Competition (ii): First Blood

[A FIGHT CAN HAPPEN FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS, CULTIVATORS LIVE FOR CONFLICT,IT IS THE OIL AND FUEL TO WHICH A CULTIVATOR GROWS. BUT THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN A CULTIVATOR WILL NEED A REASON TO RAISE HIS SWORD. A CULTIVATOR'S LIFE IS FILLED AND ALWAYS CENTERED AROUND A FIGHT OR A BATTLE. TO GROW STRONGER YOU HAVE TO FIND A REASON TO FIGHT, BECAUSE YOUR REASON TO FIGHT IS ALWAYS DRIVEN BY YOUR REASON TO LIVE.]

BARTHOLOMEW ALE

Eventually almost every fighter below the fifth level of the body refining realm was eliminated from the competition. It was quite a surprise that they were able too eliminate half the competitors within the first day, which meant the second day was bound to be a whole lot tougher and more dangerous than the first.

For Alex however the whole day was somewhat anticlimactic, so it was without hesitation that he looked forward to the way next day's competition. It was sure to be fierce and Alex would have really loved a challenge.

"So How did I do today?"

Anya asked with to much exuberance than you would expect from a sixteen year old girl. Alex did not even feel the need to answer her as he made his way out of the school with Anya in tow screaming in protest at him for ignoring her. Alex however was a little preoccupied with his thoughts. For a first fight, it was rather disappointing as Alex had expected more from this competition.

But now he knew for a fact that a person's first fight can not always be as exiting as the novels say they are. Sometime they can be ordinary, or completely anticlimactic when you have your opponent completely out matched. it was without a reasonable doubt that Alex was looking forward to the next day's battle.

When Alex got to the school the next day, the amount of spectators seemed to have increased. Of course he knew there were a number of reasons for that. Most of the spectators were the losers from the previous day, and the fights today were bound to be a lot fiercer than what was showcased yesterday, so the turn up increased as well.

"I'm sure you will get the fight you are desperately looking for Alex."

Anya was unusually supportive today, but Alex hoped she was right, it was not as if he was being arrogant or over confident about his own strength, he just knew that without pressure and a proper fight against someone who would not hesitate to hurt him, he would never be able to see how much he had grown, and find out in what ways he could improve. He could not become a diamond without undergoing a lot of earth crushing pressure.

Thankfully the fights today began in earnest, and Anya was among one of the first contestants to fight. Her fight however was just as one sided as yesterday's, as her opponent forfeited immediately when he found out that Anya was his opponent. Alex could not blame him, he was sure he would have done that same thing too after the display Anya gave yesterday.

Eventually Alex was called up to the platform, his opponent was rather skinny, he looked like someone who had hardly been fed anything for most of his life. With the way his body was proportioned, Alex felt that one good gust of wind would blow him away.

"My name is Shao, lets have a good fight."

Alex looked at the guy called Shao in surprise, he was as black as they came, but he had a name that was not indigenous to the dark continent, with the way he looked and his rather uncommon name, Alex was sure there was a story behind his appearance.

"My name is Alex, let's have a good fight."

And then the bell rang for them to begin. Shao immediately got into a stance by bending his knees and crossing his hands over each other. His martial art looked unconventional as it did not look like the mainstream martial art that was popularly taught at schools within the villages.

Alex could not read anything from his opponent's stance or his gaze, the guy was like a pool of still water waiting for the slightest ripple before attacking. He did not need to be told twice that this opponent was on a whole other league than his previous opponent, so Alex had to make a choice whether to go on the defensive or to attack.

Since his opponent's martial arts skills were completely unknown, he could either make a probing attack to force him into exposing his skills, or go on the defensive and wait for him to make a move. Either choice would still put Alex in a precarious position as he might not be able to come up with a counter for any attack thrown his way.

It took a little while for Alex to notice that his opponent was also in the same situation as he was. Alex had not exposed any of his skills, so his opponent was not sure what to expect. Sure, insight made Alex understand that he was not fighting your average run of the mill village boy, this kid knew what he was doing and that revelation lit a spark within Alex's dark eyes.

It was unknown who moved first between Alex and Shao, however a lot of things became obvious after they both suddenly started to run at each other. Shao was fast, crazily so, as he had already crossed the distance and landed a punch on the unsuspecting face of Alex.

The punch rattled his brain a little as Alex discovered that even with his emancipated frame, his opponent had a lot of power within his fists. Shao stepped closer to throw another punch, unwilling to loose the ground he had just gained. But Alex had spent a few days training with his father and Anya, people who were vastly stronger than he was, fighting them meant he had to learn to rely on his instincts, and to anticipate his opponent's next move.

