An hour after the meeting in the med bay, Jaya and Sierra walked back to the stadium.
They kept silent and enjoyed their stroll while thinking about what happened back in the room.
Following the clues left on the corpse, the group had linked it up with Jake. They had reasoned that Jake, the killer of the corpse, knew what he was doing when he killed Ray, the owner of the corpse.
This would also mean that he was aware of the hidden side of Ray, and that was why he opted to kill both the human side and zombie side of Ray in one stroke.
This hypothesis made them question how he knew of this knowledge.
Was he in league with Ray?
Were they both zombified?
If not, then how? How did he know?
Given the lack of direction, the king and his brother had decided to monitor Jake and not take any drastic decision yet.
Apart from the case of the killer, they were also left with many other questions concerning Ray. Questions like if Ray voluntarily took the item that changed him?
The previously clear situation became muddy once again. This only further aggravated the king, who left with his brother to discuss the matter with other high-rank personnel. However, before he left, he warned the three females to not spread the matter to anyone.
Jaya reflected on the meeting and realized she was not safe.
She didn't know how to tackle this situation that seems to be spiraling beneath them. She looked up in the sky and saw flocks of black crows.
Jaya let out a soft breath, 'Hah, another foreboding of the turbulent days to come.'
"What is it? You are worried?" asked Sierra after she noticed the distress on her friend's face.
"I'm just trying to process, never mind me. What about you? I could tell that you have a strained relationship with your father?"
This time, it was Sierra that kept quiet. Jaya could tell from her expression that she was not comfortable with the topic.
However, she needed to say what was on her mind, "I do not mean to intrude, but it would be better if you salvage your relationship with him. In the end, a present father is better than a missing one or a dead one."
Jaya's eyes became distant the further she talked.
She began to recollect her time before she awoke in the Dark Forest. The times she spent with her father, together with Lola and Nico.
Those times were now forgotten. Each passing day wiped at the image of her father in her mind. Give it a few more years and she would no longer remember.
Jaya shook her head and tried not to think of the matter anymore. It wouldn't do good for her upcoming matches.
"Oh sh*t, the competition," exclaimed Jaya.
Her words shocked Sierra, who had also forgotten about the competition.
Together, they picked up their pace and ran to the stadium.
Being closer to the stadium, they could already hear the referee's voice coming from it.
The two concentrated on the voice and sighed as they realized that the referee was just re-introducing the second half.
"Let's pick up our pace," Jaya told her friend.
Moments later, the both of them could be seen dashing into the stadium.
........
*Thum!*
Jake opened his eyes at the first word of the referee.
He had taken a quick nap after the conclusion of the first half.
Sleeping was not necessary for cultivators, but a good sleep helps to rest the mind, not the body. The body was expendable to cultivators. It could be destroyed and restored back to shape, but the mind was different, any little damage to it could prove very costly. That was also the reason why Jake decided not to activate his special eye until the situation called for it.
'Hmmm....it seems I am first again,' hummed Jake.
Listening to the referee, he heard the announcement of the first match of the second half. It was him vs. Alex Grant, a very interesting match, indeed.
Jake slowly walked to the stage and waited for his opponent to come. It took him a while for him to rouse himself up from sleep.
If asked to mention one of his habits, sleeping would be one of them. This could be seen from how Jake deviated from the methodic cultivators, who cultivate day and night, non-stop, without sleeping. Jake found it barbaric and opted to create his own sleeping schedule.
Sleeping was a heavenly art and could not be tarnished!
It didn't take long for Alex Grant to come up the stage.
He had changed his dress and put on a heavy armor set. The only missing part of the set was the helmet, which Jake reckoned would inhibit his fighting style if he put it on.
'Hmmm…... it seems like he is taking me serious,' mused Jake.
He also took his opponent seriously. It would be an amateur mistake to not have taken any of the opponents he had met seriously, a costly mistake.
However, Jake could not help but chuckle a bit at the sight of the over-dressed Alex. Despite maintaining his cold expression, his face twitched a few times.
"Are you ready?" the referee announced.
Jake made a few movements to get a feel of the newly-repaired stage. It was nicely made, good enough to absorb impact and not deter his speed.
"Yes," responded the two opponents.
"Second Half - Match 1, Start!"
*Feeunm!*
Jake took the first action. He knew that Alex would choose to assess him, so he would bring himself to him instead.
Going in a straight line, Jake appeared beside Alex and zipped out his sword, towards Alex's neck. All his attack techniques were fatal, but he didn't need to hold back as they were allowed in the competition stage.
*Zoom!*
The slim sword shot out like a star but was frantically blocked by Alex's astonishingly thick leather bracers.
Despite his attack being blocked, Jake did not give up. Following his training, he threw his sword up and snaked his hand to make a jab at the abdomen of his opponent.
His attack landed, but Jake did not expect what happened next. After his jab, Alex trapped his hand and counter-attacked using his right fist.
Normally, Jake wouldn't be affected by a normal move, but the moment he tried to make another attack, he felt severe pain at the place he was previously attacked.
'[Pain Deliverance]!' Jake hissed at the back of his mind.
He further damaged his body by ignoring his pain and blasting Alex away with his leg.
After he had put up a sizable distance, he rapidly analyzed the injury he received, 'No, this is not just [Pain Deliverance], but also [Weak Stabs]. It is a mixture of both! Interesting.'
He had read in the library that it was hard to combine two techniques, but, right now, someone just did it, to him, nevertheless.
Jake drew out his next choice of action. Thanks to him watching Alex's matches, he knew all the attacks the latter had, except if he hid one or two.
He had recognized the attack inflicted in him due to its precision and mind-flaying pain. Jake was currently subdued under a freezing pain, but he ignored it using his strong mind.
The pain was just a response from the body and could be maneuvered at the risk of permanently damaging his body.
The longer he ignored the pain, the greater he damaged his body.
'I can temporarily ignore and rush the battle, but that would not be wise in the long run. I have to multi-task, I would, on one side, heal my injury, and on the other side, press on Alex and give him no room to prey on my weakness. It would drastically dampen my speed but I will manage!'
Making up his mind, Jake blitzed to Alex, who already expected him. The former unsheathed his sword in a fast motion and when Alex tried to block the lighting attack, he felt two other sword slashes coming at him.
"What?" exclaimed Alex.
He understood that only pure speed could achieve such a feat.
However, he wasn't that easy to defeat, "[Sensory Overload]!"
Activating his attack that could be said to be the bane of all speed-based opponents, Alex reacted fast and blocked all the slashes coming his way. He was about to smile triumphantly when he received a cut on his armor.
Even though the cut didn't go deep, Alex was shocked. He thought he had caught all the attack but he actually failed to see one coming.
He took a deep breath and realized that his opponent was indeed deadly. Just like his silent self, the attacks he dished out were quiet and easy to miss.
However, after watching Jake's fights, he realized that Jake didn't have any loud attacks. It all depended on his creativity.
The two engaged another round and Alex found out that Jake's sword was not in its sheath. It was upward about to descend like a god.
*Zoom!*
He crossed his arms together wanting to absorb the slash. However, his senses failed to realize when the sword came down. All he saw after an eye blink was a thin cut on his armor that went penetrated his defenses and went deep into his bones