Chapter 192 - Crocodile vs. Soap
Clap, clap, clap
When Hu Jie's victory was declared, the spectators went on a rampage in a myriad of applause so loud to pound one's eardrums. In particular, the most excited were the martial artists of the younger generation who felt their blood boil in the face of such a fight. They felt the desire to get on that stage and clash with the strongest to demonstrate their skills. At the same time, they were angry with themselves for not having put more effort during the year. If they had done it, maybe they would have fought on that stage in front of all this audience.
Meanwhile, in the tribune assigned to the guests of honor, the representative of the Fukuizumi Family had a gloomy face, 'You fought well, little brother. But alas, you were too unlucky. Drawing one of the Eight Big Families as the first opponent. Otherwise, you would have had the opportunity to advance to the next turn.'
"Kenzo has unfortunately lost. I congratulate you, Sir Luoyang, for raising such a talented son." congratulated Fukuizumi Junnosuke, the eldest brother of Fukuizumi Kenzo.
"I'd like to give myself credit, but Jie's strength comes only from his continuous training. I only showed him the way. Either way, your younger brother fought well. It ended up as a bad combination because Hu Jie controls the Metal Law. Still, he remains undoubtedly a genius of the younger generation. The empire certainly won't let one with his potential rot." Hu Luoyang answered. Although he wasn't a man to follow the etiquette, he knew how to be respectful to those who worked hard on the Cultivation Path.
"Your words honor my family's name; thank you." Fukuizumi Junnosuke replied with a bow. Even though he had lost, Kenzo had still made an excellent performance. At least, the family honor hadn't been tainted.
In the meantime, Hu Jie had stepped off the stage while students from the supporting class carried the unconscious Kenzo away. Since he lost, there was no longer a ban that only the supporting martial artists contracted by the fighter could intervene.
"Let's now proceed with the second match. The first to enter is the winner of Group 3, Wani Garrett, belonging to the Wani Family. "Song Yazhu proclaimed, announcing the first contestant for the second match.
A bare-chested young man entered while wearing long black trousers. He had a dark complexion, almost like that of Hu Jie, but a little paler. The most peculiar thing was that his body was surrounded by signs similar to a kind of war paint. However, a closer look could see that there wasn't paint on his body.
"Scarification." Hei murmured. He had immediately guessed what those symbols were.
Scarification consisted of making incisions in the skin of those who wanted these symbols. After that, each scar was rubbed several times with powders and coloring products and left open for a long time, until the skin had healed, generating a permanent scar.
As for the symbols on Wani Garrett's skin, they had a bright color that stood out on the dark skin of the young man while taking shape similar to the scales of a reptile.
"Wani Garrett, belonging to the Wani family, owner of the Metal Crocodile Bloodline. If it weren't for the presence of the Hu Family, they would no doubt be the strongest metal user family in the Southern Region. Apart from Hu Jie, I think that no one has a hard body like his among those of our year." Long Tian said, responding to Hei's comment about the symbols on Wani Garrett's body.
"Then, those symbols must be crocodile scales. I guess they aren't just for decorations." Hei said.
"No, they aren't." Hu Jie answered. He had returned from his fight and had come close to them to observe the next match. "The Wani Family uses body strengthening techniques based on three types of metal - bronze, silver, and gold. Depending on the metal used, they can change their bodies to amplify certain effects. He is undoubtedly a formidable opponent to face."
Considering that Hu Jie was the most proficient among them in the Metal Law, such an assessment was certainly not to be underestimated. Hei's interest increased even more.
"His opponent is Irene Davidson. She comes from a common background, but her skills are certainly first class." Song Yazhu announced the other challenger.
It was the turn of a young ash-haired girl to take the stage. She walked, showing a proud attitude as if she wasn't worried at all about who she had as her opponent. Whether it was arrogance or confidence in one's abilities, it would soon be proved.
While both sides found themselves at the center of the stage, Song Yazhu declared the beginning of the fight. Irene Davidson started by pulling out her weapon - a light brown circle of one-meter radius. Although it hadn't a frightening shape, because it was the weapon chosen by one of the winners of the 32 groups, it shouldn't be underestimated.
Wani Garrett immediately assumed the fighting stance and charged against the young woman. Unlike Irene, he didn't have weapons, but he just used his fists, as Hu Jie previously did.
"Is he also a pure hand to hand fighter? I thought you, Hu Jie, was the only one." He Fen asked as he watched the two challengers exchanging blows.
