Vol. 2 – Chapter 53 - Cain the Olympic Champion
.
.
.
It has been one week since Mathias returned back to Titan, where there wasn't much of progress leveling wise, his level still stagnated to level 32, while the bright star of the game, Kraugel, reached level 45, while the Leviathan's Red was pushing ahead, ranked second, after Kraugel being level 43.
The environment and landscape of the rankings were always interchangeable but the top 10 was stable, being led by the ones since the beginning. The only difference was the disappearance of Vivian and Paula, who level up slower than the rest, yet, maintaining their ranking to the top 50.
Nevertheless, those changes didn't matter for two individuals of relative same age who together with two youngsters stared at a livestream, where it was televised the Olympics. The broadcast anchor was doing a great job of telling to the public the competitions that were about to happen, in the following day, with one particular notion that interested the raven-haired young man.
"Matei, why are you interested in watching the Olympics? There are so many other good shows to watch nowadays, especially about Satisfy. We'll get to learn more about the situation of other guys, and what the rest of the content is for the rest of the kingdoms. Why the Olympics?" asked the blonde-haired guy, in question, Vlad, who held a can of beer in his hand, while glancing at the TV female anchor.
"That's right, big brother, this is quite lame." mentioned Gabriel, Vlad's little brother, while his friend Ian remained quiet, listening to what the anchor had to say.
"It is 22 November, the Olympic boxing final, that's what I want to see, afterwards we can do whatever." replied Mathias, calmly, giving the boys the context of why he wanted to watch the Olympics.
"Just some amateur boxing, right? What's so interesting?" remarked Vlad, taking a sip from his can of beer, before time flew by, and the event they were waiting for appeared on the TV screen, which was on time with the schedule Mathias knew from checking online.
The transmission of the arena that was filled to the brim with people that waited patiently for the event to happen. In the center of the arena, there was a boxing ring, that reigned supreme, making its appearance for the four guys watching the TV, where the new anchor of the transmission, with only the voice being audible began giving a rundown to the finalists of the Middleweight Category.
[We are just about to watch a spectacular match between the one of the best in this generation of fighters. Arturo LaMotta whose record is an impeccable 62 fights with 0 loses, the coming from New York, but representing his mother country, Italy. He is a phenomenon whose fight style only resembles the greats in boxing. It makes me say from the bottom of my heart, he resembles Saul Canelo Alvarez with his style.
On another hand, we can't overlook the other finalist, from Uzbekistan, Bakhodir Rashitov, his amateur record of 26-2, but one thing is to mention all of his defeats belong to his starting career, since then he has been on a 17 win-streak, showing off his raw talent in the Olympics, taking the spot of the Dark Horse.
But will he be, that Dark Horse to upset this phenomenon? We can't only watch to see what the two fighters will offer to our eyes.]
.
On the couch where the four stood, Vlad scratched his head, not knowing anything about those names, nor even caring, but glazing at Mathias, he saw him nod agreeing with what the anchor was telling.
"I want to watch this match just because of Arturo."
"Do you know this guy by chance?" inquired Vlad, feeling it weird for Mathias to say such a thing, but then he heard his little brother who pointed out at the TV where someone began walking out, with the camera being focused on it.
"Big brother, that guy is familiar."
"Hmm, you are right, but why do I feel the same?"
"Doesn't that guy looks like Cain from Stoned?" inquired Ian, after both Vlad and his younger brother Gabriel, gave their tries recollecting their memories about who the guy on the screen could be.
"Indeed, well done Ian, that is indeed Cain, the guild leader of 2Stoned2Care. This is who he is outside of the game, not that he made too many waves nowadays since he probably was training his butt off for the Olympics."
Vlad could see this young man 1,83 meters tall, with tanned skin, a physique that could make many people jealous, and even a handsome face to top it off, all the bonuses for creating a star. After he made his first steps, a popular song of the generation began walking him out, creating a buzz with the younger people in the audience that cheered for Arturo's walkout.
Raven hair, slit back to not become uncomfortable, wearing his red boxing attire, he entered the ring in a calm way.
"CAIN!!! YOU CAN DO IT!"
