The Audience nor the spectating teams in the seating area around the Stage expected Pompa's gamble would work and stand a chance to win against the Earth team.
Although the 1st Bout was one hell of an intense one, Pompa was able to turn the tables at the end and emerge as the victor.
The Audience considered it the second most intense Match, only next to the one between Akor and Rex.
All Pompa needed was to pick the weakest members from the Earth team for the next two Bouts and defeat the Team that monopolised the top rank since the beginning of the Tournament.
When Pompa picked Jay as his next opponent, almost everyone believed it would be a matter of time before he could win the 2nd Bout and move on to clear the last one as well.
No one suspected the Tier-2 combatant that stood across Pompa would bring any surprise in the course of the Match.
After all, not everyone at Tier-2 could pull off something like Dante, who was undoubtedly one of the dark horses in the Tournament.
Only the keen bunch in the participant seating area noticed the odd reactions of the Earth Team members, which didn't align with the situation.
When they looked at the combatant from the Earth Team, they neither found fear nor any confidence on his face.
The only thing they could notice was an unfettered nonchalance, almost as if the face-off against Pompa was no big deal.
If Olivia were to fight Pompa and if she had such expression, that wouldn't be odd, but seeing a Tier-2 member, who could probably be the weakest member among the Earth team, showcase such expression made them assume if he was about to throw in the towel before the Bout could even begin.
Meanwhile, Jay was aware of all those speculations and just ignored them. After all, the power he was going to display would soon shut them all.
Jay never had any intention of laying low. It just so happened that his standing in the Earth team wasn't disclosed in the first two rounds.
In Round-1, his fight in the Reality Simulator wasn't displayed on the Colosseum screens since only those with the highest level from each Team were shown.
In Round-2, the Thunder Miasma that Jay spread around to deal with the hordes of monsters had blocked the view within the barren battlefield.
As for the 1st Segment in Round-3, there pretty much wasn't any necessity for Jay to make a move. It would have been similar in the 2nd Segment if Pompa hadn't hand-picked him.
Jay had long seen through Pompa's intentions when he challenged the Earth team.
Knowing that Pompa planned to choose the weakest members for the 2nd and 3rd Bouts, he allowed Henry to fight in the 1st Bout despite being aware the former might lose.
When his turn came, all that remained were Jay's means to defeat his opponent.
He could either take down Pompa flamboyantly by suppressing him or showcase just enough ability to defeat his opponent.
With Jay's ambition to create a faction of his own, the need to recruit as many talented individuals and teams as a whole was imperative.
Especially with the threat of a powerful enemy waiting for the Trial Region barriers to disappear in order to declare war against him.
Although there were ten more days before the end of the 2nd Tournament, gathering a force big enough to fight Urzo and the army under his possession was still hard in a short period.
The teams that entered the Top-10 list perfectly fit the role of building blocks for filling the Faction that Jay looked forward to establish.
Since the Atlanis team, the Ragath team and the Falud team were already roped in; there were just six more left in the Top-10.
Among those teams, a certain few piqued Jay's interest. They were the strongest individuals from each Team, Seath, Vral, Tyuk, Vorqen, Pompa and Phuroth.
If they chose to join the ranks of his faction, he would grant them each a Minor ORIGIN SIGIL, whereas their team members would receive a Rudimentary ORIGIN SIGIL each.
With their addition, the Innate Talents available in Jay's arsenal would grow even more diverse.
Among those six, Seath's Time Innate Talent, Vral's Stamina-based Innate Talent and Pompa's Strength and Vitality-based Innate Talents were the ones Jay wished to procure the most as they would significantly improve his combat prowess.
Soon, Felarial commenced the 2nd Bout, and Pompa began walking towards Jay while bumping his fists into one another with each step he took.
Pompa cleared his head from the odd response Felarial gave a while ago. He didn't believe his decision-making was poor.
After all, he was close to defeating the Earth team, which scored even higher than the rest of the teams combined in the Top-100.
Pompa's inner thoughts were as such, 'Hmph, let's see if they could think the same once I win. Wait, what's with this guy? Why is he looking at me like I am a delicacy? Is he into cannibalism or what?'
Hearing those thoughts, Jay's lips couldn't help but twitch. He just wanted to recruit Pompa and get a hold over his Innate Talent,
As Jay sighed with his eyes closed and shook his head, Pompa already started dashing towards Jay to end the 2nd Bout.
However, just as his fist was about to land, Jay sidestepped with his eyes still closed and successfully evaded it.
It wasn't just Pompa; even the onlookers were taken aback by that. They didn't expect a Tier-2 individual to be able to dodge Pompa's attacks.
Before the spectators could amount that to luck, Jay went ahead to dodge several other advances of Pompa with relative ease.
The odd thing was that Jay's movement speed didn't exceed that of a Tier-3 Low-Phase lifeform whilst facing Pompa's explosive pounces.
It was as if he knew where his opponent's moves would land.
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Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :
https://discord.gg/maQC7xDBYZ
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If you have any suggestions for this chapter, I am all ears. I will make any reasonable corrections based on your feedback.