The coliseum buzzed with anticipation as the seats filled with eager spectators, a sea of faces reflecting excitement and expectation. The air was thick with the scent of food vendors' offerings, and the sounds of chatter, laughter, and the occasional chant rose in waves through the expansive arena. The people murmured about the fighters, each rumor more fantastical than the last, as they leaned forward to catch sight of the sand-strewn pit where the matches would soon begin.
High above, seated in the most opulent section of the coliseum, the city's lord, Ko Johun, watched over the scene with a stoic expression, his imposing figure wrapped in silks embroidered with his house's crest.
The Emperor of the Zhurosan Empire was a tall man with long red hair and equally blood-red eyes that looked down upon the whole world.
Beside him sat his wife, graceful and dignified, her skin as flawless as porcelain and her eyes glowing like jade. Her name was Zhoming Zhurosan, the 23rd empress of this empire that had stood for thousands of years.
Her daughter—Ko's stepdaughter, Sing—peered over the ledge, her youthful curiosity breaking through her noble bearing as she scanned the crowd and arena with keen eyes.
The nobility and townsfolk alike took note of the lord's presence, and every now and then, heads would turn upward, eyes drawn to the family who held the city's reins. The air was electric, every person holding their breath, waiting for the first fighter to step forward and for the tournament to begin.
There was a larger audience here today than usual. The reason was obvious—everyone was here to see the only man to break the record of a Divine Dao. The man who was instantly placed in the top 10 upon punching a hole in the Celestial Rock.
"—Dear, are you eager to see that Nova fellow?" while Emperor Ko was glancing at the audience, his wife posed a question.
"I am."
"Why not summon him to the palace to get to know him?"
"There is a protocol to follow. I will only meet with the top 2 candidates. If he wants to stand before me, he will have to work for it."
'Strict as ever,' thought Zhoming.
"Uwa, it's so loud. Who is everyone cheering for? I can't tell!" Sing complained to her mother.
There were indeed a few names going around but the crowd was so loud, it sounded unintelligible.
"Ming, begin."
Ko looked at her. She nodded before getting up and addressing the crowd.
"—Thank you all for being here to support our future inner martials!" applause sounded, "We welcome the hardworking martials who honed their skills and spent years of practice just to be here today. While only one of the competitors will become an Inner Martial—that is to say, the elite martial forces this country possesses. I hope all of you are ready to welcome our new fighters as the schedule today will require their full determination."
Trumpets sounded before the announcer came onto the white-tiled stage.
He was the same man who supervised the examinees yesterday but sent in a notice to tell the coliseum organizers that he'll be the referee for this tournament. With his experience in this line of work, coupled with his martial prowess, no one objected to this.
Killing is forbidden so it's essential to have a referee capable of stopping bloodthirsty contenders.
The old man pointed somewhere and began speaking:
"The names of today's first opponents will be announced now. Besides the Late Comers, nothing else has changed the selection process so it will continue from yesterday. 50 martials remain from the 100 and there are four days left until the week concludes on Saerune. We predict top ten fighters are expected to compete on the last day but if you can overlook this, ladies and gentlemen, you're in for a fun tournament."
His boisterous laughter echoed.
"Unwrap the Mystic Scroll!"
On his command, a giant golden scroll appeared next to the ring. Looking at the very edge of the ring, there were individuals chanting in some strange language and doing hand signs.
The golden scroll was unfurled. A golden dust was spread from its fabric. No one knows what the scroll is actually made from or what it was. All the people knew was that it's mainly used to simulate results in competitions.
"14 [Latecomers] were added to the roster. They will be matched up with each other before joining the competitors—"
"No." a cold, quiet but powerful voice interrupted the announcer's speech.
Everyone knew that voice—it belonged to the emperor himself.
The spectators gulped at his next words.
"I've changed my mind about the latecomers pairing up with the rest of the roster martials. Have the 14 of them participate in a battle royale until 2 remain. Those two will be stripped of the [Latecomer] title and be added as ordinary participants."
The announcement struck like a bolt of lightning. For a moment, silence hung in the air, followed by a ripple of murmurs that turned into a deafening roar.
"Ohhhh!"
The crowd exploded with cheers, their voices a chaotic symphony of excitement and speculation.
"Did you hear that?" one man shouted over the noise, gripping his companion's arm. "A battle royale! Fourteen fighters, all at once!"
"This is going to be brutal…." a woman murmured, her eyes wide with anticipation.
Children perched on their parents' shoulders clapped their hands, too young to grasp the gravity of the event but thrilled by the infectious energy of the crowd.
In the upper seats, nobles exchanged eager glances, their minds racing with the potential for betting on the victors.
