Chapter 8

"Ladies and Gentleman. Welcome to the finals being held today. The Final match to decide everything. One hurdle to Thessia." There was a smile on the announcer's face. The crowd was riled up and he had no doubt that the 4 contestants who managed to qualify will earn an unprecedented amount of fame within the Citadel.

He still felt a little sting that he had lost his money. However, he had no one to blame but himself. The boy had such long odds placed on him that only a madman would place a bet on him. In the end, it did not matter. The house always wins and in the boy's case, the teller would make a fortune. The people who did bet on the boy will find themselves rich overnight. That does not mean that he can't have some fun. He did lose a month of salary Afterall.

All four of these matches were taking place at the same time. Four announcers, the tickets for the in person tournament were sold out completely. The streaming rate was through the roof as well. It felt as if people were here to watch the people of their own race to support them. There had been some legitimate concerns if the servers would crash due to the amount of people that were tuning in.

He held his breath, standing there as he waited. He was given the go ahead on his head set.

"On one side, we have the greatest upset since ever. Someone who legitimately broke the bloody odds. We have Alex, one of the most colorful guys ever born." 

Alex stepped in as the clips of his recent victories played. His lucky wins mixed with his show of skills.

"Luck or skill, today everything will be decided."

The announcer paused to let the crowd calm down. There was another contestant to go as well.

"On the other side, we have a Krogan. A beast of a machine, bred for war. An age of 300 years and someone who has seen conflict through out his life. He was there in the beginning and he is still here now. A Krogan who has known nothing but war. Urdnot Khorr. His weapon of choice, a giant warhammer. Someone that embodies the raw rage and wrath of the Krogan."

The door opens and A krogan steps in. His foot echoing out, announcing his presence. The crowd kept silent as his matches started to play. Was the crowd silent due to the raw fear or due to his sheer presence. The sheer brutality that he demonstrated in them, breaking bones and crushing people. The Krogan did not even need his warhammer. He sometimes used his own arms to lay people low.

Urdnot Khorr roared as he reached the arena with his giant two handed Warhammer raised high. The crowd broke out of their haze and cheered once more.

Alex gulped. How was he supposed to bring this beast down. If the Krogans had been cloned during the clone wars. The jedi would have curb stomped anything in their way. The war would have lasted only a few months at the most. Alex was not sure if he would be even able to penetrate the skin of the Krogan.

The announcer sighed in relief as he raised his hand to signal the beginning of the match.

He let it fall. "Begin."

Alex sped up to the max. His entire body looked as if it disappeared. He appered in front of the Krogan. A silver flash of his katana went off. Deciding not to leave anything to chance, he made two more slashes until he saw a big hand coming down. He leaped back, dodgin the arm. To the onlookers, it looked as if his body had blurred when the fist went through him. 

"Good job whelp." The Krogan said, as he pointed to the front of his body. "You managed to scratch me. You have done more then everyone else did combined. "

Alex held the swords in front him in a cross pattern. These Krogans were cheats. Alex failed to draw a single drop of blood. Those scratches were on the Krogans chest mocking him. The worst thing was that they healed right in front of him.

Alex calmed himself, so he could not use any sharp weapon to do any meaningful damage. His sword would break before that. No matter, he would use blunt force.

"In honor of your show of skills, I will use my own Warhammer."Khorr picked up his hammer as he readied himself. "Here I come, whelp." Khorr rushed him.

Alex could barely see the guy coming towards him. His senses told him that an attack was coming from right in front of him. Alex threw himself backwards as the warhammer came down on his previous position, shattering the ground and throwing him back due to the shockwave generated.

How could someone this big and strong be this fast. "I call hax." Alex yelled out as he came to a stop. What? He spoke with other kids and played with them as well.

"I may finally have some fun." The krogan told him as it rushed him.

"Not this time big guy." Alex rushed him as well. Dodging the warhammer by just a little bit and landing blow after blow on the Krogan with his blade. It was maddening, Alex was unable to break the natural armor on the body of the Krogan and his own stamina was running out. He could not keep this up for ever. He was already tapping in the force to strengthen his muscles and to get a sense of danger regarding where the next blow will be coming from. 

And so they clashed, Alex barely doing any damage and Khorr attempting to hit him. 

"Enough." Khorr yelled. 

With a giant heave, he changed his technique. He began to vary his hits. Changing his speed for each blow. Sometimes, he accelerated and sometimes, he slowed down on purpose. A technique he developed when fighting against other Krogans. In case of the other races, one blow was all it took. These humans may just be worth it. There was a giant smile on Khorr's face. This was what it was all about.

