Chapitre 21: Sparring [3]
The third match was not worth seeing. The fighters were girls, but they were just slapping and clawing each other in the arena, which was painful to see.
The referee decided to stop the match midway and continue on to the fourth match.
"It's Lisa's turn," Ao muttered as she looked at the arena.
"Is she strong?"
I asked Ao curiously, and she shook her head.
"Lisa is not much of a fighter. I think she only wants to try what she can do in this sparring tournament."
"I see…"
That much was expected. Lisa was not a martial artist at all; she was more like a researcher and a businesswoman.
She walked out of the tunnel and went to the arena. The weapon that she chose to use was, unexpectedly, a staff.
"Staff?" Asked Lily.
She didn't know Lisa's weapon? I thought that she knew about it because they were always together.
"It's my first time seeing her in a fight, so I don't really know that she uses a staff."
"Me too…"
Ao and Mirana didn't seem to know either. That showed one thing to me. Their relationship with each other was not too great; it only revolved around Zaiden.
However, someone was still bound to know one thing or two about the other.
"U-umm… S-she said that she uses a staff because she's afraid of bladed weapons." Explained Shina.
There was indeed that setting about Lisa. She was afraid of bladed weapons. That was why, when she was Awakened and saw that her Talent lays in brewing and business, she quickly took a turn and decided to join her family business.
Her family had a small company that manufactured Magic Pills and sold them in their own store. It is only a small company right now, but it would become one of the biggest manufacturers of Magic Pills after Lisa joined.
Putting that aside, Lisa's match had started. Her enemy was a girl who chose a whip as her weapon. From this, I knew that the match was purposely arranged to have a girl fight another girl.
It was not like it was necessary for them to do so, as they would meet a guy whether they wanted to or not.
Lisa was the one who took the initiative to close the distance with her opponent. She held the shaft of the staff in her right hand.
Her enemy was calm. She held her whip, and then lashed it towards Lisa.
With a swift movement, Lisa lowered her body and dodged the whip. However, she was too naïve.
The whip curved in mid-air as her opponent flexed her hand. It changed its course with elegance and caught Lisa's left arm.
She was clearly confused, but she didn't stop her advance. She knew that closing the distance right now was the best thing she could do.
Her opponent was panicking and clearly didn't expect Lisa to be calm when the whip caught her hand. Her steps became unsteady, and she made a mistake. She pulled her whip to take it back, but it was too late.
Lisa grabbed the whip with her left hand and pulled it toward her. Her opponent was caught off guard and stumbled forward.
"Eh? She pulled the whip in that state?!"Mirana exclaimed, surprised .
It was a good move in a spar, but it wouldn't work in a real fight between Awakeners where Mana was used.
If she tried to pull a whip infused with mana, her hand would be greatly injured. Mana would make the whip as sharp as a sword.
But… pulling the whip was the correct move in this case. Her opponent had faltered, and she swung her staff, aiming at her opponent's neck.
The staff knocked the back of her opponent's neck, and she fell to the ground.
Thud!
"Stop! The winner is Lisa Manrosa!"
The referee stopped the match, and Lisa won the match.
She looked in our direction with a big smile and waved her hand happily.
"She won!"
"Yeah! Way to go, Lisa!"
"That's a good match."
"Nice job, Lisa!"
The girls exclaimed one after another. As the match went faster than I thought, it seemed like my turn would come faster too.
I decided to go to the waiting room as there was nothing to see anymore.
"I will go to the waiting room first."
"Eh, you are going now?" Asked Lily.
"Yeah. The match was a bit too boring for my taste. Only Zaiden seems to be strong."
"Is that so? I think you are underestimating them too much. Or… you are confident of winning this sparring tournament?"
"… I am."
I walked away after answering Lily. If the students were that strong, then winning this tournament would be easy.
***
Lisa was directed to the first-year winner's waiting room after she won the sparring match. It was separated from the fighter waiting room, and only three people were inside. There were tables and chairs inside the room. On the wall, there was a big TV that connected to the camera outside to see the match.
When she entered the room, she was greeted by Zaiden.
"Lisa! I saw your match. Congratulations on winning!"
Lisa smiled when she saw Zaiden. The only reason she joined the sparring tournament, even though the other girls didn't, was to get closer to Zaiden.
And now, her goal was achieved as she had a chance to be with Zaiden for a while. The other students in the room didn't matter to her, as they believed the rumors about their relationship.
"Yes. Somehow I managed to win. My opponent was strong."
Zaiden smiled at her. "I know that. The whip was fast, and it had unpredictable movement. To be honest, I was surprised when I saw you grabbing the whip. Is your hand okay?"
"It's okay, my hand is just bruised a little." She touched her hand that was used to pull the whip earlier and smiled wryly at Zaiden.
Zaiden looked at Lisa's hand worriedly.
"I think it's better if you get it checked. The healer that the Academy hired is standing by in the infirmary. You can ask him to heal you."
"No, it's nothing. Anyway, it's Maria's turn, right? Let's watch it together."
