ESTABLISHING DOMINANCE
1140 Words
On an open field, four grand stages could be spotted at different angles. A fight just ended at one of the stages that left every observer with their mouth hanging. A figure could be seen falling off the stage with a trail of smoke.
"What just happened?"
"This must be a dream."
"Did Feng just lose?"
"What overwhelming power, at the first step? Truly amazing." Various spectators discussed their opinions, most were shocked at the result. Feng was a respected senior, the top disciple in the ring lightning clan, he was always feared for his fearsome lightning attacks. All his attacks were easily nullified by this junior called Matero, Matero had even unleashed a more fearsome lightning attack on Feng and defeated him, Matero countered him in every aspect.
"He should be the toughest opponent I'll face at this stage." Matero coldly scanned the remaining eight, his gaze landed on Kelena and he smiled. "This will be difficult. Kelena is still around." He scratched his head and gently walked off the stage. The matches continued.
Soon after, Kelena had her first match. Her opponent was a youth at the first step of the second realm, he smiled in a way that infuriated Kelena, she could see she was being underestimated.
"Wasn't this fool thought to fear the disciples from the imperial cultivation grounds?" Kelena asked herself with disgust.
"My name is Miko, I want you as my woman." He addressed Kelena with a smile. Kelena felt her skin crawl, this was past embarrassing. "I intend to win your heart with this match up." Miko finalized and gave a creepy laughter.
As Miko attempted to move, a string out of no where fastened around his neck and legs, it pulled him to his knees and forced him to bow face first to the ground. The strings could barely be seen unless it was in clusters, they could be faintly traced to Kelena's hand.
"How? when?" Miko was shocked, there was no sensation until he tried to move. He struggled to move, he felt the strings become sharper the more he struggled.
"If you keep on struggling, my strings will turn you into mincemeat. I suggest you forfeit, I might decide to let them do so my self." Kelena was still infuriated at Miko for his attitude.
"Spare me." Miko's trousers was rapidly getting wet. "I forfeit." He announced with tears.
"Despicable, you are not a man." Kelena proceeded to kick him off the stage, before stepping down herself.
"Such stealth."
"She didn't set any traps, how did she do that?" The disciples pondered in their minds as they cheered the beauty for taking her stand against scum like Miko.
Matero closed his eyes and replayed the entire match up in his mind. True, Kelena didn't set up the strings early, she released them just before Miko moved. Matero discovered that it was a legendary object that had a mind of its own, one with Kelena's will, it comes to life with a little fusing of chakra. So like living things, as long as Kelena fuses her chakra into them, they act of their own accord in harmony with Kelena's intent. They also originated out of her bare skin, Matero couldn't help but smile at this fact. Kelena would be more troublesome than he expected.
The Matches continued in all the stages and the most fearsome participant so far was Da sun, having the highest cultivation level, he had defeated all his opponents in just one move. At each stage, the disciples from the imperial cultivation grounds were undefeated, they totally subdued their opponents with brute strength. It became known that the imperial institution was the strongest of all. They established dominance.
Matero's next match up was against a much easier opponent, the match didn't last two seconds. On the stage Matero just used the soul art and he sent an illusion into his opponents heart. The poor fella was quickly drenched in sweat, he stood frozen, with a terrified expression. Matero just walked towards him and kicked him of the stage.
"Ahhhh." The spectators couldn't believe their eyes. Matero had only looked coldly at his opponent and the latter had become terrified, no one knew what happened.
Cultivators of the soul art or in the soul path could utilize mental energy, they could generate frequencies that could be received by the souls of others and therefore cause a lot of manipulations. One of them was the illusion technique, to the victim, the illusion lasts for hours while it is barely a second in reality. This and others like it was one of Matero's hidden cards.
Matero stepped off the stage and he could feel various gazes land on him, he even sensed killing intent from some of the elders present. Matero shook his head and smiled, he was just getting started.
Kelena was equally terrifying, she defeated most of her opponents before they had the chance to move, her winning streak kept on progressing steadily. To eliminate streaks, those with equal number of streaks were fixed against one another. When Kelena finally had five wins streak, her opponent was someone with an equal number of streaks, Matero.
When this was announced, the entire stage fell into an uproar. Matero and Kelena were two undefeated forces and now they would fight one another. The disciples that were observing could feel their bloods boil, the match up could end up in so many ways. This would also be their only chance to see two disciples from the imperial cultivation grounds go against one another, the institution they all feared.
"Do we really need to do this?" Matero laughed, he had brawled Kelena a couple times before but this was different. She had never used her strings against him and this had an entirely different audience.
"I intend to kick your ass on a stage this grand." Kelena replied also laughing, she turned around and could see gazes of mockery. "These fools want us to tear each other apart." She informed Matero.
"Well let us give them a good show." Matero replied sarcastically. "Or you could just forfeit."
"What? Never! , I would never concede defeat with you." Kelena smiled. "I have won, just move."
Matero became alerted, Kelena actually meant her words. She was busy distracting Matero with the conversation, her strings had already surrounded him.
"Nice move Kelena." Matero smiled. "But I am not just any opponent."
- Writer
