Most teenagers passed through the stone, fighting already in the arena. First to appear near the magic stone was Gromgilda.
She snorted, looking at the others. The girl at her age had a very hot-tempered character.
She touched the edges of the stone with the palm of her hand. She looked at the older man standing next to her. He was waiting for a response from this magical object.
"How long do I have to stand here?" — Gromgilda grumbled.
The man remained silent. He was afraid to contradict the count's daughter. His eyes dropped down, looking at the magic stone.
"Gromgilda Barl! From the Bear Kingdom! Copper rank two awakenings! Let's welcome the next fighter!" — the man shouted loudly into his magic microphone.
"Hah! Witness my power, you insignificant," — the girl whispered in Harold's ear.
Harold grimaced, watching the girl with his eyes. She left her hammer near the stone. According to the rules, weapons cannot be used in the qualifying tournament. It was clear from the girl that she didn't want to leave it.
"And again, she left, insulting me. How I missed her voice," the guy smiled sweetly, watching the fight.
The gong rang!
"On the left side, you can see the main star of the Barl family! Loud applause and cheers, please!"— Kayla began to comment, genuinely rejoicing in the next performance.
Stormy applause, noise filled the stadium. Gromgilda's fans chanted her name. They even pulled out a huge banner with the symbol of the Barl counts.
"Barl! Barl! Barl!" — The stands worshiped this young girl. She was popular among men and a wild bitch for girls.
Gromgilda raised her hands up, bowing to the people. She felt pleasure. Her blood boiled at the thought that they would all be watching her.
"On the right side against Gromgilda will be May Lizard! From the Beast Cult! Also, a copper rank with two awakenings! We are in for a really interesting fight!"— Kayla shouted, raising her index finger high.
"Well, bitch! Will you dance with me?" — May tried to anger the girl. She licked her palm with her long tongue, looking at Gromgilda with cunning eyes.
The girls were dressed in half-open clothes for fighting in the arena. In this case, a special cap was put on their teeth, protecting the jaw from magical attacks.
Otherwise, white magical plates were on their knees and elbows, making the fight easier by eliminating sharp points on the body.
"Who would have thought..." — the blonde rolled her eyes in a defensive guard.
The battle began immediately. The girls collided with each other, blocking the usual attack with their wrists, pressing their heels to the ground.
Veins bulge on the girls' arms. It was a mesmerizing sight. As soon as it all started, the stadium fell silent in anticipation, with frozen smiles.
"You're a cool bitch," — May said through gritted teeth.
"- Shut up!"
Gromgilda was annoyed by her opponent talking too much. Right now, it was just a warm-up before what people might soon see.
The girl stepped down, ending up below May. She struck from below at the jaw, knocking out several teeth, breaking the defensive stance.
Harold stood silently, watching the fight. He saw it for the second time, but he knew that his sister had no equal in this competition. She was one of the embodiments of the monster, as most directors noticed.
Even May underestimated her, ignoring her composure. She didn't even know that a girl who hadn't yet used her abilities could fight on equal terms so easily.
Ugh!
May spat out several teeth in Gromgilda's face, then grinned maliciously, looking at her. Then her nails turned into long claws, and her neck changed its shade to a sharp green, with small scales appearing in those small places.
"And you, show that you are worthy of such power,"— Gromgilda said coldly, looking at her with her deadly gaze.
Most of the hidden faces watched this fight, no less interested than the others. These girls possessed a truly interesting gift.
May leaped up like a cat, performing a light somersault in the air. Ending up behind Gromgilda, she wanted to strike the torso with the left side of her palm to weaken her.
Without turning around, Gromgilda grabbed the girl's wrist, twisting it inside out. She pulled her arm forward, delivering her signature punch with her fist straight to the nose.
May flew back a meter from the blow, stopping with the help of her claws, leaving sharp dents in the ground. She grimaced with irritation, then, getting angry, ended up next to Gromgilda, tearing her skin on the elbow of her arm.
"Oh! What avatar does she have?" — the curly-haired boy in the crowd asked, watching the fight, folding his hands together.
"A Green Salamander of the Demonic Mountain,"— someone blurted out from the crowd.
Many teenagers turned around at the unexpected answer. Just now, Harold himself demonstrated his knowledge. In this life, he traveled enough to remember many types of spirits. This was no exception.
The guys were surprised, looking at the little boy. He continued to watch the fight seriously. Yes, he was worried about his sister.
"Where do you know that from?" — the curly-haired one asked, raising his right eyebrow.
Harold knew this boy. His name was White Shawer, and his parents were well-known entrepreneurs in this world.
He himself had a very powerful talent in the future. White didn't have an innate talent for using an avatar, but Harold knew exactly what this guy needed.
"I need to make friends with him; in the future, his help will be needed not only by me," Harold thought, pressing his fingers to his lips. He raised his head, approaching White.
"I know this because I spend a lot of time in the library, reading about every avatar that interests me," Harold replied with a smile. In general, he tried to be kind to people, which helped to show his charisma and influence people through character.
"Oh, okay. So, what can she do?" — White asked, turning to the arena, watching the battle between the two girls, their blows were no less powerful than those of men.
