C409 Intense Fights

The next match was between Chipmunk and Bloom. Chipmunk had improved dramatically during our training. But Bloom had much more experience. Sarah blocked several attacks. She countered twice. But after several minutes, fatigue began catching up with her. She was breathing heavily. Bloom noticed. She waited for the right moment. Chipmunk's guard dropped slightly. Bloom attacked. Her kick struck Chipmunk hard. Chipmunk was sent flying backward. She landed badly on the ground. We immediately became worried. The referee stepped forward. "The winner is Bloom!" Chipmunk slowly moved. The referee looked toward Bloom. "That was a dangerous kick." Bloom smiled and looked at Hanna who smiled back." The referee continued. "We are all family here. This is only supposed to be a friendly fight." Chipmunk eventually stood up. I watched her carefully. She was hurt, but she refused to complain. Bighead felt sorry for his wife.

Next was Bighead vs Tyson. Bighead walked into the fighting area. I could still see the anger on his face. He had watched Chipmunk get kicked. He wasn't happy. Bighead looked toward me. Then toward Chipmunk. He cracked his knuckles. The referee signaled. Tyson attacked immediately. Bighead blocked. Tyson attacked again. Bighead moved aside. Then Bighead countered. This time, he fought differently. He was focused. He wasn't joking. He fought until Tyson finally fell. The referee raised his hand. "The winner is Bighead!" Bighead immediately smiled. He walked back toward me. "See, brother?" He pointed at himself. "This is how it's done." I shook my head. "Don't get too excited." Bighead laughed. "You're just jealous." "Of course."

The next match was Pixel against Cintia. Before the fight even began, Cintia laughed. "Is this all you can do?" Pixel stared at her. Cintia continued. "I'm fighting a kid?" Pixel didn't respond. The referee signaled. The fight began. Cintia immediately took control. Within minutes, she managed to lock Pixel down. Pixel struggled to escape. But Cintia had too much experience. Eventually, Pixel was forced to surrender. The referee raised Cintia's hand. "The winner is Cintia!" Pixel walked back toward us. She looked disappointed. But she didn't complain. Then came Kiddo. She stepped into the fighting area. Her opponent was Cloud. Nobody expected much from the fight. At least, not at first. But Kiddo surprised everyone. She moved quickly. Cloud attacked. Kiddo dodged. Cloud tried again. Kiddo countered. The fight became closer than anyone expected. Then Kiddo found an opening. She attacked. Cloud fell. The referee stepped forward. "The winner is Kiddo!" Kiddo looked stunned. Then she smiled. We all cheered. Bighead laughed. "That's our Kiddo!" Kiddo returned to us proudly. "Nobody expected that, did they?" Chipmunk smiled. "Not even you." Kiddo laughed.

The next fight was between Ignacio and Silver. Silver fought hard. She blocked several attacks and managed to land a few strikes. But Ignacio's experience eventually became too much. She caught her off guard and brought her down. The referee stepped forward. "The winner is Ignacio!" Silver returned to us disappointed. But she still smiled. "Next time." I nodded. "Definitely." Then came the final fight. The atmosphere immediately changed. Hanna stepped forward. Cipher followed. The two women stood opposite each other. Hanna smiled. She had expected this moment all day. The referee looked at both of them. "Remember, this is a family gathering. The fight is meant to be friendly." Both women nodded.

The referee signaled. The fight began. Hanna attacked first. Cipher blocked. Hanna attacked again. Cipher moved aside and countered. Hanna stepped back. The crowd became quiet. She attacked again. Cipher blocked. Then countered. They were almost perfectly matched. Hanna's expression slowly changed. She had underestimated Alicia. This wasn't the inexperienced young woman she had expected. Cipher was fast. She was disciplined. And more importantly, she knew how to fight. Hanna attacked harder. Alicia defended. Then counterattacked. Hanna was forced backward several times. Her pride began getting in the way. She wasn't fighting for the competition anymore. She was fighting Alicia personally. Her expression became cold. She wanted to win. No. She wanted to destroy her.

Hanna suddenly reached for her dagger. The crowd immediately became uneasy. Cipher's eyes moved toward Hanna's weapon. Then she reached for Gold and Diamond. The moment the weapons came out, the entire atmosphere changed. This was no longer a friendly boxing match. Hanna attacked. Cipher blocked. The dangers collided. The sound echoed through the gathering area. Hanna swung again. Cipher moved aside. Then counterattacked. Hanna barely avoided the strike. The fight became intense. Both women were moving faster now. Cipher fought back with everything she had. But the month of training had taken its toll. Her breathing became heavier. Her movements began slowing. Hannah noticed. She attacked. Cipher blocked. Hanna attacked again. Cipher stumbled. Then Hanna kicked her hard. Cipher was sent flying backward. She landed directly in front of me. "CIPHER!"

I immediately rushed forward. She was breathing heavily. She vomited blood. I reached down and helped her stand. Across the field, Hanna stood still. A smile slowly appeared on Samson's face. He had seen exactly what he wanted. But Victor froze. His eyes immediately moved toward the weapons. "Father!" His voice was loud. "She violated the rules of the family boxing!" Miller also looked shocked. He knew exactly how serious the situation had become. He also suspected that Hanna might have been encouraged by her father. The referee didn't know what to do. Miller stepped forward. "Enough!" Everyone turned toward him. "That's enough!" He raised his voice. "The boxing has ended." The gathering became silent. Cipher leaned against me. I helped her walk away from the fighting area. We headed toward the Third Villa. Nobody spoke.

The moment we entered the villa, the ten coaches were already there. They had watched everything. For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Hammer smiled. "Wow." He looked at all of us. "In just one month, you have all improved." He turned toward Cipher. "Madam, you really fought well today." Pixel looked down. "But we lost." Hammer laughed. "Miss, we knew a loss was inevitable." "They have been fighting for years." Hammer nodded. "They have experience. They have spent years training and fighting." He looked at us. "You have only trained for one month." He smiled. "So compared to them, what you did today was a huge improvement." Everyone became quiet. Hammer continued. "You should not be ashamed of the losses." He pointed toward Chipmunk. "Chipmunk lost, but she stood back up." Then toward me. "Cracker lost, but he fought against someone far more experienced."

He looked at Silver. "Silver lost, but she never gave up." Then at Pixel. "Pixel was defeated, but she survived against an experienced fighter." His expression became serious. "And Kiddo defeated someone nobody expected her to defeat." Kiddo smiled proudly. Bighead suddenly laughed. Then he looked at me. "Brother, you are weak." I stared at him. "What?" "You were defeated by that strange guy." He pointed toward himself. "And I won." I shook my head. "Well, that means I just have to train more." Bighead laughed. "Exactly." Cipher smiled. But Victor had remained quiet throughout the entire conversation. Eventually, he looked at Cipher. "My child." "Are you staying here, or will you be returning to the base?"

Cipher smiled. "Grandpa, we can't stay here." "You know that if we stay, everyone will start watching us." She looked around at everyone. "Now they know that we can fight back." Her expression became serious. "So they will start treating us as their real targets." She took a breath. "We will go back and train." Victor stared at her for a moment. Then he nodded. "I understand." Alicia smiled. "Besides, we still have a lot to learn." Hammer smiled. "That's the attitude I wanted to hear." We all looked at each other. We had lost several fights. We had won a few. But none of us felt defeated. The family gathering had shown us something important. One month of training had changed us. But it had also shown us just how far we still had to go.