Youth Martial Arts Tournament (2)

Stop. Side-step. Dodge. Hook!

None of the competitors in his arena showed any sign of aura, including William. They were all in elementary stages, so it could be considered a fair fight.

Back-step. Catch. Pull. Straight!

The tournament allowed their competitors to use weapons. The reason was that the competitors were taught by varying masters, and segregating them based on their weapons wouldn't be feasible. A child disciplined in the way of the sword couldn't quickly switch to bare-handed fight, unlike the more experienced adults.

Anyway, in a real fight, they couldn't choose what kind of opponent they would face, so having trouble against other weapons wasn't a bad thing. It would also highlight their abilities to overcome said disadvantages.

Jump. Kick. Hop. Cross!

While some competitors opted to swords, spears, staffs, or even bows and arrows, William was among those who had chosen to use their fists. While their range of attack was shorter than the weapon-users, their nimble movement was a major plus.

Drop low. Dodge. Lunge. Uppercut!

William sent a young boy around his age flying over the stage. The boy crashed down on the hard floor, and then stopped moving. He had been knocked out silly.

Among the competitors, William had caught the attention of the instructors. His techniques were actually rather crude and unpolished, but his instinct was in another level. With improvised movements, he was able to dodge his opponents' strikes, leading to a powerful counter attack that defeated them in one shot.

Unfortunately, the boy was still in elementary stage. His rank couldn't be determined easily because they couldn't sense his aura.

"This boy... what rank is he? Could he be a peak rank?"

"With that kind of strength, I'd say half-step?"

Compared to the geniuses, William might not be much, but with this talent, he would make a decent martial artist in the future. The instructors were of course interested in this youth.

"Even if he failed this stage, I'll still get him to attend the academy, at least as external disciple."

"What are you talking about? You think this boy couldn't pass the preliminary? Too naive!"

It had been an hour since the start of the tournament. The competitors who were still fighting had already depleted most of their stamina. As for the two arenas reserved for nobles, they had already concluded their preliminary stage half an hour ago.

In William's arena, only twenty people were left.

To his surprise, four youths, three boys and a girl, decided to engage William together as a group. Two of the boys used their spears to stab on William's left and right side in order to block his escape route. The other boy nicked an arrow from the distance, while the girl wielded a sword and rushed at him head-on.

The gears in William's brain spun as fast as they could, tirelessly formulating the best course of action.

Pushing his fatigued body, he dodged to the left. The spear-user stabbed as hard as he could. The tip of his spear had been blunted for use in the tournament, so there was no danger of actually stabbing through the opponent's chest. It was basically just a glorified staff, even thought it might still sting a bit.

William was counting on that. He didn't bother avoiding the spear, instead letting it jab at his chest.

"What the-"

The spear-user didn't expect that William would take a direct hit so easily. Getting stabbed by the spear would hurt a lot, potentially even knocking a person out from the sudden pain. However, to his horror, he felt that the strike was a bit too heavy, as if he had just hit an iron wall.

"Ooh!" the instructors' eyes shone brightly.

William had tightened the muscles around his chest, allowing him to withstand the impact. It still hurt. It hurt like hell. However, William stood tall, relying on his willpower to keep himself awake.

"This pain... is nothing!"

He grabbed the spear, and then pulled with all his might. The spear-user wasn't ready. He was pulled effortless like a sandbag, his mouth still opened wide as he was flung into the air.

With a flick of his wrist, William swung the spear and its user toward the incoming sword-wielding girl.

"Hey!"

"Agh!"

Their head knocked upon each other, producing a loud thud. William could only hope that it was enough to make them faint.

The other spear-user had diverted his strike toward him. At the same time, the arrow from before was about to reach him.

He raised one arm to block the arrow, while the other arm caught the spear and pushed back.

"Impossible!"

The spear-user actually couldn't continue his attack!

William ignored the pain from the arrow, and then let out a roar. Stomping his feet hard, he pulled the spear just like before, but this time he didn't swing the spear away. Instead, he pulled the user straight toward him.

Lunging his body forward, he planted a fist right on the spear-user's face!

"Damn it... I'm almost at my limit..."

He coughed, trying to catch his breath. At the same time, the youth with a bow was hesitating for a moment, but then he pulled another arrow, perhaps thinking the he had to commit until the end. Pulling the string on his bow, he aimed at William.

William gritted his teeth, and then turned to face him.

At that moment...

"Stop!"

The referee suddenly jumped back into the arena. His voice cut the tension of the competitors, causing them to crumble to the ground from their exhaustion. As William looked around him, he finally noticed that during his last battle, the number of competitors on the arena had been reduced to fourteen. That was why the referee stopped them.

