Martial Arts Worlds

With the ring of a bell, the quarterfinals of the first block began, and everyone took their places at their platforms.

The crowd watched from up above. The spectator stands were raised high above the venue, giving them a perfect view of the action below.

"Ok Family Dojo is doing as good as expected…"

"Yeah, and there are still many strong dojos left, but there are surprisingly two students from the Zero Star dojo still in the tournament…"

"Martial Redemption Dojo… I don't think they will get any further than quarterfinals. The level of fighters is now much higher."

The crowd talked among themselves.

At that moment, Jock stood before his opponent, who was a sharp-eyed girl with long eyelashes.

Her eyes looked sharp as daggers, narrow like a hawk's, and calm as a still pond.

"At the blue corner, we have Kaia from the Ruthless Ravens Dojo. This is her third tournament appearance, and she is currently fifteen years old, and High Stage Martial Recruit!"

The referee shouted and then pointed at Jock.

"At the black corner, we have Jock from the Martial Redemption Dojo. This is his first tournament appearance, and he is currently fifteen years old and a Low Stage Martial Recruit!"

The referee then put his hand forward, then lifted it high. From his shoulder to elbow to hand, it was at a ninety-degree angle.

"FIGHT!"

He swung his arm down.

Wearing a dark blue uniform, Kaia flew forward, and her arms were behind her, as if they were her wings.

She moved fast, and when she came close, she swung her fist over her shoulder. It came from a blind angle, so it surprised Jock slightly.

Jock smacked his hand at her fist, but it still grazed his shoulder, knocking him off balance.

"Whistle~"

The referee blew his whistle and raised one arm.

"One point to Kaia!"

"Damn!"

Jock cursed under his breath, took a step back, and went back to his stance to calm himself down.

He was trying to make himself calm down to not get frustrated.

'It was just one point. I just have to hit her once, and she is back at zero points. I haven't lost yet, so calm yourself down!'

Kaia swung towards his cheek. He parried it. She responded with an elbow strike with her left, and he caught it with his right arm.

She pivoted on her heel and aimed a kick at his stomach. Jock blocked it and thought about counterattacking, but she suddenly put her hand on his chest and pushed him back.

Since it was just a push, there were no points for that, but at that moment, Kaia swung her right arm at him like a whip.

It was like she was using her arm as a flesh whip. The arm looked wobbly, as if there was no bone in it.

Jock was ready to defend against it.

At that moment, the arm turned stiff again. It stopped wobbling. In the same moment, it grew in length like a growing vine.

The increased range took Jock by surprise, and the arm whacked him across his face, knocking him to the ground.

"Whistle~ One point to Kaia!"

The referee announced.

In the match board, Kaia already had two points while Jock had zero. It was looking increasingly worse!

"What was that?"

Cleo asked with a frown.

"A strange physique. It looks like her bones are more flexible than a normal person's, which helps her to increase the range of her arms and also make her arms into living whips."

Kiernan said.

"It is really hard to predict something like that in a match. A strange physique like that is a good trump card, which is why it is surprising she is using it this early."

Cleo said.

"…I guess Jock turned some heads after his dominating victory in the first round. She was able to tell that he is dangerous and had to use her strange physique."

Kiernan said.

"Will Jock be fine?"

Cleo asked with worry.

"This will be the turning point of the match. Jock might become too careful after knowing that he is one point away from losing.

"It could be the cause of his downfall.

"However, if he manages to land a single hit on his opponent, the match will be even once again."

Kiernan said.

Kaia and Jock eyed each other. Strangely enough, neither of them made a move. It was a very important moment of the match.

With another hit, Kaia would be the winner of this match, which was why she didn't want to do anything risky.

If she got hit, the match would be back to one point each, and her hard-earned advantage would've been for nothing.

'…She is being careful. Bad move.'

Kiernan thought.

In that moment, Jock pushed away all his worries about his loss, and he shifted into Iron Style's attacking stance.

He was going to attack!

With a single leap, he crossed the distance and punched forward. It was the basic version of the Iron Smash!

Kaia's eyes shook, not expecting such a risky attack from Jock, and she backed off. She wasn't a good defender, so she mostly relied on her speed to dodge.

In that moment, Jock flashed forward. With a single step, he completely narrowed their distance. It was strange footwork.

Kiernan taught him how to do this footwork. It was a way to cross the distance immediately. It was one of his trump cards that he had been hiding.

Kaia reached the edge of the platform, and her eyes showed a great look of panic.

In a panic, Kaia reacted and threw a sloppy cross punch at Jock. He slipped under the punch, lifted his leg, and kicked her squarely in the chest.

The force of the kick sent Kaia flying backwards over the edge of the platform. She saw the platform getting further away, and at that moment, she fell outside.

"Whistle~ One point for a hit, and two points for falling outside! With three points, the winner is Jock Song of the Martial Redemption Dojo!"