131 Chapter 131:

"The process will be simple, we will be travelling to Las Vegas, where it will be held. We will be there for a few weeks, since the school will also give us some downtime. Before then, however, we will also hold a boot camp, which you must attend.", Zach said, "Before the bootcamp, you will also be granted permission to skip class. No teacher will have a problem with you doing so of course, you will come here to train with the other people that will be participating, which are here now, as well as one other member in your year group, Igor, I believe you know him."

Ace nodded, "Yeah, we are pretty good friends."

Zach grinned, "Good, he will be your main sparring partner, I will also warn you, there are two groups for each year group, so you will not face each other during the tournament. That will allow you to show each other your full skillset, and train with each other, trying your hardest. There is also a small warning attached to this. I did tell you before that you will face people of varying weight classes, but there is a specific to it. Ussually, it is regular practise for the best clubs to separate the two participants they chose, if they bring two, the heavier of the two will go to one, and the lighter in another. Of course, most clubs can only afford to have one participant attend, which means you could easily face a heavier opponent, since in that case, the group he goes in, will be chosen at random. The winner of each group will be the winner. There tends to be a showcase match later, where the two winners fight, but it is not necessary, and nothing is won from it either. It's usually pretty bad actually, by the time they fight, most times, at least one of them will be impaired or injured, which means it will not be an even match."

"Ok, so, I assume you want to begin to train now?", Ace asked, and Zach grinned.

"Yep, Igor could not come today, but you can begin right this moment. I think a brief fight with each person will be a wonderful introduction, and it should hive you a hint as to what style each of them uses, it may shed some light as to what the expected skill level is too.", Zach said, and then moved to the side. Letting Ace face up against his first opponent.

"Noelle, sophomore.", they bowed to each other, and Ace stood there, observing his opponent. She had died pink hair, and hazel eyes, with a cheery face.

Ace waited calmly, in a loose position, he preferred to wait and exploit openings created by his opponents attacking, rather than taking the offensive himself.

Noelle, it seemed, was content to circle him a few times, like a lioness inspecting her prey. Then, out of nowhere - at least for the average spectator, she left into action. A step forward and a lunge took her in front of Ace in a matter of seconds. She threw her palm forward, clearly aiming for his left shoulder. If it connected the way it was intended to, it would have most likely dislocated his shoulder.

Ace saw her coming however, and slapped her wrist away, before launching a snap kick at her knee. She moved her leg in a semi-circular motion, slapping it away with the side of her knee.

Ace had waited for that, and used that same motion to pivot his foot and throw a devastating roundhouse kick. She stepped back to dodge it, and mid-kick, Ace stopped his leg, and while bringing his leg back, chambering it in preparation for another kick, Ace hopped forward with the leg that he was standing on. Then, as he was about to land, he extended his leg in a side-piercing kick.

Noelle, not expecting it, was forced to block it with her arms, which would result in a nasty bruise the day after.

Ace landed softly, and did not give on the offence this time, throwing a wicked jab, followed by an elbow. Neither connected, Noelle weaving backwards and then forwards, in a motion that was not unlike a boat in the ocean, carried by the waves.

Her motion took her extremely close to his face, and she let out a shout as she launched a knee to the stomach, and a straight jab to Ace's face.

Ace would have to take one of the hits, but his mind had already figured out a plan for action. He tensed his abs, forming an impenetrable wall, and tanked the knee. It hurt, but did not disphase him, since he had prepared himself for it.

Then, he moved his head to the side, letting the punch breeze past him, then slamming his head sideways against her elbow, punched her in the kidney.

This combination was only possible to due to Ace's insane reflexes and enhanced body, but it worked wonderfully. Noelle let out a grunt of pain, and doubled down once she felt the pain in the side of her trunk.

Ace stopped and took a few steps backwards. The winner had been clearly decided, there was no need for more pain to be dished out to whoever would be a future teammate.

After about five seconds of pain, Noelle stood up, still slightly hunched over, "Thanks Ace, you could have really battered me there.", she smiled, and then let the medical attendants that were in the sidelines take care of her.

"No worries, there would have been no point in harming you, thank you for the spar.", Ace said, he could have dealt a lot of pain, honestly. To begin with, the hit with the head was soft, but he could have easily broken her arm, due to the angle and speed he could have hit at. The punch to the kidney, could be potentially devastating, but it had not been nowhere near full power, which meant she would only feel pangs of pain for a few minutes, but it would feel ok soon.

Ace heard some clapping, and turned to look at the people watching, smiling and carrying out a small bow.

"Well, so how did I do?", Ace asked, smiling.

"Not bad, in fact, I am surprised, it is as if you were made for this, you took care of your opponent in the most simple and efficient of fashions, conserving all possible stamina. Your control was perfect, and coordination impeccable, we most certainly chose well.", Zach said, in a clearly proud tone, happy with the decision he had made.

"I am happy to hear that, this was fun, is there anyone else I can fight now?."