"You'll see in a moment,"— Harold calmly said, already knowing the outcome of the battle after returning to his small body in time.
Gromgilda struck May with her elbow in the breath, as if a piston with all her might threw the girl to the very corner of the arena. Gromgilda was strong in her teenage years; she trained every day just for this special day.
May became even more enraged, rushing at Gromgilda, knocking her to the ground and starting to rain down blows to her head, not even allowing her to catch her breath.
Boom!
Bang!
Crash!
Gromgilda lay on the ground, looking at May with her cold gaze. Her swollen face with bruises was covered in blood.
"They broke her nose; she won't give up that easily," Harold thought, smiling weakly.
People chanted May's name. Most of them tried to lift Gromgilda with their cries, while she, astride her, smiled with delight.
"How long are you going to sit your ass on me?" — Gromgilda wheezed.
"What?" May lowered her head, looking at the battered Gromgilda.
May received a lightning-fast blow to the head with two heels; Gromgilda stunned her, throwing her away with her heel.
"Bando..." — White muttered through gritted teeth.
"Oh, do you know this martial art?" — Harold asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"Yes," — White said enchantingly, continuing to watch the fight.
Bando was considered one of the ancient martial arts, passed down from generation to generation. Usually, it was used in monasteries by monks to protect against otherworldly forces.
There were three types of bando: soft, medium, and hard. Gromgilda used the medium type, as her young body couldn't handle heavy loads.
There was also the animal style, which few people used; it had its advantages. Soft bando was considered a regular workout without using choking and deadly attacks.
Medium bando was sparring for a light body, allowing you to use all the flexibility of a person, twisting your own arms without breaking bones and delivering blows with your heels.
Even if you train the frontal part, it will allow you to leave a dent on the iron plate. It resembled smoother body movements, like a clean slate of foreign cultures; even the blocks looked graceful.
"Your sister got pissed off," — White accentuated with a smile, looking at young Harold.
"Keep watching,"— a smile of pure delight spread across Harold's face.
Blood started to trickle from May's ears as she slowly got up, revealing her serpentine gaze. Even though they hadn't unleashed their full power yet, they were only displaying their mastery in a regular fistfight.
Cough!
Blood rose from her mouth. She swallowed some, wiping her lips with her wrist.
Gromgilda launched into an attack, delivering heavy blows to May's torso, aiming to do so without using her magical powers.
She believed that May wasn't worthy of seeing her avatar because the girl was weaker than Gromgilda herself. May, with all her might, punched Gromgilda in the stomach, pushing her back into the corner.
The tension shifted when green sparks appeared in May's eyes. May activated the first stage of her avatar, harnessing some of its power.
It was called borrowing strength from the spirit. In this world, it allowed one to use non-human strength during battles.
"She's activated her avatar; see how bright green streaks are moving behind her eyes? That's called a spirit aura, although it's very weak at this stage," — White remarked.
"You're well-read," — Harold complimented, eyeing White up and down.
May continued to advance with force; the spectators couldn't keep up with her movements, as the green flashes of light moved very quickly. Gromgilda blocked each blow with the leather glove on her hand, not even budging from her spot.
"Do you know why I wear gloves and try not to touch you?" – Gromgilda asked coldly.
"– Shut up!"
May found herself behind Gromgilda, leaving several scars on the side of her body. May calmly sighed, then turned slowly, approaching Gromgilda, her golden eyes emanating agony and intimidation.
"Do you think you can catch me at this pace?" – May asked with a sly smile, once again finding herself behind Gromgilda.
"– Yes..."
Gromgilda raised three fingers, closing each one at intervals.
Swoosh!
A medium-sized scar opened on May's abdomen; she fell to the ground from such a shock, starting to bleed, rising to her knees as the wound slowly began to heal.
Using the power of the spirit allowed one to recover; however, it required a lot of energy for the avatar to allow for the healing of large wounds.
"– You've pushed me too far!"
May became furious, launching an attack, delivering three blows to Gromgilda's chin.
She received several strong blows to her face, leaning her torso back. This infuriated Gromgilda from the Barl family.
When May tried to approach to hit her with both hands on her back, Gromgilda leaped up, knocking the girl's jaw with her head. It was a technique from the medium bando style.
"Do you understand that I only use brute force, and you can't even beat me with your own strength, applying your spirit?" — Gromgilda wanted to burn poor May with anger.
"Aa-Aa-Aa!!"
May burned with animal rage, pouncing on Gromgilda, beating her face only with her fists. She managed to enrage the wild lizard.
"I'll show you our difference,"— Gromgilda said through the blows, spitting blood into May's face, showing her wild smile.
Gromgilda's eyes began to flicker with yellow light; she lay on the ground, watching as this fool continued to beat her face, evoking more and more rage.
"Look," — White said excitedly, watching the fight.
"Yes," — Harold's face changed; he looked coldly at May, he wasn't worried about his sister.
"Gromgilda has activated her spirit; May won't survive this clash," — Harold said through gritted teeth, pointing at the magical screen. He closed his eyes, waiting for this moment.
At the last minute, when Gromgilda's fans had already felt defeated, Harold admired; he remembered all the details.
People didn't know that his sister was just bluffing and preparing to show her true strength, weakening May enough.