Second Elimination Round
Bobby stretched before he sat down. He'd won every single one of his matches with only his core ranked martial art, even Axel, who was ranked seventh amongst the town recruits, had lost.
"I wonder how the other groups are going," Bobby observed the other groups.
The preliminaries had split the town recruits into ten different groups, with each group having a fair mix of strong and weak fighters. Apart from Bobby, there had been other students who had won twenty matches in a row, so they were also able to advance to the next round.
The fastest student to advance was Peter from the second group. Peter's sword was extremely fast; before his opponents could react to his attack, his sword would have already reached their throats. Peter had even advanced faster than Calvin. Among the town recruits, only the top three, Sarah, Calvin, and Peter, can be on my level.
Calvin was seventeen years old, so he was slightly older than Bobby. His body was muscular and very strong.
"Reverse Wind Fist!" The students at the third rank punched Calvin, but Calvin didn't even flinch. The student at the third rank was shocked. "Calvin's defense is incredible," Bobby was surprised. Even an attack from a student at the third rank couldn't injure Calvin. Calvin must have trained a high-rank body-strengthening skill that increased his defense to the point where an attack of the same rank wouldn't have an effect. Compared to Calvin, Bobby wouldn't be able to defend against an attack from a cultivator at the third rank with just his body.
Peter was known for his speed and aggressive attacks, while Calvin was known for his impenetrable defense and slower method of fighting. Sarah was known for her elegant way of fighting; with one wave of her hand, her opponent would be defeated. Every move was flawless. She wore a purple robe, and her beauty was outstanding. Sarah also gave off a refreshing aura.
"Who is she to have the strength of a top-level martial artist at such a young age? It's amazing," many students in the audience were attracted to Sarah. "She's beautiful and talented at the same time. If people who are just as talented as Sarah became city recruits, we'll never stand a chance." "She's still too young; maybe in another two years, her beauty might be comparable to San Francisco's City's most beautiful girl, Alice Sierra."
At a certain point during the town recruits contest, more people focused on Sarah rather than on Calvin and Peter, who were ranked first and second respectively. This was because of Sarah's beauty and her talent.
Soon each of the ten groups had a student who had won over twenty matches in a row. The person from the first group was Calvin, the second group was Peter, the third group was Sarah, the fourth group was Jacob, and the fifth group was Michael. They were all ranked among the top ten town recruits. However, there was one more student who had won all twenty matches in a row.
The student who no one had expected to advance so quickly was Bobby. Apart from these people, there weren't many other students who had won twenty matches in a row. The fighting continued until there were ten people left in each group. In just one day, there were only one hundred students left. These one hundred students were the elite of the town recruits.
On the second day, the one hundred town recruits gathered at the Atlantic field once again. Having rested for one night, Bobby felt very energetic. He found that these matches had helped increase his skill level to a certain extent.
"Today we'll be entering the second round of elimination. All of you are the elites of the town recruits, but today half of you will be eliminated. Only fifty will be able to enter the final tournament. Here are the rules," a voice rang out on the field. The one hundred contestants held their breath as they listened to the rules. The rankings could be determined based on how many points each recruit had gained by the end of the contest. Each recruit started with one point, and for every match that they won, the recruit would gain one point. For every match that they lost, one point would be deducted. After the fifty town recruits with the most points were determined, they would proceed to the final tournament to fight against the city recruits. "Start!" the judge called out.
Number 144 versus number 26! Number 72 versus number 429! The ten stages all had matches going on. Most of the students would admit defeat if they saw their opponent was too strong. For example, in Calvin and Peter's case, their opponents admitted defeat as soon as they saw them. They would rather conserve their strength for the next round. Number 188 versus number 169! Finally, it was Bobby's turn. His opponent was a student at the second rank. Once the student saw that it was Bobby, he immediately surrendered.
"I admit defeat." Bobby was slightly surprised. The student had been in the same group as Bobby during the first round but had not exchanged blows. Even so, Bobby gained his first point, and his total points increased by two.