The voices of the fan-girls who came to attend the Olympics staged in Paris was distinct becoming loud, and as Arturo was waving his hands at the fans while smiling warmly at them, it made his old coach in particular grunt in annoyance while gazing at this pupil of his doing all this fanservice.
"Arturo, son, focus. Don't get drawn in those little girls chanting for you, and giving you the impression you are the best. There is always a match for anyone. We planned the gameplan for Rashitov but things can change at a twist of fingers."
"Aye, pops. Do you really think I am getting consumed by the chants of those girls or the public? This is a fight, not some spectacle, while there are some aspects to it. I am here to win gold, and later get my crown in the real ring. This is just a warm-up."
The camera was on the coach and pupil and there could be some talk between the two, as if they were planning something, but Mathias who watched from far away, could see the small change in Arturo's eyes, where a visible fighting spirit was transmitted.
Not too long, his opponent too walked out, a 1,86 meters, brown hair, a caucasian looking person walked out, wearing the blue attire, using a traditional Russian song, which didn't vibe too much with the public, but the boxer in question didn't even glance at the public, only focused on one person, standing in the red corner with close eyes, whereby his side an old man was telling something.
"Bakhodir, don't forget the game plan, don't get caught in what fight that little bastard wants you to fight. He will try to feint you and use his footwork to open your body, so to counter this you have to jab and connect cleanly afterward with some combos. Once you've cut his legs, you've taken his entire advantage."
"Understood coach. I will not disappoint."
"I know, now show me the best boxing."
.
Getting into the ring and walking to his corner listening to some of the referee instructions before the fight started, the two finalists started the match, where both started slow, measuring each one's strengths, with Arturo being the one to have the initiative in the fight, using a fast footwork, and jabs to keep the Uzbeki mind thinking constantly of what he wanted to do.
The sound of the people in the audience cheering up at each of the contacts, made the coach's shouts being unhearable, but Rashitov's coach was constantly shouting for him to get to work and follow the gameplan.
It was then, with his coach impulse that Rashitov finally started boxing, taking Arturo on his defense. He eat some body shots in the process which were scored by the judges, and whenever he wanted to feint him, and set him up, the response was jabs to his face.
'So, you don't like my feints? I see, but I still got my aces to try, so let's see what you are good at.'
The 3 minutes first round ended with a win for Bakhodir Rashitov, who raised his hand in a victorious fashion, before returning to his stool.
.
Vlad who watched the first round of the Olympic finals, turned to ask Mathias a simple question.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Hard to say, from what the Russian guy showed, it seems he got Arturo's number. But then, I've watched his Olympic circuit fight and could note something. Cain is a fitting name that he picked for his character now that I've seen him on the ring."
"What do you mean?"
"Just watch, the next round."
.
With a minute of break, the two fighters in the ring got back to action, with Bakhodir Rashitov sticking to the same gameplan as in the first round, but as 25 seconds of the second round passed, Arturo shifted his stance going Southpaw, where he unleashed a lightning fast jab to his face, before connecting cleanly with a liver shot.
Grunting in pain, Rashitov's eyes shifted a bit as he glanced at Arturo who began to let go of the reins on his feet and start his own style fight. The fight got one-sided with the Uzbek being on the defensive, with Cain bisecting his enemy boxing style and defense as if it was Neo downloading the Matrix.
"TIME"
The referee got between Arturo who was unleashing his shots on the Uzbek who could only attempt at fighting back but without much success.
Arturo glanced at Rashitov with an emotionless expression, with his bruised lips irking up slightly as if he was mocking his enemy, and after the Italian returned in his corner, he glanced at the trainer who was telling him some mistakes he made on the second round.
"Calm down, I got the attack pattern of that guy. He has nothing for me, if he opens his body in the third, I will drop him and take the gold home."
"Kid, don't lower your guard. Just follow with what we worked, and if he begins to counter your southpaw, go orthodox."
"Hah, I will start orthodox."
.
On the TV, the match with the first round being won by Bakhodir Rashitov, and the second round being won by Arturo LaMotta, the third round started rather similar to the first round, which made many out lookers question what Arturo was trying to do.
