It was over in an instant. Kade’s abilities were far beyond the average of the outer sect thanks to his rapid progression of late.
Fowler Poe had barely even registered the incoming attack when the metal cap of the Resonant Echo Staff smashed into the side of his head and he crumpled, falling to the ground unconscious.
Kade chuckled nervously, “Perhaps I should’ve held back a little, it’s hard to get used to being this strong when just a month ago I was among the weakest disciples.”
His next few battles passed in a similar fashion, none of the opponents able to land a single hit against him as he dispatched them with ease.
One fell after Kade delivered a rapid double strike to his chest, cracking a rib and blasting him off the stage entirely.
Following that, his third opponent had been a slim girl with an athletic build wielding twin swords. He’d had high expectations while observing her confident demeanour.
Unfortunately she failed to live up to the hype. Her deft swordplay had kept him at bay for a minute or two, but as soon as he broke through her guard she crumbled and a powerful thrust to her shin was followed by a surrender, his staff moments from breaking her arm.
The first real challenge came in the fourth round, when Kade was matched against an opponent he actually recognised.
It was a disciple by the name of Darius Croft, an exceptionally talented boy who’d actually joined Mystic Solar Valley around the same time as Kade.
Tragically, Darius had been involved in a brutal accident while out on an expedition and been unable to participate in the previous year’s inner sect examination, but his unyielding spirit meant that he’d been honing his strength to achieve great things this time.
Darius was ranked 38th overall prior to the tournament and many of the elders and his peers expected him to make it to the second day of the tournament.
Truthfully, Kade had not been upset for the youth when he’d heard about the accident. Darius had never been overtly cruel to him in the past, but there had been many occasions where he’d turned a blind eye to Aaron or other similar assholes beating Kade senseless or treating him like crap.
Those who ignored injustice and corruption were just as bad as those who perpetrated it and Kade would be unforgiving and relentless during this upcoming battle.
The two boys stood opposite each other on the sturdy stone stage. Each side of the arena measured around six metres long, meaning there was a decent amount of space to clash.
Victory was achieved by rendering your opponent unconscious, knocking them from the arena or if one side surrendered.
Gripping his staff tightly, Kade waited for the referee to signal the start of the battle. This time he would simply bide his time and wait for Darius to act, giving him a chance to observe the boy’s movements and attack patterns.
The Junior Elder’s hand fell and Darius charged immediately, not wanting a drawn out engagement to sap his energy for the rounds ahead.
As was typical for the majority of cultivators, he wielded a sword, a well forged piece that was probably a Mortal grade treasure he’d obtained for contributing to the sect.
Kade didn’t know what stage Darius’ cultivation had reached, but watching him charge with sword out, he felt the boy’s movements were clumsy and slow, his telegraphed assault read as easily as a book.
Having judged where he could strike to exploit the openings left by his opponent's sloppy charge, Kade darted forward, thrusting accurately with his staff towards Darius’ wrist, hoping to disarm him from the get go.
Right as the metal tip of the staff was about to make contact, the youth’s figure flickered and he vanished from where he’d been standing a moment before.
Kade’s staff passed through the air and he had to plant his back foot heavily to regain his balance. Sensing danger he pivoted and brought his staff up to block right as the blade of Darius’ sword swung down from behind on a direct path for the nape of his neck.
He had to apply a little more weight into his staff to stop the other boy’s strike from pushing through his guard.
Darius grinned and stepped back, releasing his sword. “You really managed to block that. I guess the rumours that have been floating around about your recent growth are true then. You’re no longer a talentless worm, crawling in the muck while being tormented by the little birds,” he said.
Anger flashed through Kade’s mind briefly before he took hold of his emotions, not letting the boy’s taunt get the better of him in the middle of a fight.
“Your attack was too slow, that’s all,” he replied, already moving to strike once more.
Having realised that the clumsy attacks of before were simply a feint from Darius to make him lower his guard, Kade began to take the other boy seriously.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
It was time to test out the potency of his new technique, Gentle Stream Carving Boulders. He didn’t believe Darius could use that strange movement technique repetitively, it was extraordinarily fast and had to drain a lot of energy.
Kade began to twirl the staff in a mesmerising pattern, almost like the meandering of a stream as it left the mountain source to begin a long journey towards the wider world.
No matter the size or strength or toughness of an obstacle that was in the path of a stream, through eternal perseverance and slow effort it would carve through anything.
This was the essence of the first movement. It lured the opponent in by tricking them with slow, soft strikes that were building up to something greater.
A short thrust here, a curving strike there. Darius parried or blocked every hit with ease, not realising that he was falling further into Kade’s trap with each move.