Soon, Bobby faced his second opponent. This time his opponent was a girl at the second rank. "I know you're strong, but I won't admit defeat," the girl gritted her teeth. Some students might have let her win on purpose since she wasn't as strong as most of the one hundred town recruits.
"Flaming Metal Fist!" Bobby used his core ranked martial art and knocked the girl backward. One move, swift and simple. Bobby didn't want to waste his time, as the girl was too weak compared to his level of strength; she wouldn't be able to help him improve. The girl was disappointed as she walked off the stage. "Huh, he's bullying weak girls. What's so cool about that? Wait until I fight him; I'll take revenge for her." Bobby's actions caused some of the students to look at him in disdain. "Number 188 wins!" The judge was impressed by Bobby's skills. The next few matches were easy for Bobby; his points continued to increase. "I give up. I admit defeat. Flaming Metal Fist!" Most of Bobby's opponents had given up, and for the ones who chose to fight him, they had lost instantly. "Bobby's strength is amazing. I don't want to go up against that." As the contest continued, more and more people started to understand Bobby's strength. And between his matches, Bobby watched Calvin and Peter's matches.
At that time, on another stage, "Quick, look! It's Peter and Jacob!" Bobby turned around and saw that the two were already exchanging blows. The fight between the second and fourth strongest town recruits attracted the crowd's attention. These two people were both ranked among the top five of the town recruits prior to the contest; it was well known that the difference between their strength was not that big. "Tenth Change of the Poisonous Snake!" Jacob shouted as he twisted onto the ground like a snake. It was so agile that he managed to dodge Peter's sword many times. Bobby was impressed with Jacob's strength, as it had increased a lot since their encounter last month. "Although you've improved a lot, you'll still lose to me like before," Peter said as he increased his speed. "It's the high-rank skill, Flowing Ice Sword! It's an extremely hard skill to train," someone called out. Peter's sword became faster and faster. Jacob was able to dodge everything at first, but as time passed, several slash marks appeared on Jacob's body.
"Peter wins!" The judge stopped the fight as they wanted Jacob to proceed to the next round without being too injured. Jacob stared at Peter with an incredulous look on his face. "How did you do that?" Peter had used less than ten moves to beat Jacob. "Peter is so strong," one of the students exclaimed. Peter and Jacob had sparred before, but at that time, the fight had lasted for a long time; they had exchanged over one hundred blows. But this time, the fight ended in only ten blows. "Peter's strength is probably on par with Calvin's strength now," some of the students said. Peter and Calvin, Peter's forte was offense, while Calvin's forte was defense. What would happen if those two fought? Many of the students anticipated their fight since they believed that Peter and Calvin had the highest chance of becoming the strongest town recruit after the contest. However, Sarah had not lost any of her matches yet either. Bobby was calm as he observed the fights around him. By now, he'd won forty-four matches in a row. Just then, he met a powerful opponent. It was Michael, a student who was ranked fifth amongst the town recruits. Michael had over forty points, and the only match he had lost was against Calvin.
"Kid, your winning streak ends here," Michael laughed. Many of the students sneered at Bobby. The purple belt holder Michael was the strongest opponent Bobby had been matched up against so far. "Your strength is barely at the level of the Purple belt," Bobby said calmly. "Is that so? I'll show you how strong I really am," Michael's eyes flashed with anger. As soon as Michael's words left his mouth, he rushed towards Bobby. "He's so fast! Michael and Sarah are both known for their footwork." Michael's speed garnered many praises from the crowd. "So it's a contest of speed," Bobby thought to himself while he smirked. Just as Michael's attack was about to hit him, Bobby disappeared. "Not good, where did he go?" Michael thought as he frantically looked around. Many students stared at the stage; the ones who had seen Bobby's movements stared at the spot behind Michael.
"Angry Dragon Fist!" Michael felt the strong power coming towards him from behind. He tried to block Bobby's attack, but he couldn't block it completely. Michael felt an overwhelming strength push him back. Boom! Michael took a few steps back and almost fell. "What skill did he learn to become so fast?" Michael stared at Bobby in shock.