Mathias was curious too, and as the round began he saw the two get in the ring center and throw jabs at one another to feel the distance, and after all the setups and plays were done, Arturo was light on his feet, dodging most of the punches the Uzbek had for him, and along the way countering him. Doing the counter puncher style, and then pushing on with a flurry of punches, that opened his enemy body, right for the taking.
A liver shot thrown by Arturo knocked the man down, starting the countdown. The referee was doing the counting from the moment Rashitov's knee touched the canvas.
Cain was surprised to see the Uzbek get up from his shot, but that attack drained most of Rashitov's resources, making him just ready to go on a journey to the Shadow Realm, and with the referee commencing the fight between the two and with one more minute on the clock, he quickly made a work of his guard, and with the jabs setting his combos, an uppercut dropped the Uzbek again.
The referee didn't allow Rashitov to get himself damaged more than it required and stopped the match, relieving the latter of unnecessary damage.
.
The four guys watching the match from Bucharest, especially Vlad, was shocked by the fight he saw, and threw a question at Mathias, who nodded his head with the fight he saw.
"How did he do it?"
"Do what?"
"Knock the guy down, he was winning the fight at first."
"Boxing is like a chess match. You don't make all your moves from the first starting minute, instead, check around to see what the enemy might have in store for you. Thus Cain who had more moves under his sleeve got the guy done."
"A check-mate. Or how in boxing, knockdown."
Things began getting cleared out in the boxing ring, as the two young men were discussing aspects of the match, soon the ceremony of crowning the Olympic champions also was staged with the bronze medalist and silver medalist standing lower than Arturo whose expression remained of a chilling calm in the entire time the procession was happening.
"Congratulations again for the victory. Do you have some words for the end, Arturo, for the people awaiting your future move to professional boxing?" inquired one reporter after the awarding ceremony ended.
"Thank you and also my appreciation for everyone supporting me and my career. With my coaches, I wouldn't be where I am right now, so props to them, Cesare Ricatii, Luca Agnesi, and so on.
My plan, for now, is to focus on this new game I've started playing, Satisfy since my friends there make fun of me for being the lowest level person in the group. So, it will take maybe one year before someone sees me on the professional stage, knowing all the things going on with me."
"We would wait to hear more from you, Arturo."
Beside this one reporter, there were others who asked their question to Arturo who remained calm, responding to most of the questions, until he glanced at a clock on the arena, and cut short his media time, walking off with his old coach and assistant, ending this series of Olympics in a good taste and without any incidents.
On their way to the locker room, the old man, Cesare Ricatii remained quiet for most of the walk, but then a question was thrown at him.
"Arturo, do you really want to get this old man in a hospital or something?"
"Why ask pops?"
"With that stupid game of yours, it will eat at your training time, and turn you into shit. A weakling as most kids nowadays have turned out to be."
"Pops you say this because you never experienced 'Satisfy'. I'll buy you one capsule with the prize of the Gold Medal, so you can also relax a bit when you get bored at home."
"Hmph, I am too old for "games". Maybe when I was younger, I did some playing, but now? At 62, what can an old man like me play?"
"Nah, pops, you play it with your mind, not hands or body. It can turn you into your younger shape once again from what I've heard from the forums I've read."
"Merda, are you serious?"
"Si, vecchio sfigato." responded Arturo, in Italian, chuckling for a bit, when glancing at his old coach's face.
"Little piece of shit, don't you dare make fun of me."
"Just a little bit. Anyway, we got the gold. Didn't you say you always wanted to participate in the Olympics but because of your financial situation you couldn't? Now, we got it."
"Does it even matter that I couldn't participate in the Olympics, I was an immigrant, so it is obvious why they didn't allow me. But this is all of your work done in the gym, and less mine."
After they got to the locker room, and with Arturo in the shower room, the two old men, the head coach and assistant, were talking about what Arturo remarked about the game, if it could make them younger and so on, and while the young man was showering, he heard old Cesare say.
"I'll buy that thing myself, you just help me set it up in my room."
"HAH? Did you say something, pops?"
The old man repeated himself, again, and what he received as a response was a blatant laugh, but before the old man could get angry, Arturo agreed while remarking.
"Can't I even wash myself nowadays?"
"I'll turn off the warm water if you complain."
"Go on, try it, if your back is feeling too well."
