The fight continued across the different ranks until the first stage was finally concluded and we moved onto the next stage of the gauntlet which was a one on one battle and this time it was very unique since each person who went up on stage had to win at least ten fights to qualify to move onto the next stage, meaning that everyone would have to fight fifteen times and win ten times to move onto the next round.
The fights had revealed lots of talents and dark horses in the gauntlet, which meant that the original number of people who were powerful would increase after each and every round.
There was a sword wielding female hunter who was nicknamed The Light Sword, a crazy guy who used a club as a weapon nicknamed the Caveman.
A few others each with very intimidating names and I would end up fighting one of them the farther I progressed.
No one would have believed that my red jacket would become a sign which people would worship and in a short while there were a lot of people putting on red jackets in the dome.
The managers of the dome were cashing in a lot of money just from selling cheap jackets and I had unknowingly built up a crazy fan base even though all I wanted to do was test my strength while trying to rank up to gain access to more information.
The second stage of the Gauntlet progressed and finally once again it was my turn to get on stage.
The moment my name was called the whole dome exploded with screams and cheers, and I stood up and left the waiting area to ascend the arena
"How would you like to challenge the next stage?" asked the official on the arena, "All fifteen matches at once or with breaks in-between?" he asked.
I thought about it for a moment before making a decision,
"All fifteen at once" I replied calmly.
The official made a couple of gestures to the other officials outside the arena.
"Blood Beast is truly one crazy guy he chose to take fight all fifteen matches with no breaks in between meaning he would fight fifteen people consecutively and this would only increase the chance of him being defeated" said the Male announcer.
"The fact that Blood Beast has chosen to take the fight in this way, it proves that he is confident in his strength to fight fifteen matches consecutively without losing" said the Female announcer as she analyzed the situation.
"It seems that way, so let's get back to the arena and see who Blood Beast is going up against first"
My first opponent walked out with a confident gaze with his sword in its sheath on his hips as he walked out.
"It seems like Blood Beast will be facing quite a troublesome opponent in his first match, He is fighting against the powerful swordsman in the third group battle earlier today who displayed quite an incredible speed which should be at the same level as that of Blood Beast" said the male announcer.
"it seems the Blood Beast might be regretting his decision to fight all fifteen matches straight and he might end up being disadvantage in the following matches later on"
"Truly a shame, if he had met someone slower than him then he might have stood a chance but it seems that this fight will be quite the exciting one to watch, let's see who will emerge the victor from this incredible match up!"
I looked at my opponent get on the arena as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to make a move the moment the buzzer buzzed, this guy was definitely not going to hold back and neither was I.
I took a step forward boldly as I got into a fighting stance waiting for the buzzer.
"You were good kid, very fast but you're unlucky for being matched up against me" said the swordsman smiling.
"What you said does make sense but the problem is that I'm not the unlucky one, you are!" I said as I dashed out the moment I heard the buzzer.
The swordsman moved as well as the both of us seemingly executed a very shocking instant teleportation in the eyes of the watching crowd, but we had simply run at each other but because our speed was faster than their eyes could register it seemed as if we teleported.
The swordsman unsheathed his sword in one swift move as he executed a rising slash with his sword as his sword drew a beautiful arc from its sheath upwards to directly cut me in half across my chest.
I watched the attack approach at normal speed, it did not seem to be moving in slow motion when compared to the five guys I fought in the first stage of the gauntlet but my reaction speed was still faster than his and I executed a sliding step as I dodged to the left avoiding his attack.
He did not even seem to be affected by the fact that I had successfully evaded his attack and he smoothly transitioned into another attack as he spun round facing me using his left foot as a pivot while he turned and he executed another attack launching himself forward.
I hurriedly back stepped as his attack drew closer to me avoiding his swords reach by a hairline as it cut right through horizontally.
"It looks like all you can do when facing a powerful opponent is run" said the swordsman as he laughed.
I was not bothered by what he said because I realized that I was the one unconsciously holding back and as I moved I realized that I was still able to move faster than I did at the start of it all.
"Stop moving so I can make this less painful for you" said the Swordsman as he came at me once more.
"If that is what you wish, then here I am" I said as I rushed up to him.
It was exactly as I thought, I was definitely faster than I was a moment ago and it did not even feel like that was the cap of how fast I could go, I felt that I could move faster, the shocking thing was that I was not even in Blood State at the moment but I was able to unleash that much speed.
If I was to enter Blood State, then I would be able to even exhibit even greater speed and strength.
I watched his attack approach and I decided to try something crazy, I opened both my palms as I made a clapping motion with my palms with the intent of stopping his attack as it approached.
In a swift motion I followed the path of his sword with my eyes very quickly as I intercepted his sword mid strike stopping it with both my open palms as I held onto the blade.
The dome went quiet seeing that I had stopped his sword strike with my palm, the scene was displayed across every screen within and outside the dome as I stopped the blade and it was replayed several times.
As for the swordsman, he was shocked by the fact that I had stopped his blade and he tried to wrestle his sword out of my palm but with the strength I was exerting it was hard for him to do.
I simply twisted my palm which was clasped on his sword as I twisted his blade out of his hand and into the air as I attacked with a palm strike to his chest but he was just as fast and had struck out with a palm attack of his own.We both clashed but I had attacked with more strength than he did and I sent him stumbling backwards."I thought you wanted to make it less painful for me?" I asked as I stared at the swordsman as a smile slowly spread on my lips.The swordsman just looked at me as dark lines spread across his forehead when he heard me speak."Humph!" scoffing the swordsman made a move as he closed the distance between the both of us.I simply took a step forward as I intercepted him and executed a flurry of attacks as I stopped him and pushed him back landing a couple of damage dealing blows before I went right under his arm as he attacked and sent punched him right in his guts sending him flying."It looks like you never had a chance the moment you lost your sword and here I was thinking that you might have actually had some skill" I said laughing at the swordsman who laid on the floor struggling to stand up."Incredible! Blood Beast just took out the Swordsman in a quick and brutal fashion. He stopped the swordsman's blade then beat the swordsman in hand to hand combat leaving him with no chance to make a comeback" the male announcer said."The Swordsman may very well be out of the running for a spot at the top and it seems that he was the one who had bad luck running into the Blood Beast""I have to say Blood Beast is turning out to be favorite" shaking her head the female announcer said, "You can hear the crowd going wild as they scream his name, Blood Beast!" she said enthusiastically.