"F*CK! Why is this new batch of kids so absolutely dogsh*t!"
The Empty District's Chief Cleanser was there to watch the competition. And so far, he hated it. It was so terrible!
The kids were barely making it past the 5th round, and sometimes they couldn't even pass the 4th!
"Well, cut them some slack, sir! After all, these kids are from the South and East Combat Schools. They're the furthest away from the Empty Districts! Plus, their funding isn't great either."
The event hosts tried to calm him down. Luckily, it seemed to work.
"Sigh, Back in my day, none of the Combat Schools were lacking." The Chief Cleanser shook his head in disappointment. "They get worse every time. Hopefully, our good old North and West Combat Schools can fill in the gaps."
...
Indeed, the South and East Combat Schools had already had their turn. It was wildly disappointing - though expected. Both Combat Schools practised a team-focused style, with all the teammates supporting their main leader. Thus, only two people - one from each Combat School - had passed the 8th round.
Well, passing 8 rounds was still quite the achievement. The prodigy from the South Combat School was a guy by the name of Alex. He had a pretty good personality, and from what Cane had seen, his skills were nothing to laugh at.
Alex's first skill seemed to be one which let him hover. One might feel like it was weak. However, that was already quite terrifying - the full speed of a Combatant was always limited by things like gravity or the ground. Thus, while the theoretical speed should be about 13 times the speed of an average human, it might only be at 8 or 9 times.
His second ability was the most frightening. It was one which could induce a sense of peacefulness, making the opponent unwilling to attack. Cane wasn't quite sure how it worked, but it did. In a fight, if you don't want to win, then you've already lost.
If it was any other person, they might find difficulties with Alex. However, Cane's physical strength and speed far outpaced Alex's flying speed. As for his mental ability... Cane could only hope his mind and will had been honed enough from his training.
The second person to pass the 8th round was a guy called Hoffmann. He could control fire, which was a rare ability. Unlike some people, who could imbue fire into their body parts or weapons, he could directly control the flames to fly through the air as projectiles.
His second ability made for an insane combination. He could control wind as well. These two together meant that he could create immensely powerful flames, so strong they could hurt beings above their supposed rank.
Of course, Cane noted, his weakness would be hand-to-hand combat. As a matter of fact, Hoffmann would directly drop his weapon every round, opting for more focus for his elemental control rather than holding the cumbersome tools.
"Hey! Cane, it's your turn to go up. Well, it's all of our turns. Let's go!" Gabriel shook Cane out of his thoughts, which were still on the upcoming Tournament fight.
Unlike Susie or Gabriel, Cane wasn't worried about the Monster Gauntlet in the slightest.
"Sure. I eat monsters for breakfast."
Literally.
Ahh, I'm feeling hungry now.
...
"Oh? Looks like the kids from the North Combat School are finally coming out."
The Chief Cleanser raised his eyebrows in interest. Upon seeing Cane, his brows raised even further, almost disappearing into his forehead. "Who's this new fellow? I don't recognise him from anywhere."
Cane stared down the arena, looking at his opponent. It was an easy one - just a rank 1 Red Ant. It'd take the average prodigy about 10 seconds to kill one.
The event host smiled nervously at the Chief. "He's apparently a secret prodigy trained by the North Combat Schools. He's been in closed-door training for most of his life, according to them."
The Chief's eyes dimmed slightly in disappointment. "Ah... another one of those greenhouse flowers. There's no way h-"
The Chief's words were cut short as he saw the scene in front of him.
Because, Cane's hand first lifted. Then, with a flicker, the rank 1 Red Ant somehow appeared in Cane's arms. In the next moment, the ant's head was twisted off, leaving it dead.
All in all, 2 seconds was all it took.
The Chief Cleanser was stunned into silence. So was the audience.
"Hey, did you just see that?"
"Yeah. I saw."
As the two looked toward Cane, he also looked at them. Cane lifted his arms to shout from below.
"Send in the next monster! I don't need a break over here."
Generally speaking, one was allowed 5 minutes of rest between each match. However, Cane felt like that was too long and wanted to get it all over with sooner. Thus, he could only choose to take no breaks.
The Chief suddenly smiled. "Looks like the North is doing quite well for itself. Send in the next monster."