"You okay?" A hand was stretched out to him. William looked up to see the bow-user from before.

"Ah, yeah... thanks," He gripped his hand and allowed the youth to help him stand.

"You're strong. It's a good fight," the youth grinned.

"You too. That was an awesome combination!"

William was genuinely impressed. It was the first time that he had fought against opponents in a formation, something that his master, the village elder, had said that he would face in the future. Martial artists didn't always fight alone. There was always a strength in number.

This time, he lucked out because the rules didn't allow killing. With his weak cultivation, if he had tried to get hit by a real spear, he would've had to say goodbye to this world!

"They're not bad, right? Sadly, I'm the only one left now," the youth said bitterly.

"Ah. Sorr-"

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it, I was just joking!" the youth suddenly burst into laughter as he slapped William's back. "The name's Gilbert. Hope I can meet you in the main stage tomorrow. We'll have a rematch then!"

"I'm William. I also feel the same way! We'll finish this next time!"

The two smiled at each other, bumped their fists, and then went their separate ways.

---

After the preliminary had finally ended, the sixteen competitors who had passed from each arenas were called for another ceremony in the field. Surprisingly, the second spear-user and the sword-wielding girl from Gilbert's group was also allowed to pass to the main stage. Apparently, even though they were eliminated by William, they had showed enough abilities to impress the instructors. As for the first spear-user, his ability was also not bad, but the other sixteen were just better.

Nevertheless, he had already caught the eyes of the instructors. There was now a chance for him to attend the academy if there was an opening for external disciples, so he wasn't too disheartened.

The youths were dismissed soon after to let them rest for the next day's round.

Sean had passed the preliminary as well. He dragged William to a restaurant in the middle portion of the city in order to celebrate.

"Man, talk about tough fights... I almost got killed!"

"Really? From what I heard, you only passed because you ran around the arena avoiding other competitor's attacks..."

William snickered. One of Gilbert's acquaintance was in the same arena as Sean, so that information got relayed to him. He was mentioning that one competitor was so adept at running away that they called him the 'Master of Thousand Steps Backward'.

"Aaargh! What a blunder!" Sean was extremely disturbed by it.

"I mean, it's not like running away is easy..."

From his point of view, escaping the hail of opponent's attacks were not such a simple feat. To be able to do that, he had to be equal or even stronger than his opponents. Sean might be hiding his real skill!

"Right, where are you staying for now?" Sean abruptly changed the topic, throwing William off his train of thoughts.

"Ah, in the outer district..."

"What? Isn't that place quite dangerous?"

Remembering the incident yesterday, William couldn't help but agree.

"We're already brothers, how about staying in my place?"

"Huh?"

Somehow, the decision had been made without waiting for William's answer.

It turned out that Sean's relative, an uncle from his mother's side, had a shop in the capital. He was willing to loan a room for Sean during his stay in the capital. As for a friend or two staying over, it was not a problem.

Another celebration was held in the shop with Sean and his uncle's family. William was actually overwhelmed by the warm welcome. Just like Sean, his uncle was also a jolly, easy-going person. William was quickly accepted as if he had been the family's friend for years.

Sean's uncle was understandably elated. After all, from the trends these past few years, almost everyone who could pass to the main stage would be able to enter the royal academy. That means his nephew had also been guaranteed a spot. With a member of his family in the royal academy, his own name would definitely rise up!

Sean was fabricating a story of him defeating the other youths one after another in a ridiculous fashion, entertaining his younger cousins. William tried his hardest to keep his retort to himself, so he kept on drinking tea one cup after another.

"Alright, alright, enough with the chatter! Let the poor boys rest! They still have to work hard tomorrow!"

Sean's uncle ushered the kids to sleep, while William and Sean retired to their room. It originally only have one bed, but a mattress had been laid down on the floor for William to use.

"I hope we don't tire you out, our family is a bit noisy."

"It's alright. I figured as much ever since we first met."

"Heh, make you appreciate my headlock from back then, huh?"

"Yes. I'm glad."

This crude, overly-familiar person might be annoying in the first glance, but there was something in his manner that made it easy for people to trust in him. William was truly glad that the first person he'd gotten acquainted with was this boy.

Such an honest reply made Sean's cheeks abruptly reddened. He rolled over on his bed, trying to hide it from William.

"Come to think of it, why did you pick me to talk with back then?"

"Eh, do I need a reason?"

"Well... I just want to know."

"To tell you the truth... you're not the first person that I'd headlocked. You're actually the eighth one."

William had a bad feeling, but he continued on.

"...The reason?"

"Well..." Sean flashed a mischievous grin. "You're the only one who didn't punch me in the face!"

"..."

Somehow, his gratitude turned into a feeling that he had been scammed...