Clear sky, the Sun rises at noon, the fresh wind gives the area the perfect environment to be outdoors while witnessing the fights in the Arena, as an opening ceremony to the rounds 1 against 1 all the competitors in the center are presented to start the four initial fights.
Chris, Tsubaki and Guilian can't help but stare at each other with the thought of facing two of them in the finals and checking the results of their trainings. However, without giving many indications, the other competitors observe each other to analyze the others who are famous, in order to make strategies in advance and be able to finish quickly with the combats.
Ryuken, in a totally immutable way, never opens his eyes, he remains totally immobile and without the need to analyze the situation. Hanna, from the audience, begins to feel a strange sensation in the body, it is not tension, it is not the "pulse", it is not unpleasant, but it does not feel good either, despite this, it feels that there is something that does not add up. She begins to observe the surroundings, but finds nothing peculiar, except for the center of the Arena, almost imperceptibly Ryuken gives a small glimpse at something.
That leaves her intrigued, so she decides to try to discover the goal of such an action and realizes that it was Chris, and she realizes that he is also on alert and after a few seconds she turns to observe Ryuken, as if there is "something" between them. He begins to feel a pressure again, this time Tsubaki and Guilian begin to feel it because they keep watching Chris on alert.
It's just a presentation, but they can't help but feel the danger. After a few minutes, Queen Alice gives a speech on how the adepts have become in recent centuries one of the greatest forces in the world, how nations have begun to unify and how the world is transforming into a peaceful one due to the efforts of the leaders of both human and adepts kingdoms.
Once the speech is over and a few minutes of emotional applause, all the participants return to their rooms and begin preparations for the first fight. Ryuken and Alexander go out to the field from opposite points, the whole Arena is silent as they observe that the fight is about to begin, the tension in the air is overwhelming and the signal sounds, the fight begins.
Alexander throws whirlwinds from his arms and Ryuken dodges them minimally, barely moved his body, but Alexander decides to increase the pace, begins to launch more attacks, more often and bigger and Ryuken continues to dodge them while taking steps to approach. People are stunned to see that Ryuken shows no sign of difficulty and is now only 5 meters away from his opponent.
That's when Alexander, totally desperate, decides to take his ace out of the sleeve, begins to form whirlwinds in both arms and Ryuken starts to feel that the air begins to become lighter, the whirlwinds shoot out with great power and speed, spinning in opposite directions, these cause between them a vacuum chamber where its walls have wind loaded with dust traveling at high speeds, crushing everything in its path. Ryuken moves at high speed to dodge it but ends up receiving a little damage to his clothes, the vacuum chamber ends up suctioning the target with great efficiency to be crushed, his maneuver must have been quite powerful to have been practically unharmed.
Alexander recharges to use his technique and Ryuken begins to get into position, the tension is felt in the air as his gaze gathers concentration. The whirlwinds come out even bigger and then, Ryuken disappears into them. He received them fully and everyone is impressed to see that there was absolutely nothing left.
But something is not right, Alexander begins to fail breathing, that's when a voice sounds near his ear:
—You're still a newbie if you get carried away by appearances. Your attack certainly is easily deadly and of great power, but it is of no use if it is directed at a mirage. —Ryuken is right in front of Alexander, who is barely standing with a frantic breath.
Ryuken heated the air imperceptibly and created a mirage in his position to serve as a decoy while taking a safe route. Alexander's breathing is failing because of how hot the air he inhales is, he can't help but fall to the ground, and as he loses consciousness, he sees how Ryuken just stays watching him, defeating him without even touching him or setting any fire.
—«I couldn't even touch it; this is the level of a Lord? It's a monster, I will never reach your level, Master Faust, I have failed you. » —thinks Alexander as he loses consciousness.
The fight is over in less than 5 minutes and Alexander is quickly taken to the medical ward. As Ryuken heads out of the Arena he quietly pronounces how pathetic he is like an Air adept, for he didn't even notice the change in the air around him.
Hanna watched Ryuken's combat, ended up fascinated by the skill of the man from the East, but at the same time worried that at least one of her friends is going to confront him. She can't find a way to defeat him because of what she knows about her fellow travelers.
