[AWARENESS; IT'S AND IMPORTANT FACTOR OF EVERY FIGHT, ACTION AND CHOICE MADE BY A CULTIVATOR. A CULTIVATOR WHO IS NOT AWARE OF HIS SURROUNDINGS, IS LIKE AN IDOIT WHO BROUGHT A KNIFE TO A GUN FIGHT. AND I HAVE SEEN GUNS, ESPECIALLY THOSE MADE BY REFINERS, THOSE THINGS ARE DANGEROUS KILLING MACHINES. BUT I DIGRESS, INUNDERSTAND, THAT WHITHOUT AWARENESS, DEATY IS IMMINENT AND ASSURED. BUT TUE QUESTION REMAINS WHAT SHOULD YOU BE AWARE OFF.
THE ANSWER TO THAT, IS EVERYTHING. THE WULIN IS NOT A PRETTY, SAFE OR HAPPY PLACE. EVEN WHEN YOU'RE FUCKING YOUR WOMAN, HONOR DICTATES YOU REMAIN AWARE LEST SHE STABS YOU IN THE BACK OF SLEEPS WITH YOUR BROTHER AFTER YOU, AND THEN YOU WILL END UP FEELING LIKE CRAP, WEAK, AND HEARTBROKEN AND THEN YOU WILL NEVER TRUST A WOMAN AGAIN!!!.
SORRY I LOST MY SELF FOR A MOMENT THERE. AWARENESS IS NEEDED ON A BATTLEFIELD AND IN A FIGHT, ITNKEEPS YOU ALIVE, IT KEEPS YOUR SHARP. YOU MUST LEARN TO TAKE IN EVERYTHING AND NOTHING AT ONCE, LEARN TO NAME, CATALOG, LABEL AND UNDERSTAND AN OBJECT IN SECONDS. LEARN TO WATCH FOR THE SPEAR BEHIND YOU WHILE YOU'RE DEALING WITH THE SWORD AHEAD. IT IS IMPERATIVE YOU KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN, YOUR EARS SHARP, AND YOUR NOSE CLEAR, BECAUSE DEATH CAN COME FROM ANY DIRECTION.
BUT ABOVE ALL, YOU MUST LEARN TO BE AWARE OF LIFE, BETRAYAL CAN COME FROM ANYONE AND SOME TIMES FROM THE PERSON YOU TRUST THE MOST. EVEN YOUR OWN BROTHER AND WIFE. THE WULIN IS NOT A HAPPY PLACE INDEED...…]
BARTHOLOMEW ÁLÈ
After the somewhat traumatic and disappointing confrontation with Lu Yen, Alex made his way towards the platform to prepare for the upcoming match. It did not take long, for the remaining fighters to start trickling into the school and taking up positions around the platform.
The officials had decided that they would be holding a roll call, so that some rather sneaky losers of the previous round would not make their way to the platform under the flow of the crowd. Such a situation had happened many times in the past, and it usually ended going bad for the sneaks. However on two occasions, the sneaks actually emerged champions of the entire competition, but that was just two out of hundreds.
As the official was about to start calling the name of the participating fighters, Alex felt Anya grab a hold of his hand, he knew she was not scared, but this was just a mike version of a pep talk.
Usually her talks involved screaming, insulting or punching the living daylights out of him, while also making threats about all the horrible things she would do to him if he lost. But recently things had been quite different between the two of them, and all Alex could blame it on was puberty.
He found that recently he was getting more flustered around her, thankfully he was dark enough that things like a blush never showed on his face. Ultimately, his relationship with Anya was somehow slipping into an awkward phase, but at times like this, just a simple hold of hands was enough to show how much and how far they were willing to go to support each other.
"Alex Feng Matthews"
Alex cursed under his breath as he made his way on top of the stage. Of all the things that could happen, why did they have to call him first, after all this would do nothing but paint a target on him. Everyone always remembered the name of the first person and the last person to get on a stage, unless of course you had prior fame. But there was no way around it now, as Alex knew without a doubt, that all those guys and girls down there, would be gunning for him.
"Aro....."
"...…."
"Anyaja Omakpe"
It was ironic that she was called last, but by now everyone in the arena could smell a conspiracy theory. Somebody had it out for Alex, and somehow Anya had been drawn into it too. He swore beneath his breath as he tired to think who it was that would have it out for him, of course Lu Yen came to mind, but Alex didn't think he would go that far, right?
"I think you pissed someone off Alex."
He turned to her and said with the most sarcastic voice possible.
"You think?"
"But why am I being punished with you?"
Alex could not help it, his jaw fell open in surprise, and he could not help but give Anya a sharp slap in her head. But that might have been a bug mistake, as the entire platform erupted into a fight before the official could start the match properly.
Alex did not care about the fight at the moment as he was glaring at an upset Anya who had a look of someone who had been wronged. Alex knew she was not stupid, but the girl could be so dense sometimes it was hard to imagine how her brain worked.
Alex knew this had to do with Anya antagonizing Lu Yen earlier, and she had the guts to ask why she was being punished too, when this whole thing was her fault.
But Alex had run out of time to glare at Anya as someone threw a punch at his head and rattled his brain within his skull. He stumbled a bit and almost fell flat on his face, before he heard a loud "Hey!" and then a furious Anya threw a kick straight to the chest of the girl who just took a cheap shot to his head.
