The next day.

In the caged arena, no sounds were uttered other than the continuous blow of fists. Once a proud muscular teen — who kept boasting his big biceps and three wins in a row — now had bruises all over his body, stumbling to the corner. Cow-eyed, he stared at his opponent, the wandering martial artist.

A pair of curved sharp horns protruded from her head. Her red skin glistened with sweat, reflecting the light. With her towering body, she strode toward her opponent.

“S-stop!”

“Any last words?” she asked, grinning.

“Don’t kill me!”

“Alright.”

She then delivered a heavy uppercut to the jaw, rendering him unconscious.

“The winner is Giyori!”

She bathed in praises and cheers from the audience as she left the cage, accompanied by her wardens.

A hunched, short old man stood beside her supposed cell.

The girl cupped her fist and bowed. “I have won, master.”

“Winning is vain. What matters is what have you gained from the fight.”

“As if I would gain anything from a weak opponent.” She rolled her eyes.

The master smiled. “Don’t forget our purpose for coming here.”

“I know, I know. I need to build up more experience.” Giyori sighed. “Any info for my next match?”

“It’s a half-oni boy, around 11 years old or so.” He guessed, missing by two years.

“What a big gap to my age! Is it alright to pick on a kid that is six years younger than me?”

“Kukuku,” the master chuckled before leaving. “I think he’s going to be a valuable lesson for you. I look forward to that match!”

“Master, what do you mean by that?” she called, confused. “Hey!”

Alas, he kept walking until he vanished from her view. After watching his teacher and parent figure leaving, Giyori entered her cell. She sat on the bed in a lotus position, meditating and contemplating her master’s words.

“Valuable lesson, hm? So that means he is a strong foe. But then again, Master never said that to my next opponents before even if they were strong. Then, why?”

“Gah! I can’t think of anything! I've got to clear my mind from any distraction. I hope you’re different from others, whoever you are!”

---

Lying on the bed and waiting for the next match, Kane stared at the ceiling, recalling his conversation with Sharon.

"Arghh! What on dunai was I spouting!? Why was I not myself yesterday?" He slapped his forehead repeatedly.

At first, he was simply pretending to let Sharon's guard down. However, the more time Kane spent with her, the more he lost the sense of himself. Despite the constant reminder of her trickery and his life experience, she gradually distorted his perception of her. It was unnatural.

Was she using some kind of charm spell or potion? Or was it because of his problematic youthful body? But then again, his mind shouldn't be affected — or it should. Even after racking his brain, Kane couldn't find a definite answer. He had never gone through anything similar to this before.

Whatever the case it might be, Sharon would never be able to completely seduce him, no matter how attractive or charming she was. Kane even wouldn't hesitate to use drastic measures if the situation required.

Speaking of which, Kane could’ve lured her before strangling her, but he chose not to. If something looked too easy, it certainly was. She might’ve been prepared for that kind of situation even without Ral around. Therefore, he needed to do something unexpected to deal with people like her.

*Knock* *Knock*

“Yer turn has come, Kane,” said the warden.

Traversing the same old hallway to the arena, they approached the cage. On the opposite side, a large, imposing oni girl drew closer. Her red eyes were sharp, filled with confidence. Her muscled arms were somewhat contrasting to her overall body as if someone’s arms were attached to her body.

While he had seen some oni in Rabrond, they were rather a rare existence compared to elves and dwarves. It wasn’t surprising, to say the least, considering the general circumstances of that race.

They stood face to face, staring at each other.

“So, you’re so-called Kane, eh? You’re much scrawnier than I thought, especially for a half-oni,” she said first in oni language. Her tone was older than her age.

“And you’re pretty much the same to what I’ve imagined,” replied Kane in the same language.

“Oh? What a unique accent. So, this is how Colvanzan oni sounds like.” She gave a pleasant look. “What did you imagine from me?”

“I’ll tell you after I win.”

“Pfft! Sorry to say, but I’m not that curious to throw this match.” She then assumed her fighting stance. “Let’s have an honorable duel, Kane.”

“Sure…”

The referee then spoke, “The first semi-final brawl is now—”

“—Begin!”

However, neither of them budge. As for Kane, he was planning to counter right after she took the initiative, which didn’t happen. She most likely had a similar line of thought. Despite still being young, this battle monk was rather battle-hardened. Seemed like one of his most hated things to fight with had finally appeared: a competent martial artist. They were such a pain no matter their age.

He circled around her, thinking of the best opening attack to use and finding a gap. Giyori too mirrored his movement. Should he taunt her first? No, that would be too early. Besides, he had learned his lesson after fighting Ral. The wisest choice was to measure her capability first.

A moment later, Kane lurched and threw a straight toward her face. Giyori blew her nose before attempting to grab his arm. But then, he pulled his arm. Kane used his other arm to uppercut from below instead. She responded with a palm, absorbing the impact. At the same time, she countered with a left hook. Kane dodged it by a hairbreadth.

Suddenly, a front kick came toward his face. It was too fast and hard to predict. Unable to dodge in time, Kane’s arms formed a cross.

*Thud!*

Kane was blown away by the sheer power. He rolled on the ground a couple of times. Getting up, Giyori waited for him, assuming the same pose. His arms tinged with pain; they were mostly fine, fortunately. Although that was a terrible attempt to gauge someone’s strength, he managed to obtain some information.

