A/N: My sincere apologies to all my readers for the five more chapters that should have been released this week. I shall be trying to provide them by today and...Thank you for your support :)

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The morning drowned into the clatters of dozens of steel, each exchange deciding their fate in the contest.

The nameless girl had been matched twice more and she had absolutely dominated...'No, that's not just domination. That was crushing your opponent's dignity, their pride and shattering their dreams of ever becoming a Sihapi.'

David didn't want to imagine him going against her. If it was just a show of technique, maybe he had a chance. But not only did she have refined fighting techniques befitting a hunter and a barbarian, she also possessed extraordinary strength, thanks to her higher soul fragments.

By afternoon, David's hunger had increased to a great level. To add to that, the heat of the sunlight overhead didn't help either.

"One thousand twenty four! One thousand twenty four!"

As if someone one had just heard his internal plights, his number was called.

Soon, he found himself standing at the edge of his ring as from the stage, another number was called out. His opponent.

"Two thousand one!" A brute of a man stepped up on the other side of the ring. And as was the rule, neither of them entered inside the circular ring.

David analysed his opponent with a calm face. The man looked to be in his mid twenties and had a face that looked like he had seen and lived to tell the tales from a several dozen battles. His black hairs cascaded downwards to his neck.

The man didn't even bother with a shirt, opting to flex off his muscular build which when accompanied with his massive height made him look ferocious and intimidating.

And his choice of weapon - a battle axe. It didn't look like a creature born in hell but it didn't even need to be intimidating in its design to look dangerous.

David's face turned grim as the man started wrapping the silken, enchanted cloth around the sharp blade. Even with the cloth draped on, the axe looked like it could easily spilt open a man's skull.

David glanced downwards at the rusty katana he had "borrowed" from the poor boy. Accepting the cloth from the veteran Sihapi with a quiet sigh, he meticulously covered his blade with it.

"I have already won three fights. The last one I remember begged me for mercy by the time I was done with him. But as I did with them, I shall give you the offer as well...Surrender and nobody needs to get harmed."

Saying that, the man slung the axe on his shoulders and looked at David with expectant eyes.

"To be honest, I would have surrendered if I had a choice. My pride isn't that fragile to not accept the fact you are stronger than me." David answered with a solemn face, locking eyes with the brute man.

However inwardly...

'Bullshit! Bullshit! Keep on flattering him, David. And scream bullshit! Bullshit!'

"But...I can't accept defeat. Not with a pathetic life for me the only other option as a consequence of my defeat."

"So be it." The man craned his neck sideways, letting the muscles in his body relax.

"Enter the ring!" Seeing that their short exchange had come to an end, the veteran asked them to step in.

Then with the obligatory respect out of the way, both the contestants readied themselves.

"Ready?" They held their breaths, waiting for the next word...which came soon after.

"Fight!"

This time, David didn't leap into the fray like he had done previously. Instead he stepped forward with large steps and almost instantaneously, he stepped sideways as a massive blade arched through the air before coming down on the pitch with a loud thud.

His opponent quickly glanced at him, assessing his position before leaping forward, his battle axe springing upwards with him.

Then landing on one foot, he swiped his metallic blade behind him. David barely found the time to react to his opponent's follow up as he brought forward his katana in a defensive posture.

The war axe struck the fragile looking blade of the katana, making a sharp, screeching noise as David was pushed back.

He took another step back as the muscular man slashed at him vertically. He successfully blocked the strike as well, however, a jarring motion vibrated in his bones as his knees buckled slightly.

'This guy is damn strong.' He grimaced, trying to hold his position as the brute man pushed him downwards, trying to make him lose his balance.

"Ugh..."

"You forgot...we get points not by breaking weapons but by poking our enemy."

David's eyes widened as suddenly his opponent let go of his katana, making David stumble for balance. Seizing the opportunity, the man struck him on his solar plexus and dragged him with his blade before letting him roll onto the ground.

"Point!"

David felt a sickening pain erupt in his stomach. He resisted the urge to grovel on the ground and hold his stomach. Then with sheer willpower, he tried to rise up.

'Quickly, quickly!'

But then suddenly he felt the blade of the war axe, now dulled by the silken cloth, strike him on his hip.

His breath left his lungs for a moment as he was flung away like a ragdoll.

"Point!" The veteran's voice barely registered in his ears as all he felt at that moment was...pain.

His backside of the body felt as if someone had run over a car on him and his arms felt numb from the few strikes his katana had received.

'R-Right...where is my blade?' He blinked in rapid successions trying to clear his eyes from the dust that had creeped inside them.

As his vision cleared a little, he tried searching for the katana - the only hope he had for winning this round.

Very luckily for him, the katana laid within his arm's reach. Quickly mustering up all the strength he could, David crawled on the ground as his hand reached the blade.

*Crunch*

Suddenly he screamed in an outrageous pain as the thick soles of a leather boot crushed his extending fingers on the ground.

"Now now where do you think you are going?" A mocking tone came from above him.

The next second, David's face drowned in horror as the brute man kicked away the katana outside the ring.

David's features paled seeing that as all hopes of ever winning this round faded away.

"You are my fourth win, kid."

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