World Leaderboard (Top Ten):
1. Dante King
2. Itzel Morales
3. Eric Walker
4. Ilyanna Carrera
5. Fukushima Takeo
6. Mose Ebrume
7. Ku So-Yeon
8. Malikov Luka Igorevich
9. David Walker
10. Tou He
Your Ranking: 44th
Prince lay with his back on the grass, the sun shining on him as he scrolled through the leaderboard rankings.
I've jumped ahead... And it seems Ku So-Yeon has overtaken Luka Malikov.
Prince just lying there checking the leaderboard made for a beautiful scene. He yawned.
It had been a day, and everything was already going well. The weakest were practically athletes, so it made sense that they were getting done with the buildings quickly.
Prince checked his status screen next.
Attribute Screen - Prince Collins
Species: Human
Faction: Towering Peak (F)
Class: Martial Warrior
Subclass: Champion of Victorious Fighting
Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (1000), Planetary Dao Prodigy (100), Solo Leveler
Grade: F
Dao: Node of Martial Arts
Level: 25
Strength: 50
Endurance: 54
Dexterity: 48
Vitality: 34
Mental: 31
Wisdom: 29
Free Points: 40
Prince allocated 10 points to all his physical attributes, quickly closing the screen. Immediately, he felt the benefit.
Prince jumped up from his position on the grass into a stance. He bounced around, throwing a few punches and kicks. He felt like a well-oiled machine.
"Training alone?" A rough voice asked.
Prince turned, seeing Zane walk from in between the trees. A bandaged-up item that looked suspiciously like a sword rested on his back.
"Quit the chit-chat," Prince said. He already knew why he was here.
"Hmm," Zane smiled. "Since we met, I've been itching to fight you. So, could you give me this spar?"
"Sure," Prince said.
The wraps fell around the item, revealing a broad greatsword. Zane touched its handle, dashing toward Prince in a powerful forward slash.
"Woah," Prince said, strengthening his skin with Essence and catching the blade. It was made out of regular steel, so it wasn't too hard. "You're pretty eager-"
Zane swung Prince away.
Prince flew toward a tree, spinning. He landed on the trunk, knees bent, crouching. His head snapped upward. Zane's strength was monstrous.
Prince pushed himself off the branch, splintering bark, and rocketed toward Zane.
Zane raised the broad of his sword to block.
Prince's Thunderous Palm slammed into the steel.
A boom echoed, sending Zane flying across the clearing and into a tree.
Prince chased after him, grinning, but Zane planted his feet in the ground and swung.
Prince leaned back, but the wind from the strike sent him flying to the other line of the clearing.
With a grunt, prince launched himself into the branches of the trees, as well as Zane.
They both jumped from branch to branch, occasionally jumping into the open air of the clearing to clash and the use the momentum from those clashes to jump back.
Fist clashed with steel, releasing shockwaves that slightly bent trees.
Prince could feel Zane's Dao, one of immense sharpness, coming at him from such angles that he had to dodge.
Prince flew into the branches during one exchange. But this time, Zane followed him with a downward slash.
Prince leaped away as the branch was cleaved in half.
Like that, they were chasing each other through the treetops.
Prince was like a force of nature. He was always moving, countering and deflecting, as if the sword was made out of rubber. His own Dao surged, his body completely under his control.
On one occasion, Prince dodged a strike, leaving Zane to cut that tree in half.
On another occasion, Prince caught Zane's blade with two palms, twisting around for a maneuver kick mid-air.
Zane caught his ankle with his free hand, however, and threw him to the forest floor.
Lying in a crater, Prince was laughing out of sheer joy. Zane was too.
Zane's sword came down in a wave of Essence.
Prince rolled out of the way, twisting into an upward kick that sent Zane's heavy body a few feet into the air.
"COME ON!" Zane yelled in excitement, an aura of power radiating off of him.
Prince's aura was flaring up too, scaring away flocks of birds. He was like an uncaged beast.
Prince didn't know why, but he felt like he was in the zone. Like this was where he was meant to be.
Howling, Zane swung at Prince's neck.
Prince ducked under the slash, getting into Zane's guard.
He delivered a flurry of devastating blows- palm strikes, fists, kicks, all in quick succession.
But while Zane wasn't as fast, he was a living tank. Strength was his main attribute, unlike the more balanced Prince.
He threw in a few swings, cutting through the air but just missing Prince, who seemed impossible to hit. Like he knew the tempo of the fight.
As they continued, however, each one was putting more and more power into their attacks. It was getting to the point where their shockwaves were echoing throughout the forest, reaching even the settlement.
"VERTICAL SWING!" Zane yelled, dashing toward Prince. He gathered an immense amount of Essence, swinging downward toward Prince's head. A blinding light enveloped his blade.
"TITAN'S FIST!" Prince yelled throwing his strongest attack, power surging through him.
Their attacks hadn't even touched yet, and just the wind pressure emanating from them rustled Prince's hair.
Steel would meet fist. Their attacks almost touched-
"Meteor Fist!"
They both paused, halting their attacks. Prince's arm shook, the energy begging to be dispersed.
"Geez. Is this what you guys call training?" Zora said, leaping down from a tree. A bandage was wrapped around her arm, but other than that, she seemed fine.
"Don't... Do that..." Zane gritted his teeth, swallowing his Essence back down.
"Hmm. Better for your guys not to kill yourselves." She said, shaking her head.
Prince swallowed his Essence too. It was like peeing, then abruptly stopping and holding it in until it faded away. Not painful, but unpleasant.
Prince sighed, relaxing. "Guess we got a little... Carried away." His blood was still pumping, his heart thumping. Adrenaline surged through him.
"Yeah." Zane sighed. He still seemed to be calming down as well.
"In any case," Zora said. "That's enough fighting for now. Go fish or something."
Prince sighed, walking away. Zane muttered to himself.
Go fish, huh? I think I have a better idea.
Prince grinned.