Rock Hard

"Now! Let us welcome our newest contender, Man of Steel!!!"

With a small smile on his face, Genji jumped on stage as the small crowd cheered.

As soon as Genji entered the arena, he spread out his senses using his earthbending as he tried to get a feel of the earth.

With his experience in both Water and Firebending, and his growing skill in the manipulation of his own strength, Genji quickly grasped how to efficiently use his Earthbending.

"Man of Steel, huh. So you're untouchable by Earthbending?" Rock-Star mooched, trying to rile up Genji and make him lose his cool.

"Hm… I guess that's one way to look at it," said Genji, unaffected by Rock-Star's attempt at angering him.

The commentator grinned and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"BEGIN!"

Rock-star wildly attacked Genji with his Earthbending, launching many attacks in an instant.

Rocks of varying sizes flew towards Genji with a strong forces behind them.

But Genji simply brushed them aside like they weren't even worth worrying about, keeping his composure as if nothing happened.

Using his level 40 martial arts skill and incorporating it into his Earthbending, Genji had easily tossed aside the rocks.

And now, having seen Genji brush off countless stones thrown from his hand, Rock-star decided to change tactics.

He dashed forward and was prepared to use his own fists to attack Genji. However, it was proven useless as Genji made use of his Earthbending and sent out small rocks at Rock-star, hitting him.

"These small rocks won't do anything to me! They're too- GAUGH!"

The crowd all looked at Rock-star with weird faces when they noticed that he had accidentally swallowed a pebble Genji had accurately shot.

GAUGH! COUGH!

Rock-star coughed and coughed, trying to get the small pebble out as his face was slowly turning red.

Walking forward to Rock-star, Genji used the wooden staff he had his jacket buy and slapped the back of Rock-star's throat, causing Rock-star to cough up tiny rocks.

"Gah! You… you damn.."

Bam!

With a heavy stomp of his foot, Genji used his Earthbending and quickly performed another stomp as he controlled the ground underneath Rock-star.

Chh ch…

The ground cracked under Rock-star and just as he realized what was happening, a pillar shot out of the ground and hit Rock-star in the stomach.

Bang!

He was thrown four feet in the air and as he was falling down, Genji raised his wooden staff and crudely coated it in dirt before hitting the falling Rock-star and roughly knocking him out.

His body slumped to the floor and the audience went quiet in shock.

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

..

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[<Novice Earthbender> (Lvl. 7)]

[Ding! Skill level up!]

[<Expert Polearm> (Lvl. 40)]

[Ding! Congratulations on <Adept Polearm> leveling up to skill level (40), skill advanced to <Expert Polearm>!]

[Rewarding Host proper stat points for advancing <Polearm> skill to the next rank, <Expert>!]

[+4 Power, +2 Vitality, +2 Energy]

[Name: Genji

Level: 2 (7 / 15)

Power: 20

Vitality: 18

Energy: 18

Spirit: 41

System Remark: Wo#*o ye*h! Th*t w^s a€az#ng! Kee% up th3 g0od w@rk!]

Suddenly, Genji felt an influx of energy and strength within his body. An amazing yet painful rush as he felt his muscles shaking as they grew stronger and a bit more dense.

The commentators started yelling again, "This is unbelievable!! This match has been over for some time already! The winner of the last bout is still unconscious! It looks like we have our new winner! What will happen next?! We can only wait and watch!"

Watching Rock-star fall onto the ground, unable to move, the other contestants were shocked and speechless.

However, there was no hesitation in Genji's eyes when he had hit Rock-star with the dirt covered Staff.

Not be for long, the audience had finally reacted when they cheered loudly and applauded Genji's win and skill with both Earthbending and using the staff.

Now, Genji's Polearm skill had finally entered the Expert rank and only firebending was left. Maybe even his physician skill that was already at the 39 mark before he can focus on other lower leveled skills.

Thinking about his physician skill, Genji decided to walk forward and inspect his defeated opponent. Making sure he was good and had nothing needing immediate attention, Genji got the experience points before tossing Rock-star to the people who had come to pick him up.

"He will be fine. I made sure to hold back and not break anything," said Genji as he told the medic that checked up Rock-star.

The medic nodded and checked Rock-star's body nonetheless in case there were any hidden injuries.

"Hm… looks like he really wasn't that injured. Nothing a couple of days worth of rest can't fix."

Nodding to the medic's personal check up on Rock-star, Genji walked back to his side of the arena to wait and fight the next opponent.

As the commentator continued talking, saying how this would surely become one of the most memorable matches ever seen in the tournament so far, Genji thought to himself,

'I am going to keep on going until I see that little brat Toph.'

***

After watching Genji defeat his fourth and fifth opponents without much trouble, the crowd became restless and impatient waiting for the sixth round to start.

It was finally at this point that Genji noticed that Aang and Katara had entered the underground arena.

Aang looked around while Katara stood beside him looking very worried. She had spent the last hour or so wondering whether Genji had gotten lost since they hasn't seen him in hours.

Since they had separated, the only place they can meet up again, is where Appa and Momo were. That was the only consolation that Katara had.

Knowing that they had finally arrived, Genji knew that it was time that Toph's appearance was approaching.

However, that also meant that he was going to end up meeting the other fighters.

Like the Boulder who wishes to be like The Rock.

Genji stood tall with a firm grip on his wooden staff, his eyes glancing at the current level of his Earthbending skill.

[<Novice Earthbender> (Lvl. 15)]

Since all of his opponents were of level 1 and 2, Genji hardly received any experience points from them.

