Everyone was beginning to see the blonde kid in a different light, considering that the DuPont had emerged victorious in the previous competition and had ended his last fight in a matter of seconds.
They had equally expected this to be a run in the park for him too, but the blonde was keeping him at bay almost like they were on the same level.
The fight had gotten pretty intense, the only sound that could be heard in the arena currently was the heavy sound of wood striking wood continuously.
Derek pulled his attention from the fight just to scan his surrounding, that was when he could see that the DuPont fight was the only fight that was still on. The other contestants had ended their fights moments ago.
The screen had already carved out an X over the newly eliminated contestants, David and the blonde were the only ones whose rows were still untouched on the large screen.
Since there was no time limit, the two of them had been going at it for almost an hour. It felt like David was not willing to give up his defending title but the blonde on the other hand was not willing to let him have it.
Most of the crowd still believed in David, they had seen what he could do and most thought that if anyone of this level was to be able to beat him, it would be a spawn of one of the big five.
From Derek's stance, if endurance was a person, it had to be this blonde kid going against the DuPont. He wondered if he could last half the time they'd been fighting if he was in the same position.
With the staff in one hand, the blonde began to make oddly random moves. It seemed just as if he had been overcome with a new source of energy.
David wasn't expecting this, he had never seen such movements before. He jumped a few steps back and was immediately on guard.
"This… This is Kendo" Maya gasped "He knows Kendo"
Derek turned to take quick look at Maya, was there anything she didn't know.
"What is Kendo?" Chuck asked Maya
Derek was surprised, Chuck had been close by the whole time, but this was the first time he had spoken, it was very unusual.
He must have been so immersed in the fights that he didn't have much chance to be noisy, either way he didn't mind. As long as he was quiet.
"Kendo is an ancient martial arts style where the user makes use of a wooden sword while battling an opponent" Maya replied without taking her eyes off the stage.
"I guess the staff can make a good substitution for a wooden sword" Chuck mumbled to himself. His eyes returned back to the stage down below.
The blonde was now on the attack, he moved the staff in weird arcs as he approached David. David had never encountered such movements before, so he was being very cautious.
His opponent danced on his toes towards David, thrusting and poking his sword into the air, David moved away from the blonde with every step he took.
"Why is he moving like that?" Derek muttered to himself, voicing out his thoughts.
"That's the style of the martial art, it's a martial art style that deals with attacking various parts of the opponent's body" Maya replied
It was more of a rhetorical question but Derek appreciated the answer since he really did want to know.
The blond kept moving, slowly circling David, he thrust his sword at David's head. Anticipating the block, he immediately withdrew and attacked his mid-section.
With every swing, every thrust, his attacks were getting faster and David was doing a good job of blocking until he went for his wrist.
He struck David with the staff on the wrist, causing him to loose his hold on the tonfa, reacting quickly he struck David in his abdomen and then on his head.
The whole arena was held in a silent spell as David fell to the floor. As his both knees touched the floor, his opponent was immediately over him with the staff pointing at his neck.
Darla stood at one corner of the arena watching the fight with a smile on her face. She seemed to be the only one who was not surprised.
"And the winner for this round, Edward" Drake announced.
The crowd clapped as Edward, the blonde whose name will remain on everyone's lips for the next few weeks for beating the defending champion turned to walk down the stage.
As if he had forgotten something, Edwards turned back and walked to where David lay staring up in defeat.
Edward offered David his hand, David held some animosity toward his opponent but it had been a fair fight, turning down a gesture of fair play would just look even more pitiful.
Without any options left for him, he took Edward's hand and let himself get pulled to his feet, Edwards bowed slightly after pulling him to his feet before turning to walk off the stage.
David could feel the eyes of the entire audience watching him as he exited the stage, but there was one particular pair of eyes he knew that watched him with disappointment and anger. He didn't dare look back to confirm the stare of the eyes on his back as he walked to the exit for the contestants.
"Wow" Drake commented
"Right" Nicki replied
"The defending champion and the crowd favourite knocked out in the second round of the competition" Drake's voice resounded through the speakers.
"I'm guessing this is going to be more interesting than we had anticipated" Nicki replied.
More than half of the crowd were not even listening in on the commentary anymore, the chatter from the audience was at its peak.
Those that had bet on David as the favourite to win the competition were lamenting in frustration.
Someone else was smiling in anticipation as Edward walked toward her at the corner where the qualifiers for the next round were gathered.
"I didn't expect less from you" Darla smiled as she complimented Edward "But don't expect me to go easy on you when we meet in the finals, cousin"
"I could say the same for you" Edward smiled back