"Ilad! This time, we will find out the truth! We will see if the ability you really used was indeed Sword Smite!"
Smoke just smiled. He might not have the actual 'Sword Smite' ability but his training with Igniz yesterday gave him his own way of fighting.
Both fighters ran at top speed at the same time. They were running straight for each other. It was a contest to see who would make the first blow.
They were still out of each others reach, when Smoke manipulated the ground that he was stepping on, to propel him at a blinding speed.
Blastar started activating his 'Sword Smite', while the DarkElf placed his shield in front of him as he was flying straight at the Lioumerean.
Smoke used his 'Armadillo Bash' as soon as his shield came into contact with Blastar's torso. The Lioumerean was pushed back a couple of feet but he was still on top of the ring.
However, Blastar was now stunned for a whole second. In that one second, Smoke arched his back as far as he could. He was creating the optimal slash, he swung his sword as fast as he could.
Smoke and Igniz had mastered this move yesterday. Once his gladius sword collided with Blastar, Igniz melded his energy with Smoke's sword creating a strong explosion. Damaging the Lioumerean for 7,123 points.
Blastar was blasted out of the ring by Smoke's unique attack. Their whole match lasted a mere nineteen seconds. Smoke went to the wall, where Blastar was pinned to.
"Did you find the answer to your question?"
The Lioumerean was still in a daze as he watched Smoke walk away. The blast felt five times stronger than its actual damage. Blastar just laughed as he acknowledged his defeat.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I guess our trouble maker does know how to fight without completely destroying our ring. The winner and the one who will challenge our Cudny for the title of District Champion. Ilad! We will have a short intermission number from our sponsor. Arrted General Merchandise!"
As the exotic dancers were done with their show, Smoke went to his side of the ring and Cudny to hers. She gave him another flying kiss but this time Smoke caught it and placed it on his heart.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Our final match to decide southern district's champion. Cudny vs. Ilad!"
Cudny was still shocked at Smoke's reaction. The crowd was also angered by Smoke's bravado. Smoke just smiled the whole time.
The horn was blown to signify the start of the final match. Smoke stood his ground near the edge of the ring. Cudny jumped high and was about to use her 'Quadruple Dive' when Smoke was no longer standing at his place.
Cudny searched for him but he wasn't anywhere on the ring. Then she noticed a shadow above her. It was Smoke who delivered four flaming strikes making Cudny fall off the ring.
The entire coliseum fell silent. The final match turned out to be the shortest one. Smoke landed expertly on the ring and gave a bow to his dumbfounded audience.
The announcer recovered from the bombshell that he had just witnessed. He continued to declare Smoke the winner.
"And the champion for southern district is... Ilad!"
The crowd roared into an applause, even if their favorite was defeated, Smoke still won in an unbelievable manner. A replay of the finals match kept playing on the main screen.
+ Southern District Champion
* You're now qualified to participate in the central district's championship.
* You've won the legendary Knight Weapon Rzeka (Glaive)
* Increased fame by 100(Beggar Penalty: 25%)
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Even before Cudny jumped, Smoke had already launched himself into the air. As the audience started to thin out. The Cavalry Knight Macher came into view and was talking to someone.
"What did I tell you? If this guy wins the championship then it looks like we've found our next participant for the games..."
Chapter Two: Anger Management
Late into the night, the three Smoak brothers watched worriedly as the freak snowstorm continued piling up the snow, covering their entire house.
They had to travel tomorrow, to attend an unarmed open martial arts tournament. Grandmaster Cacoy had both invited Donny and Seth to participate in the 10-13 division and the 14-17 division respectively.
There was also an 18-21 division but grandmaster Cacoy wouldn't allow Nash to participate in it. He felt that Nash hadn't put enough effort into his training. Nash gave no argument and agreed with the grandmaster.
Morning came and the blizzard had stopped, leaving a bothersome three feet of snow. Nash had to dig through all that snow in order to make a path. Seth and Donny offered to help but were told to conserve their energy for the tournament.
Their grandmother, Daphne, wanted to join them but the cold weather was too much for her to travel outside. Besides, even if the weather was sunny, they still wouldn't want her there. They knew that she would just be nervous watching her grandsons' fight.
A few hours later, grandmaster Cacoy came to pick them up in his silver suburban. Nash had been contemplating on getting a car for their family, but decided not to.
After careful consideration on how unstable his income was, buying their house was all the risk that he could handle.
Nash's first game item auction resulted with $450. Three of his double bladed mantis swords sold for $100 while the last one was at $150.
It was a bit less than what he hoped for. He thought that while attending Seth and Donny's tournament, the Lioumereans should go to Mandragora Forest and gain their poison resistance.
While they were there, they might as well hunt some mantis blades. He planned on selling ten a day. He thought if he sold more than ten, it would greatly depreciate in value.
* * * * * *
The four eskrimadors arrived at the youth center where the tournament was being held. The center had a huge hall about the size of a football field.
As they came in, an usher came to them and briefly explained the rules and how to win in AUTOMATA (Amateur Unarmed Tournament Open Martial Art Techniques Association).
The ways of winning in AUTOMATA were as follows:
* Win via Judges' decision.
