The big day had arrived!
Over 200 youths from various Black Faction organizations and around 100 with no affiliation at all, signed up for the Young Black Dragon Tournament.
(Note: It might seem like having more than 300 Exalted Realm Masters at such a young age seems to be something common, but think about it, this is only from the Dark Faction, now imagine how gigantic the continent is, so out of dozens of million young people, a few hundred at that level, is still very rare, it's just that this is a special event.)
As said before, there are no rules, you can kill if that's what you want, but be prepared for the repercussions.
Also, there are 2 types of rewards, official and unofficial!
The official reward is a percentage of bets. 20% of the stakes go to the 10 Young Black Dragons, i.e. 2% for each.
The unofficial reward is that if you catch the attention of some powerful Sect, Clan or Family and have no affiliation, you are likely to be recruited.
It is also possible to attract the attention of a powerful Martial Arts Master, something that many wish to have the opportunity.
This event in question is a bit special, the reason is due to the large number of participants, since in previous years, the amount would be 100~150, not 300!
But this is mainly due to the fact that the previous generation started to retire, just as many talents have emerged in the last 3 decades, see Julia Kratas for example, she took 2nd place in the penultimate tournament, and she was only 21 years old.
For those under 22, it's hard to make the Top 5, even more so for women, since biologically speaking, they are weaker, it's not even because of misogyny, it's pure biology.
So when Julia Kratas took 2nd place, it came as a shock to everyone except those who knew about her capabilities.
…
The mood in the city was festive, commerce was at its height, as the early days of the tournament were relatively simple and straightforward.
The 300 competitors were placed in groups of 3, that is, they wanted to reduce from 300 participants to 100 by tomorrow!
Kai ended up being in a match in the mornings, he wasn't too excited, but still, he went.
…
Kai looked at the 6 colossal pillars surrounding a platform, he comes here a lot, scratching his chin in thought, as he senses there is something paranormal here, but he can't quite say what it is exactly.
But he believes that here is a focus of negative thoughts, such as fear, eagerness, anger, shame and so on.
This all in one place, builds up and ends up weakening the Membrane, the good thing is that it doesn't seem to have the opportunity to focus too much, or there would already be reports of horrible creatures causing problems.
In case it's something really horrible, if any parasitic-type creatures are out there, it would be a huge headache.
"Kai Snizer, get on stage!" - A loud voice rang out, soon screaming. - "Phinias Gomez, get on stage!"…
Soon 3 young men were on stage, Kai being the most prominent due to his pale skin like a corpse, as well as the fact that he was quite handsome.
He attracted a lot of attention, not just for his appearance, but his posture, where just walking, many were already intrigued by him.
…
"This boy is good, who is he?" -A curious lady asked, assistant beside her took her documents and soon found Kai's details and informed the lady.
"Kai Snizer, is that the young man from Surgery?"
"Keep an eye on that boy, maybe he will become one of the Young Black Dragons!"
"See if he already has a bride, I want him in our Clan!"
"What a handsome and unique boy, I want him~"
…
Kai felt the many eyes on him, but he ignored them, as he had expected something like this, he just stood there and watched his opponents, who were quite nervous.
The two looked at each other, then at Kai.
Noting their nervousness and how apparently it would take time for them to act, Kai spoke. - "Don't waste any more of my time, either give up or both come against me, my time is short!"
Words from him left his opponents and the audience in awe, Kai had an arrogant and intense look along with his coldness.
The two youths looked at each other, before running towards Kai, their Inner Energies circulating through their bodies, then came the combined Inner Force of the two to put pressure on Kai.
"Not bad… unfortunately I am your opponent!" - Said Kai walking calmly forward, many eyes opening in confusion and interest.
Kai was walking slowly, but with each step, more than 2 meters were covered and soon Kai was in front of the two young men.
Kai's sudden presence confused the two youths, their brains couldn't reason how it was possible that at that speed, Kai had closed the distance so much.
But Kai wasn't here to play games, his arms swung like whips and then he kept walking, heading towards the stairs to descend.
The two youths were still standing, paralyzed, their bodies shaking, until they both collapsed to the ground.
Kai ignored the shocked gasps around him as he knows this will still happen a lot!
As for what his attack was, for him the movements of the two young men are extremely slow, he is able to analyze what they were doing and discovered many openings.
And what he did exactly was hit pressure points on their necks, knocking them unconscious.
Something very simple for him who knows human anatomy very well!
…
Kai sat in the bleachers, accompanied by Calliope, who was smiling brightly and asking a bunch of questions.
Naturally, Kai ignored her, his attention being on the platform and who was fighting.
The fights initially weren't that interesting, Relatively simple combat techniques, just having fancy names, but the concept is the same and what really differentiates is not the technique, but who uses it.
In the 4 fights that followed, nothing much happened, but in the 5th fight, that was interesting.
