Chapter 303 - The Broken And The Damned
On the blue mats of Barbosa's MMA gym, Ben was in the middle of an intense grappling session with his beautiful trainer Valentina. The last time they fought, she wasn't able to get the best of him due to his physical strength, a disadvantage she prepared to overcome today using her experience and wit. However, things didn't always go as planned.
The fact was, when they grappled the day before, Ben's personal talent multiplier had still been active, which meant over that remaining half-day, he was able to experience the equivalent of several months of training. So despite Valentina taking the night to come up with various tactics, it was in no way equal to the growth Ben accumulated!
As they rolled, despite attempting tricky moves and using her knowledge to outmaneuver him, her frown soon sank deeper and deeper into her face, because today, was turning out even worse than yesterday! Although she failed to submit him the day prior, her advantage in technique was definite, which allowed her to maintain a steady edge. Today though, it was as if that edge had blunted!
Ben dodged her submission attempts with poise and skill, having grown accustomed to her attack methods after training with her for so long. Although he was still worse, now, the threat level she posed to him was far lower! He'd learned how to use his physical advantages to his benefit: powering out of submissions, using his greater endurance to lure her into physical contests that exhausted her, and using his speed, to create faster friction against her breast area…
These techniques belonged to the highest level...
Meanwhile, the longer they grappled together without a conclusion, the more flustered Valentina became, to the point where she was getting sloppy. So once her body became tired as well, not long after—Ben had Valentina on the defensive! Attacking her using his strength and speed, he soon had her on her back in a vulnerable position. It was an impressive accomplishment, even if the position would've been better on a soft bed...
Regardless, he'd make it work, and soon, he even overachieved. Valentina grunted in frustration because Ben held her down using his superior power, making all forms of escape futile due to her inherent muscular disadvantage. She struggled and fought and strained herself, but it changed nothing. This, made her grit her teeth. She hated being so weak! She wanted to curse that it wasn't fair!
Well, Ben also thought it wasn't fair. 'Why must we be wearing clothes?'
Still, he wouldn't give up this superior position laying on top of her. Although he couldn't submit her, that didn't mean he couldn't hold her down like this, considering it a practice of another kind…
So as the minutes passed with her unable to escape and Ben refusing to move, creating so much friction on their chests that it almost awoke Ben's little brother, it soon became clear this was going nowhere.
*Sigh* "Fine, training is over. Get off me." Valentina gave up for today. It wasn't easy to submit him or even reverse the situation once he got an advantage but she had no choice but to accept it, because her nipples were chafing...
Meanwhile, Ben's performance didn't fail to attract the attention of the other students in the gym. They found it incredible that a white belt was able to grapple to an even result with their brown belt instructor. In fact, it wasn't only the blue belt students who the match captivated.
Outside the door, watching Valentina's struggle, were two large muscular men. One shook his head when he saw the dissatisfaction on her face. "Tch, she'll never learn at this rate." Yet, he couldn't hide a trace of tenderness in the depths of his eyes as he gazed at her. It was her father, Ricardo Barbosa.
As for the other man, his crossed arms displayed his thick muscles that looked like steel cables running through his body. Yet, on his handsome chiseled face, there was a hint of suspicion. Squinting his eyes, he stared at Ben. 'It's that guy...'
It was hard to forget Ben because he was there during a very memorable time in the big man's life—when a f*cking truck smashed into him!
That's right, this tall failed-isekai bruiser…was Lia's boyfriend from back then! One of the first girls that caught Ben's interest was the blonde club promoter Lia at Domina, and at that time, her boyfriend interrupted their conversation, blocking Ben's c*ck with a huge barricade…
Yet, Ben got his revenge, using a system item to bring bad luck upon the boyfriend, which ended up resulting in a truckocide…
After that, Ben even succeeded in scoring a casual hook up with Lia in the back of Domina, while this bent eggplant was stuck recovering in the hospital… Now though, it seemed he'd gotten out. So as he gazed at Ben, for some reason, the man got a feeling like everything bad that happened to him in the recent past somehow related to this shrimp…
It didn't make sense, but the feeling was there. As such, he couldn't help thinking back over it. After he first met Ben, the big man starting having problems with Lia. She called him jealous and overprotective and it was true. He never liked any other men speaking with her so Ben already left a bad first impression. Lia's boyfriend thought it was reasonable though. His rule was to never let his girl talk to another guy about her problems, because a shoulder to cry on might become a d*ck to ride on.
…
Then the next time he saw Ben, he got sent flying like a bowling pin by a truck-ball... That was really the worst. Not only was his body swollen all over, it even included his little brother!
Yet, it wasn't only that. The injury halted his fighting career, delaying his debut fight as a professional fighter in the UCC: the Ultimate Combat Championships, the largest fighting league in the western hemisphere. Thus, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that day was the worst of his life.
As a result, since Ben was present back then, how could the man forget him? As Lia's boyfriend continued ruminating over that day, he became angry thinking about it. So as he watched Ben lay on top of Valentina, the sexy instructor he'd tried hitting on many times, he once again felt his chest filling up with roid rage…
So as Ben and Valentina finished rolling together, the big man with bronze skin and dark hair approached them, to invite Ben for a little "training". Seeing this, Valentina's father's eyes flashed with interest.
"If you two are done, I wouldn't mind getting some training in with this rookie." As he glanced at Ben, the little beginner, the big guy smirked. He found it strange that a white belt could do so well against the brown belt Valentina, but he didn't care. He believed Valentina was going easy on him. Besides, it wouldn't matter against him.
Valentina glanced at the big man, wondering why he would challenge a white belt. "Nick, what are you doing?"
He shrugged. "Nothing much, just wanna get some practice."
When Ben heard the challenge coming from behind him, his eyebrows rose. 'Which little doggy hasn't been house trained?'
Ben thought he'd already whipped all the blue belts into having respectful attitudes. Yet, when he turned around and saw the purple belt on the giant in a black gi in front of him, he understood. 'A core disciple is strolling amongst the inner sect…'
However, Ben's eyes widened even further when he saw the man's face. 'Holy sh*t. Isn't that…Lia's boyfriend? So his name is...broke d*ck Nick?'
…
How could Ben fail to recognize him? He was Ben's first kill.
…
At least, part of him was. The big man frowned as he gazed at Ben, wondering why this guy was staring at his groin…
It made him very uncomfortable. "We gonna train or what?"
Ben sighed, uncomfortable himself, because he really wanted to know the answer to the question plaguing his mind—was the piece now floating in a jar somewhere?
…
Still, since this guy was challenging him with a prideful expression, Ben couldn't help but look twice at him. 'Does he remember me? Or is this like when a ghoul wants to kill humans because the thing it desires most is life…which in this guy's case, is a functioning d*ck.'
…
Ben couldn't prove it but his suspicion level was high. However, he didn't mind accepting this guy's challenge. After all, if Ben managed to roll to even results with the brown belt Valentina and the purple belt Fariq, what could another purple belt do against him? As such, Ben nodded, accepting the hulk's challenge as the two stood up and squared off.
Meanwhile, Valentina had backed away. Though she was also interested in this match, she believed it would be one-sided. After all, it was a pity for one of the fighters, but he lacked too much understanding of his opponent.