...
The following scenes had already left the crowd in a stunned silence. They collectively watched as the contestant in front of them - by the name of Cane Hunter - directly teleported the monsters into his arms and twist their heads off. He even disregarded the weapons granted to him at the start of each match.
The people, as well as Alex and Hoffmann from the other Combat Schools still had no idea about Cane's true strength. They all thought he relied on the monster being disoriented after the teleportation in order to sneak attack it, but they couldn't be more wrong.
Cane? He was already comparable to an Apprentice Warrior. Simply put, fighting these low ranks was nothing. It was basically competing in a Baby Cup.
One by one, Cane indiscriminately killed up to the 5th round. By now, Gabriel and Susie had already joined to watch and cheer him on. They'd managed to pass the 4th rounds, which made both of them quite happy.
The Chief wasn't happy, but he let it slide. After all, clearing the North Combat School had focused all of their training into Cane, neglecting the others.
Otherwise, what kind of excuse would Susie or Gabriel have to being weak?
Right?
Cane had been sweeping through the ranks so far. But now, it was the 5th round. This meant that the difficulty had spiked by quite a bit, and he would face off against rank 2's for the next rounds until the 10th. This time, Cane decided to make use of the 5 minute break.
...
Even though he was facing off against monsters of the same rank until the 10th round, that didn't mean they had the same strength. Even among monsters, just as it was with humans, some rank 2's were much more formidable than other rank 2's. For example, a Water-Claw might be among the weakest of the rank 3 monsters out there.
As the 5 minutes ended, Cane took his new weapon. It was a large spear, more like a curved sabre on a stick if anything. He spun it around in his hands a few times.
Caaaaw! Caaaw!!
Out opposite to Cane flew a huge crow-like bird. This was his first rank 2 in the gauntlet, and they were known as Shadow-Ravens. As the name suggested, they could flit in an out of shadows, making themselves immensely faster and virtually invisible once they entered a dark area.
The worst part about them was their intelligence. They were as smart as the average person, and might've been able to talk if they had the proper vocal chords for it.
Fwoosh!
The Shadow-Raven dashed through the shadows on the walls of the arena, reaching Cane's location almost immediately. Its claws extended, brushing past Cane's face as he dodged. Then, on its way past him, one tail feather was plucked.
Squawck!
The bird was enraged. This pathetic human dared to steal its tail feathers??? The Shadow-Raven instantly turned around and swung a wing toward Cane. However, the only thing it met was the outstretched spear-head, piercing the bird's wings.
Cane's eyes flashed in a wild, ferocious way. He grabbed the shaft of the spear and shoved the head into the ground, pinning the Shadow-Raven by the wing and causing even more damage. Then, a sad scene emerged.
With his weapon now gone, Cane began to beat the pinned raven with his fists. He'd dodge the claws and beak, as well as the other wing, and continuously smash his knuckles into the bird's skull or face.
Because monsters were naturally much more durable than humans, Cane wasn't at all worried that his newfound punching bag would die too soon. Indeed. He was punching the Shadow-Raven for fun, nothing else.
Of course, Cane also needed to put on an act for everyone else. No one could expect his strength to be drastically more powerful than a regular Combatant, so it was also realistic to expect that Cane "needed" to punch the Shadow-Raven multiple times for it to die.
As the beating session finally subsided, the bird was revealed to be dead. Cane, "struggling" and "panting" slightly then sat down, taking his next 5 minute break.
That's my first rank 2 down. I still have 4 more to go, huh?
Cane's eyes narrowed dangerously.
And then it's onto the rank 3. Solo fight.
...
Staring at the fight from above, the Chief Cleanser showed a rare look of satisfaction on his face.
"Reminds me of myself, y'know. Just when I was a young kid, starting out."
The smile faded somewhat, as the Chief peered at Cane's face. Within those deep, dark eyes, a hidden malice was flickering. The Chief dismissed it as nothing but a suspicion, but he couldn't help feeling nervous.
Something... something's off about this kid.
The Chief shrugged.
At least he's on our side, right?
A scream from someone in the crowd echoed through the air, a huge resounding "NO!!"
Others, including the Chief, ignored it.
Stupid fans.