"Alright. So, is everyone in the first group here?"Nonetheless, with Kat arriving last on the floating platform and in dramatic fashion at that, Mr. Zoran looked around and did a head count.The number of participants there was exactly the number of participants in the group, except for Lebon, who was disqualified after falling into the lake."Counting down from five!" Mr. Zoran announced as he held up a palm.As he started counting down, the martial artists around them appeared solemn and wary.It was a free-for-all—with one misstep, they would be attacked in numbers."One… Go!"Once Mr. Zoran finished the countdown and the free-for-all began, every participant leapt toward the target they had locked on to."Hello, princess… Let's see what you can do!"A fat middle-aged martial artist was wiping his drool as he charged toward Kat."Hoho! You have fine taste, brother! What a coincidence—I was aiming for her too!"Another tanned youth was laughing as he ran at Kat as well, h
While the geezer was surprised that he would think that Frank was an Ascendant-ranked elite, he soon shook his head.Frank had to be joking—after all, the geezer had never heard of such a young martial elite in Riverton or Zamri.Still, even as the geezer's thoughts wandered, Kat finally moved against the two thugs who were flanking her on the floating platform.With a subtle grunt, she suddenly launched forward, dashing to the side of the pudgy martial artist before he could react."Eh?"Even as the pudgy martial artist turned and realized where Kat had moved, he tried to change the path of his attack when he felt the agony in his belly.He looked down to find Kat's foot striking into his stomach before sending him flying.The pudgy martial artist screamed as he crashed into the other martial artist. Then, both of them flailed for just a moment before rolling together off the edge, crashing into the lake with a loud splash."Pfft…"And seeing those two sleazebags knocked out
The lanky Mr. Quaker clasped his hands behind his back as he roared with laughter and strode off.The pale martial artist who used the claw technique soon followed him as well."Hmph."Mr. Zoran snorted, but he scowled once Mr. Quaker was gone.He turned and saw that out of the fifteen participants who had cleared the free-for-all, only five were from Zamri, while the other ten were from Riverton.A look of worry appeared over Mr. Zoran's face right then, and he eventually turned toward Frank, who stood in the distance.All three of Frank's apprentices proved outstanding, having cleared the free-for-all.That also meant they were the three out of the five Zamri participants who had qualified…Without another word, Mr. Zoran made a beeline for Frank. "Mr. Lawrence."Frank was just commenting on Scarface, Mona, and Kat's performance and shortcomings in the free-for-all when he heard Mr. Zoran and turned in curiosity. "Yes? How can I help you, Mr. Zoran?""Oh, it's nothing…"No
For example, the members of Thousand Isles Guild left the Martial Tournament after they had a run-in with Frank.Sanne Dali had since been grounded, while Ivo Werner was too embarrassed to stay in contention.That in turn led to Zamri losing the participation of a good number of martial elites.In fact, Frank could tell that there was a hint of dissatisfaction in Mr. Zoran's question. It was true that the situation would not be that one-sided if members of Thousand Isles Guild were still participating, to the point that Mr. Zoran was getting paranoid."Don't worry," Frank assured Mr. Zoran, clapping him on the shoulder. "In the end, Riverton and Zamri share four berths, right? I can promise you that my party will take three. How about that?""For real?" Mr. Zoran exclaimed, but he could not hide his look of skepticism.After all, he had seen the brief melee between Scarface and Mr. Quaker's nephew and could see that Scarface might not necessarily win."Don't worry. I'm sure," Fr
"Woo!""Yeah!!!"Heartfar's challenge sent all Riverton participants and audience members into a frenzy, and they cheered in thunderous approval.On the other hand, the Zamri participants and audience members were scowling in silence."Hehehe…"Mr. Quaker, the Riverton Martial Alliance branch manager, took the stage just then. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Instead of fighting for themselves, each participant will be fighting for the city they represent… What do you think, Mr. Zoran?"Mr. Quaker had certainly shown his hand now, sending his nephew to issue a challenge that could ensure none of the Zamri participants qualified. He was even hyping up the Riverton participants and audience members to gain their full support!Seeing through the ploy in an instant, Mr. Zoran promptly refused. "This is the Martial Tournament. The organizing committee has set the rules to ensure fearness, so I refuse to bend it. There must be no changes made!"All the Riverton participants and audi
Seeing that Mr. Zoran was finally agreeing to take Heartfar's challenge, one of the Zamri participants strode up to the man right then.Holding up his fists, he bellowed, "The name is Candor Doise. Let me show you the might of Zamri martial artists!""Hehe. Very good."Heartfar naturally did not back down.As everyone watched, he held out his arms, showing that he was not cheating as he slowly kept them behind his back.Another Riverton martial artist walked up on cue, tying Hearfar's arms firmly together with a rope.The Riverton participants and audience members were all cheering in excitement, while the Zamri participants and audience members were left scowling.Moreover, Candor could see Heartfar's gleeful leer and felt further insulted."Free yourself," he snapped. "I don't need your handicap!""Then forget it."Heartfar shook his head in disappointment. "You're not worth going all out… Hell, not even a tenth of my abilities. If you can defeat me while I'm handicapped, I
After a brief silence, the Riverton participants and audience members were cheering, while the Zamri side was still left nonplussed.They just could not understand—Candor was clearly a decent martial artist, but Heartfar proceeded to destroy him with a single stroke anyway.Was the man really that unstoppable?!"You're out of line!""You may have won, but you didn't have to go that far!""That was such a dirty move!"Still, the Zamri participants soon saw what actually happened and were outraged.Heartfar did not just floor Candor, but he crippled Candor's meridian nexus too!That meant Candor's career as a martial artist was cut short, as he could not use his vigor at all.It was both humiliation and torture for a martial artist!However, even as the Zamri participants were glaring at Heartfar furiously and could skin him on the spot, he merely chuckled as he turned toward them."What, do you have something to say about that?"He smiled. "It's always the strong's privilege
"Hey… What's his name!""Didn't Zamri have five participants making it through the free-for-all?! There's still three left after two of them are gone. Don't worry! There's still hope!""Haha! Yeah! There's still hope!"As the Riverton participants and audience members catcalled, the Zamri side were left ashen-faced.They certainly remember the remaining three participants—two were young women who looked like they would not survive a punch, while the third was a brutish man who did not really look sharp.Therefore, as far as the Zamri side was concerned, that trio certainly would not be a match against Heartfar. It was why the other Zamri participants and audience members had been pinning their hopes on Candor and the other martial artist who had just fled.In fact, when the Riverton participants and audience members mentioned the remaining trio, the Zamri side was completely disinterested instead of feeling encouraged."I guess Riverton is taking all four berths!""Come on. Wha