* Win via submission.
* Win via referee stoppage or fight doctor stoppage (due to serious injury).
* Win via corner's stoppage.
* Win via knock out.
There are only three rounds in each fight with two minutes per round. In the event of a tie, one more round will be extended to them.
Note: Referees have the right to deduct points whenever a participant has performed a misconduct.
AUTOMATA fights were harsher than most amateur competitions, but the association still regarded the safety of the participants to be the highest priority, resulting in early referee stoppage in most fights.
With such rough conditions, the participants in the tournament were noticeably few. In Donny's category there were only eight, whereas Seth's category had thirty two.
The participants were all required to wear complete protective gear. Everything was checked by the officials before the start of a match.
Normally, Nash would discourage such an event but his brothers kept on begging him for days. They had been practising Eskrima for quite sometime and they wanted to try out their skills.
He knew full well how good his brothers had become, this was the sole reason why he agreed. There was no way anyone could beat them in this competition.
His brothers attending AUTOMATA also made him feel connected to them. He was also currently in a tournament in Zectas. Their plan was for all of them to come out as champions in their respective divisions.
Donny's division went first. Nash and grandmaster Cacoy helped him put on his protective gear while Seth was doing some stretching on his side of the Tournament hall.
The excitement in Donny's eyes were crystal clear. Grandmaster Cacoy gave him some quick reminders about what to do during the competition. Afterwards, Nash gave Donny a fist bump. He wanted to hug him but Donny told him in advance not to do anything to embarrass him.
"Break a leg bro! Ah, I meant figuratively, you got that right?"
"Yeah, I know, besides if I did that I would get disqualified."
Nash laughed as he saw his youngest brother brimming with confidence. Donny stepped onto the blue padded mat. The referee asked Donny and his opponent to bow to him, bow to the judges and then bow to each other.
The opponent was two inches taller than him and stood at a height of five feet and six inches. From his stance it looked like he was a taekwondo practitioner.
He ran closer to Donny and gave him three consecutive side thrusting kicks. As Donny kept on backing off, his competitor leapt and tried to make a leaping round house kick.
Donny timed his sidestep correctly and caught the other kid in mid-air. Donny tackled him on the ground and pinned him down with a shoulder hammerlock.
Where the opponent's arm was held bent against his back, and his hand forced upwards towards the neck, thereby applying pressure to the shoulder joint. The referee counted up to ten and declared Donny as the winner.
Using small variations of the same pattern, Donny won his second match against a boxing practitioner, in barely under two minutes. It would have been faster if his opponent had made the first move quicker.
It was Donny's third fight, and this was already for the championship of the 10-13 division. Both of the fighters stared at each other, neither one made any moves.
This time his opponent was an aikido practioner. As such, he waited for Donny to make the first move. Donny lost the patience to wait and ran in the direction of his adversary.
The aikido practioner caught Donny. He was thrown down on the mat but as he fell down he made a scissor grab with his legs, bringing down his opponent with him.
Donny quickly grabbed the aikido practitioner's feet and performed a toe hold, using his hands to hyperextend and hyperrotate the ankle.
His opponent tapped out, and Donny was declared the champion of the 10-13 division. Nash ran up to Donny and raised him up on his shoulders.
* * * * * *
Seth's 14-17 division was divided into two groups. Each group had sixteen participants. The winner of each group would fight in the finals for the championship of that division.
Smiling at his younger brother for winning the championship, Seth gave Donny a thumbs up. He had won his fourth match. Now, he was qualified for the finals in his division.
Seth's matches were very identical to Donny's. They both used quick and efficient movements to end their matches as quickly as possible.
Now, that Donny had won. Nash, Donny, and grandmaster Cacoy went to Seth's corner to give him their full support.
His opponent for the championship was a seventeen year old rich kid by the name of Sagen Smith. Sagen had a height of 6 feet and 2 inches.
Sagen's face showed as if he had already won the tournament. Sagen's profile indicated that he practiced mixed martial arts but specialized in striking styles.
The referee called for both Seth and Sagen onto the mat. When they stood near each other it was clear just how much of a height difference they had. Seth was only five feet and seven inches tall.
They bowed to the judges, to the referee and to each other. Sagen casually moved forward into Seth's range. As he felt that Seth was within his reach he leapt out and did a 'superman' punch at the young eskrimador.
Seth responded by dodging to his right while grabbing hold of the attacking fist with his left hand. Now, that Sagen was within his range. He pounded on as much as five body blows before Sagen kicked him off.
The affluent kid was clearly agitated and continued to repeat the same attack. For that reason, all of his strikes were caught and countered.
Because they wore protective gears, Seth's body blows were not as effective. Despite that, the judges took note of those accumulated hits and awarded the round to Seth.
Since this was the finals, Seth wanted to use his strikes instead of his holds. He wanted to give Nash, Donny, and grandmaster Cacoy a great show.
The grandmaster understood what Seth was doing and gave him a disapproving look. With that one look, Seth clearly comprehended what his master was saying, that he was being too overconfident and underestimated his opponent.
Ashamed of the what he was doing. Seth decided to focus and to use all of his skills to end this match as expediently as possible.
