After Leona's fight, everyone in the waiting room reacted with terror upon seeing her enter.
Counting Aaron, there were only five participants left. Besides Leona, the other participants were: one with an oriental appearance who won the match before Aaron's, a bald giant, and a small woman with brown hair and blue eyes.
The last two got up from their seats and went to the arena. Aaron noticed that the woman's steps were agile and light, like those of a ballet dancer in his world. She had a smile on her face; she clearly seemed confident about winning. Meanwhile, the giant man was visibly nervous about the fight that was about to begin.
From the room's screen, Aaron and the other participants watched them both stand face to face in the arena. The audience shouted enthusiastically upon seeing them take their fighting positions. The giant man put his hands in front of his body, as in a martial arts position, while the woman had her arms down, seemingly inviting her opponent to attack her.
As soon as the signal was given that the fight had begun, the woman ran toward her opponent at an impressive speed. Her steps were fluid, as if she were floating. She dodged a clumsy attempt at a blow from her opponent and gave him a punch to the face. The grace that her movements demonstrated seemed to be out of this world.
The fight continued in the same way for several minutes. It was a spectacle of beauty and precision from the woman. She not only dodged but counterattacked with quick and accurate blows. Her punches and kicks found vulnerable points in her opponent's body, and, as if that weren't enough, they had such force that they produced evident effects on her adversary's body. The giant was panting, unable to keep up with her pace.
"It's impressive, isn't it?" the oriental-looking guy said to Aaron. "Her name is Grania, one of the strongest adventurers in the kingdom, there's no doubt about that. She's very mysterious, I've never seen her talk to anyone, not even when she does missions with other adventurers. The only thing known about her is that she's incredibly versatile; depending on the opponent, she can use practically any fighting style."
Aaron ignored him and simply continued watching the screen. He caught the moment when Grania delivered the final blow to her opponent, a beautiful kick to his chin, which made him fall to the floor unconscious.
That way of fighting is incredible. Fighting like that would take years of intense training in martial arts.
Grania returned to the room with a smile from ear to ear.
"Did you all enjoy my fight?" she said while striking a victory pose in front of the others. "Too bad for whoever has to face me, because i'm going to win this tournament!"
Nobody respoded to her.
Didn't he said she doesn't talk to anyone? I guess beating the giant must have motivated her to be more social.
In the stadium where the fighters fought, an immense throne was positioned in one of its stands. There sat the king of the Kingdom of Couprisia, Amos Astron. He was fully concentrated on the fights. At his side, he saw how two figures approached him despite the rule that no one was allowed to approach him during the tournament. They were Terminus and Van, his second and third sons, respectively. They ran toward him with clear concern on their faces.
"What's happening?" asked Amos while raising an eyebrow.
Van was the one who answered him, not before kneeling before him.
"Father, it's Luke. He's participating in the tournament." Terminus nodded at what his brother said.
"I know," replied Amos, "I saw him fight a few minutes ago."
"We must stop him immediately," said Terminus. "He's breaking the ancestral rules."
Amos reclined on his throne, a slight smile showing on his wrinkled lips.
"Stop him?" he laughed out loud. "And why would we do that?"
Van and Terminus exchanged confused glances.
"But, father," said Van, "an Astron cannot..."
"Bah!" interrupted Amos with a gesture of his hand. "Rules, traditions. Who cares? This tourmanent is made to make fighters show their strength. If Luke is strong enough to participate and win, then let him participate and win."
Both knew that wasn't the fundamental problem; if breaking one of the ancestral rules was allowed, then nothing would prevent someone from breaking some of the more important rules in the future.
Terminus frowned, then tried to make him reconsider the situation.
"But, father. The winner must marry into the family; he is already an Astron."
Amos laughed loudly for a few seconds, then said when he had calmed down:
"Don't worry about that. We'll marry him to your daughter and problem solved."
A silence fell over his sons. Van seemed to have been left speechless, while Terminus visibly paled.
"But... but they're cousins," Terminus protested weakly.
"So what? We're rich. We can do whatever we want."
The conversation ended there. Neither of the brothers dared to contradict their father. Therefore, the three devoted themselves to watch the next fight: precisely that of Luke Astron against Bo Benetnasch.
"Let's see what your son can do, Van," said Amos. "Something tells me this could be the best fight so far."
Van's eyes turned to his son, concerned about what he was going to do. He knew that Luke spent his free time at the Training Center, but he couldn't say if that made him capable of defeating his opponents in the tournament. He managed to defeat Alejandrinos, and that was impressive, but his strength wasn't close to that of others who were participating.
The fight began. Instead of exchanging blows like in the fight against Alejandrinos, both kept their distance. They spent so much time without making a move that the people in the audience began to lose patience and throw trash into the arena. Ignoring the audience, both continued to maintain their distance. The first to make a move was Bo, who began to run around Luke; his speed was impressive.
"What is he doing?" asked Terminus.
"Just watch..." Amos replied.
Suddenly, Luke fell to the floor, a confused look on his face.
"Luke!" shouted Van.