"No, he has a weapon. More than one." Hu Jie, who knew Garrett well, answered.
"So does he keep them hidden? Is he confident that he can win even without using them?"
"No, you're wrong. They are already drawn out. It's just that you haven't noticed." Hu Jie replied.
What?
Hearing this, everyone in Hei's group observed the movements of the young man from the Wani Family more closely. Indeed, with a closer look, you could see something metallic sparkle where the nails of the hands should have been.
"Is that Spirit Metal?" Leon asked. He recognized at a glance what material it was. After all the hours spent working on his weapon and armor, both made of spirit metal, he was now familiar with that material.
"I am surprised that you recognized it immediately. Anyway, yes. It is Spirit Metal. We martial artists of the Metal Law cultivate our body to make it as hard as possible. However, even if we talk about the body, it is only the outermost layer, namely the skin and the flesh. We can strengthen our bones and even organs partially, but we cannot modify them to our liking in the same way we do our skin. For this reason, none of the users of the Metal Law, human or demon, are capable of completely hardening nails or teeth."
At that point, Hu Jie stopped to take a brief look at Hei. Since their first meeting, he had noticed the unusual color of the nails and teeth of the young man who came from afar. Hu Jie initially thought it was just something artistic, probably related to the origins of Hei's birthplace. However, in the trial of the forest, he had been able to see firsthand how hard they were those body parts. Regarding hardness, they were even comparable to the body of a Metal Law user.
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'Honestly, I'd like to ask him for more information, but I doubt he would answer me. In any case, each martial artist has their secrets which they jealously keep.'
Each martial artist would have had different techniques from another martial artist. Even among members of the same family, this happened. After all, the laws' understanding and one's experiences would be different from person to person.
Of course, Hu Jie could have used his family name to put pressure on Hei and force him to reveal the secret of his technique. But he didn't intend to do so. First, Hu Jie wasn't such a person, and he found Hei interesting; secondly, this would have put the Hu Family in a bad light as it would have given birth to a bad precedent.
If the Hu Family had done something like this, who could have assured that someone else wouldn't have tried to do such a thing? In the long term, martial artists with no background would become wary of the Eight BigFamilies and the Imperial Family, causing a weakening of the cohesion of the Empire's forces. This situation would eventually have devastating consequences in the war against demons.
"Garrett and I can be considered special cases among our families. I decided to specialize only in hand-to-hand fighting techniques without relying on weapons. Instead, he decided to undergo various delicate procedures to have his teeth and nails replaced with Spirit Metal. It is a hazardous process and could cause him a lot of problems in the future due to the rejection, but he has decided to continue on his path anyway. For his stubbornness, I have absolute respect for him."
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the situation had become incandescent. Wani Garrett was unleashing heavy blows in succession using his sharp nails to tear off his opponent's skin. Irene, however, remained impassive; she merely spun her circle around her body to ward off the blows. Looking from the outside, it seemed that this circle was moving on its own.
Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere, Garrett abruptly accelerated using his footwork technique and tried to take Irene by surprise. Rather than aiming to hit using his claws, Garrett dived into space within Irene's circle. In this way, the young woman couldn't use the edge of her weapon to ward off the attack.
However, it seemed that Irene had already foreseen such an eventuality. With a gentle bright smile, she leaped into the air with grace while Garrett was passing through her circle. While this was happening, an unusual thing happened - Garrett's body was imprisoned inside a sphere of a shiny water sphere. Still, calling it a water sphere wasn't wholly accurate.
"Soap bubbles?" Mia asked, who recognized the unusual shape of that sphere. Indeed they remembered the shape and texture of soap bubbles rather than a water sphere.
As for the four supporting martial artists of Hei's group, at the time, they were all four with the competitors of the tournament. Since there was a possibility that they should intervene immediately, they were allowed to stay with the fighters. The same was true for the other supporting martial artists hired by other participants.
"Yes, they are soap bubbles. That circle should have been made with the trunk of trees and plants capable of making soap. If I'm not mistaken, there should be as well a formation that serves to keep alive the plant species used for the construction. In contact with water and air, it forms soap." explained Huli Xieren.
"So she combined her knowledge of the Water Law with her weapon to maximize the effectiveness of her techniques." Hei analyzed. By his side, Lian was paying particular attention to Irene's movements. As a user of the Water Law herself, she was interested in seeing this fight to understand how to improve her fighting style further.
