CONNECT: Rise Of The Undead King

"Eric, we're giving you a chance to back off now. If you don't back off, I'm afraid we'll have to get rid of you with this trash."

One of the boys said as Mr. Richard signaled for them to begin. Other rings had already gotten into action and some unfortunate students were already getting eliminated.

"Well good, come at it then."

Eric replied, and the boys charged forward immediately, all aiming to get rid of both Eric and Uche at once.

"This is no fun at all, can we handle them?"

Uche asked, a little cautious as he didn't know their strengths yet.

"Don't worry about them, I'll get rid of them all for you."

Eric replied. Uche then smiled, also getting into action behind Eric.

'This bastard, the way he talks almost makes me emotional.'

Uche thought as the first boy swung a heavy fist at Eric, but Eric tilted his head slightly, letting it whistle past him. Then he countered with his elbow into the boy's rib, followed by a spinning kick that sent him staggering back, coughing hard as he toppled to the ground outside the ring.

"One down."

Uche commented with a smile.

The second and third attackers didn't hesitate; they rushed in together, one aiming low, the other going for Eric's head. Uche stepped forward this time, catching the low striker by the wrist before the punch landed. He twisted sharply, flipping the boy over his shoulder and sending him crashing against the ground outside the ring.

Eric caught the third attacker by the ankle, lifted him up, and threw him into the midst of the 20 others, sending a couple of them out of the ring in the process.

Five down in less than a minute.

The last boy hesitated, sweat glistening across his forehead. His eyes darted between Eric and Uche, and for a moment he considered backing off, then he turned back and shouted.

"Let's get them at once, we can defeat them."

The boy shouted, and the others charged in, aiming to drown both Eric and Uche in their midst.

But none of them was able to get close to the strange duo. They kept sending them out with a single kick or a couple of punches, and several minutes later, only Eric and Uche could be seen standing in the ring.

Well, there was someone else on the ring with them, but the person was not standing.

"What the... Don't tell me she's been sitting there all the time."

Uche muttered, surprised as a young-looking girl with red braided hair could be seen sitting at the edge of the ring, staring at both of them with a smile.

"Well, what do you expect? Those guys are crazy about you two and I found out it's an opportunity to save my strength, and now here we are. Just the three of us in the ring."

Anna said with a smile on her face.

"On the second ring, Anna, Uche, and Eric have qualified to the next round."

Mr. Richard shouted as only the three of them remained on the second ring. The first ring also had Marcus, Elion, and three other boys standing. Marcus could be seen standing with his arms folded, eyes closed with an uninterested expression on his face. It was as if he hadn't participated in the fight at all, as he looked too cool.

Some minutes later, the other three rings also had their last five standing. Only Uche's ring had three students instead of five.

Now there were a total of 23 students who had qualified to the next stage.

"Congratulations to the twenty-three of you who have made it to the next stage of the martial arts weekly duel. Each of you has the opportunity to be among the five that would be going on a quest with the year two students at the end of the month; you just have to put more effort."

Mr. Richard said as he moved closer to them. He stared at every one of them for a couple of seconds, his gaze especially lingering on Uche, then he said.

"Now the next stage is a duel among every one of you. The winner of each duel will qualify for the next, which will be taking place next week."

The students already knew the rules of the weekly duel, so Mr. Richard didn't really need to explain anything. But because of Uche and other new students in the midst, he explained a few things for them.

Their opponents were chosen through drawing lots. Each of the remaining students had their names written on a paper and placed on the ground for them to choose blindly. They would be fighting the person whose name was written on the paper they chose.

There were a total of 23 students who had qualified, which meant there would be a single person who wouldn't be participating in this stage. The rule said anybody who had chosen their own name by mere chance would be automatically qualified to the next stage. Of course, Mr. Richard didn't mention this to them.

It was after the result of the lots was revealed and everyone had known their opponents that he told them about it. Anna was the one who had luckily chosen her own name, and just like that, she had been qualified for the next stage of the tournament next week.

'What kind of fucking luck is this?'

Uche wondered. Anna hadn't participated in the first stage of the tournament as she had just sat in place observing Uche and Eric fight their way out of those idiots. And now again, she had luckily chosen her name, granting her free qualification to the next round.

"Well well, who would've thought that I won't be fighting this week at all."

Anna said with a smile after Mr. Richard had explained the rules of the lots for them. She then turned to Uche and said.

"I'm rooting for you so don't disappoint me."

She said, walking out of the ring.

"Weirdo."

Uche muttered. Anna was one of the newly evolved vampires just like Uche himself, and Uche had seen her a few times during his days in the half-blooded class but never paid her any attention. But now, he was a bit curious about the young, boisterous girl.

Mr. Richard also stared at her for a couple of minutes as she walked out of the ring.

"Lucky girl."

He muttered.

"Now you all get into position, the matches will take place one after the other, and each match lasts no more than five minutes. After five minutes and there's no clear winner, both participants will be disqualified. Hope I'm clear enough."

Mr. Richard declared.

Of course, the others already knew this rule, so there was no reaction of some sort. But Uche, who was new to this, wondered if he could win his opponent within five minutes—or even if he could win at all. He was paired against a boy with a well-built body and domineering appearance. The boy was way taller than Uche, and the way he looked at him made him want to disappear.

The first match was between a very cool-looking boy and a rogue one from two different classes, and the match lasted for a whole nine minutes with the cool-looking boy coming out as the winner after knocking the rogue one out.

The next two matches didn't last that long and the winners won by sending their opponents out of the ring.

The fourth match was between Marcus and a short yet scaredy boy, who forfeited the match immediately they got on the ring.

The participants of both the fifth and sixth matches were disqualified as there was no clear winner.

Elion was paired against one of his friends, who also forfeited the match as he didn't wish to fight him. Uche's match took place right after that, and the match lasted longer than he had expected.

His opponent gave him no chance to land an attack on him, while Uche was being careful of getting hurt by his opponent. The match lasted for more than nine minutes when Uche finally had the chance to direct a roundhouse kick to his opponent's belly, sending him flying out of the ring like a doll.

Eric's match was the last, and he defeated his opponent in less than a minute.

Out of all the eleven duels that took place, only nine students qualified for the next stage, plus Anna made it ten students in total.

The lots for the next round were drawn for everybody to know their opponents and prepare beforehand.

With everyone knowing who their opponents were, they would all have the chance to prepare properly before next week. Uche was somehow paired against Eric, who tried his best not to look at him after seeing the result of the lots.

'Hmm, so we'll be fighting on stage so soon.'

Uche wondered. He was confident that he could defeat Eric if the boy didn't use any blood skills, and thankfully for him, blood skills were not allowed in the martial arts class, so he was a bit confident.