His opponent’s strength was several times higher than him, granted much lower than Ral’s. Most likely due to her racial trait and great innate talent. Moreover, no movement was wasted, whether her attack or footwork. Surely must’ve been due to someone very skilled in martial arts teaching her. Overall, Kane was at a great disadvantage. The only thing he could rely on was his experience.

“Come on, is that all you got?” mocked her.

“I’m still holding back, don’t worry,” answered Kane with a stock response.

“Heh, you’re gonna regret saying that!” Now, it’s her turn to attack.

Giyori took a big step and jutted her fist. Avoiding the obvious punch, Kane grabbed her wrist and tried to control it. She didn’t budge. The opposite happened; he was pulled and lifted effortlessly. Dangerous! Kane let go his grip early and was thrown away skyward. He was several feet above her.

He gazed down. Giyori pulled her foot, preparing to kick him in the right moment, similar to him hitting a firebomb with an ax. His back was facing the ground, vulnerable. What should he do in this helpless situation? After reaching the peak momentum, Kane plunged down into the cold, hard floor. Grinning, she swung her leg. If it connected, he definitely would be incapacitated or worst, killed.

Around a few inches away from her toes, Kane immediately jerked his body to the side. He straightened up his leg before cleaving right into her face.

*Thwack!*

The impromptu falling kick landed as her kick missed. It made a crunchy sound. Giyori’s nose was smashed and squirted out blood, staggering. However, that alone wasn’t enough. Upon landing, Kane dashed forward and gut-punched her. His third attack unfortunately was blocked; she had recovered and retaliated. Too late! Kane failed to step back in time, thus her backhand slapped his face.

Keeping a distance and covering his mouth, Kane gathered some thoughts in this short moment of respite. He overcommitted and was a little bit too greedy. In addition, he should stop trying to get into power contests since he would lose. Nevertheless, that kick was… satisfying. It even resembled an ax splitting a wooden log. He should name it: ‘Falling Ax Kick’ from today onwards.

Meanwhile, Giyori snorted the blood before squeezing it back. Wiping her nose, she asked, “You… How did you do that?”

“I did it purely from my instinct,” said Kane, catching breaths. For normal people, it was tricky to adjust their body mid-air quickly — unlike him, the ex-saint who was used to aerial battles. That feat was anything but hard.

“Instinct? Ha.” She let out a small laugh, then gradually turned into a loud cackling. “Hahahahah! Of course. It really does suit you.”

“I’m curious. Which sect do you belong to?”

“White Cloudwalker.”

“Oh, that.”

“What? Have you heard of it?”

“Nope.”

“…”.

“Ahem!” The referee coughed. “Continue the fight or I will zap you!”

“Okay, fine…” Giyori scratched her head and assumed a different stance. Her eyes turned bloodshot as her muscles bulged out. She used an empowering technique. “Take my full power, Kane!”

“You don’t have to announce it,” he replied.

She leaped toward him, closing the distance in an instant. That almost caught him off guard. She unleashed three consecutive powerful punches, much faster than before! Kane already swerved to the left. There was no way to perfectly block those. Then, Giyori kicked him sideways, following his movement. He caught it.

However, her grin surfaced. Something’s amiss.

Giyori hopped and drove her other foot into Kane’s head. No time to dodge! He let out vis inside his head before receiving the swift kick. It all happened in less than a second. He was blown over, sliding on the ground, and laying down like a corpse.

Forcing himself, Kane stood up sluggishly. His ears were ringing as the headache was splitting inside his head.

“Ho, you’re still conscious after taking my kick. Impressive.”

Naturally, Kane understood why she said that. If not for the vis protecting his skull, he would’ve been knocked out cold now — if he was lucky. As much as he would like to use it again, that kick alone had drained all of his already limited vis reserves.

In other words, one more attack to his head meant defeat.

Kane clicked his tongue. This is why he hated battle monks. Not only did they have high strength, they also mastered the way of using their limbs effectively. They always gave him a run for his money especially when they were competent.

“What’s wrong? A cat got your tongue?” she mocked. “Let’s end this quickly!”

Giyori once again took the initiative. She opened with a fist. Kane had switched his stance to the two-handed weapon one. He parried all punches with his shoulder. When she kicked him using her left leg, Kane clenched his hand and struck it, hitting the hard bone. Giyori winced. An opportunity! He entered her reach and jabbed at the neck. It connected. Kane immediately backed away before she could counter.

However, she rushed at him. The abrupt change of pace startled Kane. Before he could raise his guard up, Giyori struck his body.

“Ugh!” Kane winced.

With a disciplined form, she unleashed another blow. He blocked it this time. The punches were a little slow to his eyes but…

His current body couldn’t keep up. It would’ve been a different scenario if he was born with Warrior or Hunter talent.

Blow after blow, the ceaseless assault began to crack open Kane’s guard, causing more and more hits he received. His arms were black and blue. The excruciating pain around his chest — his ribs had cracked. At this rate, he would break down! Thus, he jumped. When he blocked a front kick, Kane flew backward before crashing against the cage.

The escape was a success. He was feeling fine until a tiny ball-shaped object rolled down on the floor. It was the pill that Sharon gave to him. It kept rolling until it reached the edge, then fell.

“Oh, crap.”