6 Stunning Performances!

With the signal of the middle-aged man, the competitors of the first match entered into the ring.

The first match was between Tom and the two youths who were chosen by the middle-aged man.

As he was about to sit, he remembered something and came back to the platform to say whatever just came up in his mind.

"I am the gym leader and a master of high standing in this gym, these five are my students from two years back. But before they left due to their family reasons, they promised me that they will continue practicing martial arts and their sword techniques!"

"I am proud to say it out loud after seeing the fight between Alex and Chris, that they didn't disappoint me, it doesn't matter that Chris lost to Alex because what matters the most is they both got strong in various aspects, be it agility, decision making, taking advantages of the opportunities they get to the fullest or create and seize an opening, all of these I saw in there match earlier."

"If I compare them to their previous selves from two years back, then right now I can say that they were cubs before and have returned as a mighty lion."

"In this world of guns and tanks where no one uses swords or sabers on bow and arrows, these students of mine have grown a lot. Right now I have seen how much Alex and Chris have grown and now I want to see the levels of Tom, Kyle, and Jared."

After the middle-aged man spoke, his speech made everyone inspired and hyped the competitors. He took a glance towards Tom and said with high pitched voice,

"Now is the time... The stage has been set, opponents have been chosen and the only thing left is to ring the bell and start the fight, start the clashing of swords in this old gym!"

"Let's begin!"

After listening to the speech given by the master, Tom and the other two youths became serious and excited at the same time, they stood stiffly while the master was speaking while giving a threatening glare at each other trying to intimidate their opponent.

Tom and the other two youths moved towards the stands where all the wooden swords were kept like they were soldiers in the military. The wooden sword stand was right next to the ring where everyone practiced or competes against each other.

The two youths picked up wooden swords which were about three feet long and couple inches in width. Even though they were wooden swords, they still were dangerous, they can't kill in one strike, but they sure can give an injury in few strikes which can be resulted in bed rest for few weeks or even a month.

Tom was looking at those two youths while they brandished their swords and moved to choose a wooden sword for himself. He chose one wooden sword which was approximately five feet long and two inches in width. He himself was around six and a half feet tall, so the sword suited him naturally. A sword that long also gave him an advantage in reach against his opponents.

While they were choosing their preferable swords, the middle-aged man, Alex, and Chris took a seat in the front to watch the fight.

The moment they chose their weapons they sprung into the ring and took their stance and glared at their opponents in order to intimidate them, which can give them the upper hand over the other.

"Woah... This is going to be tough for Tom, he has to handle two of them."

"Yeah, but I think he will be able to defeat them given that he didn't slack off in the past two years."

The spectators who were also a member of the gym started stating facts and predictions on what will happen and whatnot.

"It's starting!", someone from the crowd shouted. Everyone stopped talking and turned their gazes towards the ring and the entire gym became attentive as this was the second match of the evening and one of the five were fighting and the odds were against him as he was fighting two at the same time. The strength of Tom's opponents was unknown, they came along with the master of the gym earlier. They seemed a bit shady.

They started circling in the ring giving an intimidating glare, suddenly the situation in the ring changed, Tom got surrounded by the two and looked like a pray being eyed by a hunter.

"Shu..."

The first attack came from the youth in front of Tom, and the attack came horizontally parallel to the ground. There was no way of dodging it as he had enemies on both sides. He intercepted the incoming attack with his sword and suddenly another attack came from another side of Tom, he saw it coming from the top and targetted his head.

There was very little time to think because his sword was already busy blocking the first attack. He pushed the first attack and intercepted the second from coming from another side.

This went on for four to five blows, the first one attacks and Tom deflects his attack and intercepts the other from another side.

Suddenly, in a split second, Tom thought something and decided to implement it. He understood that these two are not as strong as compared to himself. The next round of lows started, continuing the same pattern of attacks, the one in the front attacked, this time Tom blocked that attack vertically, the moment they intercepted their swords were perpendicular to each other.

At the same, the youth on the other side continued to create an opening and attack from above aiming the head. Suddenly, Tom moved towards the youth in the front, he didn't push him this time, instead slid his sword towards the hilt of the intercepting sword. Seeing this the youth in the back also moved forward with the same attack, and when he was about to connect Tom moved to the side freeing his sword as well and the attack came from above targeting Tom's head hit the other youth in the front.

They were surprised, and at the same time, Tom jumped from the side and made a clear hit on both of them instantly. They didn't even saw it coming and they were defeated.