Being immersed in her thoughts, Hanna realizes that the repairs of the sand have finished and the participants of the second confrontation are already entering. Guilian never tires of greeting the audience, he loves the attention and support after all his practice matches last week.
Senna enters the stage; the men acclaim her for her beauty and even throw flowers at her on her way to her opponent. She walks the path of roses, but never steps on a single flower, instead, she looks at them with disappointment.
—«Fools, they were all alive and happy where they were. They didn't have to kill them just to do something so useless. » —Senna can only contain her outrage until the confrontation begins.
The signal sounds and immediately the second fight begins, Guilian against Senna, Guilian keeps watching her, absorbed by the beautiful woman he has right in front of him. She can't help but feel some discomfort and makes no qualms about stating how he makes her feel. Senna, at only 17 years old, has climbed positions within the military force of Freia to always be at the side of Selenne, who is her idol.
Senna opens her mantle, discovering her body and the thorny stems of crimson roses that characterize her so much come out. Guilian tries to dodge the surprisingly fast attack, but receives some scratches on his left forearm, then he jumps on her, burning the thorns with a series of punches.
He harnesses the force of each explosion to roll back his arm and releases the fire backwards by fully loading the fire for the next explosion, resulting in a series of high-speed punches. Guilian manages to get close enough to Senna and stops his last blow just by rubbing her face, tells her in a calm voice that he wants to avoid hurting a woman with his fire, especially one as beautiful as her, and she lowers her thorns.
Just as Guilian lowers his arm and puts out his flames, thorns come out of the ground under him and, barely reacting in time, manages to avoid a fatal wound, leaving him injured in the abdomen and part of his face. Senna, with a sadistic look, reveals that she enjoys torturing men, because they seem to her disgusting, she does not want his chivalry and if he continues, she will not hesitate to take his life for belittling her power.
Thorns begin to come out of the entire battlefield and launches towards him, barely maneuvering thanks to the fire in his fists, Guilian walks away and burns all the plants that are directed at him. But Senna never took a single step, he is still in the same position and does not even turn to see him.
Guilian decides to gamble, the answer comes to light when you face adversity. He, again, throws himself directly at Senna, while dodging the thorns and burning them again and again. He prepares his fists of fire and throws a large explosion at her, but she covered herself with thorns coming out just below her, forming a thick wall. But Guilian had only begun, for he immediately releases another explosion and another and another, until there are no vines left.
He launches one last explosion, hitting Senna hard, throwing her a few meters and as the smoke and dust dissipates, her naked body to be seen. Guilian managed to discover the secret of her thorns, Senna's clothes were covered with rose seeds, which he grew with his elemental power of Earth and controlled them with it.
As she ran away to her room, embarrassed, Guilian is declared victorious at the cost of his reputation for stripping a girl naked in front of hundreds of people. That day would be condemned by all women, not only of the kingdom of Heinburn, but of the world, but applauded by men. Inside his dressing room, Chris can't help but feel the different emotions within the scandal outside.
—They must be having a lot of fun out there to make so much noise. —he says loudly to himself as he prepares.
The holes in the sand soil were filled in and the flowers from the previous combat were collected. The next opponents enter, Tsubaki is full of confidence and greets her friend Hanna in the stands. Pierre enters calmly, as if he were at home, that gives the Air adept some uncertainty.
The third fight begins, Tsubaki against Pierre, she stays watching him carefully before making her first move. Everything in him is strange, no intention is perceived, neither of attack nor of defense, he is only completely inert, calm, serene. It gives a feeling that leaves her uncomfortable for not matching the circumstances.
She throws a series of slashing wind attacks at him and dodges them all, moving unnaturally. It's as if he's dancing, jumps back and forth and dodges each and every attack without making any effort and she can't help but shorten the distance to try to strike a simple attack.
She begins to move at high speed with the help of the wind, drives her every movement and attacks with a sharp wind in her limbs, attacks him from all angles, but dodges everything and while doing so, imperceptibly, ends up causing her cuts in some areas of arms and legs.
She can't figure out how he could do it, Hanna begins to worry about her condition and yells at her from the audience to observe the pattern of her movements, not his but herself's. Tsubaki does not remain calm and rushes, she begins to run around Pierre and raises a cloud of dust, leaving him without much visual field. She attacks again in a non-frontal way and dodges him again.
