100 Chapter 99: Mad Tiger (1/2)

”Remember what I told you…”

”Yeah, yeah, I know.” I quickly interrupted Ban Zhang before he could finish his sentence. The guy had been repeating his reminder for what seemed like the hundredth time in two days. I appreciated his concern, but he was going overboard here.

Sighing, I glanced in the direction of the coliseum and tilted my head from one side to the other to ease my stiff neck muscles. Perhaps I had been doing too much training and preparation the day before, but I was sure it would be worth it.

After all, today was my match with Kuang Hu. Having fought him during the group stages, Ban Zhang was naturally worried about me. Fortunately, he had surrendered early when he realized he was hopelessly outmatched, but he knew I was a stubborn individual.

Well, nobody could be perfect. I was highly aware of my own flaws, but I embraced them along with the other aspects of my personality. If people didn't like who I was, they had to deal with it. I couldn't be bothered to change my personality now.

That said, Ban Zhang was still my friend and a little tact never hurt. So I smiled and nodded.

”Don't worry. If it gets too bad, I'll surrender. Though…” I grinned. ”I'll do my best to defeat him before it ever reaches that stage.”

”My, confident, aren't you?”

Tong Xue shook his head as he joined us. He shared my grin and nodded excitedly.

”Did you come up with some sort of plan last night?”

”Honestly? No.” I shrugged. ”My only plan is to do my best. To be frank, I'm already amazed that I got this far. I didn't think I would have beaten Wu Xing. Even if I lose in the round of 16, I think I've already achieved quite a feat by making it this far.”

At the very least, I had made it into the top 16 of the student rankings, which was an achievement anyone should be proud of. Of course, I had no complaints if I could go higher, but I wasn't unrealistic enough to request for such a miracule.

That said, it wasn't as if I had given up. I intended to do my best and see how far I could go against the very best of Wu Ling Academy. If I could win, that would be even better. Honestly, it annoyed me a little that Ban Zhang already thought I would lose, and I had heard from murmurs from my schoolmates that my odds of winning this match were low. It was only natural. Kuang Hu breezed through the group stages while I struggled against most of my opponents. The difference between our strengths were visible.

However, that only caused me to want to prove everyone wrong by defeating Kuang Hu. I would love to see their shocked expressions when I beat them. Just like a former Newcastle manager in the late 90s, I would love it if I beat him, love it.

”Have you forgotten your promise?”

I turned around, startled. Right behind me, Tang Qi Hong was glaring at me with her hands on her hips. As always, Lian Rou accompanied her.

”Uh…”

”I won't forgive you if you lose. You promised that you'll take revenge for me and defeat Bai Ning Xue, didn't you?” Tang Qi Hong drew closer, almost flaring up. ”How are you going to do that if you can't even defeat a small fry?”

”Hey, you do realize Kuang Hu isn't a small fry, right?” Tong Xue complained, but nobody was paying any attention to him.

”Y…yeah,” I told her. ”I'll do my best. I'll definitely defeat Kuang Hu and get into the next round so that I can kick Bai Ning Xue's ass.”

”Hmph. That's better. I won't forgive you if you lose.”

”Hey…” Ban Zhang cleared his throat. ”Um, I know how you feel, but even then Kuang Hu isn't someone you can take lightly. He'll not hesitate to kill you. Even among the delinquents in Wu Ling Academy, he's known for being utterly ruthless and merciless.”

”What else is new?” I muttered, remembering Qi Fu Ren. Funnily enough, he was also from the White Tiger Sect. with the exception of Bai Ning Xue (who was a girl), were the guys of the White Tiger Sect always brutal and violent?

”Just don't take any unnecessary risks, all right?” Ban Zhang reminded me. I sighed and nodded just to assure him.

Then I turned to Tang Qi Hong in concern. She looked normal, but I could see signs of red around her eyes.

”Are you all right?”

”Of course. Why wouldn't I be?”

”Well…to be honest, I thought you would be…uh, resting in your room today.”