One victor was already certain—Nova. But who could be the second one? Maybe there won't be a second survivor at all.
Cheers and applause echoed through the arena as the crowd settled into their seats.
"Ahem, well, His Majesty has spoken! All latecomers, come to the ring!"
**
14 martials stood at the very edge of the ring, each spaced a few meters apart from each other. The announcer was standing in the middle of the ring but hasn't given the signal to begin yet.
The air felt tense and quiet. The spectators could almost hear their own gulps.
Arnold was standing in a relaxed manner while the rest were in their own stances. He could tell they were gunning for him since every single one of them was looking at him. This wasn't going to be a battle royale at all.
They weren't exactly weak, though. The one with the lowest level was at 62 and the highest at 88.
He didn't bother to scan Ko's level since the pressure coming the bastard alone was enough to confirm he was strong.
"—The rules are as follows: No playing dirty as this is not just a tournament but a display of martial arts. The martial arts you show today may be favored by the many noble families that are here today to watch you fight. No poking out eyes to restrict vision or kicking in a man's nether regions as this will automatically disqualify you. Killing is also not allowed. The first lesson of your martial arts should've taught you this. Contestants must bow before and after each match as a sign of respect for their opponent. Disrespectful conduct toward your opponent or the judges will not be tolerated.
Each match will be judged by three masters of martial arts who will evaluate technique, discipline, and spirit. Victory can be achieved in three ways: forcing your opponent to yield, rendering them unable to continue the fight, or outscoring them based on the judges' evaluations at the end of the time limit. Interference from outside parties will lead to the disqualification of the interfering party's representative. Fighters are responsible for ensuring the honor of their respective schools or affiliations. Lastly, all participants are reminded that the true purpose of this tournament is to honor the art of combat and grow as practitioners. Winning is secondary to demonstrating the virtues of discipline, respect, and mastery. Our emperor might be at the very peak of martial arts but even he respects and follows the teachings of his youth."
The announcer walked towards the steps of the arena. Upon reaching the very edge, he held up his arm. There wasn't any noise coming from the crowd. Everyone just watched in expectation.
"Begin!"
The moment he announced for them to start, several throwables aimed for Arnold.
He didn't even need to look around to see that every competitor was charging at him.
No point in standing around then, he thought before catching the throwables and in a split second, throwing them back towards their owners. None managed to hit because said owners dodged at the last second, as if they had expected Arnold to do that.
Before Arnold had the time to think, a large man was about to wrap his arms around him.
'A grappler. Better stay away from him.' Arnold expertly hit his wrists and used a light palm strike to push him back. The guy was a bit too heavy so he wasn't pushed back that far.
A spear was inches away from his eye before he kicked the pole. The wielder let go of it and took out another weapon, a flail. There wasn't any time to focus on that because another opponent's chain—which were covered in a strange liquid—wrapped itself around his arms.
'They're working together. Cute.'
Looking back, he could that the two chains were connected to rods that were smashed into the arena floor. Behind that was a woman who was making strange handsigns. Once she stopped, the sound of thunder resounded and lightning coated the chains.
'Hand signs to activate martial arts? I've never seen this before in the empire.' He thought casually as the lightning travelled up the chains.
Instead of hitting him directly, the lightning destroyed one of Luxtivin's illusions. He had become quite accustomed to these illusions, which could be used interchangeably with his [Speed of Sound] skill.
"Eh!?" the opponent who used the lightning martial art jumped in a random direction, thinking Arnold was behind her but he appeared in front of her instantly, "Kyak!"
He swung his forearm, aiming for her neck, sending her flying away like a straw puppet.
Thinking he was open to attacks after taking care of that martial, the others charged at him with their own weapons and martial arts ready.
"Hmph!" Arnold stomped the arena, causing the entire platform to crack and shake. A strong rumble caused some of the martials to lose their footing but a few others managed to jump in time to avoid that.
'Easy prey.'
He pulled back his arm. A second later it was engulfed in blue flames. Without waiting a second longer, he threw his attack. A defensive barrier appeared in front of the person he was aiming for.
It was a solid barrier so the flames didn't manage to get through.
'I've never seen a barrier martial skill before…' He wasn't expecting to be surprised by another martial arts technique today.
If a water dragon is a derivation of a water-based martial art then a defensive barrier must be the derivation of a body strengthening art—specifically one for increasing endurance and defense.
Luxtivin appeared in his other hand. Without waiting for his opponents to regain their balance, he charged at the nearest one.
"Tch!" that person quickly got into a stance and caught Arnold's strike—well, Luxtivin cut through his sword and cut off his arm clean. "Uaack—"
Arnold punched him so hard that his face caved in and he flew out of the ring.
