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Chapter 133

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fight continued far more aggressively than before. As his fist collided with my palm as I blocked strike after strike, powerful sounds filled the stadium. Compared to many of the previous battles that were either over in a flash or between two low levels, this was perhaps the most animated one yet. The spectators had been waiting for the top contestants to battle so they could finally see the most exciting fights. They had only seen the one, and their realm difference had caused it to end prematurely.  None one would have guessed earlier that the most exciting upcoming match would be between someone that thought to be a mortal and a city guard.

As for me, I was practicing using Shui’s constant stream of attacks to become better acquainted with my strength. I blocked or deflected each attack, but since his movements appeared slow in my mind, I was able to better predict and block him. Thus, to the outside observer, it appeared like I was predicting his moves, rather than moving faster. I also rarely applied force of my own, choosing to remain on the defensive.

However, the fight was lingering and my opponent was becoming increasingly desperate. I was just starting to think about the best way to defeat him when there was a sudden gleam in his eye. At that moment, he pulled out his sword. Mana rose in his hands and then flooded through his weapon. I could tell he was doing another technique, but this one involved his sword.

“Watch out!” Destiny cried out.

“Die!” A vicious expression appeared on his face as he slashed at me with his sword.

There were numerous cries and gasps. Like any crowd, there were those horrified by his actions and those who eagerly awaited the blood spill. My expression turned serious. I had treated him casually before, but since he wanted to take my life, I no longer would be nice. That was a code I had long since developed from being on the streets. I could tolerate quite a lot in the name of keeping the peace, but if someone wanted my life, all bets were off.

Of course, it’d still be bad if I killed this guy, but that didn’t mean I’d let him go without consequences. His sword strike forced me to move in a peculiar way to dodge it. However, I didn’t hesitate to do so. As his strike went passed me, I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“You asked for this.” I used the nail of my pinky and then gave him a long cut along the side of his neck, and then I stepped passed him.

My movements were extremely quick and fluid, and it just looked like he sliced me as I based by him. Those spectators who lacked the kinetic vision waited for my body to erupt with blood, yet such a thing didn’t happen. Shui also seemed shocked that he hadn’t struck me. He spun around and glared at me, however, just as he went to raise his blade again, he stopped and then reached for his neck.

When he pulled his hand away, the scratch I had given him had become infected. Black tendrils spread out from it. Of course, I had put my cells in his body, and  I was now allowing some of them to proliferate and attack his body from the inside.

“This…” Shui glared at me, but when he took a step forward, it was suddenly unsteady.

“He’s been poisoned!” Someone accurately guessed.

“You bastard! You’d dare poison my son!”

At that moment, I felt an attack incoming. I leaped back as a knife blade flew where my head had been. The blade was thrown with the intent to kill, and it came from someone quite a bit stronger than Shui. I narrowed my eyes.

“Shau!” The magistrate roared. “Contain yourself!”

An older man with a beard leaped onto the stage. He shot me a look, but the magistrate had come out too and conveniently placed himself between me and the older man. By this point, Shui had fallen to his knees, the black spreading out from his neck, giving him a slightly demonic appearance.

“Give me the antidote now!” Shau snarled while glaring at me.

“Do you think I have such a thing?” I asked innocently.

Shau slipped some medicine into Shui’s throat as he leveled a glare at me. “Good, good, consider yourself vicious. If my son doesn’t recover from this, you will never leave this city alive.”

I blinked. “I thought these fights allowed anything. Is poison not allowed?”

The magistrate gave a tight smile. “It isn’t strictly forbidden, but such a thing is looked down upon. Since you’re an assassin with a nonsense mutation, no one will fault you for doing what you must, but I’d suggest you not do it in any future matches.”

“I understand, I won’t.” I readily agreed.

I had chosen to deal with Shui in this way to reinforce the idea that I was descended from assassins. It seemed that everyone was readily accepting that answer.

“Brother, you worry too much.” Grandmaster Bai had finally paid attention to some of the commotion happening on stage. “You forget that I’m around. If I’m unable to find a cure for whatever poison this miscreant conjured up, then how could I call myself a grandmaster?”

“Grandmaster Bai.” Shau bowed before picking up his son. “I’ll have to leave my son in your care then.”

He shot me one last hateful stare before leaving the stage. He took a single step and disappeared. A moment later, Grandmaster Bai stood up, and for the first time, he gave me a serious look, although his eyes didn’t show any recognition, my disguise holding up to his scrutiny. He gave me a challenging look before heading away to care for Shui.

“He certainly has guts, I’ll give him that.” The woman sitting in Mara’s box commented.

A strange light had appeared in Abigail’s eyes as she paid closer attention for the first time. “Yes, he is rather interesting at that.”

“Brother won’t be defeated so easily.” Mara declared proudly.

“Hmph.” The other woman snorted. “He only won by depending on some vicious poison. You forget about Young Lord Capala. He’s already in the 4^th realm. He’ll be the one winning this competition. It looks like I’ll be calling you sister soon, cousin Abby.”

“Cousin Penny, the competition is still young,” Abigail responded. “Many factors could still come up changing the results.”

Although she said this, she had a slight crease in her brow, and the woman called Penny had a smug expression on her face as if victory was assured. As for me, it seemed to be the accepted opinion that I had only won due to depending on some kind of poison. Of course, this is what I wanted them to believe. I hadn’t used poison at all, but instead put my cells into his body. Since my cells carried the same sentience as the rest of my body, they were so easily defeated. At that moment, I hid some deep in his body, while allowing others to flare up. In truth, Shui’s life was in my hands the second I got some of those cells into him.

The next round began, and when my name came up, I was surprised my opponent conceded the match by not going up on stage. Listening to the whispers, there were some in the 2^nd realm wary that they wouldn’t be able to defeat me, but their primary apprehension was my use of poison. Not every evolutionist was a personal friend of Grandmaster Bai. If they were accidentally poisoned, they’d be no longer able to continue the match, and they’d have to pay for expensive treatments to be cured.

Many of the lone evolutionists couldn’t help but shoot me dirty looks. Thankfully, they left it at that. As unfair as it felt in their hearts, they knew this world was intrinsically unfair. If they wanted to blame me, they might as well also blame all the noble families who could afford better resources and had better genetics. Well, that didn’t mean a few wouldn’t target me after the match, but if things went well, they probably wouldn’t dare. After all, the top fighters were all recruited by their families. If I was recruited, then there would be no issue.

More and more competitions lead to someone conceding. It was already clear who was stronger and who was weak, and fights only commenced if both sides believed they could be the victor. Everyone else preferred to save their energy for the difficult battles, so the rounds went by quicker and quicker as both people lost their third match and people conceded.

Eventually, another powerful match appeared, instantly warranting everyone’s interest. The two were Brandon Capala and Jordan Stride. Jordan Stride had it pretty easy up until this point. He had faced a second realm which he easily defeated, and then everyone since had conceded. It appeared like his luck had finally reached the end. After all, Brandon Capala was the undisputed champion of the competition, having reached the 4^th realm at such a young age.

Jordan Stride still confidently strode on stage. Brandon Capala went up on stage as well. The two faced each other for a moment, and then Brandon Capala gave a bow.

“Since you treated my brother well, how could I treat you poorly?” He spoke, and then stepped down from the stage, immediately forfeiting the match.

Brandon didn’t even try to hide it. In exchange for his brother’s alchemy victory, he refused to fight Jordan Stride. In this case, it wouldn’t be Brandon who won Abigail’s hand, but Jordan Stride!