Vol. 2 – Chapter 53 - Cain the Olympic Champion
.
.
.
It has been one week since Mathias returned back to Titan, where there wasn't much of progress leveling wise, his level still stagnated to level 32, while the bright star of the game, Kraugel, reached level 45, while the Leviathan's Red was pushing ahead, ranked second, after Kraugel being level 43.
The environment and landscape of the rankings were always interchangeable but the top 10 was stable, being led by the ones since the beginning. The only difference was the disappearance of Vivian and Paula, who level up slower than the rest, yet, maintaining their ranking to the top 50.
Nevertheless, those changes didn't matter for two individuals of relative same age who together with two youngsters stared at a livestream, where it was televised the Olympics. The broadcast anchor was doing a great job of telling to the public the competitions that were about to happen, in the following day, with one particular notion that interested the raven-haired young man.
"Matei, why are you interested in watching the Olympics? There are so many other good shows to watch nowadays, especially about Satisfy. We'll get to learn more about the situation of other guys, and what the rest of the content is for the rest of the kingdoms. Why the Olympics?" asked the blonde-haired guy, in question, Vlad, who held a can of beer in his hand, while glancing at the TV female anchor.
"That's right, big brother, this is quite lame." mentioned Gabriel, Vlad's little brother, while his friend Ian remained quiet, listening to what the anchor had to say.
"It is 22 November, the Olympic boxing final, that's what I want to see, afterwards we can do whatever." replied Mathias, calmly, giving the boys the context of why he wanted to watch the Olympics.
"Just some amateur boxing, right? What's so interesting?" remarked Vlad, taking a sip from his can of beer, before time flew by, and the event they were waiting for appeared on the TV screen, which was on time with the schedule Mathias knew from checking online.
The transmission of the arena that was filled to the brim with people that waited patiently for the event to happen. In the center of the arena, there was a boxing ring, that reigned supreme, making its appearance for the four guys watching the TV, where the new anchor of the transmission, with only the voice being audible began giving a rundown to the finalists of the Middleweight Category.
[We are just about to watch a spectacular match between the one of the best in this generation of fighters. Arturo LaMotta whose record is an impeccable 62 fights with 0 loses, the coming from New York, but representing his mother country, Italy. He is a phenomenon whose fight style only resembles the greats in boxing. It makes me say from the bottom of my heart, he resembles Saul Canelo Alvarez with his style.
On another hand, we can't overlook the other finalist, from Uzbekistan, Bakhodir Rashitov, his amateur record of 26-2, but one thing is to mention all of his defeats belong to his starting career, since then he has been on a 17 win-streak, showing off his raw talent in the Olympics, taking the spot of the Dark Horse.
But will he be, that Dark Horse to upset this phenomenon? We can't only watch to see what the two fighters will offer to our eyes.]
.
On the couch where the four stood, Vlad scratched his head, not knowing anything about those names, nor even caring, but glazing at Mathias, he saw him nod agreeing with what the anchor was telling.
"I want to watch this match just because of Arturo."
"Do you know this guy by chance?" inquired Vlad, feeling it weird for Mathias to say such a thing, but then he heard his little brother who pointed out at the TV where someone began walking out, with the camera being focused on it.
"Big brother, that guy is familiar."
"Hmm, you are right, but why do I feel the same?"
"Doesn't that guy looks like Cain from Stoned?" inquired Ian, after both Vlad and his younger brother Gabriel, gave their tries recollecting their memories about who the guy on the screen could be.
"Indeed, well done Ian, that is indeed Cain, the guild leader of 2Stoned2Care. This is who he is outside of the game, not that he made too many waves nowadays since he probably was training his butt off for the Olympics."
Vlad could see this young man 1,83 meters tall, with tanned skin, a physique that could make many people jealous, and even a handsome face to top it off, all the bonuses for creating a star. After he made his first steps, a popular song of the generation began walking him out, creating a buzz with the younger people in the audience that cheered for Arturo's walkout.
Raven hair, slit back to not become uncomfortable, wearing his red boxing attire, he entered the ring in a calm way.
"CAIN!!! YOU CAN DO IT!"
