Against the Stars (2)

Gareth got into a stance. He only raised one of his fists.

The ones challenging him were in a strange position. The young man who seemed to be leading the others was in the front, and the other nine were far behind him. No matter which way it was looked at, they appeared to be pushing their leader to the front. The guy himself didn't seem bothered, it seems he was determined to fight Gareth alone.

Gareth, however, wasn't focused on him at the moment.

The moment Gareth attacked, his fist punched at one of the nine behind the young man. The force of his punch pushed the man back, throwing him off the stage, and disqualifying him. .

He chose another target, another one of the nine. A kick hit the man, also throwing off the stage.

Gareth was relaxed, not exerting any unnecessary effort.

He did not touch their leader. That young man already had a hard time reacting to the fact that his followers were being thrown off the stage.

It took Gareth no time to deal with them. They could barely react to his movement, even when he was being leisurely with every move.

The leader had quite the courage though, despite the fact that his followers were blown off the stage without him being able to react or do anything about it. He didn't shake or quake on his feet, and he still looked like he was going to fight Gareth no matter what.

Since he had cleared off those that were of no importance from the stage, Gareth turned to the man who had no doubt made him pissed.

He walked up to the man. He was in no hurry to throw him off the stage.

The man threw a punch at him. Gareth didn't bother to sidestep the blow the man threw with all his strength. The punch that seemed headed for his face deviated all on its own.

To everyone watching, it seemed like the young man threw a punch to Gareth's side. A meaningless and futile action.

Gareth who had gotten before the young man raised his hand. His palm wide open. He delivered a slap to the young man's face.

The young man staggered, but before he could reorient himself, a slap landed on the other side of his face.

Then the slaps came in unceasing waves. The young man was slapped around the stage. Gareth never stopped for a moment.

To Gareth, there had never been a time when someone disparaged him like this young man had. Gareth didn't care for whatever it was that disgruntled the young man.

Mocking him in that manner, and spitting on the face of everything he was and everything he had done. No doubt, the idiot was also mocking Jasmine with his speech earlier. To him, the young man was simply asking for it.

He didn't stop the beating, not until the young man's face was swollen and he appeared to have passed out.

He allowed the young man to collapse to the floor unconscious.

"It seems you haven't worked hard enough, brother."

Gareth kicked the man off the stage.

Everyone watching from the side of the stage could only stare at the young man thrown before them. He laid there prone as he couldn't even move, barely breathing.

They looked at Gareth who was there on the stage, calm. All of them only had one thought running through their heads. 'Monster!'

Jasmine was thrilled as she looked at him standing on that stage.

Gareth waited there on the stage for another challenge to be issued, but there wasn't any one coming up. Not anytime soon.

*

On Qian's side.

The young man had also been challenged, and he had won against every one of his challengers. Much like Gareth, he had been having an easy time.

Qian had been cultivating for more than a year. It was true that he had awakened at a time not too far behind the last recruitment of the Martial Seekers sect. His family might not have a grade three cultivation technique, but he had cultivated with the grade two cultivation technique possessed his family.

That coupled with the training he received, and the occasional guidance from his family's Spirit Strengthening Realm cultivator. He had been able to cultivate to the second of five stages in the accumulation phase of the Awakening Realm.

His training also included fighting and the proper way of using techniques in fights.

He had to go through intense training every day.

Qian was alone on the stage now. He had his eyes closed. He was currently resting as he meditated. His lackeys were on the side. If not because of the rules of this event, many of those challenging Qian would have had to go through them, before they could get on the stage.

However, they could not do this and this caused their anger to boil. The only thing they could do was mark the faces of those who challenged Qian.

The disciples surrounding the stage all had their eyes on Qian at the moment. This young man had not even broken a sweat as he beat his challengers off the stage.

Qian opened his eyes, as someone stepped on the stage.

It was another challenger, a new disciple. Behind the first challenger, there was another nine.

Everyone around the stage was in an uproar. This was the first time there had been this many people on the stage. It was a ten against one.

Qian's lackey weren't in a good mood, but there was nothing they could do. They could only contain their anger within.

Qian stood from his meditating position. He was relaxed as he stared at the ten before him. He took a ready stance.

Before the challengers could move, he struck first. Swift and accurate in his strike.

The fight started. Qian moved around the stage as he fought. His opponents had a great teamwork, but even they had no luck in cornering him. He flitted around on the stage, his strikes swift and precise.

Even though he wasn't having an easy time like in his previous fights, he never lost the upper hand.

The fight was in his control, as he rendered the teamwork of his opponents ineffective. His control over the battle continued to increase, reaching a point where he overwhelmed his opponents.

The ten were thrown off the stage one after the other. Their overall strength decreasing with every member out of the stage.

Until the last person standing on the stage was Qian, who panted heavily.