Read Online Venture Unleashed (The Venture Books) by R.H. Russell - Free Book Online Page B

wall, apart from the others.
    Earnest leaned on the wall next to him. “What’s going on?”
    Venture picked at his gloves, a birthday gift from Dasher. “I wanted to do better. I thought I’d do better.”
    Earnest shook his head. “There’s no shame in getting handled by Calling Fox. You’ll get there. Just give it some time.”
    “We just got here and already . . .” Venture looked at all the men around him, fresh and strong. The reality of a couple of months battling them this hard, day in, day out, was sinking in. Just thinking about it made him want to sink right down to the mat. He stood up straight, but he admitted, “I’m tired.”
    “You’re tired?”
    “I ache, all the time. And here—”
    “Listen to me,” Earnest whispered. “You think you’re done? You want to be done? Then that Championship is never going to happen.”
    “I’m not done. I just . . .”
    “It’s tough. It hurts. Six days a week.”
    “It hurts on our off-day, too.”
    Earnest scowled and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “A lot of guys waste years of hard work just because one day they decide they don’t want to step it up again. You’re almost there. You’re this close to your prime. Do you want to be ready for it, or do you want to squander it?”
    “Be ready.”
    “Good.” Earnest gave the laces on his gloves a tug. “Next round, I want you back out there.”

    Venture sprinted to the wall one last time and raised a hand to Lance and Nick, who’d stopped by to watch after one of their own training sessions. After what had happened at Champions Center, and now that they were enjoying their training at Warrior’s Way without him, their sometimes bitter rivalry had been replaced by their old friendliness and a growing, new sort of respect. Venture was bigger than both of them now. They came to the men’s training session to work out with him when he was here, but they were no match for him anymore, and they could barely hang on with the rest of the guys. Though they were older than Venture, they still needed another year of maturing in order to really fit in with the men.
    Venture began his last set of push-ups. Just one more week before they left Warrior’s Way. Just when he was starting to get used to training with these guys. Carter gave his shoulder a friendly shove. He and the other Warrior’s Way fighters were done with their workout, but Earnest had Venture and Dasher going still.
    “Are you guys going to catch Willson’s fight tomorrow night?”
    Venture kept pumping out push-ups. “Who’s he got?”
    “Lane.”
    “Maybe.”
    “Hey, you ought to have Earnest set one up for you, with one of the other young guys. Put a little extra in your pockets.”
    Venture shook his head. Not only would Justice come and drag him home if he did something like that, but such an arrangement between two underage fighters was illegal, as it should be. Privately arranged fights had put a little extra in his father’s pockets, but look how that had ended. Venture had better options. He didn’t have to take that kind of risk. He was working hard to convince Justice that there was a difference between what he was doing and what their father had done, that he wasn’t reckless.
    “Private prize fights are the future,” said Carter. “What else are we going to do once they get rid of the Championship? Once they outlaw tournaments altogether?”
    All the fighters were talking about it now, this mess Prowess Longlake had started. Most other people just laughed it off, but the fighters, trainers, and coaches at the highest level were starting to worry.
    “They’ll never get the votes.”
    Carter laughed dryly. “They’ll make sure they do, one way or another.”
    Venture finished his push-ups and joined Dasher, who was already halfway done with their last set of sprints. When he was done, he grabbed his water flask and devoted his full attention to emptying it.
    “Enough water!” Earnest said. “You’ll get