A dull thud echoed quietly through the arena.

Though it wasn’t a loud sound, the audience’s faces scrunched up as if each of them had been struck. It was the kind of hit that looked painful just to watch.

Sometimes, a solid punch to the solar plexus looks far worse than an elegant sword slash or a display of fancy techniques spilling blood. After all, it’s a pain nearly everyone has felt at some point in life, especially in the rough-and-tumble culture of the Central Plains, where a person’s toughness is often judged by their willingness to throw a punch …