Alex was taken by suprise as well. He was on the back foot. Khorr varied the speed of the hammer mid swing. Sometimes, he would slow down and other times he would accelerate. Alex got serious as well and began to dance around the Krogan. The onlookers stood up as they saw a swirling storm and a boy gracefully dancing around it. Moving as if he already knew the future.

The announcer lost his voice, the scene looked so strange that there was nothing that he could say. He felt that any sound would be considered a travesty to the duel happening in front of him. The crowd maintained his stunned silence as well.

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One of the judges, an Asari Matriarch invited for this special reason, stood up. Her hands over her mouth. She felt her heartbeat increase as she looked at the boy. This was the way of the sword. This could not be called talent anymore. This was just monstrous. She had heard her collegues mention humanity but she had paid it no mind. Only the sword interested her, to keep the old ways alive. Politics were not of any interest or concern to her. Her hands began to tremble. Sulakio felt excited and fearful at the same time.

Sulakio remembered the argument. The fact that the other species filled a certain niche, Salarians were scientists, researchers and spies. Turians were the law enforcement of the entire Galaxy. the Asari were the diplomats and beurocrats. The Volus kept the economy flowing. Humans were different. They could fill every niche. Individuals of their species were so diverse. It was the outliers who were truly remarkable.

 People who excelled in certain fields. Having a single handed mastery to the point where they could change the entire fate of their species.

This boy was an outlier. His skill could not be explained in any other way.

She wanted him as a disciple. No, as an equal. 

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One would think that Khorr would grow frustrated with each miss. But no, he became even more excited. He was at his core a warrior. A warrior who was afraid of stagnation. Only another Krogan could match him, trading blow or blow. But that got boring after a while.

He wanted to rip the Asari a new one. But he never expected to face a human. Win or lose, the fight on Thessia would be one to remember. Khorr felt his blood boiling even more. With a mighty swing that transitioned to full speed.

The boy leaned down dodging it. The hammer touching a few hair as it passed. It was a risk but he allowod himself to be unbalanced as he brought one of his foot down on the brat. The brat swayed on one foot as he narrowly dodged the strike.

Alex saw this as his opportunity as he struck at the fingers holding the hammer. Finally, he saw red on his blade, he had drawn blood. The hammer fell causing a large thud.

Alex grasped the hammer and with great difficulty, he balanced it over one shoulder. It would hurt but he would get his strike.

He looked up and saw that the Krogan was in a blood rage. The scales and eyes had a red aura surrounding him. The Krogan charged and yet it was smiling.

Alex felt a smile pop on his face as he realized that he was enjoying this battle. He ran towards the Krogan as well, supporting the weight of the hammer with his shoulder, getting ready to swing it.

The Krogan was just in front of him. Alex swung the hammer, allowing the momentum of the hammer to carry him. He swung a little before, causing him to miss by a wide breath, but that was his intent. The circular motion of the swing was intent to carry him with it, a spinning attack in a way. So, during the first swing he let the hammer's momentum carry him as he spun with it. He was out of the way. With the second swing, as the Krogan was passing through the place where he previously was. His eyes wide open as time slowed down for both of them.

The hammer hit the on the head, knocking the krogan out. The Skin bloodied and broken. Alex could not control the hammer anymore as he let it go. It fell on the stage, as it was embedded into the stone. 

For one moment, there was silence and then a large deafening cheer went out.

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 (Sulakio, Asari Matriarch POV)

Sulakio could not help but grasp her mouth. The boy was more than marvelous. It felt as if he had natural born battle instincts. The ability to improvise on the fly was remarkable. In his place, she would have attempted to tire the Krogan out and make it a battle of endurance. 

Yet, the boy had managed to prevail. Using the hammer of the Krogan to knock him out. Using his own superb positioning and timing, he had managed to put the Krogan down.

One of Sulakio's hand went to her heart as she felt it thumping hard. She had been ready to sace the boy at any moment if things turned bad. In the end, she had almost used it when the Krogan charged him down. 

This match may be one of the most exciting match that she had even seen in her life.

There would be time for planning later. Her mind conjuring up images of inducting the boy into the Asari military. 

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(Tanya POV)

There was a wide smile on her face. He finally won. Now, what she planned for can finally begin. The only reason that she had allowed Alex to leave without wearing some of her merchandise was because she did not need to.

His victory would give her ample opportunities to advertise. It was the winner's right to air a message for 20 minutes. 

One that would be repeated throughout the Citadel for a few weeks. Plus all the money that she had made from his win.

It was a pity that she could not repeat this again in the final tournament in Thessia.