"O-oh…"
Lisa grabbed Zaiden's arm and pulled him to the nearby chair. He was surprised, but he went along and sat beside Lisa, watching the TV that showed the first year match between Maria and a girl named Zeke.
Both of them didn't use any weapons; instead, they wore gloves that were often used in MMA on their hands.
"She's going bare-handed, huh?" Muttered Zaiden as he looked at the screen.
"Maria is trained in martial arts. She even joined a training facility to learn hand-to-hand combat."
"I see… So she's strong?"
"I hate to admit it, but she's stronger than me…"
Lisa muttered the last sentence in a low voice. Zaiden looked at her worriedly, but then he smiled and patted her head.
"You are already strong, Lisa."
He knew that Lisa's Talent wasn't related to fighting. He didn't have high hopes for Lisa's match earlier.
She had surprised him because she was able to win, although her method was a bit reckless. It could have injured her if her opponent was not panicking and used the whip as skillfully as before.
Putting those aside, he was happy that Lisa won.
"Zaiden… Thank you." Lisa smiled.
The match on the TV had now started. Both fighters closed the distance and punched. Their fists connected with each other, but nothing special happened.
Tak!
From their stance, both of them used the same technique. Zaiden didn't know who would win this match, but he hoped that someone from his class would win.
The match continued. Both fighters exchanged moves at a fast speed. They were punching, dodging, and blocking each other's attacks.
It was the fiercest match today. The fighters had bruises all over their bodies. After exchanging punches for a while, Zeke saw an opening in Maria's stomach and used this chance to deliver a kick.
Thud!
The kick connected, and Maria was blown away. Because of her injuries and the last kick, she immediately passed out, and the referee stopped the match with Zeke's victory.
"She lost…"
"Yeah…"
It was a shame that Maria lost in the first round. Lisa felt down because her friend was eliminated.
Zaiden quickly cheered her up.
"B-but, there is still Vincent! If he wins, then three people from our class will go to the second round!"
And it worked. Lisa smiled and nodded her head. "That's true."
The match continued quickly. The students were all strong for Non-Awakeners. Zaiden watched the match seriously, while Lisa stole a glance at him a few times. She always got embarrassed when she saw Zaiden's serious face and shook her head each time.
There were a total of 20 matches in the first round. The students had different ways of fighting. Some used spears, some used swords, and some used their fists like Maria. Most of them had joined training facilities to learn some martial arts.
The whip and staff were rarely used. Only Lisa used a staff in all her matches, and only two girls used a whip, including Lisa's opponent earlier.
The winner entered the room they were in with a satisfied smile and full of competitive spirit. They were looking at their opponent for the second match while trying to gauge their strength.
After a while, it was finally the final match.
The fighters entered the arena; it was Vincent and Muz Lima, a guy from the middle-east with tanned skin.
While Vincent had a bored look, Muz Lima was glaring at Vincent as if he was his enemy from his previous life.
Both of them took wooden swords as their weapons.
When they entered the ring, Vincent yawned and made Muz Lima even angrier. His expression twisted, as he gritted his teeth while gripping the wooden sword in his hand.
Zaiden looked at the screen with a wry smile.
"As usual, that guy didn't bother to hide his bored look. He always has that look whenever he's not interested in something."
"Ha-hahaha, you are right. He even had that look when he watched the second match."
"Really? Then I guess Vincent is confident of winning, huh?"
"I guess so too."
Both of them then went silent and watched the screen with a smile. It was their friend's turn. Naturally, they would support him.
Although the same couldn't be said for the other students in the waiting room. They were excited to see Vincent get beat up by Muz Lima.
"It's starting." Said Zaiden.
When the referee started the match, Muz Lima made the first move immediately. He raised his sword and rushed toward Vincent while yelling.
"Haaa!!!"
His spirit was admirable, but Vincent only looked at him without making any move. It irritated Muz Lima even more. He put his strength in his hands and swung his sword down at Vincent's head.
"Die!!" He yelled with all his might.
Vincent calmly analyzed the situation. He took a step to the side, parried Muz Lima's sword, then kicked him on his chin.
His movement was so fluid and fast that even Zaiden couldn't follow him. As soon as he realized it, Muz Lima was already on the ground without moving.
The match ended instantly, and the referee announced Vincent's victory.
"Wha?!" Lisa let out a surprised sound. "Zaiden… did you see that?" She turned to Zaiden only to see him having an excited grin on his face.
"Zaiden?" She called out to him, and Zaiden snapped out of it instantly.
"O-oh. Yeah. Vincent is strong."
His eyes were glued to the screen, following Vincent's back.
'So there is someone that strong in the Academy? Why did I never hear of Vincent in the novel? No, I remember him now. He's the playboy mentioned in chapter 1 but never appeared again. Could it be that he's killed in the novel?'
Zaiden's thoughts went wild. He made a wild assumption about the possibility of Vincent getting killed. Finally, he arrived at a conclusion.
'If he was killed in the novel, then I will save him this time... I won't allow my friend to be killed.'
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RaizarP
RaizarP A bit late today, need to edit something first before uploading it xD
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