"I understand now," said Terminus. "His speed is so great that, by running around him, he created a wall that prevented oxygen from reaching Luke's lungs."
Despite not having oxygen, Luke got up, his face showing a bluish tone. He then gave a kick that perfectly hit Bo's face. The fact that it connected was impressive, as his figure was almost imperceptible due to the speed at which he was running.
Then he lunged at Bo and surrounded his neck with his hands, choking him tightly; probably in revenge for taking away his air. Bo gave him some blows to his stomach, forcing him to let go. Both separated a few steps, retaking the same positions they had at the beginning of the fight.
"Did you see Luke's expression while he was choking him?" Terminus asked Van. "I've seen that expression on many occasions; that's how most of the assassins I face look."
Terminus worked as the head of law enforcement in the kingdom. That is, he was in charge of confronting all those who committed crimes, either to take them to jail or to get rid of them right there. Therefore, he knew what he was talking about when referring to Luke's expression.
"I've never seen him make an expression like that," said Van.
"Interesting..." commented Amos.
Bo moved a few steps away from Luke, and every time Luke tried to approach him, he quickly moved away. His speed was tremendous; no matter how much Luke ran, he was not able to reach him. When Luke was already tired, Bo approached him quickly and gave him some blows to the stomach. The same pattern was repeated a couple of times.
"It's a good plan. Upon realizing that he was weaker than my son, he now is looking to exhaust him so that he can defeat him when he's weaker."
"It seems like a typical Bo strategy to me. He's a strategist, he spends most of his time studying ways of fighting and combat strategies. Many go to him for recommendations on ways to defeat certain monsters and opponents in their missions."
"It's a fight between natural talent and effort!" shouted Amos between laughs.
"I'm surprised by the blows Luke throws. Does he go out much, Van?"
"No, not at all. He stays at home, and if he goes out, it's to fight at the Training Center."
"Curious. By the way he moves, I would swear that he's someone who gets into many street fights. Those are not the movements of the martial arts taught in our family, but rather rough and aggressive movements."
"That's true. But there hasn't been a day when I haven't taught him the ancestral martial arts; he should fight with much more grace than what he's showing here. Perhaps he's fighting this way so as not to break the ancestral rule?"
"Could be. But if he's capable of breaking a rule by participating in the tournament, why doesn't he break that one?"
The fight ended with Aaron kicking Bo in the stomach. It became complicated for a moment, getting tired after attacking Bo without thinking much. For that reason, he pretended to be more tired than he was, so that Bo would approach. Once he was within his reach, he gave him a kick that knocked him out of the fight instantly.
Winning that fight meant that Aaron had reached the final. He returned to the waiting room where he found the two girls who were going to dispute being his rival in the final: Leona and Grania. Both got up and went to the arena without even looking at each other. Alone in the room, Aaron watched the fight on the screen.
The first thing that caught his attention about the fight was that Grania's way of fighting had completely changed. Instead of approaching her opponent and hitting her with grace and skill, she kept a great distance, at the same time moving more abruptly.
Grania kept several steps away from Leona, then took the trash that the fans had thrown during the beginning of the fight between Bo and Aaron and threw it at her opponent. These objects hit her with immense force. To make such a powerful throw required a lot of training, perhaps even more time than it would take to achieve the fighting style she showed in her previous fight.
It's just as Bo explained, she adapts her way of fighting depending on her rival.
It was by comparing her movements in this fight and the previous one that Aaron discovered what Grania's secret was, and how she was able to use such different fighting styles.
Despite the impressive strength of Grania, the projectiles she launched did no damage to Leona. Her opponent approached her slowly and gave her a blow to the face that sent her flying until she hit the stadium wall. Grania fell, unconscious.
Leona did not care about the state of her opponent and continued hitting her while she was on the ground. Blow after blow rained down on Grania, causing a pool of blood around her, and although the audience begged her to stop, Leona did not listen. She simply continued hitting her with blind fury.
It was after several blows, after she remained motionless on the ground, that Leona finally stopped. Her expression had calmed, and she slowly returned to the waiting room. Inside she stared fixedly at Aaron, who ignored her and went out to the bathrooms.
Aaron leaned against the wall next to the women's bathroom. After a few seconds, he saw Grania come out of it. She had a clear look of concern and was heading quickly toward the arena, so much so that she didn't even notice Aaron. She had none of the injuries she had suffered in her fight with Leona, and her clothes looked completely clean.
"Wait a second," said Aaron to the girl. Grania turned quickly toward him, surprised by his presence. "Don't worry. I'll avenge your sister."
In reality, they were twin sisters, both with a completely different way of fighting. They exchanged places depending on the opponent they had to face, a strategy they idealized when they started as adventurers. Although Aaron could not understand the reason for idealizing such a complex plan outside the tournament and not simply fighting both together.
Aaron headed directly to the stadium arena. He was ready to face Leona in the final of the tournament.
I'm not a good person. I don't care about anyone else's life besides my own, and I don't feel any pity for someone who loses a hand-to-hand fight. But one thing I cannot forgive is attacking another person when they are on the ground and clearly cannot continue. That's why I will defeat Leona and prove to be the strongest in this world.