The referee signaled the ending of the match and announced Tom as the winner. Tom looked a bit disappointed, he expected the match to be thrilling like Alex and Chris's match, he couldn't even show his abilities and moves he learned in the last two years.

"That was quick", Alex commented.

The match didn't even last one minute. The two youths were dumbfounded and their mouths were agape. They were still trying to understand what just happened.

The middle-aged man flipped his hand signaling them to come out the ring and let the match begin, he didn't even react to Tom's disappointed face.

They immediately came out of the ring and the contestants of the next match Kyle and Jared moved forward towards the sword stands.

Kyle took a slim and light sword which was fast and easy to control, on the other hand, Jared, given his physique, he chose a longsword which was around four feet in length and four and a half inches in width, its depth was a bit more than an inch, it was heavy as well.

Without wasting any time, they entered into the ring with their swords held high, they both brandished their swords and started moving.

This was an eye-catching match because it was between two competitors with completely opposite body types and abilities as well.

Kyle was small and fast while Jared was big and slow.

Jared sent out the first blow slashing towards Kyle, he saw the attack and dodged it using his speed. After seeing his initial attack fail, he retracted his sword immediately and prepared for the next attack. There was not much movement by Jared while Kyle was like a bird moving here and there and was being hard to hit.

But it was equally difficult for Kyle to hit Jared. Jared stood there with minimum motion just like an impenetrable fortress with strong defensive and offensive power. Their fight was getting intense as they both were not able to hit each other.

Whenever Jared saw an opening, he shot out his sword in a stabbing fashion with the speed of a bullet using his strength, Kyle was extremely alert when Jared attacked because he cannot intercept as he would be sent flying out of the ring, so the only option was to dodge.

The fight in the ring was becoming a fight of speed. Jared used his strength to attack extremely fast while Kyle was quick to dodge but could not launch any kind of attack on Jared as it was he made a range, if Kyle entered in it he would be defeated immediately by a single hit.

It was almost five minutes since this match started.

Jared increased his frequency of attacks towards Kyle, Kyle retreated to dodge but Jared moved towards Kyle while attacking constantly and overwhelmed him with continuous attacks.

After some sword swings and dodges, Kyle stopped, "Sh*t...", he was cornered in the ring and in front of him was Jared and he was already in Jared's range and suddenly an attack came towards Kyle aiming his head.

Kyle froze for a moment by the overwhelming strength of Jared, but immediately he bit his tongue and snapped and dodged the attack by crouching and instantly rolled towards his right moving away from the corner.

While these events were taking place, the surrounding spectators were astonished and their mouths were agape like an egg could slide in without any resistance, it was a pin dropped silence in the gym, no one dared to take their eyes off the ring or they might miss an important event and will regret afterward.

In the ring,

As Kyle rolled out of the corner, he suddenly saw an opening, it was behind Jared's back, it was his blind spot, he never let anyone see his back while fighting, it was a weakness he knew very well. Even after knowing Jared's weakness, it was still very hard to attack and defeat him in one blow.

But Kyle had speed with him, he had even less than a split second to choose a spot on Jared's back to his which will result in immediate victory.

Jared's plan was flawless, that to corner Kyle not giving him any more space to dodge and defeat him in one blow, but by choosing Kyle's head to attack, that was a mistake and now he exposed his weakness to Kyle. Only if had chosen to attack Kyle's waist then there was a chance of Jared's victory.

Kyle quickly jumped and attacked Jared and the place he chose to attack was Jared's neck which was the most sensitive place right now.

Everyone in the surrounding thought that this will be it for Jared.

But suddenly, Kyle was hit... he was hit by Jared's sword in the gut right at the moment his sword was about to connect Jared's neck.

How... how did he do it?

This was the question suddenly flashed in everyone's mind along with Kyle. Jared's sword came out from between his right hand's elbow and waist, Jared attacked without even looking back because he had no time.

He won!

Jared won as Kyle fell to the ground holding his stomach moaning in pain.

Jared's habit of retracting the sword back after every attack came into play. When he attacked Kyle in the corner and Kyle dodged below, Jared knew that he had exposed his blind spot, he immediately retracted his with maximum speed as Kyle won't wait for him to turn. While retracting, this time Jared quickly turned the tip of the sword and pulled it back like he was stabbing himself and the place where he hit Kyle was just a hunch and he connected perfectly in Kyle's gut.

Everyone including Alex, the middle-aged man was looking at Jared with a stunning look.