After Susana fished her match, a few more matches went by. There were a couple standout disciples; such as a young boy who defeated fifteen of the groups twenty disciples in his group by himself, and a beautify girl who convinced more than half of her group to forfeit before the battle began. The audience were thrilled by the differing methods used by the disciples as no two battles were the same.
Right now, within waiting room E the atmosphere was tense, it had been over half an hour since they were informed of the matches nature and the disciples were growing stir crazy. Even the usually level headed Lucas was feeling stifled, this whole time he had be chanting mantras to himself to stay focused. He stopped for a bit to check the rooms hour glass. Around forty minutes had elapsed.
"The elders really know how to rile people up; I feel sorry for the groups that are after us. Especially group H, at this pace they'll be waiting for over an hour before they get to fight" Lucas muttered to himself.
As he was about to return to chanting the rooms door was opened as a deacon walked in. The room grew still as everyone turned their attention towards the deacon. Feeling the intense glares of the disciples, the deacon was taken aback but quickly steadied himself.
"It's time, come with me." Said the deacon as he turned and left the room.
The disciples in group E quickly jumped to their feet and ran to catch up with the deacon. As they made their way through the arena's corridors drawing closer to the battle stage, they were greeted by the sounds of a roaring crowd. At first the sounds were muffled by the thick walls that surrounded them, but the further they progressed the loader the cheers sounded until they stepped out into the open and it grew overwhelming. The audience's energy was contagious, the hotblooded disciples could feel their hearts thumping hard as adrenaline coursed through their veins. Yes, this is what they wanted. A chance to prove themselves on the Highest Stage.
***
Looking down towards this newest batch of disciples as they made their way up the stage, Zander's gaze was locked in on one disciple in particular, Lucas. He had been receiving reports about this child since he was first discovered by one of the sect's recruiters at the tender age of three. In fact, his discovery was a happy accident for the valley.
The recruiter was making his way through a small rural village on his way to a large trading city. They had been given reports that a talented child was living within the city so the recruiter decided to get there as fast a possible before another force got to them first. To do this they took a lesser travelled route that this village happed to be on. When the recruiter was passing by the village, they were caught in a sudden rain shower without time to find shelter. Luckily one of the villages hunters happened to see them and offered to let the recruiter stay the night in their home.
The hunter turned out to be the patriarch of a young family of three, his wife, his young son and himself. The recruiter shared a humble dinner with the family and spent the night on their couch. However, the biggest surprise came in the morning, as it turned out to be the son's Heaven's day celebration. The recruiter decided to stay and celebrate with the family as a thank you for giving them shelter the night before, they even gave the son some valuable cultivation resources as a gift. When it came time for the child to be tested, not to mention the family but even the recruiter was shocked beyond belief. A child born to villagers who had barely completed the body refining stage, had talent of the gold level.
However, the child was only three years old and the sect's minimum recruitment age was ten. After consulting with his superiors via long distance transmission scroll (a magic item used for communication), the choice was made to take the child on as a preliminary recruit. The couple was offered the chance to join the Sage's Valley as serving staff which they accepted, and were subsequently moved into the valley. Unfortunately, the sect wasn't able to recruit the child from the city because of the delay, but the valley's leadership wasn't too fussed about it as that child's talent was only at the blue level.
Thinking back on this story, Zander couldn't help but chuckle. After all no one can predict the twists and turns of life.
"Ok little Lucas, show me what you've got." Said Zander to himself.
***
Finally standing upon the stage of his dreams, was a surreal experience for Lucas. Looking around the arena, and seeing the stands full of cheering people filled Lucas with anticipation. He couldn't wait to compete, even if he failed at least he was able to complete one of his life's wishes.
At this moment the referee finished his standard opening lines and was simply waiting for any potential drop outs to leave the stage. As it turned out group E was the first group to have no forfeitures among its members, which excited the crowd. After all, it was always a downer to see people quit without trying.
Seeing the referee leaving the stage, and the knowing that the battle was about to start. Lucas began gathering his aura within his arms, preparing to execute his White Tiger Boxing at the first instance of battle.
"I declare the start to the fifth match of this tournament's first round" yelled he referee.
As soon as his words ended, Lucas moved unleashing a lightning fast strike at the unlucky disciple who was closest to him sending said disciple flying out of the ring. He followed up that strike with an equally fast spinning back fist which connected with a quick-thinking disciple who tried to attack Lucas from behind while he was distracted with his first target. Lucas' second strike was just as successful as he caught his assailant off guard knocking him out cold in the process. Without breaking stride Lucas pushed kicked a third disciple scoring another ring out.
"…"
This match hadn't even reached its ten second mark but Lucas' rapid combo had already eliminated three disciples. The audience was completely silenced by this turn of events, three moves and three eliminations.