Tang Qi Hong looked annoyed. ”It's your match today. Why would I do that? No matter how emotionally down I am, there's no way I would use that as an excuse to not come and support you, would I?”

I hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. Even though it might sound awkward to voice it out, but I appreciated Tang Qi Hong putting on a brave front, pushing aside her depression and issues, just so she could come cheer for me.

I was a really lucky guy.

”Thank you,” I responded instead. Tang Qi Hong colored a little, then gave me a little shove toward the direction of the coliseum.

”I…it's only natural! A…anyway, you should hurry up or you'll be late for your match! It would be stupid if you got disqualified for being late!”

Concealing a smile, I nodded and allowed her to push me toward the coliseum.

*

”So you came.”

Kuang Hu greeted me with what I could only describe as a feral smile when I stepped into the arena.

I shrugged. ”Would you have preferred if I didn't come?”

He snorted. ”Would have saved yourself some pain, and me a lot of time if you didn't.”

”Why?” I mocked, my tone dripping with sarcasm. ”Did you want an easy victory? I guess you'll want the other opponents to forfeit as well, so that you can win the tournament without having to work for it, am I right?”

Kuang Hu's eyes narrowed as he glared at me. I couldn't help but notice how predatory his gaze was. It reminded me of the Shadow Leopard I encountered in Sen Lin Forest all those years ago. He curled his claws…no, fingers, into a fist.

”Watch what you say, trash.”

I couldn't help but be a little astonished. I had thought that I had proven myself not to be trash so far, what with reaching the round of 16 in the tournament and receiving the acknowledgement of so many of my peers and teachers. I guess there would always be one or two outliers who would continue to be obsessed with my One Star Constitution or something.

”You're not fit to be my opponent.” There was a crunching sound as Kuang Hu grounded his fingers against his palm. ”I would have preferred to fight against someone like Zhu Jiao, or Feng Tian Yong.”

”Ah.” I shrugged in what I hoped was a nonchalant manner. ”You might get to fight them…if you succeed in defeating me first, that is. Otherwise…it sounds like you're just making excuses for when you lose.”

”You…!” Kuang Hu growled as his qi exploded. Before he could lunge at me, however, Teacher Cai's voice spoke out from the speaker embedded in the ceiling.

”The match hasn't begun yet, Kuang Hu,” he warned. ”Before I give the go-ahead, neither of you are allowed to attack each other. Is that understood?”

Kuang Hu spat and turned away with a snarl.

”I said, is that understood?”

”Yes, sir,” I replied. Kuang Hu turned to glare at me condescendingly before he raised his middle finger to the window.

”Understood.”

”Good.” Teacher Cai paused for a moment. ”Then are both of you ready to begin?”

”Right away!”

I nodded after Kuang Hu ground out his reply through gritted teeth. The guy was obviously just biting at the bit, impatient to begin after I had offended him. Taking a deep breath and furthering infuriating him with my slow response, I finally spoke up.

”Yeah.”

”Then you two may begin at any time.”

The moment Teacher Cai finished his sentence, Kuang Hu sprang at me. No formal introductions, no fancy ceremony. He was too eager to attack me as quickly as possible, to end this match in the first second.

”!”

I stepped back in reflex, sensing danger, but was unable to avoid. There was a silver flash, followed by a spurt of blood from my shoulder when Kuang Hu slashed me with something. Electric qi sparkled and flowed down my arm, trying to inhibit my movements, but I suppressed it with a surge of my pure qi.

”Hah!” Kuang Hu sneered. ”Not so tough, are you?”

”…”

I didn't have time to muster a retort. I kept my eyes on Kuang Hu, warily tracking his movements. Kuang Hu spun around deftly before dashing forward to slash me again. Even though I could follow his movements, my body was too slow to react.

Slash!

Grunting, I staggered back as a fresh wound was scored on my arm. Blood dripped down my wounded limb, but I shook it off and suppressed the bleeding with qi. Turning around frantically, I tried to spot Kuang Hu, but he kicked me from behind before slashing my back.