As soon as she takes his first step after his last attack, she loses his balance and notices that her heel was also hurt, meanwhile, Pierre begins to approach with great confidence, as if he had won the fight. She decides to throw herself head-on and attacks from both sides, with both arms and Pierre launches his counterattack.
His hands are covered with water flowing at high speed, as if it were a stream circulating throughout the extension of the palms of his hands. His water stream follows the flow of Tsubaki's wind and destroys both attacks, grabs her hands and takes her as if they were dancing, she can't help but feel embarrassed for having been manipulated so easily, Pierre asks her to give up, and she agrees.
Unlike Guilian, Pierre ends up winning the hearts of women by being so gentlemanly and elegant, and the men in the audience boo him for it. He leaves with a face of satisfaction at the reaction of the public while Tsubaki dies of shame for his defeat, as well as feeling strange after the final attack.
As she retires to the medical ward she meets Chris on her way to the Arena, she lets him know about her defeat and his curiosity rises. That Pierre avoided her fast and difficult-to-see attacks because the wind is not visible, is the dangerous thing in addition to his cutting ability.
Morgan enters the arena, and the spectators remain silent, they do not know whether to boo him for his well-deserved reputation or throw objects at him because of his hostile nature. Then Chris comes to light, and everyone sends him support to defeat the barbarian.
The last battle begins, Morgan against Chris, his earth hardening ability allows him to attack with spikes and Chris dodges them feeling the vibrations of the earth, by perceiving the ki he can identify which zones he is hardening and predict his exit trajectory. As the entire Arena is filled with peaks Chris decides to start attacking and realizes that super hardened peaks come out of the peaks already out, in addition to starting to turn so they are no longer vertical attacks, but horizontal from all sides.
Morgan's strategy paid off, he can't move freely and he's not safe in one place either. Chris can only dodge the spikes that come out around him and makes his way straight to his opponent, jumps over the spikes and propels himself by kicking the tips from the sides, falling straight up on Morgan.
Being exactly above him, Morgan cannot see him in the sunlight and kicks him directly in the face, causing the beaks to stop coming out and turning, as he lost concentration to keep his ability active. Chris grabs his skull and with his strength begins to squeeze him until he begins to scream in pain, saying loudly that for people like him the adepts get a bad name.
Once he begins to bleed from his nose andears, with no sign of remaining conscious, Chris is declared victorious, and the audience hails him for subduing such a powerful barbarian. And he still didn't get to use his elemental power, which makes him increasingly popular in the competition.
The results of the first round are set and the contests that follow are shown, the semifinals will be Ryuken against Guilian and Pierre against Chris. Hanna can't help but worry about the battles becoming bloodier and bloodier and decides to visit them in their rooms.
First, she decided to go see Tsubaki in the medical ward, they have already treated her wounds that were quite superficial and will not leave any scar. She is frustrated that she has shown ineptitude, but Hanna encourages her to use that experience to grow more. Just a few meters away she manages to see that Guilian went through a more serious treatment, because his wounds were close to being deadly, nothing that the healing wizards who came from the Empire cannot treat.
With Guilian, she sees how focused she is, as he is about to face one of the Six Lords and talks a little with him to help him calm down. With Chris, he just stays thoughtful, he is somewhat dismayed by what Tsubaki could know about Pierre, that he is so strange is what makes him so dangerous in combat.
She can't tell him much more because she didn't get much information from his perspective, but she can tell him about the other matches and he is glad for Guilian, who has come as far as he has and has a lot of desire to face him in the finals. In a sense, the two of them always competed with the power of their fists.
The rest between rounds ends up being one hour and in that time the Arena undergoes a few modifications, the floor was separated from the walls, leaving channels full of water and the Arena has less extension. The Colosseum has technology from the Empire that allows it to modify the terrain at its discretion.
With all the people gathered, ringing the excitement throughout the kingdom, the two competitors of the first semi-final battle, Ryuken and Guilian, come out. Hanna and Tsubaki, from the audience, send him support, each in their own way. Smiling, Guilian begins the battle of his life.