The rusty gate with its paint peeled off opened into a dark, overgrown garden, and Neal, with his heart beating against his chest, knocked on the door.
After a couple of breaths, the door opened, and a tired-looking man stood in the doorway, squinting at the boy.
His father said quietly.
"I am here to get my clothes."
After spending the last five days in the same clothes, he wanted to visit his house to change into fresh clothes before going to the school.
"You… have been who knows where for the past five days. I know you haven't actually been with any of your classmates, as I called the parents of your classmates.
"What is with you, Neal? I heard you challenged a classmate of yours to a ranked match. Is that true? Why are you seeking trouble? Can't you just get along with others?"
His father sounded disappointed.
"I… am just here to change."
Neal brushed past his father and ran upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him.
His father massaged his temples and, with heavy legs, plopped down onto the couch.
He couldn't tell what was going on with his son, as members of the Yoxall bloodline weren't fighters. They had a long history of avoiding conflict and never seeking it.
Therefore, Neal was an unprecedented person in their family.
At that moment, through the living room's window, he saw an unfamiliar person standing by their mailbox, looking like he wasn't from around here.
With furrowed brows, he walked out and approached the stranger, who slowly turned his gray eyes to gaze at him.
"Was it you? Have you poisoned my son's mind with your nonsense?"
Anger in his tone, the father's gaze hardened as he asked.
"You must be Neal's father. You don't carry too much hope for your son's future?"
Kiernan asked with his arms crossed.
"H-how dare you say that? I don't know who the hell you are, and you don't know anything about this family. I don't know what twisted games you are playing, but leave my son alone!"
"You really don't know anything about your son. Neal is suffering. He has been tormented by his classmates, and you don't even notice."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Your son has been dealing with bullying for over a year already. You haven't seen the bruises? The red eyes from crying? The signs of distress have been right in front of you this whole time.
"I don't know whether you're dense or you just decided to ignore it."
Kiernan spoke with frustration in his voice.
The father's eyes shook, and he clenched his hands into fists.
"If that's true… he should've spoken to his teachers. They are there for a reason! Members of the Yoxall family aren't fighters, and Neal will just get himself hurt.
"I heard he challenged Travis, who is the third-ranked student in the entire school. His family has a long lineage of successful fighters.
"I was in the same class with Travis' father, and back then he reigned as the champion of the school as the first-ranked student.
"Our family is not destined to be fighters, and that is alright. While martial artists rule this world, it also needs workers, such as me!"
His father said with frustration.
"The history of your family has blinded you. Neal is trying to move forward and pave a new path for your family.
"Neal might be the spearhead that might transform the Yoxall family into fighters. Your lack of faith in your son is clearly hurting him."
Kiernan said, and he could see the conflict in Neal's father's eyes.
"My son has never fought anyone before. How is he… supposed to defeat him?"
"Come to watch your son fight, and you will see. You might be in for a good surprise, and even if he loses, you can definitely be proud of him."
Kiernan said with a heavy tone.
The father didn't know what to respond with, and at that moment, Neal left the house in his fresh clothes and saw the two conversing.
"Is everything alright?"
Neal asked with a frown.
"Yes. We should get going, Neal. It was nice talking with you, Neal's father."
Kiernan said, and with Neal quickly following after him, they disappeared from sight while his father stayed in the yard, silent, and watched them go.
A match ended in Sirkus' ranked arena, and the crowd cheered lukewarmly as it wasn't the most interesting fight.
It was a match between a couple of students around the 30th rank.
All of them were here to watch the match that had been the talk of the town for the last week—Travis versus Neal!
"It is finally time. Go Travis, yeah!"
Classmates of Travis, and Neal primarily sided with him, cheering loudly for their friend while Neal was complete nobody.
At the locker room of the challenger, Neal paced back and forth while the cheering seeped through the walls.
He was wearing white boxing shorts with his chest bare, but he looked very unathletic, and it was clear that he hadn't trained much at all.
The walls were so thin that he could even hear people talking on the other side, and he didn't hear nice things about himself.
Neal gritted his teeth.
At that moment, the door to the locker room opened, and the referee of the upcoming match walked over to them.
With clipboard in hand, the referee asked.
"The match will start shortly. Is he coach of yours?"
The referee looked at Kiernan, who was sitting comfortably on the bench, and looked like he was too young to be one.
"Yes, this is Kiernan. H-he is acting as my coach."
The referee nodded and then said.
"He can come with you to the ring. Only one person can be in your corner, so he is the only one allowed there."
The referee then received a word on his earpiece, nodded, and then told the two to make their way to the ring.
With a loud gulp, Neal nodded his head and followed the referee out of the locker room, but as soon as the crowd saw him, they booed loudly.
Across from him, from the other entrance, Travis, dressed in red boxing shorts, received booming applause from the crowd.
Travis said with a smirk, and he was accompanied by Adrian, his kickboxing coach, and he looked as lofty and confident as ever.
"Time to crush an insect~"
Travis gazed across the arena and straight into Neal's nervous eyes.
At that moment, Adrian looked at his disciple's opponent and wasn't impressed, but then he happened to take a glimpse at his coach.
Adrian's eyes widened in pure terror.