Scratching his chin, Genji watched on as the announcer began to bring in various fighters and introducing them.

"Up next, today's burning champion will be fighting against our BIG… BAD… HIPPO!!!"

The crowd went wild and they cheered loudly as a man of extremely large size walked into the underground Earth Rumble.

"HA-HA-HA! HIPPO HERE!"

Then, sounding like he's all brawn and no brain, Hippo laughed and announced his presence as he jogged over to the arena with a waddle before jumping in with the help of Earthbending.

"Hippo crush!"

With a wide smile, Hippo pointed at Genji before pulling out a big rock and crushing it with his bare hands.

The crowd went wild and their cheers filled the underground arena.

"Wow… so scary," Genji said sarcastically as he began to taunt and anger Hippo. "Do they name you Hippo because of how little teeth you have? Or because you're just an animal?"

"Grr! HIPPO NO ANIMAL!"

Clenching his fists, Hippo jumped into the air and used his weight as he brought himself back down to the ring.

Boom!

The entire ring shook and began to tilt due to Hippo using his weight and Earthbending together to create this devastating move.

However, Genji stood still as if his feet were glued to the floor.

Lifting up one foot slowly, Genji slammed it back onto the ring's floor, causing the arena to stop shaking. Taking things a step further, quite literally, Genji pressed his foot into the floor, causing a pillar to rise up.

With a swift swing of his wooden staff, Genji proceeded to hit the pillar, throwing various rock discs towards Hippo.

At first the Hippo tried to stand tall and defend with his own body, but as Genji continued to create pillar after pillar and hit discs towards Hippo, Hippo began to feel the pain in no time.

"Ahh!! AUH! Stop! Make pain stop!" cried Hippo in pain as he tried to use his hands to stop the discs from hitting him.

However, instead of stopping, Genji walked forward slowly as he continued to attack and in just a few seconds, Genji was standing before Hippo.

"You never said you surrender," said Genji as he lifted the wooden staff up into the air.

Hippo's eyebrows were raised as he looked at Genji with a small worry-filled smile.

"Surren-"

Pak!

Yet before Hippo could finish starting his surrender, Genji swung down the staff on Hippo's head, knocking him out in just one hit.

"What an amazing win! One swift hit! Can we expect more of this from Man of Steel?!"

The announcer yelled out Genji's victory before going quiet for a second.

"It seems that with Man of Steel's amazing achievements, we will be able to add two new matches for today!

Presenting… Man of Steel versus four professional fighters!"

The applause and cheers of the crowd exploded as four men rushed to the ring and jumped into it. Their faces held smiles as they looked at the easy win before their eyes. They were already rubbing their hands as they imagined the money they are going to earn from winning this match.

"Let us welcome Man of Steel's opponents!

Fire Nation Man!

The Gecko!

The Gopher!

And Headhunter!"

The various four opponents performed their entrance acts after hearing their name being called out.

Fire Nation Man raised the Fire Nation's flag, the Gecko walked around on all fours, the Gopher was digging underground before popping his head up, and the Headhunter just jumped in the air before flexing his muscles.

Genji rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his head and waited for the announcer to begin the match.

Announcer smiled and glanced at Genji before giving a smirk, hoping Genji to lose the match so that he could win even more money from all the bets placed on him.

"Begin!"

With a loud and clear yell, the announcer announced the beginning of the match and just as Genji's four opponents were going to make a move, something unexpected had happened.

Bam!

Gecko, Gopher, and Fire Nation Man's eyes all went wide when they felt a slight breeze beside them and a whistling sound through the air.

"Ghhgh…"

They heard groaning right behind them and they turned their heads slowly to look at the source where they found Headhunter groaning in pain as a wooden staff was still spinning on his stomach.

"Wha-what?!"

"How did that happen?"

"Just how hard was this stick spun and thrown to stick onto Headhunter like that!"

"I don't know, but I can't even touch it. It's spinning is too strong for me to grab a hold onto," said Fire Nation Man as he stretched his hand out before pulling it back in fear.

The three continued to look and in just a second, the wooden staff had a hand firmly holding it, stopping it's spin.

"Ah! Someone grabbed it!"

"Who is it?"

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent," instructed the owner of the hand holding the staff, scaring the three fighters.

"Wha-!"

Bang!

The Gopher flinched in fright and was just about to dig back into the ground when he received a fierce kick on the head, brutally kicking his head into the ground. With such a fierce kick, the Gopher was knocked out and his nose began to bleed due to such a strong kick.

"Hey, where are you going!"

"This isn't even Earthbending anymore! Wah!"

Genji looked at Fire Nation Man as he attempted to make space and run away. It was a shame that Genji is faster than him, instantly catching Fire Nation Man's cape and pulling on it. Fire Nation Man was yanked back and Genji stomped forward with his elbow held out as it slammed into Fire Nation Man's face.

Bang!

"Ha! You left yourself open!"

With a yell of victory, Gecko jumped to Genji's exposed body with a wide smile, ready to grapple Genji.

"I'm not earthbending?"

A foot away from Genji, Gecko heard him whisper something to himself before suddenly hitting his arm.

Bang!

"Argh!"

A large rock had struck Gecko in the arm and throwing him to the side when he suddenly saw the ground beneath him crack as a pillar shot out towards his chest.

Pak!

Reacting in time, Gecko had blocked the attack with his arms crossed and just as he felt like he had escaped defeat, Gecko saw Genji's fist encased in rock.

"Ahh!"

Whack!