A young woman with blond hair wore a tight fabric around her torso, exposing her ripped abdomen with some scars, along with her shapely arms. She also wears pants made of a soft, wide fabric.
Her name is Larissa Fritz and many were immediately interested in her.
Her opponents were 2 young men, who disregarded her for being a woman and focused on taking care of each other.
Larissa snorted at this but stood idly by as the two fools struggled, when the more muscular of the two emerged victorious he looked at her and said. - "Girl, just give up, I don't want to kill you!"
But in response to her words, Larissa lunged towards him, closing the distance and a punch fiercely connected to the man's stomach, who widened his eyes as his face contorted in pain.
Soon the man was forced over 10 feet, clutching his abdomen while holding back the urge to vomit.
Larissa literally hisses flying at him, soon landing a double knee in her face, a loud sound as the man goes flying again, this time landing flat on the ground, nose broken and unconscious!
Humph!
Snorting coldly and full of disdain, Larissa looked at the audience, until her eyes met Kai's, she looked at him for a while, before turning and walking down.
Larissa didn't even use any Technique, it was purely a strong punch with Internal Energy.
…
The duels continued, until the first youths of the 10 Black Dragons started to enter the stage, but immediately their opponents lowered their heads and surrendered.
It seems that it was purposely made so that the representatives of the 10 Black Dragons would fight against people of small forces or without affiliation, who dare not cause unnecessary trouble.
So there was no fight from them, preventing people from seeing their abilities.
But one thing is for sure, out of the 14 youths from the 10 Black Dragons, all were powerful and very talented, Kai was excited at the idea of facing them.
At the same time, some interesting people emerged from the many participants, including Raul Raasmun among them.
Kai hadn't expected to find him still willing to fight, but it didn't matter either way.
...
The 1st day ended, around 70 matches took place, there are more than 30 left to finish the 1st phase of the tournament.
Kai was harassed by many people, wanting to talk about all sorts of things, from his Pills business, others wanting to introduce some young women, wanting to make friends and such.
There were also Elders and even Sect Leaders, coming to him and inviting him to their lands, some even showed interest in teaching him.
And what's worse is that it was just one fight, even if he showed some strength, these people's interest was mainly in his Alchemical capabilities.
Kai was respectful, he had to be, like it or not!
Even though his father is an Unrestricted Realm Master, there are hundreds of them out there, many of them being several times stronger than him.
Not to mention that an Unrestricted Realm Master, even though he is powerful, is not invincible, with the right plan or numbers, it is possible to kill him!
In the end, swords still cut your flesh, what stops the sword is your armor or the protection exercised by Internal Energy, but if the energy runs out, what will be left to defend yourself, is just martial prowess and physical ability.
That's why all Martial Artists are careful when spending their Internal Energy, because it is easy to spend it, but it takes time to recover it.
But Kai wasn't the only one tormented, his father too, many came to him expressing interest in business relationships, as well as asking for a meeting between his daughters or granddaughters.
Thomas already knew how to deal with such things, so he was in a better position than Kai.
…
The next day, the clashes still continued, today the 1st round would end, the tournament organizers wanted to have exactly 100 competitors, as such, some people would be drawn at the end, until 100 were selected.
But as the day went on, something interesting came up, Kai had seen such beings before, but now, it's the first time he gets excited seeing one of this species!
Onstage, facing two burly young men, is an even larger figure, with two huge horns protruding from its forehead, a great spiky mane of hair, and explosive muscles that look like they're about to rip through their own skin at any moment.
On stage is what the people of this world call the Chimera!
In the story, there was the Cult of Evolution, a cult of scientists, alchemists, and physicians, who gave their lives to researching the human and animal bodies, looking for ways to merge both, allow animals to have the wisdom of humans, or allow humans to have the benefits of animals.
With that, many grotesque monsters were emerging, where to get funds, they began to market these aberrations, because nobles and forces loved strange and unique things!
So their research lasted for a long time, until a Sanctified Faction Family interfered and exposed all their atrocities, the thousands of people killed each year for their research.
And so the Cult of Evolution became part of the Demonic Faction, almost being annihilated as they fled, but they continued with their research, until the 1st generation of Chimeras appeared.
They were humans who were modified when they were babies or were still inside their mothers' wombs, acquiring animalistic characteristics, such as fur all over their bodies, sharp teeth, claws, tails and much more.
In the beginning the Chimeras were 50% human and animal, their sales started again and the price only increased, even if it was more for the underworld.
As time went by, more Chimeras were created and initially it was said that they could not breed, but one day the impossible became possible and thus came the 2nd generation.
Through this, more research was done and atrocities were made, the Chimera population grew and this race became a slave, their only advantages being denser muscles and bones and better senses.
