"Match 9, Alexander Grant vs. Gil!"
It was already ten minutes after the end of the previous match and both Lola and Melania Aztec had since left the stage for the new contestants to come up.
After their spectacular performance, they were lauded with praises.
Jake himself felt the match was very close. If Lola was more refined, then maybe she would have opted to use fewer arrows. Also, her main fault was not her lack of arrows, but her poor combat skills.
One could use a bow to fight. Even Jake, who previously didn't really like using weapons except when necessary, had once fought with an "arrow-less" bow.
The key was to use the two sharp edges of the bow as a piercing force. There were some bows that were customized for battles like that.
Still, even without using the bow as a melee weapon, there were still other things she could do. For instance, an archer set, like the one she wore, comes with a pair of daggers for self-defense.
So, where they customary?
Of course, not!
When cornered, an archer could rely on his bladed weapons and wield them like a professional. There were some archers that were better at daggers than most people with a dagger as their main choice of weapon.
All in all, the reason for Lola's defeat was her small mindset, which contrasts with the experience she had shown. This was where she, Nico, and Jaya differed.
Lola was like a person who had trained all her life but has no opportunity to implement her gains of training in a life-or-death situation.
Nico was like a person who slept too much, but when truly awoken, is able to cause a good amount of damage. This could be seen from his last match. When pressured, he was able to squeeze out his potential and find a way to win.
While Jaya was like a soldier.... well not exactly. She was the opposite of Lola and was gifted with a flexible mind. Just like the others, it shows that she has had a lot of training. She was also good at "seeing" things better than most individuals.
Where Lola saw a warrior, Nico saw a berserker, and Jaya saw a fire berserker.
This was the problem of perception! It could only be expanded with experience or could just be as a result of a naturally gifted mind.
While Jake was analyzing the previous match, the participants of the next match took to stage.
Their eyes met each other for a few seconds in an intense stare-off before the referee announce, "Match 9, Start!"
This was another easy-looking match!
Alexander had shown his ability in the prevent competition stage. Especially his strange techniques, which Jake had cautioned himself against if he was ever to face against the former.
At the start of the match, Alexander frowned as he assessed his opponent.
Jake could tell what was on the teenager's mind. Alexander was trying to decide how he should play out the match.
The way Jake saw it, there were many options to choose from. Any of them, if played well, would lead to a win.
After a moment or two, Alex suddenly moved at super speed. He noticed his opponent's shallow cultivation base and tried to take advantage of that.
Before Gil could react to the sudden movement, Alex arrived close to him and dish out a punch full of his technique, "[Pain Deliverance]!"
The quick jab caused a lot of "pain" to Gil, who blocked the attack with his crossed arm.
Gil temporarily ignored the jarring pain and evaded the second attack that came his way.
*Bleurgh--*
He distanced himself from Alex, but in the next second, he coughed out blood and went on his knees.
Alex softly walked closer to his fallen opponent. He explained to him, "It's futile. You have received my attack, so, you will be in constant pain for a while."
Gil tried to stand up, but Alex had learned from his previous match about the nature of the participants.
He quickly strode to his opponent, and mercilessly kicked him out of the stage. Quick, simple, and calm!
"Match 9, End!"
There was never a doubt that he would win, but no one expected him to win this easily.
It hadn't even been five minutes after the start of the match.
This was definitely going into the special record as one of the fastest matches in the competition.
After the two competitors left, the referee called on the next set of competitors, the last set, "Match 10, Joshua Vargas vs. Gavin Elliot!"
Jake had already seen this matchup coming. Despite the fairness of the match-up, some things occurred as if following the line of destiny.
So, it was not foolish to have seen this match long coming.
"Match 10, Start!"
The match quickly started with the two quickly heating it up.
The long-standing rivalry between the two enabled them to fight with no conversation needed.
*Boom!*
They traded punches like it was nothing. In a quick motion, Gavin bypassed the defense and swept the feet of Joshua, but the latter flipped above the sweeping feet and threw a kick at Gavin.
He managed to land his attack on the neck of Gavin and kick him away.
"You have grown weak, Gavin," sighed Joshua.
He appeared behind Gavin and kneed him in the back, close to his spine.
"Arghhh!!!" screamed Gavin.
His lower bones broke to the impact of the attack.
Before he could recover, he felt multiple punches released on his body in a cruel manner.
However, he wasn't focused on the attack. His diluted eyes played over, again and again, what Joshua said, 'I'm weak. Weak. Weak..?'
Trying to understand his former friend's words, Gavin's vein bulged as anger became evident on his face.
He evaded a coming attack and went beyond his limit to kick Joshua away, but to his horror, Joshua caught it like it was nothing and disarmed the strength between the attack.
"Where is your brilliance?! You have stopped growing, while I have continued. It seems it was wrong for me to expect anything from you," sighed Joshua with an expressionless face.
"It is time to end this!"