STRINGS AND ILLUSIONS
1130 Words
Matero stood a few feets away from Kelena, he took extreme care not to move. He had a lazy smile planted on his lips, his eyes fixed on Kelena's fingers. He had let down his guard and now he knew strings were all over him, Kelena just needed to activate them.
"All you need to do is move." Kelena challenged Matero with confidence.
"Like I said earlier, I am not just any opponent." Matero still maintained a calm countenance. "I can't go through the stress of fighting ten matches. I have to defeat you to maintain my streak." This was why Matero would fight, he needed the streak to qualify as quickly as possible.
Matero suddenly moved his arm and a string suddenly appeared, fastened to his arm, more appeared around him that rendered him immobile. With a single pull, Matero fell to the ground and Kelena quickly approached him.
"Bang." She kicked Matero off the stage and everyone around cheered. Retrieving her strings Kelena smiled at Matero who was now rising to his feet. She made her way towards the edge of the stage but suddenly stopped in her steps.
A thought bubbled in her that made her doubt everything, she turned at Matero again and the latter was still smiling. Kelena was so disturbed by the strange smile, it sent her discomfort.
"No, this is too easy." Kelena looked around, the details were not real. A lot of people just remained frozen in a particular pose, not moving a muscle. "It is an illusion!" Kelena felt like she was struck by lightning. Her consciousness had been trapped in this false reality, what was going on?
"Break!!!" Kelena yelled and her entire aura was released, faint traces of chakra could be seen around her. Right before her eyes the entire field shook and shattered like glass. Reality was now before her eyes.
She made eye contact with a disciple below the stage, he stared back at her in a puzzled manner. Matero was somewhere before her.
"Too late." A calm voice sounded right behind her ears, she turned towards the voice as quickly as she could but was met with a fist.
The punch landed just above her chest and knocked her off the stage, somehow she was already standing by the edges and the simple nudge sent her flying. Matero watched her drop with a smile, he could barely contain his laughter.
"Not that easy." As Kelena approached the ground, she moved her hands and an entire net, made out of her strings bounded Matero and dragged him along.
Matero plunged his sword into the stage to hold himself steady, Kelena also hung in mid air, suspended by strings attached to the net around Matero.
"We will go down together." Kelena was back to her smiling self. Matero's method had caught her off guard, an illusion. She might have been already killed if it was a matter of life and death.
"Give it up Kelena." Matero gave a sincere laugh, the strings had exceeded his expectations. "You are amazing, but I know your weakness." At this point, Matero released his aura for the first time.
"Release." Matero sent another wave of mental energy, this time he sent a stronger wave. With little resistance, Kelena let go of the strings and dropped to the ground. The net surrounding Matero also disappeared instantly.
The spectators cheered, the entire exchange was less that a minute. First Kelena had suddenly headed for the edges of the stage like a dummy, when she jolted awake, Matero was there to deliver the finishing blow. Another twist had occurred when Kelena suddenly held steadfast to Matero with her strings, everyone already anticipated a the but then Matero used his strange technique again. The sudden stare that itches the heart of nearby viewers and Kelena once again let go.
"Such a beautiful victory, such a beautiful matchup." A certain disciple cheered with tears in his eyes. For that stage, that was the c****x.
The Matches continued afterwards, the disciples of the imperial cultivation grounds kept on defeating all opponents. Another c****x occurred when Da sun requested that the nine at his stage come up at once. Including those he had defeated. He wanted to make a spectacle of them. Koi disagreed but Da sun went on with it anyway. Matero shook his head with disappointment, Da sun had always been arrogant. Too arrogant.
He won, he even did so in one move. He sent out a wide range attack that covered up the entire stage. The residue even reached other stages. At the third step of the second realm, a cultivator had the ability to attack through air and that was exactly what he did.
Majestically, Da sun stepped off the stage and took a seat from the fifteen prepared for the winners, he glanced coldly at every other disciple present and they couldn't even meet his gaze.
The events continued and soon, the fifteen seats were filled. All the five from the imperial academy(instituition) had secured a seat. Just like Kerepa predicted. Those who were disqualified began to leave, some instituitions couldn't secure any of the spots. The competition was fierce among the other institutions, only the imperial academy stood clearly above the others.
The next stage was about ranking the fifteen, the nation's lord himself would be present and a lot of top figures from the nation would also attend. They would represent the nation in an event ranked semi continental, but before this they had to have a captain. The ranking would be based on their level of individual battle power and after this they would receive pointers as a team from various masters.
The fifteen were already ranked, Da sun was first, followed by Titi, Haru was next, Matero was fourth and Kelena was ranked fifth. The event just gave the disciples chances to displace one another, it was a means to let them test out the strength of those ranked above them. The participants rested for the night and the next stage began just after dawn. Just one stage was used and the fifteen sat on chairs placed by the stage.
They awaited the nation's lord arrival and as soon as he did, the event began.
- Writer
