Going back into the stands, Alex's hand started feeling better. Sitting in his original seat, he found that everyone was evading him like opposite sides of a magnet. Alex shrugged as he didn't care since all that mattered to him was winning the Tournament and becoming a student at the Galactic Academy.
The next few fights that occurred on the nearby arena's were boring and some were just slugfests, which were the more excitable fights. As for Alex's next few fights, they ended quickly as he didn't want to embarrass anyone. Jason being the only exception as he was quite a spoiled brat with a personality that bugged Alex.
"You had a nice match earlier, almost as great as my own." A voice Alex remembered quite well said.
"I did alright. The fights I've seen you in was pretty amazing. The Long Family Dragon Arts makes me want to learn a special martial arts. Makes my desire to be accepted into the Galactic Academy burn even hotter." Alex said with a smile as he turned his head to find Jade sitting next to him, noticing that there was a tear on the sleeve of her uniform. "You seem to have met with some trouble."
After hearing the last remark, Jade turned red and frowned as she changed the subject. "What do you mean you want to learn a special martial art? With you're strength, you've got to have a special martial art right?"
"Nope." Alex said as he chuckled. "I learned all of my fighting techniques from the internet."
"You're kidding right?" Jade questioned in a joking manner, only to become shocked as she realized Alex was telling the truth.
"How the hell did you defeat Jason with little to no formal martial arts training! That's like an ant fighting against a blue whale and actually winning!" Jade stated, pressuring Alex to answer her question.
"Well, he was just slow." Alex answered simply.
"Slow? He had an Aether Level of 230, breaking the barrier between normal humans and entering the superhuman category! While not as fast as I am, he was close to my own level of power." Jade explained before muttering aloud. "The only way to see him moving in slow motion would be that you were above him in Aether Rank, but that's crazy. Right?"
Alex just hummed, not answering her as he chuckled and said. "Who knows."
Jade turned red in irritation as no one had treated her this way before but huffed as she focused on the matches below. Time passed and soon night arrived alongside the six contestants who would fight to determine if they would continue their journey to greatness, or fail and have their growth stalled.
"Will the remaining undefeated competitors please report to Arena 1." A voice on the intercom said.
Standing up from his seat, Alex turned to Jade and stated. "I hope we don't fight each other in the next round."
"Why? Scared?" Jade teased, only to frown angrily as Alex laughed.
"Sure sure." Alex waved at her as he walked on ahead onto the stage. "Good Luck little dragon."
"Keep that luck to yourself since you'll need it more than me." Jade said with a smile before she paused and yelled out to him. "Little Dragon! I swear, if we meet in a match I'll be sure to cut off your legs and make you little!"
Alex ignored her final words as he made his way to Arena 1 but was stopped by men in black suits who blocked the tunnel. They were tall and very muscled, each weighting over two hundred and fifty at least. Not to mention their Aether which was being released with no intention of peace.
Seeing this and instinctively understanding their intentions through their Aura, Alex sighed and asked them. "So does anyone want to move out of my way before they get hurt?"
One of the bodyguard looking men who heard this chuckled as he uncrossed his arms and stated. "You've humiliated the heir to the Lunar Family and now must pay the price."
"Yeah yeah yeah." Alex said before he motioned to them come at him with his middle finger. "Let's skip the threats and small talk, I'm on a schedule here."
The bodyguard who was speaking to Alex growled as he said. "We all have an Aether Level 500, you understand you're going to die right?"
Alex sighed as he set his sword spear by the wall and cracked his knuckles, saying. "I just don't understand why bad guys always love to monologue."
The bodyguard was about to retort but before he could, the world turned dark.
----- -----
"You're late Alex! You know you would have gotten disqualified if I threaten the referee!" Jade said as he held her hips with her hands.
"Sorry about that, I had to get rid of some trash." Alex said as he held his palms together in front of him.
"You know what, I'm not even going to ask how trash is more important than a once in a lifetime event." Jade said with Alex retorting. "But this isn't a once in a lifetime event though."
Jade ignored Alex from that moment on as the referee began to explain the rules once more as well as how the opponents would be chosen.
"Same rules as before and as for who will become your opponent, you may challenge them yourself." The referee said, surprising almost everyone as this had never happened before.
"Oh, neat." Alex said, but before he could even look to find an opponent he heard someone shout.
"I want to fight that guy right there!"
The person shouting had on animal furs surrounding his body with an oversized bone greatsword that was twice the size of his body. While Alex was confused by how effective the blade could be, the referee motioned everyone else to walk off the stage. Once it was just the three of them, The referee explained the rules once more as the two combatants gripped their weapons.
"This is going to be an easy win." The teen said as he swung his sword around to look intimidating.
As for Alex, he had a confused look on his face before it suddenly changed as he stated. "You must want to become a Monster Hunter, that's why you're weapons so big!"
"Are you mocking me? Belittling my power!" The animal fur clothed teen demanded to know.
Alex's face scrunched as the loud voice rang in his ears and he muttered. "Why the hell is everyone so prideful here."
"And start!" The referee said, slightly irritated that no one was listening to him.
The fur clothed teen released his Aether without control which shook the arena. His aura surrounded his giant sword which was a basic skill used by anyone with Aether as it strengthened the natural attributes of a weapon. The blade's durability and power exploded with it's cutting edge even being able to cut paper with Aether coursing through it. Alex then looked at the fur clothed teen and then to his sword spear before he sighed.
"Well, I guess I might as well fight you with a little more effort since I've somehow offended you badly it seems." Alex said as he also released his Aether, except in a controlled manner which made his aura seem like a tranquil river current, making his sword spear seem almost ethereal.
With a mighty battle cry, the fur clothed teen charged forward with an overhead swing. Alex seeing this took a deep breath as he also charged forward.