But over time, the special ones emerged even among their kind, those smart and who wanted something more than a lifetime of servitude.
Thus the first revolutionaries among the Chimeras, freeing the species and giving them strength and opportunities!
Naturally the slave trade lasted for many centuries, until it slowly dwindled as the Chimeras gained ground in the world.
And nowadays, Chimeras are about 75% human ancestry, the 25% are animalistic.
And the person over 2 meters tall on stage is a Chimera with the blood of Taurus!
A large, burly physique, a wild and worrying aggressiveness, a tail with a tuft of hair at the tip, as well as from its knees down, are the shaggy hooves of a common bull.
[Image] →
(Note: The image is merely illustrative, access the Drive file for more illustrations about the breed.)
…
Kai was watching this Chimera fight, his opponents joined to go against him, since he, besides being much bigger, exudes much more strength.
But the Chimera advanced with heavy steps, took a leap that practically sent it flying 5 meters in front of it, before hitting a fierce palm against the head of one of the opponents, who immediately went to the ground, his head clashing fiercely against the ground and blood was already spreading.
His other opponent upon seeing this naturally got scared as the man on the ground started to convulse!
In just one palm, it was more than enough to kill a grown man from the Exalted Realm!
"I give up!" - He gave up without hesitation.
The Chimera eyed him indifferently before snorting and turning to head upstairs.
Someone yelled something as they cried and reached the stage.
Kai had a slightly fanatical look on his face, he saw some Chimeras around town, he naturally took an interest in this peculiar breed, but lost interest when he saw that there was nothing much besides some bunny ears, monkey tail and stuff of the type.
He also has no interest in doing inhumane experiments, at least not at the moment!
But seeing this man fight, the strength he displayed without the help of his Internal Energy, is not something that could be humanly possible, at least not in your cultivation realm.
In Kai's case, he is an obvious exception, all due to the Ritual of Transcendence, without it he would be an ordinary human, only 2 times stronger than average in his Realm, due to the modifications made during his development through the Rituals.
But there is no Paranormal Energy from that Chimera man, it means all this is natural!
…
"Hello, Chris!" - Said Kai in front of the Bull Chimera, who looked at him coldly, recognizing him, it's hard to forget someone of his physical characteristics.
"What you want?" - Asked the Chimera coldly.
"Don't worry, I don't mean to recruit you with sweet words, nor to threaten you to join me, if I were to try, it would be something more direct!" - Said Kai smiling slightly and letting his intentions be understood.
Chris raised an eyebrow, then chuckled and said. - "You are interesting, speak, what do you want?"
"You know, all my life I've been in my Clan, doing my research and studying, I particularly love playing with poisons, their uses are amazing!" - Said Kai smiling slightly, which made Chris uncomfortable.
"Mr. Chris, I never saw anyone of your race until last month, I was indeed intrigued, but I understand that without in-depth and inhumane research, I would achieve nothing and I don't like such barbaric acts!" Kai said smiling.
"Go straight to the point!" - Chris said coldly as he clenched his fists.
"Ok, I want a deal with you, please listen to everything with an open mind and wait for me to finish talking before giving me an answer. Your strength surprised me and I am curious about how strong and resistant you are, I also want to try several of my poisons on your body and discover their effects on someone of your kind, of course, in addition to paying you a good sum of money, I will also allow you to acquire immunity to various types of poisons.
You may not know me, my name is Kai Snizer and I am an Alchemist, I had the opportunity to create a poison pill, which allows obtaining an extremely resistant constitution to poisons and immune to those cataloged, as well as helping to go through Metamorphosis, see , I have a father who was trapped in the Exalted Realm for decades, through this pill, he was able to reach the Unrestricted Realm and make a huge leap in power!
I want to do the same with you, I will allow you to become much stronger, as tricks like poisons will be less effective on you in the future, someone big and strong like you will naturally encounter enemies who, in order not to fight you head on, will prefer tricks dark to get rid of you!
So what do you tell me? Help me create more powerful poisons, in return I will give you money and I guarantee you in the name of my beloved mother, that you will become much stronger!" - Said Kai intensely.
At first Chris was furious, but he kept calm and listened, there's no way Kai can be that stupid, but listening to the end is indeed tempting.
Naturally the Chimera Race has high resistance to poison, but it naturally has limits and there are poisons that are more effective on their kind than on normal humans.
If he can earn a guarantee against poisons, naturally it is worth it, the reason being his concerns about the young man in front of him and the credibility of his words.
"I understand that you have doubts, so let's do it like this, think and look for information about me, sooner or later you will find out about my creations and accomplishments, if you think I'm reliable, find me, otherwise, just ignore that I exist, because I don't want force him!" - Said Kai respectfully and soon walked away.
Chris looked at Kai's back thoughtfully, then looked at the stage and with a huff, he turned back to look up about Kai Snizer!