NOVEL NEXT Chapter 95: Near the Tournament
"What were you doing today? Debating on forums about some special topic?"
At night, within the facilities of the new Cobra Kai headquarters, Max stepped out of the shower and checked his phone, seeing two messages from Devon. Earlier, he had asked her what she had been up to.
She mentioned she had been doing homework while being accompanied by Tory during a girls-only sleepover with other martial arts school classmates.
Seeing Devon's messages, Max chose not to reply immediately. After her intensive training, Devon had made many new friends, so they didn't rely on each other as much anymore.
From Max's perspective, this was a good thing. He, too, had made genuine friends, so as long as they stayed close during important moments, it was more than enough.
Max feared ruining his relationship with Devon, so he thought it was necessary to maintain some distance between them.
Dating and romance seemed too intellectual to him; he couldn't tolerate or enjoy the passion they stirred.
It even distracted him from training and competitions.
Love was also one of the great taboos for a fighter.
This was one of the precautions his coach, Georges, had instilled in him.
Coach Georges had said that when a fighter starts dating or gets married, their time and attention begin to shift, and their potential inevitably diminishes.
Max remembered this very well and didn't expect to forget it anytime soon.
After seeing Devon's message, Max thought for a moment and decided to tell her about his day.
Today, he had three matches in a closed competition that Georges had organized. He won the first match by knocking out his opponent in the third round.
The second match went more smoothly than the first. His opponent was a burly Caucasian fighter with a powerful punch who began by throwing heavy blows at Max, exactly what he had anticipated.
In the first round, Max took 15 hits, landed 4, and knocked his opponent down twice. His opponent threw over 40 punches, hitting Max effectively 7 times, one of which nearly knocked him down.
In the second round, Max landed 10 punches, knocking his opponent down twice. His opponent threw 8 punches, landing 3 effective hits.
In the third round, his opponent adopted a defensive stance, trying to use stalling tactics to slow the match's pace.
Max didn't want to give his opponent time to rest, and twenty seconds into the round, he used a series of combination punches to break through his opponent's defense, followed by an upper hook that sent his opponent to the ground.
His opponent couldn't get up after ten seconds, and the referee declared Max the winner.
The third match was slightly more challenging. His opponent, of Mexican descent, was very robust and had great resilience to punches. It took Max five rounds and six knockdowns, including a bleeding nose, to finally win the match.
After three matches, he successfully completed the trial, gaining valuable experience and additional qualities he would need to win the upcoming international tournament.
"They say more than thirty different martial arts schools have registered for the tournament. This is going to be insane," Ryan said, approaching with a sheet filled with information about the current All Valley competition.
Fortunately, the tournament was now under Cobra Kai's management, which had organized several days of preliminary matches to be broadcast to the public before opening the doors for the main fights.
Terry had ensured that the tournament's direction was well-coordinated to avoid surprises. He also secured the new Cobra Kai school as the tournament's main venue due to its spaciousness and facilities.
Everyone had envisioned the new Cobra Kai school as the host of many significant tournaments. With the All Valley tournament approaching, it was the perfect occasion to test it.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Yes, I was just sending some messages," Max said, setting his phone aside. "Do we know how many participants there will be?"
"I'm not sure, but the matches start tomorrow, so we need to get some sleep."