The poor girl was thrown of her feet and sent off the platform, but not before she took six other fighters with her on her journey to squashed dreams and missed opportunity.
Alex did not feel to happy about this, because quite frankly he almost got knocked out by a girl, and he would have loved to regain his image as a macho and tough man, that wouldn't get his add handed to him by a woman.
But before Alex could mount any come back, a leg sweep took him off his feet, and deposited him down hard on the platform.
His already rattled brain was rattled some more, and he was able to feel the cookery taste of blood in his mouth. He was dazed, and in his dazed state, he began to feel kicks and punches being rained down on his thin frame. Alex had a sturdy body due to the [SKY PYTHON SWIMS IN WATER] body refinement exercises.
However from the onslaught of Qi that he felt on the surface of his skin, he knew that the person, or one of the person who was now beating the shit out of him was at the open meridian realm. Or maybe it was more than one person, because quite honestly Alex had no idea how many fists had rained down on him and how many they belonged to.
"YARRRRRR!!!!"
Alex had enough respite to see as Anya barreled one of his assailants and pushed him of his feet with a shoulder tackle, then she turned with a sharp swivel of her hips and hit another one of his assailants with a clothesline.
The force of the hit, bust opened the lower lip of the guy she attacked as he made two full rotations in the air releasing a spray of blood before he landed on the platform grabbing his neck and lower jaw in pain. But Anya was not done, as she took a classic soccer penalty pose and shot a kick to the guy's midsection. The power behind her kick lifted him up and threw off the platform, as soon as he hit the ground, forgetting that she was in the middle of a great fight, Anya raised her hands up and shouted.
"GOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!"
This chick was crazy and ruthless. It was the though that was going through the minds of everyone who had watched Anya fight. And now they knew anybody would pay dearly should they lay a hand on Alex. But Alex refused to be the damsel in distress, he was still angry about being knocked down by a girl, and then all of a sudden he was ganged up on. There was no way he was not getting payback.
One of his assailants was trying to make a quick getaway, hoping to join the fight somewhere else and not fall target to Anya's wrath. But Alex grabbed a hold of his feet, and pulled him to the ground. But before he could react to the sudden attack, Alex wrapped his hands around the point his ribs ended, between the start of his chest and stomach. And then he locked his arms tight immediately restricting his opponent's breathing.
He struggled to escape from Alex's grip, however Alex's arms were locked tight. Then he proceeded to try and struggle out of the hold, but Alex countered by moving his body in tiny imperceptible movements that were designed to tire his opponent and make him expend more energy. Without a doubt, this was the [SKY PYTHON CRUSHES ROCK] martial arts, and in his enraged state, Alex was able to have an epiphany and embrace the true nature of a python.
Alex was deathly terrified of snakes, it he could, he would have preferred if those creatures never existed in the first place, but at this moment if you out a snake in front of Alex he would not react in fright. Instead because of the aura that Alex was currently releasing, it was highly probable that the snake would treat him as it's own kin.
At that moment a heavy sure descended around the area of where Alex had his prey tightly wrapped around his coils(arms), his mind worked instinctually as he adjusted every move he made so that his prey would get tired faster and he could move in for a kill. Alex at that moment was experiencing enlightenment and understanding the true essence of this martial art, it was entirely possible that even its creator had never been in this state of mind before.
Everyone fighting and even the audience had all stopped to look at Alex, at his level and realm of cultivation, it should have been impossible for him to release an aura of any sort, but the one he was releasing now was so thick and chocking, and it had the air of a predator who had cornered his prey.
To be honest it was quite terrifying to everyone who was watching, even the veteran cultivators were in shock at the pure talent Alex was showing, because at just fourteen, he was in a state of mind that every single one of them has been chasing and praying for, but never achieved.
All of a sudden Alex's opponent became frantic as fear overcame him, because regardless of whatever way you looked at it, he was right at the middle and closets to Alex's predatory aura. But Alex much like a true python rolled around the platform with his prey, his sudden rolling had even caught a few fighter off guard as they all threw themselves of the platform in panic and shock.
Then Alex rolled to a position where his opponent was facing the ground and he was on top of his opponent, then he quickly spread his legs on either side, and with an impressive show of strength, he raise his opponent up and swung him over his head. This mover was altered [PYTHON SLAMS EARTH] but to enthusiast of the grappling arts, they would recognize this move as a German suplex.
But Alex's hand was still wrapped around his opponent midsection with his opponents back on the ground, and his legs in the air, Alex turned and brought his opponent closer to his body, then he brought them both to a standing position. Then he squeezed all to gently.
"ARRRGGGHHHHHH ARRRRR HA HA HAAAAAAA!"
His screams were probably the kind that would hunt the nightmares of a lot of people here, but accompanying those screams were the audible sounds of bones cracking. Alex did not let go a full twenty seconds as he brought the full might of the [PYTHON CRUSHES BONE] move to bear. And in those twenty seconds, his opponent had stopped making any sounds after fourteen of them, before he passed out from the pain.
He hung from Alex's grip like a marionette that had it's strings cut, then Alex seeing the opponent defeated twirled his body and threw his opponent of the platform like he was a soccer ball that Alex was so used to handling. Then Alex turned to the fighters of the platform and asked with a voice as normally possible.
"Who's Next?"