”?”

Kuang Hu frowned when he noticed something odd, but he continued to attack me. When I tried to straighten up, he slashed at my face. I dodged his lightning claws, but he then bounced up at a terrifying speed and kicked me in the chest, sending me flying back even though I managed to cross my arms and blocked his foot in time.

”Oof!”

I skidded to a stop, the wind knocked out of me. Kuang Hu's speed and power was truly terrifying. If this kept up…

Zap!

Lightning scored the ground, trailing the claws that Kuang Hu wore. While I managed to evade the lightning bolts, I wasn't able to dodge Kuang Hu's physical attack. He was too fast. More blood spurted into the air as he tore into me.

”Damn it…!”

Gritting my teeth, I kicked at him, but Kuang Hu bounced off the ground and neatly escaped my attack. He countered with another slash, before dashing away. Adopting a hit-and-run strategy, he came in from unexpected angles, often taking me by surprise, before bolting away to avoid any retaliation. Over the next few minutes, he repeated his maneuvers, literally bouncing all over the arena and ripping me apart with unbounded ease.

”Ha ha ha ha ha! So weak! So slow!”

Kuang Hu guffawed as he bounced away from my kick, before tearing a new wound open on my thigh. I stumbled as blood leaked from the cut.

Shallow…Kuang Hu's attacks were shallow and didn't have a lot of power behind them, but the volume of attacks he put out was astonishing. At this rate, even if I survived the current exchanges, I would evetually suffer from a death of a thousand paper cuts.

And Kuang Hu…he was just toying with me.

”Ha ha ha! What's the matter? Didn't you say you'll provide a challenge? In the end, you're just talk!”

Kuang Hu looked down on me from the ceiling before disappearing into a blur and slashing me again. I staggered and kicked at him, but he was already gone.

”Those weapons…”

I eyed him cautiously, especially those claws that jutted out from the gauntlets he wore around his hands. They crackled with intense electricity, the sharp multiple blades wreathed in a shimmering power field. Every time I received an attack, I suffered a tingling numbness that further slowed and debilitated my movements.

If I hadn't used my purified qi to suppress those annoying effects, I might have been incapacitated by now.

”Lightning Claws, aren't they?”

”What about them?” Kuang Hu sneered as he showed off his Lightning Claws. ”Just saying, but you can't have them.”

”Oh, I don't want them. I have these.” I gestured to my two swords, which I had yet to unsheathe. With Kuang Hu's speed, wielding two swords would be too slow against him. I couldn't afford to clumsily swing two extra weights about, not when he was already so much faster than I was. ”I'm just curious about your Lightning Claws. If I'm not mistaken, they're dependent on the user's strength, and allows you to re-roll wound rolls.”

”Huh?” Kuang Hu gaped at me momentarily, lost by the last part of my final sentence. ”What the fuck are you talking about?”

I smiled thinly. ”Sorry. Wrong timeline. This isn't the 41st millennium, after all. And you're not clad in power armor or terminator armor.”

”I asked you what the fuck you're talking about?!”

Kuang Hu slashed at me, a burst of electric discharge flaring between us and electrocuting me. While I jerked about in uncontrollable spasms, he whirled around and kicked me, hurling me across the coliseum. I crashed into a corner and lay there unmoving.

”Hmph. Nothing but trash. Of course you'll be spewing rubbish.”

”Sorry about that.”

I rose shakily to my feet and cracked my head from side to side. Kuang Hu stared at me, his jaw dropping from shock.

”You're still able to stand from that?!”

”I seem to be pretty tenacious.” I shrugged and then stared at him. ”What's the matter? You can't be done already, can you?”

”Fucker!”

With an enaged howl, Kuang Hu charged at me, his Lightning Claws glowing brightly with silver electricity.

I drew my swords and parried his Lightning Claws. Kuang Hu's eyes widened, but he pressed on, his Lightning Claws disappearing into blur.

Slash!

”Kuh!”