"Absolutely!" Hugo agreed, laughing so hard he snorted, and then he looked at Alex. "I will spare his life for the time being, but I will settle this later."
Then he spotted Jacob and Marie out of the corner of his eye and turned to greet them.
"Welcome," he said, smiling at them. "I'm glad to see you made it."
Kenneth had been looking forward to Jacob's arrival, and now he grinned as he imagined Alex's imminent defeat.
Everyone rushed to stand with Jacob and the others, leaving Alex standing by himself.
It was almost time for the battle of Canfield Arena, and it promised to be spectacular.
In the martial arts world, a master was considered almost a legend, certainly something more than an ordinary human being. And once someone reached the level of grand master, they had the potential to become a great master. Even the rich and powerful must be careful to treat such a person with respect.
A master like Ash Thornton was incredibly skilled at martial arts, but he wasn't the most powerful fighter in the world.
Because masters were often considered to be a myth, few people managed to see one, so it wasn't clear how powerful they were.
Tyson Slade and Theo had been true masters, and Alex suspected Jacob might be one, too, but he couldn't get a read on Jacob's strength. Still, he realized it was possible Jacob was even more skilled than Tyson had been, and that was a worry.
Jacob looked around him and sighed. "I can't believe Alex actually came," he said. "He's braver than most men." He shook his head. "I'm one of the top fighters in the world, so I didn't expect to be challenged by such a young man." He glanced at Alex. "I'm afraid you're a little out of your depth, and you're risking a lot by fighting me."
As he spoke, he casually waved his hand, sending a blast of air right at Alex.
Alex didn't fight back but merely used his inner power to hurriedly step aside, avoiding the blow.
"Oh? Have you recovered from your injuries?" Jacob asked lightly. "You must be feeling stronger if you're capable of avoiding me."
He grinned and raised his hands again, summoning the elements of air and water to form a small cloud. "Still, you're not strong enough to take me on."
The onlookers gaped as they watched, unable to tear their eyes away from Jacob's hands. No one made a sound, looking at the cloud and wishing they had that ability.
Jacob continued to pull in more air, growing the cloud as he stared at Alex. Although the cloud looked wispy, everyone knew it was solid and would do a lot of damage to anything it hit.
"Is that Jacob's special cloud move?" someone asked, their voice breathless with excitement.
Jacob was known for his ability to create clouds that could be either hard or soft. The hard ones could smash through stone, and the soft ones could be wound around objects like a silk thread.
As Jacob released his cloud, Alex jumped and cloaked himself in the shadows.
The cloud shot past where Alex had been standing and slammed into an enormous tree, knocking it over and ripping its roots out of the ground.
Hugo smiled, and Kenneth laughed.
Alex had avoided being hurt, but he wouldn't be able to dodge Jacob's strikes forever. He had been lucky so far, but eventually, his luck was bound to run out.
Seth was thrilled to be witnessing the legendary Jacob in action, as he had never met such a master throughout his travels.
Right from the start, Jacob had demonstrated his incomparable strength, and it was truly impressive.
Several members of the crowd shivered, realizing how special Jacob's talent was. There were only a few masters in the world, and they weren't sure if any of the others would be a match for Jacob.
"Jacob is kind to put on such a show for us," Hugo said, smiling at Seth. "He could have ended this with one punch, but he's drawing it out to entertain us." He paused. "Mr. Paxman, on behalf of the American Martial Arts Association, I'd like to thank you for your understanding. You can rest assured that after Alex's defeat, I will apply to the authorities to strip him of his assets and compensate Jacob in full."
Seth merely nodded.
"And I promise, in the future," Hugo continued, "we'll be much more careful about who we allow to join our martial arts community."
"I'm glad to hear it," Seth said. "At the end of the day, we have more in common with each other than we do with someone like Alex." He met Hugo's gaze. "Of course, I intend to keep you to your promise to ensure Alex is thrown out of your association. Otherwise, next time, Jacob might not listen to my advice, and then who knows what he might do to exact revenge?" He shrugged. "But I'm sure, whatever it is, your martial arts community would be a laughingstock around the world."
"I will make sure the matter is taken care of," Hugo said respectfully. "And I'll remind my association of how powerful your people are."
Some of the crowd had overheard the conversation, and now they started to suspect Alex had only been able to evade Jacob's attack because Jacob had been going easy on him.
They appreciated Seth interceding with Jacob on their behalf, and they turned away from Alex, refusing to look at him. After all, it was Alex's impudence that had caused this mess in the first place, and now it seemed he was doomed to failure.
Several of them called out to Jacob. "Thank you for not destroying us, but please stop now. You've made your point."
Hugo frowned, and then he stood up and yelled, "No. Let Alex be punished."
He assumed Jacob was amusing himself by toying with Alex, and he didn't want to get in the way of that. It was better to let Jacob have his fun.
"You don't yet know the full horror of facing a real master," Jacob said to Alex, his hands constantly moving as he summoned another cloud.
The inner strength of martial arts was extremely flexible, often limited only by its user's imagination. Jacob was skilled at condensing his inner power into both a hard and soft substance, which was difficult for most people to understand. No wonder he seemed so invincible.
As far as the bystanders were concerned, Alex had already been defeated, and all that remained was for him to surrender. So, they were surprised when Alex simply shook his head and called out, "And you consider yourself a real master? That's only your opinion, and I see it differently."
The audience gaped at him, not daring to speak. The first rule of the martial arts world was that you should never insult a master, so Alex had probably just signed his own death warrant.
Kenneth's face turned red with fury. "You've done it now!" he roared. "Jacob spared you last time, but you can't expect to speak to him like that and escape punishment."