.
"Ah! Andrew, a pleasure to see you again." Sullivan mused with a warm smile on his face as he glanced at the two boys. "Please have a seat." The two took their respective seat to which Andrew took the initiative.
"Sullivan, I have a question for you." The subject in question didn't mind. "Ask away, Andrew." A light muse as he took a light sip of his drink.