However, it was not going to be that simple to bring down one of the top disciples of the outer sect. Unwilling to move at the slower pace he’d been drawn into, Darius pushed into Kade’s strike, employing a heavy blow that blasted the staff out wide and left him open.
Directly following that Darius ducked low before pouncing upwards, the tip of his sword darting for Kade’s heart and seeking to force an early surrender.
Having been training with the staff for a while now, Kade was familiar with the intricacies of absorbing and transferring momentum, so rather than try to correct the course of the staff as it went wide, he instead span it round, bringing the opposite tip upwards and smashing into the base of Darius’ sword before it could get close.
The blade was deflected upwards and Kade immediately kicked out, catching his opponent as he made a hasty retreat.
CRUNCH.
Darius’ shoulder made a sickening noise as Kade’s foot smashed into it and he saw the boy’s arm go limp. Unfortunately it wasn’t his sword arm, so it wouldn’t cinch the match, but it put his opponent at a severe disadvantage.
He could see the frustration and confusion spreading across the other boy’s face as he tried to understand how someone he saw as a lesser being had got the better of him.
Kade had no desire to give him time to recover and immediately began a fresh assault, targeting the same areas he had been for all of the battle.
As long as he continued this fervent pace, it would soon be over. Against the ramping amplification of the Resonant Echo Staff, Darius was struggling to block the heavier blows as easily as he’d done before, especially now that he could only use a single arm.
Every time the sword made contact with the staff, Kade could see it quivering, the lower grade weapon struggling to match the prowess of his own.
“You’re just a pathetic worm, how is it possible for you to have grown this much in such a short time? I refuse to believe I’m weaker than you,” Darius yelled, adjusting his grip on the sword before his body flickered, employing his strange movement technique in a furious last attempt to turn the tides.
The air behind him moved and Kade spun on the balls of his feet, bringing his staff up to block, however there was no strike incoming.
Realising Darius hadn’t shown the full extent of his technique previously he rapidly tried to dodge as the real strike approached but was too slow, his thigh erupting in searing pain as the sword pierced through the muscle.
If he let up here and allowed the other boy to take control of the flow of battle, all of his effort would amount to naught.
Gritting his teeth through the pain, he tensed as hard as he could with his right leg, trapping the blade as Darius tried to rip it out.
Stumbling, not expecting there to be any resistance, Darius lost his footing for a brief moment and Kade struck, smashing the cap of his staff down into the youth’s wrist, a rewarding crunch of bone snapping letting him know his strike paid off.
He followed up quickly, yanking the blade from his leg and tossing it out of the arena, effectively leaving the other boy defenceless.
Without the use of either arm, Darius was unable to stop the merciless barrage of strikes that followed as Kade charged in.
A sixth consecutive thrust into his opponent’s stomach was the final straw. Darius spewed blood and collapsed to the ground, twitching erratically and utterly vanquished.
The referee rushed onto the stage and after confirming he was unable to continue, declared Kade’s victory. A few cheers erupted from the stands as the small portion of the crowd that had been focused on their intense battle began whooping and yelling at the surprise result.
Despite Kade’s clear martial superiority, Darius had been the favourite to win on paper and thus this turn of events shocked many.
Letting the cheers of his peers and seniors sink in for a moment, Kade couldn’t help but grin. It was a very strange feeling to actually have the support of those around him, rather than be the target of their disdain or outright dismissal.
He wasn’t usually fond of letting others' feelings influence him, but at that moment he felt his broken faith in the sect start to repair. Not all of his peers were like the scum who’d tormented him for so long.
Returning to the waiting room, he checked the tournament bracket to see who his opponent would be in the next round.
It turned out to be someone he was extremely familiar with. As he considered the implications he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the boy he was going to be battling, Lawrence.
“Looks like we’re up against each other in the next round, Kade. No hard feelings but I’m putting my all into this one. I want to make a good impression on the Shining Star General and maybe have a chance at becoming one of his disciples. Let’s both do our best,” Lawrence said.
“Likewise. I don’t have a particular goal but I won’t make it easy for you. Out of respect for our friendship I’ll make sure to put in a good word once I win the finals,” Kade quipped.
The other boy let out a hearty chuckle before heading off to prepare for their fight. Kade took a seat to decompress from the intense battle he’d just won.
Lawrence was a tough opponent, with a similar cultivation base to his own and plenty of tricks hidden up his sleeves.
After his last victory, Kade had made it into the top 200 of the tournament standings, which wasn’t quite good enough to secure his advancement to the inner sect.
In order to meet his own expectations and take the first step on the road to greatness, he would need to brutally crush the dreams of an acquaintance.