Alex moved the palm of his left hand towards the right side of his face, bringing out the full capability of the [VIPER EVADES BUDDHA] palm skill. There was an audible slap as his opponent's fist was pushed from his face. But Shao was not going to stop as he sent a chop straight for Alex's neck. But Alex had already righted himself as he used his plan to deflect this move too.

But Shao regardless of how frail and weak he looked was a rather aggressive fighter, as he still pressed his attack, throwing punches with such speed that Alex could hardly keep up with him. His barrage of attacks had forced Alex to do nothing but defend as he tried to figure out a way to get out of this predicament.

However with each passing moment, Shao got faster and faster, and even though the [ VIPER EVADES BUDDHA] palm skill emphasized on speed, Alex could not match the speed at which Shao was attacking.

Alex knew that this was a martial art skill that focused completely on speed. Alex did not know how long Shao would be able to carry on attacking with such speed, but Alex knew he would not be able to last that long.

But so far Shao had stuck to him like glue, not giving Alex any breathing space to make a come back and retaliate. Left with no other option, Alex stopped defending and let two of Shao's super fast punches to land on both sides of his face. But that gave him Just enough opening for him to use the [IRON VIPER STRIKE]. Shao was not expecting Alex to suddenly drop his guard and get hit, the shock he had from such a move gave Alex enough time to gather power for his counter attack, before Shao realized that it was all a trap and that Alex had every intention of taking the hit as a diversion, it was already to late.

Alex felt bones crack after the [IRON VIPER STRIKE] was used. However it was not just Shao who sustained injuries from this move. Shao shot backwards spraying a cloud of blood in the air. The power from the punch had dragged him over the platform and down to the ground, making him sustain some bruises in the process. He immediately started coughing blood as the imprint of a fist could be seen on his chest.

Alex on the other hand, held on to his right hand in pain as the punch had dislocated his shoulder and left him with a very terrible back pain. This was the first time Alex had used this move, Even though he had practiced the move, he had never truly implemented it. Alex had injured himself because the gathering and transmission of power was all wrong. But this was not a place where he could ponder over it, as he was announced as the winner and asked to come down from the stage.

"Did you see that?"

"I would think I was dreaming if you were not here."

"The other guy was winning and then he…..he…"

"He took him out with one punch."

"What sort of martial arts is this Robo?"

"I don't know Cop. But he either must be from an influential family, or he has a really good master."

"But still look how injured he is, and then look at his opponent. That move is fearsome indeed, but I will never practice it even if you pay me a million yen. It's obvious there's a price for that kind of power."

Alex could hear the whispers even through the painful haze he now found himself in. To be honest he expected that there would be repercussions for using this move haphazardly, but he never expected it to be this painful. Not to mention the result from using it was quite terrifying. Alex did not have it in him to hurt someone unless necessary, but now in the entirety of the whole competition he was the first person to put the life of someone else in danger. Alex held his arm as he made his way to where Shao was being attended to by doctors. When one of the doctors saw him, she immediately started to berate him.

"What were you thinking using a move like that? Are you trying to get someone killed. What kind of upbringing did you have."

"Good God would you shut up, you're so loud my ear drums feel like they're going to explode. This is a fight, and everyone here are cultivators, not to mention we are all fighting to win. Did you expect him to pull his punches because he could kill someone. What universe are you living in."

As usual Anya came to his rescue. Alex never went looking for trouble, and it was not as if he couldn't defend himself if he needed to. But at this moment he was still in shock from the fight. He turned to another doctor while ignoring the female doctor who had gotten into a war of words with Anya. Alex was not worried about that because he knew Anya would win.

"How is he."

Alex asked the doctor while trying to maintain a straight face. The doctor had a tilted smile on his face.

"You did this to him and yet you're worried about him, you're quite strange aren't you. Anyway his chest is caved in and pieces of his rib are slowly inching towards his heart as we speak, he also sustained some bruising on his organs and he is also bleeding internally. It seems bad, and if he is not treated in time he's going to die. But I should have him up and running in a week. So don't worry he would live, now let me have a look at that arm of yours."

Alex nodded and let the doctor take a look at his injured arm. He also told the doctor about the pain in his back, and in response the doctor gave Alex a bottle of pills, and a medicinal cream. Then he had Anya take him back to the hotel.

Today was very much different from yesterday, for that Alex could agee that it was too much excitement than he could handle. He had gotten that challenge he needed and he had learnt about the limits of his own strength. It was a surprising turn of events, but it still got his blood boiling in such a way he had never experienced. And he knew without a doubt, that he wanted tomorrow to be just as exciting.