Chapter 89: Chapter 89 — The Aftermath
Chapter 89 — The Aftermath
Eventually, the battle changed.
The constant movement stopped.
Victor and Monkasa stood facing one another, their feet planted firmly against the platform.
Neither said a word.
For a moment, the only sound was their heavy breathing and the distant roar of the crowd.
Then Victor stepped forward.
His fist flew.
Monkasa’s fist met it.
BAM!
Victor’s head snapped sideways.
Pain exploded across his face.
His eye immediately began swelling.
But Victor didn’t retreat.
He threw his own punch.
His fist crashed against Monkasa’s cheek.
Blood sprayed from Monkasa’s mouth.
Monkasa grinned.
Then he punched again.
Victor answered.
Another blow.
And another.
The fight had become an all-out brawl.
No techniques.
No careful movements.
Just raw strength.
Fist after fist slammed into flesh.
Blood splattered across the wooden platform.
The surrounding Lava Rock Monkeys roared louder with every exchange.
"FIGHT!"
"COME ON!"
"DON’T STOP!"
Victor could barely hear them anymore.
His body screamed with every movement.
His vision blurred.
But he kept fighting.
Victor threw another punch toward Monkasa’s face.
Monkasa suddenly spun.
The same spinning elbow from earlier came around.
CRACK!
The elbow slammed into Victor’s cheek.
His head snapped violently to the side.
For a moment, everything went white.
Then stars filled his vision.
The entire world seemed to spin around him.
Victor staggered.
His knees nearly buckled.
But his feet remained planted.
He refused to fall.
He looked toward Monkasa.
The Lava Rock Monkey was already coming at him again.
Monkasa’s fist shot toward Victor’s face.
Victor shifted sideways.
The punch passed beside his head.
Victor followed the movement of Monkasa’s arm upward.
Then he drove his fist straight up.
BAM!
The uppercut connected directly with Monkasa’s chin.
Monkasa’s body lifted off the ground.
His eyes rolled slightly as he flew backward.
He crashed onto the platform and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
He didn’t get back up.
Victor stood there, breathing heavily.
His vision began to darken.
The edges of his sight slowly turned black.
Victor blinked.
His legs weakened.
The last thing he saw was Monkasa lying motionless across the platform.
Then Victor collapsed as well.
Both fighters lay on the wooden platform, neither completely unconscious, but neither capable of standing.
For a moment, silence filled the training grounds.
Then—
The Lava Rock Monkeys erupted.
Cheers, roars, and excited shouts filled the cavern.
They had witnessed an incredible battle.
A human and a Lava Rock Monkey had fought each other until neither could stand.
The crowd slowly began to quiet.
Then a female Lava Rock Monkey stepped onto the platform.
Her ears were covered, just like the other females Victor had seen throughout the village.
She carried what appeared to be equipment for treating injuries.
She walked toward the two battered fighters.
The female monkey stopped beside Victor and looked down at him.
She shook her head slightly.
"Oh no. This isn’t—this can’t be good."
Her eyes moved over the blood covering Victor’s body.
"This human is losing a lot of blood."
Without wasting another second, she got to work.
She pulled Victor’s shirt off and immediately began cleaning his wounds. Her hands moved quickly as she wiped away the blood, examined his injuries, and wrapped bandages around the areas that needed them.
She treated Monkasa just as thoroughly.
By the time she finished, both fighters were covered in bandages, their bleeding stopped and their worst injuries properly wrapped.
The female monkey wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked over the two battered fighters.
A satisfied smile appeared on her face.
"My work here is done."
Then she walked away.
She barely made it a few steps before another fight came to an end nearby.
The female monkey immediately grabbed her supplies and ran toward the next injured fighter.
Victor and Monkasa were left lying on the platform.
About an hour later, Victor opened his eyes.
His entire body ached.
He blinked several times, staring up at the cavern ceiling before the memories of the battle slowly returned.
Victor slowly looked down at himself.
Bandages covered his body.
He carefully moved his arm.
Pain immediately spread through it, but it was nowhere near as bad as before.
Victor let out a quiet breath.
Whoever had treated him had probably saved his life.
He looked across the platform.
Monkasa was still lying there, sleeping peacefully.
Victor slowly pushed himself upright.
A wave of pain traveled through his body.
He winced and looked around the training grounds.
Most of the monkeys had already returned to their own activities.
Then he noticed movement in the distance.
A female Lava Rock Monkey was running from one wooden platform to another, carrying healing supplies as she tended to the fighters who had been injured during their spars.
Victor’s eyes widened slightly.
So that’s who treated us.
He looked back at Monkasa.
Victor shook his head.
Well, I guess this is as good a time as any.
He crossed his legs and sat on the wooden platform.
Victor closed his eyes.
He began circulating the Spiritual Energy within his body.
Almost immediately, something felt different.
The energy around him seemed to rush toward his core.
His Rank 8 core greedily absorbed the surrounding Spiritual Energy, drawing it into itself at a speed Victor hadn’t experienced before.
Victor’s expression changed.
What the...?
He continued cultivating.
The rate at which his cultivation increased was astonishing.
The intense fight had pushed his body to its limits.
And now, his cultivation was responding.
So fighting like that can increase my cultivation this quickly?
The realization left Victor unsettled.
If he wanted to cultivate faster in the future, would he have to keep putting himself through battles that pushed him to the edge of life and death?
For the first time, Victor felt like he was beginning to understand what cultivation truly meant.
It wasn’t simply sitting down and absorbing Spiritual Energy.
It was pushing himself.
Testing his limits.
Surviving situations that should have broken him.
Perhaps that was how people became stronger in this world.
Victor continued cultivating.
The surrounding noise faded into the background.
Several hours passed.
Eventually, movement came from beside him.
Victor opened his eyes.
Monkasa stirred.
The Lava Rock Monkey groaned before slowly pushing himself upright.
He rubbed his head and blinked several times.
Then he looked around.
A moment later, a boisterous laugh erupted from his throat.
"Hahaha!"
Victor stared at him.
"I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun."
Victor shook his head slightly.
Fun?
He looked down at his battered body.
Normally, Victor wouldn’t willingly put himself into a brawl like that.
Standing on the edge of collapse and refusing to fall.
That wasn’t something he would have done before.
Yet during the battle, he hadn’t wanted to stop.
Even when his body was screaming at him to retreat, some part of him had wanted to keep going.
Victor frowned.
What is changing about me?
He couldn’t put his finger on it.
But there had been a moment during the fight when everything else had disappeared.
There was only him and Monkasa.
Every attack.
Every movement.
Every moment where he was one mistake away from dying.
And somewhere beneath the fear and pain, Victor had enjoyed it.
The realization made him uncomfortable.
He would have to think about that later.
For now, Victor looked toward Monkasa and smiled.
"Man, Monkasa, you really pack a punch."
Monkasa laughed.
"So do you, brother. So do you."
The two slowly got to their feet.
Monkasa immediately winced and grabbed his side.
He was clearly walking with a limp.
Victor wasn’t doing much better.
Every step sent another ache through his body.
Still, neither complained.
Monkasa stepped beside Victor and casually wrapped one arm around his shoulders.
Victor glanced at him.
"How about a drink, brother?"
Victor smiled.
"Sure."
Together, the two battered fighters slowly made their way off the wooden platform.
They headed toward the elevator.
Behind them, the sounds of battle had already begun again.
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