The spotlight fell from the ceiling and illuminated the arena with a brilliant glow.


    The martial arts stage was three meters tall, thirty meters wide and long, with stairs leading up to the tform. This time, the stage had the colors of all participating teams printed on the sides.


    At that moment, the crowd erupted into cheers and apuse as the referee of the match stepped up the stairs and walked to the center of the tform.


    He donned a gold uniform with ck stripes and a whistle around his neck. On his shoulders and on his back, there was an emblem of a fist held high in victory.


    "Wee everyone to the annual Irio''s Representation Tournament." The man said it with a pleasant-sounding voice. "My name''s Rio Harrison, and I am a representative of the WMAF—World Martial Arts Federation."


    "As representative of WMAF, I hereby announce the legitimacy of this representation tournament. The winner of this match will represent Irio in the uing New Rakuya''s National Martial Arts Tournament, High School Division."


    The crowd pped, which resembled the sound of a thunderp.


    "Without further ado, in the home corner, Irio High!" Rio shouted loudly and pointed his hand towards the home team''s corner.


    The spotlight moved from the tform to illuminate one of the entrances. The door opened, and amidst loud cheers, Irio High''s team entered the arena, led by their coach, Madigan.


    Madigan had slicklybed-back ck hair with a ck beard to match. He wore a navy blue suit with a white shirt and red tie, looking every bit the part of a seasoned coach.


    Behind him, the three main fighters followed closely behind. The reserve fighters, Jonathan Ackers and a quiet-looking young man, walked behind them all.


    They took their spots on the benches beside the tform. It allowed them to get the best view of the arena.


    The Irio High team wore a yellow martial arts uniform. It consisted of tight t-shirt with yellow shorts with ck stripes on the side. It symbolized the sun and the dawning mornings.


    "And now, on the away corner, Karuza High!" Rio proudly announced.


    The door swung open, and the team, wearing a beautiful white uniform with ck flower patterns, stepped into the arena. They were led by coach Jin, who had abandoned his tracksuit and was now wearing a proper suit.


    This wasn''t just an ordinary practice match where he could wear whatever he wanted. This was an official match, with honor and pride on the line. Everyone had to show their best behavior.


    While they were walking, they were showered with apuse, but then the booing from Irio High''s fans drowned it all out. It was a battle of cheers and boos.


    They took their seats on the opposite side of Irio High. They only brought their towels, some cloth to wrap their fists with, and water bottles. Their coach also had some medicine if they desperately needed it.


    On therge screen in the stadium, both teams''s main fighters were shown—it showed their age, known martial arts rank, and their school.


    To many Irio High fans surprise, there was a first-year on Karuza High''s team. They snickered and mocked them, thinking that Karuza High didn''t have anyone better to send.


    "It''s your son!" Lukeughed and patted his friend''s, Karma''s, shoulder. "Not bad. Did you perhaps teach him your specialty?"


    "No, I didn''t…" Karma shook his head. "I didn''t teach him my martial arts."


    "Eh, why?" Luke asked in a surprise.


    "My martial arts are dead-end." Karma said with a sigh.


    "Mm…" Luke looked at his friend sympathetically.


    In the arena, Rio blew his whistle and shouted. "Irio High and Karuza High, choose your fighters!"


    "Mhm." Leon stood up and cracked his neck with a smile on his face. "I wonder who''ll be my opponent~"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Good luck, Leon." Jonathan cheered him on with a nervous look. ''Is he going to face Kiernan? I have a bad feeling about him…''


    "You can do it, Leon~" Shura excitedly pped her hands.


    Kang sat with his muscr arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked as serious as ever. It was almost like he was allergic to smiling.


    Leon was immediately bathed in loud apuse and cheers. He waved his hand with a smile and slowly stepped up to the tform.


    On the other side of the tform, Nath took a sip of the water, closed the cork, and then slowly stood up.


    "Good luck," Ryan said simply.


    "You can do it." us said with a stern nod.


    Timothy nudged his sses and also nodded. He didn''t need to say anything, and Nath was still able to understand him.


    "Your opponent is Leon; be careful of his y''know what." Jin said and patted Nath on the shoulder.


    "Yeah, I got this." Nath cracked his knuckles and, with a smile, stepped up to the tform.


    Karuza High''s fans started banging against drums and started ying trumpets. This time, they managed to drown out all the loud boos.


    As soon as Nath stepped onto the tform, Leon''s eyebrows rose. "Oho, I didn''t expect to fight you."


    "Haha, sorry to disappoint you." Nath said with a grin. "I am Karuza High''s vanguard this time around."


    Madigan stood with a serious look on his face. He looked past the tform towards Karuza High''s team—or more closely at their newest addition, Kiernan.


    ''Hmm…'' Madigan frowned. ''Bernard said that his defense is strong and that he easily defeated Dominic, a former eighth-ranked student from Karuza High.


    ''Still, is that all? Are they nning to use Nathaniel and Ryan to do as much damage to our fighters as possible so it will be easy for Kiernan to defeat the leftovers?


    ''Unfortunately, that won''t help. They cannot defeat Kang.''


    Leon and Nath moved to their fighting stances. Their stances were visibly different. Leon didn''t clench his hands into a fist; instead, they were open as if he were preparing to p.


    Nath, on the other hand, had his hands as if they were mantis'' raptorial ws. It was a unique and quite strange stance.


    ''Karuza High''s n is to defeat me, and then Nathaniel''s job is to damage Shura as much as possible.'' Leon thought with a scoff. ''They underestimate me—I''ll wreck that n.''


    "Ready?" Rio pointed at Leon, who nodded, and then pointed at Nath. "Ready?"


    Nath nodded as well.


    "The match between Karuza High and Irio High..." Rio raised his arm high and then swung it down like a whip. "HAS NOW STARTED!"


    Nath and Leonunched forward like missiles. They met each other in the center of the arena and shed with their attacks. Leon''s p and Nath''s fist smashed against each other.


    On Karuza High''s seats, Kiernan watched the fight unfold with a keen eye. But, at that moment, a strange sound echoed throughout his ear.


    Ding, ding.


    ''Huh?''


    ***


    [Quest Has Activated!]


    [Quest]


    [Rank: D]


    [Mission: Defeat Irio High]


    [Desciption: Be thest team standing. Defeat Irio High and be Irio''s representative for the uing National Martial Arts Tournament]


    [Time limit: 1 day]


    [Reward: Iron Style Pill]


    [Penalty: -10 Charm]


    ***


    ''A quest?'' Kiernan''s eyes widened in surprise. ''Right, I forgot there was a quest tab in the system interface. I just didn''t expect them toe so suddenly.


    ''Reward is an Iron Style Pill; what does that mean?''


    He pressed on it, and surprisingly, a description window popped out.


    [Iron Style Pill: You''re able to use your Iron Style for one whole minute after consuming the pill without hurting yourself. It is one-time use!]


    ''Amazing…'' Kiernan''s lips curled into a smile. ''One minute is more than enough to defeat most opponents that stand in my way. But that penalty is quite odd. I lose 10 charm? Since I have 8 charm currently, it would go on negatives…''