'This is weird...'
Ashton was not used to being the centre of attraction to so many people. One could say he always had the attention of everyone around him. At first as a human whom the mistress had chosen and now for duelling against Donovan.
However, things were different while he was living in the enclosure. The ones who stared at him were the ones who lived him with and thus their gazes didn't feel weird at all. No, their stares did feel weird but not openly hostile like the ones of the werewolves there.
However, the look in the eyes of the werewolves was something different. At first, it felt like he was being treated like a toy by them but soon enough it was clear that it wasn't the case. They weren't looking at him like he was some kind of toy, but they were waiting for Donovan to make a toy out of him.
He walked up to the stage where a referee was standing in the middle. Surprisingly, the referee was someone whom Ashton would have never expected to pick up on something as lowly as that. The mistress was there on the stage.
Her being there was a bit weird, but the more Ashton thought about it more he realised why she was there. After all, she was the one responsible for all this in the first place.
'So that's why these fools are howling like a bunch of horndogs...' Ashton shook his head, clearly disgusted by their behaviour.
He looked at the mistress but did not bow before her, which sent those dogs into another frenzy.
"How dare he disrespect the Mistress like that!"
"He needs to be thought some lessons."
"Haha, don't worry, sir Donovan will surely put that bastard to his place for disrespecting the mistress."
These were just a few of the things Ashton could make out from the howling of the crowd who were seated everywhere they could find a place. It was supposed to be a one on one duel, but to Ashton, it felt like he was fighting against the entire city.
It was at that moment Donovan entered the courtyard through the opposite entrance. Unlike who was carrying two short swords that were given to him by the Mistress, Donovan had decided to go with a sword and a whip.
It was a weird combination of weapons, to say the least, but one that was most effective against Ashton. At least, Donovan thought so as it was the same whip that had been used to punish Ashton for the slightest of his mistakes.
Thus a weapon like that was bound to leave some mental scars behind. Donovan's motive for bringing a whip wasn't that he was actively going to use it. But to play with Ashton's mind.
As soon as Donovan walked onto the stage. The crowd went berserk. There was no question on who was the crowd favourite. The funny thing was, Donovan didn't bow down to the mistress either and yet the crowd kept cheering on for him.
'Fcking double standards...' Ashton thought before facing his opponent of the day, 'Thanks for belonging that whip. Seeing it gave me other reason to try my best to beat your ass with it later Donovan.'
"Looks like it's going to be your grave kiddo," Donovan said with a smug look on his face.
"At least I don't need to fight with a kid to make a show of my masculinity."
Ashton knew he was going to lose the physical battle already, thus he was not going to back out of the verbal fight without humiliating Donovan.
"Say what you want brat today you will regret ever crossing me."
"Is it necessary to fight against a kid?"
"It's a bit too late to back down now, mutt." Donovan had a weird grin that stretched from one side of his face to the other.
"... I was the one living inside an enclosure and yet I'm the one aware of sarcasm?"
"..."
Ashton sighed and readied himself for the battle in front of him. He wasn't foolish enough to think he was actually going to win against Donovan, especially without using his other genes. But Ashton was not going to be defeated easily either.
"Ahem. Let me make the rules clear." The mistress started explaining the rules before the two of them got busy with their verbal battle again, "This isn't a death battle. You are not allowed to strike each other with the intent to kill. The first one who gives up or gets knocked out or is pushed out of the arena loses. Is that clear?"
Both of them nodded.
"Then fight!"