The voices of the fan-girls who came to attend the Olympics staged in Paris was distinct becoming loud, and as Arturo was waving his hands at the fans while smiling warmly at them, it made his old coach in particular grunt in annoyance while gazing at this pupil of his doing all this fanservice.
"Arturo, son, focus. Don't get drawn in those little girls chanting for you, and giving you the impression you are the best. There is always a match for anyone. We planned the gameplan for Rashitov but things can change at a twist of fingers."
"Aye, pops. Do you really think I am getting consumed by the chants of those girls or the public? This is a fight, not some spectacle, while there are some aspects to it. I am here to win gold, and later get my crown in the real ring. This is just a warm-up."
The camera was on the coach and pupil and there could be some talk between the two, as if they were planning something, but Mathias who watched from far away, could see the small change in Arturo's eyes, where a visible fighting spirit was transmitted.
Not too long, his opponent too walked out, a 1,86 meters, brown hair, a caucasian looking person walked out, wearing the blue attire, using a traditional Russian song, which didn't vibe too much with the public, but the boxer in question didn't even glance at the public, only focused on one person, standing in the red corner with close eyes, whereby his side an old man was telling something.
"Bakhodir, don't forget the game plan, don't get caught in what fight that little bastard wants you to fight. He will try to feint you and use his footwork to open your body, so to counter this you have to jab and connect cleanly afterward with some combos. Once you've cut his legs, you've taken his entire advantage."
"Understood coach. I will not disappoint."
"I know, now show me the best boxing."
.
Getting into the ring and walking to his corner listening to some of the referee instructions before the fight started, the two finalists started the match, where both started slow, measuring each one's strengths, with Arturo being the one to have the initiative in the fight, using a fast footwork, and jabs to keep the Uzbeki mind thinking constantly of what he wanted to do.
The sound of the people in the audience cheering up at each of the contacts, made the coach's shouts being unhearable, but Rashitov's coach was constantly shouting for him to get to work and follow the gameplan.
It was then, with his coach impulse that Rashitov finally started boxing, taking Arturo on his defense. He eat some body shots in the process which were scored by the judges, and whenever he wanted to feint him, and set him up, the response was jabs to his face.
'So, you don't like my feints? I see, but I still got my aces to try, so let's see what you are good at.'
The 3 minutes first round ended with a win for Bakhodir Rashitov, who raised his hand in a victorious fashion, before returning to his stool.
.
Vlad who watched the first round of the Olympic finals, turned to ask Mathias a simple question.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Hard to say, from what the Russian guy showed, it seems he got Arturo's number. But then, I've watched his Olympic circuit fight and could note something. Cain is a fitting name that he picked for his character now that I've seen him on the ring."
"What do you mean?"
"Just watch, the next round."
.
With a minute of break, the two fighters in the ring got back to action, with Bakhodir Rashitov sticking to the same gameplan as in the first round, but as 25 seconds of the second round passed, Arturo shifted his stance going Southpaw, where he unleashed a lightning fast jab to his face, before connecting cleanly with a liver shot.
Grunting in pain, Rashitov's eyes shifted a bit as he glanced at Arturo who began to let go of the reins on his feet and start his own style fight. The fight got one-sided with the Uzbek being on the defensive, with Cain bisecting his enemy boxing style and defense as if it was Neo downloading the Matrix.
"TIME"
The referee got between Arturo who was unleashing his shots on the Uzbek who could only attempt at fighting back but without much success.
Arturo glanced at Rashitov with an emotionless expression, with his bruised lips irking up slightly as if he was mocking his enemy, and after the Italian returned in his corner, he glanced at the trainer who was telling him some mistakes he made on the second round.
"Calm down, I got the attack pattern of that guy. He has nothing for me, if he opens his body in the third, I will drop him and take the gold home."
"Kid, don't lower your guard. Just follow with what we worked, and if he begins to counter your southpaw, go orthodox."
"Hah, I will start orthodox."
.
On the TV, the match with the first round being won by Bakhodir Rashitov, and the second round being won by Arturo LaMotta, the third round started rather similar to the first round, which made many out lookers question what Arturo was trying to do.
