Thud!

Blade's body dropped to the floor and on his ass in utter exhaustion as he followed the breathing technique to regain his bearings.

'Hmm, I think I need a bath!'

After regaining his breath, Blade got to his feet and entered the bathroom where he found something that shocked him to his core.

Laying on the wooden stool next to his bathtub, the appearance of a towel and also some clothes made its emergence as Blade could only mutter.

"It seems that these people don't understand that one shouldn't enter others' homes. Truly, in this world, there isn't any semblance of privacy whatsoever...!"

...

Even when surrounded by two powerful opponents, Blade kept a calm expression on his face as he gazed into the eyes of the most threatening of his opponents. Blade's mind played back the scenes of the fight between the figure in front of him and this figure's previous opponent.

It was the scene of a blond-haired kid named Javid who defeated the raging bull fist technique of David with an unknown and mysterious technique that allowed him to hide his presence from David.

...

The previous battle arena was nowhere to be seen as it was instead transformed into five platforms that had a space of 10 meters on all sides. This small-scaled battle arena was the location of five battles that would be taking place at the same time.

On one battle platform, Blade was situated along with Javid and a female as the two were visibly more focused on Blade than each other. A similar situation was taking place on the other platforms as Athena's opponents also seemed to be focusing more on her than one another.

It seemed that this was the plan of the underdogs.

For those who knew if they worked separately, they held no chance whatsoever, these lower-level talents decided to form temporary alliances with one another to have some semblance of a chance to enter the Inner Sect.

Even though they knew that only one person in each platform was qualified to enter the Inner Sect, making their alliance something that would be broken as soon as the favorite was ousted, they seemed to have no problems with it... After all, this was the only way to win when facing monstrous geniuses.

"Fight!"

Frederick's words thrummed in the minds of the contestants as dangerous flickers of killing intent flashed in the participants' eyes.

On the other hand, those spectators watched on with bubbling excitement and expectation as the fights between Meridian Opening Realm experts once more began.

...

SWOOSH!

Javid's fist approached Blade's face with super-human speed while at the same time, his partner ran around Blade as she got behind him to send a powerful kick to his blind spot.

The duos' plan was simple. While Javid, who was the clear physically more gifted of the two was busy fending off and distracting Blade, the female would appear at the back of Blade and send an attack when he least expects it.

It was a full-proof plan that mostly relied on Javid's ability to fend off Blade's attacks, and Javid being fully confident he could at least prolong his fight with Blade. And this was what he intended to do by sending a speedy and precise attack on Blade's face intending to get his full attention.

'Oh, is it the attention you crave?!' A smile formed on Blade's face as he already read the plans of the duo he faced.

He didn't know why it was the way it is, but after awakening his High Human Bloodline, analyzing when fighting was somewhat easier, and the stronger he got, the easier it was to analyze his opponent's intentions and moves in a battle.

It was similar to the instincts he honed in the wild. It was the instinct that after a few weeks of being in the jungle was now comparable to the average beast. His inner animal was many times more refined than most other humans of this continent, and it was something he could take pride in and rely on in the future.

The corner of his lips twisted into a cold smirk when seeing the punch approaching him as he couldn't help himself, and his desire.

BAM!

Immediately, before Javid could even react, Blade's fist sank into his abdomen muscles and sent him flying back a few meters as blood spurted out his mouth. His eyes bulged in shock as his feet landed on the ground yet, the momentum caused him to skid for a few meters before he could finally come to a complete stop.

The female intending to attack Blade from behind was left rooted in both shock and fear as her skin paled and her blood froze. Blade stood as calmly as ever while gazing into his palms and saying...

"Are you a fool?

You saw how I easily overpowered Axel, who was widely acknowledged as the most physically gifted fighter in this tournament, yet you still wanted to face me head-on in a fist fight."

Javid's expression morphed from that of pain to immense wrath when Blade's words entered his ears. Javid slowly got up to his feet making everyone realize Blade's utter arrogance. Even though Blade was able to easily take out a weakened Javid, he allowed him to get back to his feet, as if even this second chance wasn't enough to possibly harm Blade.

Sending an angered gaze toward the now useless female who he had thought was useful enough to at least help him a minuscule amount in his fight with Blade, Javid then focused on his opponent who was staring at him with a pair of crystal blue eyes that showcased an obvious expression of downright boredom.

Even though he was pissed by Blade's casualness, he knew that Blade was strong enough to back up this haughtiness. Calming his nerves, Javid's expression turned utterly cold and serious as Blade's eyes brightened when realizing that similarly to the time when Javid fought David, Javid seemingly disappeared in thin air.

BAM!

Blade's body left the ground for a millisecond before he dropped to his knees. The power contained in the punch he had just received wasn't at all the most powerful blow he had faced in his life but, it was a punch he didn't expect at all, and because of this fact, his muscles weren't contracted, allowing Javid's fist to reach even to his bone.

"Even if you're stronger than your opponent, you should never be arrogant... After all, it was this arrogance that caused your downfall!" Javid giggled coldly after saying those words as he then focused his attention on the female who was still rooted in fear.

Now that the power displayed by Javid seemingly overshadowed whatever power Blade held, this female couldn't help but feel a newfound fear for the blonde boy.

"Useless!"

BAM!

Kicking her out of the ring, effectively kicking her out of the competition, Javid once more focused his attention on Blade.

"Dammit!"

A grumble escaped Javid's mouth as he saw Blade standing strong and healthy as if perfectly ok even after receiving his last attack head-on. And in fact, Blade was fully fine as the confident smirk on his face affirmed such a thought.

"Is those words a punch line of yours? You said those same things toward David's dead body..." Hearing his words, Javid laughed and replied, "And you, you surely are quite talented in getting under one's skin."

Hahaha!...

Placing his hands on his waist, Blade also began cheerfully laughing along with Javid. From an outsider's point of view, the duo seemed to be quite friendly with one another but, out of nowhere, Blade's relaxed expression turned utterly icy as he asked.

"So, what makes you think that you're allowed to be soo relaxed when facing me!?"

"This!" Javid instantly replied as similar to the time he killed David, and the time he sent Blade to his knees, Javid disappeared completely from the eyes of everyone who were watching the duo's fight, greatly shocking them in the process.

'Since punching your sternum doesn't hurt enough, I guess I'll do it the old-fashioned way...' Javid thought as he appeared behind Blade in an instant while his fist was already drawn back intending to send a punch toward Blade's occipital bone.

SWOOSH!

Sending a punch toward his identified target, Javid waited for the sound of a bone being utterly destroyed, but he didn't hear such a noise even a few breaths of time after sending the punch. Assessing his surroundings, Blade's attractive face was inches away from his own, as Blade muttered.

"What, did you truly expect that move to work on someone's who's instinct is comparable to animals!?"

BAM!

Before Javid had time to process Blade's words, a powerful fist that completely overwhelmed him, sent him shooting out the arena, while blood splattered all around the platform.

"I only allowed you to hit me because I wanted to see how powerful you are. And the result was an utter disappointment, such a technique is only for a coward who hides from their opponent!"

Blade's eyes gazed toward the other platforms where he saw the shocking sight of two other figures who were already finished with their fights.

One being Athena as the other...