Stunned, Jedidiah didn't know what to say. What's more, he didn't know why everyone gathered around him. Did he do something wrong?
"Oh, really? That's cool!" Jedidiah said happily
"Don't get too happy, the real deal starts now!" One of the elders amongst the congregation said aloud.
"Oh, yes, that's true. Everyone, follow me. The second trial starts now; the fighting trial" Mr. Qin announced.
After that, he started walking towards the direction they came from originally; the arena. Accustomed to the arena, most students knew what to do. So, they sat down on the mats and patiently waited for the next instructions to be given so that they could officially begin the next trial.
It didn't take long for everyone to get settled. Once everyone got settled, Mr. Qin made the second announcement. "I know you all are excited for this one. In truth, I am also. I can't wait. Anyways, as I said earlier today; the whole class will be split into two groups randomly.…"
As Mr. Qin spoke, the tokens of the students changed colors. From white, some started glowing yellow or orange. Some students noticed this change and were confused. Others like the kind of Jedidiah saw this change and were in awe.
Noticing the facial expressions on the students' faces, Mr. Qin smiled and continued speaking, "Those with an orange token, come to my left. Those with a yellow token, to my right. In this first round; team yellow, you are the fighters. Team orange, you are the challengers. Remember, you can only fail twice. Anything higher than that, you are eliminated from the trial. You must win more than 3 games to move on to the next round.
That being said, those who win 3 games will compete with others who also won 3 games. That competition is called 'Three Hells'. Due to the benevolence of the academy, only the first 3 students to win will move on to the second round. Those who fail to be victorious before the first 3, will be eliminated!
Those who win more than 3 games, will continue to the second round. In the second round, the roles will switch. Your tokens will change colors. So, those with a yellow token will become challengers instead of fighters, and vice versa.
At the end of that round, only the top 25 students will be accepted into the academy as outer disciples. The top 5 students will be accepted as disciples by the elders here. While the top 3 students will be accepted as inner disciples.
The higher your rank, the better for you. So, work hard and prove your worth. Good luck, the second trial starts now!"
After the announcement, a phenomenon happened. The room started speaking!
"Number 300, please go to the arena." The voice said.
Obediently, number 300 stood up from his mat and walked towards the arena. He was tall and muscular, almost comparable to a fully grown man. His physique alone was more than enough to strike fear into the hearts of his competition. This person was a young man, Wu Dao. Famed for his notorious behavior, people called him Angst, which means fear in German.
He has silky black hair which runs slightly below his shoulders, and stern black eyes which looked as though they could see right through his enemies. He wore traditional black martial art attire with a black belt across his waist.
Standing boldly in the arena, he looks towards the crowd for an opponent. His eyes were fixed on individuals one after another like a lion readily fixed to attack its prey. As his eyes scanned through the room, he finally remembered something. Due to this, he quickly turned towards the direction of Jedidiah and pointed towards him.
"You, Jedidiah boy, I challenge you to fight with me. Do you dare to accept my challenge? Or, are you going to be a wimp and deny my request?" Wu Dao asked aggressively.
It must be known, one thing Jedidiah hates the most is to be put in the spotlight. He hated unwanted attention being drawn towards him. The actions of Wu Dao enraged him deeply. He never expected Wu Dao to be this bold and daring.
Seated amongst the congregation, Jedidiah accepted the challenge.
"Yes, accept your challenge," Jedidiah said calmly.
Fearless, he calmly stood up as he made his way towards the arena. The demeanor at which he held himself was outstanding! Very few people, especially cultivators, had the amount of self-control Jedidiah exuded just now for his age. Most cultivators are usually proud, and carefree.
Seconds later, Jedidiah was in the arena. The two opponents looked each other in the eyes without fear for the other. Jedidiah was calm as ever, while Wu Dao was breathing heavily like an enraged beast. His breath was so loud, it could be heard from all corners of the arena.
Taking their desired fighting stance, both of them waited patiently for the voice to announce the beginning of the fight.
Shortly after, the voice announced, "Let the fight begin!"
"AARRGGHH!!!" Wu Dao shouted madly as he ran extremely fast towards Jedidiah. On the other hand, Jedidiah was still calm in his fighting position as he waited for his quickly approaching attacker.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Waves of air struck the whole room. The atmosphere became more intense. Eyes were shining, teeth were grinning. Many of the students, and elders inclusive were watching the fight expectantly.
BOOM! Both Jedidiah's and Wu Dao's fists clashed together at a standstill!
Not satisfied with what he saw, Wu Dao decided to attack Jedidiah with a roundhouse kick to his right ribs. Standing still on one leg, Wu Dao tucks his left knee into his chest and launches a terrible. No, a dreadful kick.
As he kicked out towards Jedidiah, outside the arena could feel the weight of his kick. It was as though his legs were heavy pillars that bore the enraging wrath of the gods. His kick was so powerful, even the winds which occurred as an aftereffect of his kick cut the cheek of a nearby student who was seated outside the arena!
PA! The heavy kick was landed. The speed of the kick was so fast, Jedidiah didn't have time to react! Jedidiah fell to the ground as a pile of blood gushed out from his mouth as a subsequent reaction to this.
Seeing this, Wu Dao was satisfied. An evil vicious smile ran across his face. His eyes were burning with a desire to kill. It was as though he was a beast ready to devour his prey.
BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!, Wu Dao's footsteps thundered across the whole area. As he walked, the ground started shaking. It even got to the point that his footsteps left prints on the arena!
Slowly approaching, Wu Dao took his time to deal with Jedidiah because he was now injured. On the other hand, Jedidiah was still trying to recuperate. His ribs were aching, his head spinning, and his body weakened. However, this wasn't enough to bring Jedidiah down. Filled with pain, Jedidiah slowly stood up from the ground.
As he was standing up, he realized something. The thundering steps of Wu Dao had stopped! This could only mean one thing; he was in trouble. Before he could turn around, two mighty arms wrapped tightly around his chest. All of a sudden, BOOM! Wu Dao picked Jedidiah up for a mean suplex.
Since the ground was clay, and not wrestling pads, Jedidiah felt every inch of the pain. This was Wu Dao's intent. He wanted to make an example out of Jedidiah because he was the one who was praised by Mr. Qin Shi.
On the ground, Jedidiah's breath was slowly reducing. He was getting tired, but he was just too stubborn to quit easily. This was his chance; his chance to prove his doubters wrong, his chance to make a name for himself, his chance for a better future, his chance to become more than himself.
Despite the agonizing pain in which he suffers, Jedidiah still tried his best to stand up on his feet. Seeing his struggles, Wu Dao and some of his adversaries started laughing at him to scorn! While some other people felt sympathetic for him.
"Haha...What a pity. Look at you, you're struggling to stand up. How pitiful are you?" Wu Doa said as he looked at the still struggling Jedidiah.
Disregarding all the shame he was actively suffering, Jedidiah got mad. From the very depth of his being. Every fiber of his being now hated Wu Dao. He wanted nothing more but to make ALL his enemies die ruthlessly by his own hands!
Angered, Jedidiah swore within himself to NEVER be merciful to any of his enemies. He swore to kill them ALL, including their background and supporters! Not living even their loved ones alive!
Struggling to breathe, Jedidiah said, "I- I'm not done yet. I will fight you until I beat you into a pulp! You will ALL bow before me!!!"
Hearing the bold words of Jedidiah, everyone got mad at him! Wu Dao inclusive. He was very much enraged by Jedidiah's impetus. "Who gave him such courage? Who gave you the might to think that I would ever bow to you? I..BOW...TO...NO...ONE!" Wu Dao shouted as he used his bloodline talent!
Enraged, a huge shadow of an Alligator appeared behind Wu Dao! It was greenish in color, had a 3-dimensional figure, and looked like the ghost of a vicious Alligator!
"ROAR!" Both Wu Dao and the Alligator roared angrily as they slowly approached Jedidiah once again.
In the background, Mr. Qin Shi and some other elders were impressed by Wu Dao! They never expected him to be this hidden. Not only was he attuned to Water, but he also had a great ability to sense the element of earth and wind!
Floating in the air, Wu Dao's black eyes changed. From stern black eyes, his eyes developed a green outline that encompassed his black iris. Not only that, thanks to his bloodline talent, his muscles became bigger. His overall endurance, speed, and strength increased greatly.
Everything on the arena just spelled four words for Jedidiah; DOOM. Nothing was going well for the guy. He was well beaten and yet stubborn. It was as though all the beatings they gave him did not affect him at all!
Flying up in the air, Wu Dao flew down speedily towards Jedidiah. He didn't want to beat Jedidiah out of the arena, he wanted to beat Jedidiah to submission! Like a Peregrine Falcon, Wu Dao speared Jedidiah into the arena!
BOOM! This time, everything was bad! The ground not only quaked, but the air thundered! The place in which Jedidiah once stood caved in! Both Wu Dao and Jedidiah were inside the ground! This alone is self-explanatory. Wu Dao is ten times stronger than Jedidiah!
The dust from the ground filled the whole arena, and everything went silent. Thanks to the token given to them by the academy, the elders knew when to intervene because the token also acted as a heart rate detector. It was able to sense the life signal of its beholder. If the person was dying, it would alert all the nearby officials promptly.
Stunned, other students didn't know how to react. Some of them looked at each other as though they knew what had happened. Some even looked at the elders and Mr. Qin Shi because they were confused as to why they hadn't already intervened or stopped the fight.
Not long after, the ground started shaking again. This time, it was worse than before! Wu Dao had some other intentions in mind. He wanted to kill Jedidiah! Now he was inside the ground, he was punching the already knocked out Jedidiah. It was his punch which landed brutally on Jedidiah's body that made the whole ground shake vigorously! Even to the point that people above could feel it!
---
On the other hand, there was a certain senior who was meditating in a nearby city. His lounge was relatively close to the academy. Thanks to his years and experience in martial arts, he can sense things happening around his community without being there physically. His senses were so strong, that he could literally describe and see things happening within a certain span around him. Yes, even without him being there physically. This is one of the perks of martial arts. This is one of the perks cultivators acquire from martial arts.
Meditating peacefully, the elders' eyebrows twitched on multiple occasions. He seemed extremely disturbed by something. It was as though he saw something very disturbing. Something intolerable.
Before you know it, his eyes finally opened up in denial. Filled with shock, the elder exclaimed.
"Ah, what a monster! How heartless can one be? Has he no shame? Wanting to kill an already defeated foe? Shameless…This is absolutely intolerable, I must do something!" The elder said as his eyes burned in anger!
Not long after, the door of his house opened and a stream of light flew out as it dashed towards the academy.
----