"Watch your defense more, and you'll master the attack," Miguel shouted, seeing Tory at a disadvantage in this tournament. Recognizing it was Tory's first tournament, he understood she might be somewhat nervous, so he didn't want to worry her and simply supported her from the corner where he stood watching the match.
Sam glanced at Miguel, who showed concern for Tory. She hadn't spoken with Miguel yet, and he hadn't either since the last time he tried to approach.
"Ready? Fight!" The referee shouted, looking at both competitors, ready to resume the match.
"Tory, be careful!"
While Kim looked at Tory, she remained calm because she knew her opponent's attacking style perfectly. On the other hand, Tory kept herself calmer, recalling the fights she had with Devon and devising an effective method of attack.
Pum!
Facing Kim's strong blow, Tory's expression became very serious, and she quickly responded to the blows in the same way she received them. Faced with such high resistance, Kim began to be increasingly surprised as Tory's defense rose.
"I recognize that defense," Kim growled, knowing that Tory was using the same defense that Devon had used before to deflect blows and take the lead to win the match.
Tory's long arms began to return the blows. At that moment, everyone knew that the match they thought was lost had become uncertain, and either of the two could win.
Pum! Pum! Pum!
As Kim's palm was repelled, Tory took the lead and, with her right leg, tried to attack the chest of her opponent, who was smaller than her. The force behind her kick was fierce as she lunged forward, but there was a problem—she couldn't stop the attack if it missed.
When one loses control of their attacks, it gives others the opportunity to control the battle, and that's precisely what Kim did when she knew she needed to dodge Tory's kick.
"Ah!"
Tory, realizing her kick was incapacitated, wanted to retreat, but it was too late because Kim had taken the lead, and she landed a punch to Tory's stomach. It wasn't very strong, but it was enough to score a point.
"Point!"
The whole world started applauding, but there was a group that did nothing, and those were Tory's supporters.
"This is ridiculous; Tory had control of the fight."
Dash knew that wasn't the case, and Tory's last attack was very desperate. If she had attacked with control, they might have reached a stalemate, but there was haste.
"This is the last chance to do something." Dash knew that Kim's experience was the same as Devon's, but there was a difference—dedication. In that aspect, Devon had beaten Kim.
But compared to Tory, even though she had talent and the desire to win, she still lacked more than experience.
"Fight!"
Back in the match, Tory began to feel overwhelmed and gradually started to retreat due to Kim's fast attacks, which hadn't stopped since the match started.
Feeling the overwhelming presence of her opponent, Tory simply defended herself and began to retreat as much as she could.
In the combat arena, the two figures intertwined as they fought vigorously, but everyone knew that the last point against Tory had shattered her morale.
Pum!
Moving to the left, Tory faced a feint from Kim, and she ended up receiving a kick to her cheek, sending her to the ground.
"Point, Winner!" The referee stopped the match and gave the victory to Kim, who had finished with a painful three points.
Miguel was the first to climb up, extending his hand to Tory and saying, "Everything's fine; you've shown incredible experience gained in Cobra Kai with the short time you've been training."
"Sorry, we lost..." Tory looked at Miguel, feeling very sad that it was her fault that the loss was closer than the victory.
But Miguel shook his head and said, "We haven't lost yet; we're a team, so we'll learn from both victories and defeats."
"Will you take my hand?" Miguel smiled freely, and Tory, seeing that he had no problem, accepted his hand, feeling a little less down.
Chozen nodded at seeing this and said, "You have a good student; you'll have to pay much more attention to her because she has talent."
"That's what I'll do; she'll be my female symbol." Johnny nodded and walked to encourage his star student.
"You always choose your words wrong." Daniel shook his head.