Mathias was curious too, and as the round began he saw the two get in the ring center and throw jabs at one another to feel the distance, and after all the setups and plays were done, Arturo was light on his feet, dodging most of the punches the Uzbek had for him, and along the way countering him. Doing the counter puncher style, and then pushing on with a flurry of punches, that opened his enemy body, right for the taking.
A liver shot thrown by Arturo knocked the man down, starting the countdown. The referee was doing the counting from the moment Rashitov's knee touched the canvas.
Cain was surprised to see the Uzbek get up from his shot, but that attack drained most of Rashitov's resources, making him just ready to go on a journey to the Shadow Realm, and with the referee commencing the fight between the two and with one more minute on the clock, he quickly made a work of his guard, and with the jabs setting his combos, an uppercut dropped the Uzbek again.
The referee didn't allow Rashitov to get himself damaged more than it required and stopped the match, relieving the latter of unnecessary damage.
.
The four guys watching the match from Bucharest, especially Vlad, was shocked by the fight he saw, and threw a question at Mathias, who nodded his head with the fight he saw.
"How did he do it?"
"Do what?"
"Knock the guy down, he was winning the fight at first."
"Boxing is like a chess match. You don't make all your moves from the first starting minute, instead, check around to see what the enemy might have in store for you. Thus Cain who had more moves under his sleeve got the guy done."
"A check-mate. Or how in boxing, knockdown."
Things began getting cleared out in the boxing ring, as the two young men were discussing aspects of the match, soon the ceremony of crowning the Olympic champions also was staged with the bronze medalist and silver medalist standing lower than Arturo whose expression remained of a chilling calm in the entire time the procession was happening.
"Congratulations again for the victory. Do you have some words for the end, Arturo, for the people awaiting your future move to professional boxing?" inquired one reporter after the awarding ceremony ended.
"Thank you and also my appreciation for everyone supporting me and my career. With my coaches, I wouldn't be where I am right now, so props to them, Cesare Ricatii, Luca Agnesi, and so on.
My plan, for now, is to focus on this new game I've started playing, Satisfy since my friends there make fun of me for being the lowest level person in the group. So, it will take maybe one year before someone sees me on the professional stage, knowing all the things going on with me."
"We would wait to hear more from you, Arturo."
Beside this one reporter, there were others who asked their question to Arturo who remained calm, responding to most of the questions, until he glanced at a clock on the arena, and cut short his media time, walking off with his old coach and assistant, ending this series of Olympics in a good taste and without any incidents.
On their way to the locker room, the old man, Cesare Ricatii remained quiet for most of the walk, but then a question was thrown at him.
"Arturo, do you really want to get this old man in a hospital or something?"
"Why ask pops?"
"With that stupid game of yours, it will eat at your training time, and turn you into shit. A weakling as most kids nowadays have turned out to be."
"Pops you say this because you never experienced 'Satisfy'. I'll buy you one capsule with the prize of the Gold Medal, so you can also relax a bit when you get bored at home."
"Hmph, I am too old for "games". Maybe when I was younger, I did some playing, but now? At 62, what can an old man like me play?"
"Nah, pops, you play it with your mind, not hands or body. It can turn you into your younger shape once again from what I've heard from the forums I've read."
"Merda, are you serious?"
"Si, vecchio sfigato." responded Arturo, in Italian, chuckling for a bit, when glancing at his old coach's face.
"Little piece of shit, don't you dare make fun of me."
"Just a little bit. Anyway, we got the gold. Didn't you say you always wanted to participate in the Olympics but because of your financial situation you couldn't? Now, we got it."
"Does it even matter that I couldn't participate in the Olympics, I was an immigrant, so it is obvious why they didn't allow me. But this is all of your work done in the gym, and less mine."
After they got to the locker room, and with Arturo in the shower room, the two old men, the head coach and assistant, were talking about what Arturo remarked about the game, if it could make them younger and so on, and while the young man was showering, he heard old Cesare say.
"I'll buy that thing myself, you just help me set it up in my room."
"HAH? Did you say something, pops?"
The old man repeated himself, again, and what he received as a response was a blatant laugh, but before the old man could get angry, Arturo agreed while remarking.
"Can't I even wash myself nowadays?"
"I'll turn off the warm water if you complain."
"Go on, try it, if your back is feeling too well."
