8 Corrin-The Mech God.

when the screen showed the names, crowed cheered up as a battle worthy to watch was about to occur. The names that were shown on the screen were of Jace vs Corrin-The Mech God. Corrin was not a somebody but a grand existence who was third on the list of the ranking. He was very proficient in the mech and also, he was from an elite family of the town. In all the previous matches he had not once lost a single match, won all of them very easily, many conceded before the match even began. On the other hand, Zuko was all mystery and had not shown any weapon or special skill up till now that is why everyone expected kind of grand performance from him.

both ascended the ring and stood at a distance of ten meters, they both lightly bowed to each other then the bell rang and the battle started. Corrin was already in his suit so when the bell rang a booster appeared at his back which increased his speed by many folds, Corrin launched a simple attack but the force behind it was enough to crush any normal human. Zuke dodged the oncoming attack with a swift movement and launched a counter-attack when his kick landed on Corrin, he felt a stinging pain in his leg like he broke his leg then his feet went numb for a moment but soon the pain fade away and Zuko regained his senses, "This creepy mech suit is tough." he moved back and covered some distance between himself and Corrin. Corrin grinned when he saw Zuko's sorry state. "Not bad but with your fighting style you will never be able to defeat me, not even in your dreams." Corrin laughed maniacally.

"Not even in my dreams, hah! watch for yourself then." Zuko took out small beads the size of pigeon eggs and through one of at the mech, with the sudden burst cold energy enveloped the entire stage and ice started to form all over the mech and froze it still. Corrin was unable to move his mech meanwhile Zuko stood at some distance from the mech and started to play with it. Everyone was surprised to see him so calm and relaxed, they were pondering on whether what was Zuko doing he could easily attack Corrin but he was busy with his watch. As everyone wanted to find what Zuko was doing, Corrin, on the other hand, Corrin got impatient and used all his force to break the ice encapsulant, soon the ice shattered and Corrin regained his freedom and moved to attack Zuko but with another burst, he got entrapped once more, everyone was surprised as this event occurred in a row, Corrin escaping and Zuko entrapping him again and again.

"you bastard, how dare you hake my bot, I will tear apart," Corrin was mad since he was unable to avoid the predicament that he was in, hence could only bark at Zuko, "fight me like a man if you can you gutless crap." when Corrin lashed out to his heart continent, Zuko threw all the beads at once and very cold energy covered the sage and froze the mech solid. Zuko then put his watch aside and took out another bead from the pouch and threw it in the mech's direction, upon the contact the bead exploded and the mech slide on the frozen floor and fell outside the ring like this the screen on the stage once again lit brightly and announced Zuko as the winner.

Corrin was still covered in ice and was unable to break free not because he was unable but because Zuko had hacked his mech and now he was unable to give any commands to the mech.

Whereas all of the crowd was once more amazed by Zuko's strange fighting style. He would rarely use any weapon or skill in the fight but would still kick everyone around as he wished. The crowd cheered him up and like this, the screen continued to call on participants and soon all the fights ended and the fourth stage too ended.

As the top ten were announced everyone's blood boiled as the real show was about to happen in the coming stage of the competition. Zuko this time was on fourth in the ranking as there were still three other guys who had not lost any battle till this point of the competition. Although it was not appropriate to just announce Zuko as the number fourth, there were still some rules for the system and those were that it would also take their last ranking into consideration if the contestants had the same results. Hence Zuko was on the fourth in the ranking but everyone thought of him as the dark horse of the competition.

Zuko was sitting in cross leg posture and was cultivating his arts when someone knocked at his door. When he checked at the door Zuko was surprised to find the illusionist at his door. One thing that Zuko found strange during all the battles fought by illusionist was that all his opponents seemed like they were in his control, it was not just an empty guess but once when Zuko visited Royan he found that illusionist was already there with him. The other day when Royan took him around the top rankers, he was surprised to find that illusionist would frequently make visits to all the top rankers and he had a very good relation with them but Zuko knew that something was amiss, he knew friend to all is a friend to non but he did not bother with him or others too much and came to his residence as soon as he could. Zuko would utilize all his time in cultivation so he would not mind others until they came and asked for trouble.

When Zuko saw illusionist on his door, he knew something was amiss but he knew how to respond to scums like him that is why let him come inside in a very pleasant way. Zuko acted like he was truly pleased to receive the illusionist. "Brother Jace, I always knew that you are special and was trying to befriend you all this time but unfortunately I was busy with some stuff. Here, I have a gift for you hope so you like it. This is a watch that I have specially prepared for you and it is no simple watch it has a grand origin, I hope it will change the course of your destiny." Illusionist was all smiles but there were still some traces of shenanigans in his ruthless eyes. When he passed the watch to Zuko, a strange field of energy enveloped Zuko and he felt very good, it brought him warmth that he had never felt before. "See, it really is your lucky charm. You must keep it with yourself all the time."

Both Zuko and Illusionist talked for some time then illusionist excused himself and left Zuko's residence.

Later that day, Zuko's professor also returned from the capital, he was so happy to hear about Zuko's great performance and that's why he directly visited him. "Not only are you good in research but you are also a battle maniac," Professor was all smiles, hahaha..., "Also I have a piece of good news for you, I have successfully passed the test and now I can do my research there in the capital and I also have the permission to hair an assistant, I was thinking If you could assist me in my research in the field of weaponry and I will aid you in all that I could." Professor had a desire in his eyes for Zuko to work for him but he now feared that Zuko might not reject the offer, although he was sure on his way that Zuko would die to work for him, now the circumstances were different, he was not only a bookworm but also a battle maniac. So, the professor was acting like he was very happy for him.

In order to rope Zuko in, he gave him many attractive offers and he had a chance to settle in the capital that he knew Zuko wanted the most.

They talked for quite some time, later when the professor was leaving his residence he was very happy as Zuko had agreed to leave with him and work for him with some easy conditions that he readily agreed upon.

The next day, as expected the entire arena was excited to watch the finals of the competition. There were some, those who even fought over the seats. Today, the crowd had arrived very early, and all were very excited.

soon the participants arrived, the elites and finally even the head also arrived. It was a grand day, the air full of different sorts of elements, anxiety, stress, excitement, and fear, and so on.

The final round was a bit different from the rest as the screen first showed the top ten rankers and the system then gave the top rankers priority that they can issue a challenge to any of the participants among each other and take the rank of the opponent.

Soon, some challenges were issued and battles started between the top ten but there was no one who issued any challenge to the top four until Royan when he directly issued a challenge to the second ranker- The Illusionist.

The last six rankings shuffled as there were some who managed to take the higher rankers and displace them. But the battle between the top five had just started.