The Preliminaries

"Devon Lee vs Ana Smith!"

Devon adjusted her black headband to fix her hair and walked towards the blue mat just a few meters away.

Mr. Kim approached Devon and nodded at her. "Be careful not to overextend your kicks, keep the distance, and you know how to handle the rest."

"Understood, Mr. Kim!" Devon nodded with a serious look as she walked towards the mat.

The referee looked at the two female competitors and said, "You know how this goes, three points to win, ready? Attention, Bow, face each other, Bow!"

"Fight!"

Devon looked at her opponent, a rather thin girl, but she never let her guard down and, as soon as the fight began, took the initiative with long-distance kicks.

"Now!"

Just as Ana's voice faded, she stepped forward to close the distance between her and Devon, but the sudden kicks made her step back.

Taking charge of overwhelming her opponent, Devon maneuvered her advance with great ease, and after a few more kicks, she managed to land one on Ana's head, causing her to retreat.

"Point!"

After scoring her point, Devon stepped back, looked at Ana on the ground, and said, "If you're going to cry over such a soft hit, get out of my sight!"

Ana looked up, evidently angry. She knew the girl in front of her had a good attitude, but Devon completely changed after the match started, which puzzled her.

"Are you okay?" The referee looked at Ana, who had stood up, and asked her to show her face to continue the match.

"I'm fine..." Ana said, looking at Devon even more seriously. She felt angry and wanted to continue the fight to redeem herself.

"Ready? Fight!"

When the referee's words faded, Devon's advance suddenly changed. She stepped forward, putting aside her powerful kicks. Seeing a punch coming towards her face, she shifted her stance, raised her defense, and after gaining control at close range, closed the fingers of her fist and hit Ana's stomach.

"Hoo..."

Spitting out a strong breath, Ana knew that this hit was the end of everything she had entered this tournament for. She hated losing in this way, but she was facing the defensive champion of this year.

"Point!"

Devon, who saw this, sighed. There were indeed good fighters, but in this tournament, she always found it challenging to encounter women who had trained since childhood and had good combat experience.

The only times she had lost were in championships in China, which was entirely different from the fights taking place here.

"Let's finish this quickly..." Devon thought as she adjusted her position once again in her corner.

Ana, who didn't want to give up, could only attack aggressively without considering anything else.

"Ready? Fight!"

Devon expelled air from her lungs, and after taking a breath again, she ran towards Ana with a straight kick that, as expected, failed. She moved her left hand to prevent Ana from attacking her side, and both engaged in a slightly more exciting fight for a few moments.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With a serene expression on her face, Devon's hands dodged Ana's punches, and this lasted for a few minutes before Ana began to show signs of wanting to stop.

When Devon knew she was being too demanding, she tried to calm down and appreciate her opponents' work more to participate in this tournament. At least she wanted to give them the opportunity to feel a fight, so hopefully, next year they could come back to challenge her again but stronger.

But knowing that she was making the fight longer, Devon threw a punch at first sight, and just when Ana raised her guard to defend herself, she saw how Devon stopped her kick and instead launched a kick.

"Now!"

"Point, Devon Lee wins!"

After landing the final blow, Devon did not immediately return to her corner but walked towards Ana and extended her hand to help her up. "Surely, you'll do better next year; I'll be waiting."

Ana had no words to say; she simply watched Devon's back. Due to the sensation this fight left her with, she clenched her fists, smiled through tears, and muttered, "I'll see you next year..."

As she stepped down from the mat, Devon looked at Samantha, who had been watching her match, and she smiled slightly.

Samantha, from afar, averted her gaze. She knew Devon had hinted that she had always been waiting for her but never showed up. After her first and only tournament, Samantha did not return to karate, but the same did not happen with Devon, who had won three championships in the last five years.

"Well done, Devon. Do you want a drink?" Mr. Kim congratulated Devon and asked as she approached.

Devon shook her head and instead asked, "How are things in the men's division?"

"We're winning; many have won their first match, but others have lost..." Mr. Kim expected this; it was normal in competitions. As their master, his only job is to make them feel good.

Devon didn't say anything else; she sat down and began to watch the matches before she continued fighting. Due to the two divisions, the preliminary fights meant nothing, as the real tournament started in the quarterfinals.