As the first trial began, a thousand Ascended clashed against one another. While most simply fought to secure a place in the next trial, others had objectives beyond just thinning out their numbers. Some wanted to test their skills, others sought strong opponents to challenge. Sandro, on the other hand, wished to turn this clash into his own personal performance.
The sound of battle rang out throughout the coliseum. Ascended fought with either weapons or bare hands; a few even wore suits of armor, though that was rare. Despite technological advancements, modern armor could not withstand the power of an Ascended. Therefore, the only ones wearing armor were those who had incorporated it into their training. Most simply wore ordinary clothes.
As the trial had just begun, nobody had engaged with Sandro yet. He smiled to himself, thinking, I’d be a fool to waste this opportunity to put on a good show. He crouched down, getting into a low stance.
Sandro had trained his Vessel (body) to specialize in unarmed combat, focusing on reaction time, reflexes, and maneuverability. In a blur of movement, he broke into a full sprint directly toward two fighting Ascended. He jumped and spun to build momentum before delivering a powerful kick aimed straight at one of them. The man would have been caught completely off guard by the speed of the attack, but luckily for him, it was so telegraphed that he had enough time to block.
He crossed his arms and braced his body to absorb the impact. However, that did little to mitigate the blow. The power of the kick caused the man’s face to contort in pain, and the force sent him flying backward. Sandro didn’t bother chasing after him. Instead, he pivoted and delivered another kick straight into the stomach of the man’s opponent.
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The woman clutched at her stomach as the kick nearly brought her to her knees. Both the man and the woman looked at Sandro with expressions of anger. While the attacks had hurt quite a bit, they hadn’t incapacitated them. They began preparing a joint counterattack.
However, Sandro didn’t give them the opportunity.
“Don’t even bother! Even the two of you together wouldn’t stand a chance!” he taunted before dashing off in a blur to his next target.
Sandro darted across the battlefield, delivering powerful strikes to any Ascended he came across—whether they were already engaged in battle or standing alone. His attacks weren’t meant to incapacitate; he merely wanted to inflict as much pain as possible to provoke their anger.
It didn’t take long for Sandro to be surrounded by a large group of Ascended, all united in their desire to get even with him.
One of these Ascended a man with blonde hair wearing jeans and a jacket remarked, “Looks like you've got nowhere to run!’’ Sandro glanced at the large group of ascended surrounding him before replying with a smirk, “True, but I'm not running. I just thought I'd make this whole thing a bit fairer for you guys. Since all of you together should at least stand a chance right !?’’
The man grits his teeth and tightened his fist at Sandro's mocking remark, “Fine you arrogant punk you asked for it!’’ With a wide smile Sandro taunted, “That I did. Now come at me, you arrogant punks!’’