He stepped to the side in the next moment. Right next to him the ground materialized into sharp tall spikes. Earlier, that area was covered in debris.
If he was a moment too late, that would've impaled him.
Element transformation martial skill… That must be the derivation of a skin-alteration martial art. Warrior tribes typically use this. He didn't have time to look at who activated that skill since his other opponents regained their balance and charged at him—there were five of them in total.
There was no time to even dodge since they were on him in less than a second, all their weapons striking right at him. However, a sharp clanking sound—no, multiple of them—resounded.
The reason for the sounds was Arnold—or rather the white energy that had appeared around his body. If it's just a little bit to test something out, he could play around with Aether.
At that moment, the emperor jumped from his seat and clutched the rails with wide eyes. A grin appeared on Arnold's face but he didn't look at the emperor.
One of his manifested shields turned into a sharp spike that impaled one of the martials through the soldier. The crackling of lightning alerted Arnold to the martial to his direct right. He shot his head backwards, feeling the intense heat of pure lightning race past his face.
Turning pure Ki into a violent phenomenon of nature.
How many special martial arts does this world have to offer? He's never seen this kind of martial mastery in his own world before, probably because the kind of martial arts they teach in the empire was utter garbage or people were fine with the surface-level martial arts that's passed down by their ancestors.
In Arnold's case, he chose to study deeper into his family history to learn what kind of martial arts were passed down through the generations. By using what he learned, he created a completely new martial art that improved his grandfather's [Water Edge] into something more terrifying and unique than any of them could dream of creating.
….
Soon, several bodies littered the arena but only one remained standing. He swept back his golden hair with the biggest grin on his face.
In a span of just ten minutes, he learned several new things. Martial arts in this world differs somewhat to what comes from his world. Of course, he didn't know every single martial art out there, but the similarities were striking. For example, his opponent had used an environmental control martial art earlier, which was typically used to strengthen the body. Another example was the use of raw energy to manifest protective shields—something even the strongest martials are incapable of.
Many people believed it was a myth to use raw energy without altering its core structure, like what he could do with his aura. But that was the difference between sand and glass, whereas the martial artist who used raw energy to form shields was more like pebbles and rocks.
"If I may speak, Your Majesty!" Arnold's exclamation drowned out the announcer's voice.
Ko raised an eyebrow. A small nod gave Arnold permission to continue.
"I think the crowd is eager to see how I fair in my next battles so why don't we keep this momentum going and let the next fighter come on stage? I beat 13 opponents on my own and have barely broken a sweat!"
He could hear someone say: "I-is he serious? He's not even tired?" and another adding "he doesn't look tired to me. In fact, he looks excited for more."
"I know that even you are eager to see who will be able to defeat me, Your Majesty." He then looked toward the crowd, "You do not seem entertained! Was that not enough!?"
"…."
"Do you want to see me rise to the top and beat every single one of these pathetic martials!? Is that what it takes to entertain you!?"
After saying so, he leaked his killing intent through the whole arena. It was pure bloodlust, not to dominate but to lure.
A little killing intent makes weaklings freeze in place but it angers the strong. It's like when a wyrm roars in the presence of a wild dragon tribe. Every single one of those dragons will pounce on the arrogant wyrm.
Arnold could already feel killing intent leaking from the barracks corner where all the competitors were resting.
"I don't care if it's one-on-one or two-on-one—I'll beat you all! Show me who of you can force me to fight at full strength!"
He looked towards the emperor again to await his answer.
The crowd was silent but judging by the sparkles in their eyes, his speech made the intended affect. Suddenly the sound of stomping came from the arena seats. Every single spectator—including the nobles—were tapping their feet down in response.
The emperor's face twisted with a wide smirk that didn't quite reach his eyes. Beneath the facade of amusement, the vein pulsing under his temple betrayed the storm brewing within. His jaw tightened for the briefest of moments before he masked it with a deliberate shift of his posture, but the sharp glint in his eyes screamed volumes. "This arrogant little shit," seemed etched into the very air around him, an unspoken sentiment that lingered in the way his lips curved—half amusement, half menace.
"—Very well."
Contrary to his earlier expression that lasted a few seconds, his voice was calm.
He leaned back in his throne and spoke again, "As per your request and the anticipation of my people, you will be pitted against all the martials on the roster that were supposed to fight each other."
Meaning, he'll fight a two-on-one. This was bending the rules and norm but due to the reaction from the crowd, the emperor had no choice but to let it happen. Or maybe he was also looking forward to Arnold fighting against all those martials, including his favorites that were standing behind him and his wife.