Wani Garrett moved his arms with large movements inside the soap bubble. His metal claws lashed against the soap bubble. Instead of bursting, however, the soap bubble folded as if it were elastic. Irene smiled at her opponent's futile attempt. Then she took a deep breath of air and blew slowly into the interior space of her weapon.
Small soap bubbles began to gather on the large bubble that contained Wani Garrett. These tiny bubbles were stored inside the large one and disappeared. However, they reappeared shortly after that within the large bubble.
Boom!
The sound of an explosion echoed as water and foam were scattered all over the battlefield. Irene remained motionless while getting soaked by that mixture of soap and water. Her face was serene as if she was sure of her impending victory.
Clank! Clank!
Metallic noise sounded as if something metal was moving on stage. At the point where the explosion occurred, and the quantity of soap and water was highest, there was the silhouette of a man. Yet there was something strange, something non-human. The skin of this man was entirely covered by bronze-colored scales as if they formed a protective layer. The man was Wani Garrett.
"I figured it wouldn't be that easy," Irene commented with a smile. She didn't let herself get discouraged when she saw her opponent unscathed after the powerful techniques she had used.
"Bitch, did you think you could finish me just with such trivial tricks? Mere soap bubbles cannot harm my body. Are you ready to lose?" Wani Garrett said while baring his teeth in a terrifying smile. His teeth were all pointed like an imitation of a ferocious beast's teeth, or more precisely in imitation of a crocodile.
Wani Garrett charged again against Irene. This time, he advanced without worrying about a possible counterattack, confident in the hardness of his skin. Therefore, his speed was even higher than before.
Irene barely dodged the attack by jumping backward. However, Garrett changed the trajectory almost instantly to perform a follow-up attack.
"Water Law, Soap Prison."
Irene's delicate arms spun her circle on the spot. The wooden circle began to spit out large quantities of soap bubbles. Those bubbles didn't harm Garrett but instead attached themselves to his body. They continued to chase each other until Irene locked Garrett back in an impregnable soap bubble. This time, however, rather than creating explosive bubbles, she concentrated on creating bubbles that had the most exceptional adhesion capacity.
"If I can't damage your body, then I just have to trap you to win," Irene said while pouring her spirit power in the soap bubbles' prison that kept imprisoned her enemy.
Indeed, no matter how hard Wani Garrett's skin was, it wouldn't have helped much in an oxygen-free environment. If he didn't manage to free himself, in the long run, he would lose consciousness, handing the victory over Irene. But, as one could expect from the member of a family capable of being an opponent even in the eyes of the Eight Big Families, Wani Garrett wasn't without alternatives.
'Shit, I wasn't going to use it from the first round. Fuck it. I have no choice.' Garrett thought to himself before turning his technique.
His body began to emit a golden light. Shortly thereafter, incredibly, his body began to swell until he reached three meters in height. His skin had become at the same time, from copper to shiny gold. It was as if he were a golden statue on which scales symbols were carved.
Crack!
The golden giant inside the soap bubble punched. It only took that blow, and the soap bubble collapsed. Irene lost color from her face as she suffered the backlash derived from the destruction of her technique. While trying to suppress the pain, she stepped back, but unfortunately, she was one step slower.
Another punch of the golden giant came towards her. With no alternatives on how to avoid the attack, she concentrated her spirit power on her weapon to create a bubble-shaped shield.
Crack!
Again, the golden giant's single punch was enough to break Irene's technique. The young woman was sent to fly for several meters. But the attack wasn't over yet.
Wani Garrett, after making Irene fly, transformed his body again, quickly changing to his copper-colored form. His body had returned to normal size. After that, the scale-skinned young man ran at full speed against the young woman who was still under the pushing force of the golden giant's fist.
Crunch!
When Wani Garrett came to Irene, his mouth opened, and his sharp teeth closed on the young woman's calf. A scream of pain rose from Irene as she felt a stabbing stab of pain pervade her body.
Garrett's claws had stuck in her leg, and from how firm his grip was, there seemed to be no way for her to break free. However, Irene tried to keep her calm and started firing explosive bubbles at Garrett. Unfortunately, the copper skin of the young man was too tough, and each passing second, his crocodile teeth closed more and more tightly. If this had continued, there was no doubt that Garrett could have detached Irene's leg with his bite.
Yet despite the situation, Irene wasn't willing to surrender. She continued to attack but couldn't cause any damage. Seeing this, Song Yazhu decided it was time to intervene and proclaimed the winner, "The winner of this second fight is Wani Garrett."