"Everyone except for the fighters in the first match, please go sit on the waiting benches!" Makadi instructed.
The participants moved to the side of the arena where some benches had been prepared, leaving four people in the arena. Four Winds, Jack, Kisasi Thickskull, and Piza Thickskull. They formed two pairs and faced each other.
The crowd in the spectator seats cheered and booed. The boos were mostly done by natives aimed at the pair of outworlders in the arena.
"You two outworlders are just wasting our time. Just surrender so we can get to the real fight!"
"Why are outworlders even allowed in this tourney? Something must have gone wrong with the selection process."
"Most likely the selection judges were bribed. Outworlders are known to make coins by killing wilderness monsters. They must have used those coins to bribe."
"Their levels are so low, why are they even here?!"
Phithion and the other players on the waiting benches were agitated due to this mocking, but Jack and Four Winds who stood in the arena acted like they didn't hear a thing.
The crowd's babbles became so loud that the guards had to order them to be quiet.
After the commotion diminished to murmurs, Makadi announced, "The time limit is one hour. If both sides still have people standing, the winner will be decided by the number of surviving members and the amount of their HPs."
'Amount of HP? Isn't that too favoring the natives?' Jack thought, but he didn't voice any complaints.
"Are you four ready?" Makadi asked.
Jack turned to Four Winds. "Which one do you want to fight?" He asked.
"The leader, of course," Four Winds answered.
"Are you sure? She is ten levels above you."
"Hmph. Worry about yourselves. You are handicapped, remember?"
"How about we do a bet?" Jack asked.
"What bet?"
"The one who defeats his opponent last pays 1,000 mana cores," Jack said.
"That's quite a sum of mana cores... Fine. Let's bet."
"Hehe."
"I said, are you ready?!" Makadi uttered. He couldn't believe these outworlders were chatting so casually here.
Kisasi and Piza had dark faces. Jack and Four Winds were talking in the open. They spoke as if it was a certain thing these outworlders defeat them, even betting about who can do the deed faster than the others. Kisasi and Piza gritted their teeth. The sounds their teeth produced were clear for everyone to hear.
"Ready," Jack said. Four Winds nodded. Kisasi and Piza stomped their feet and grunted. They couldn't wait to beat these cocky outworlders who didn't know their limits.
"Then fight!" Makadi declared the beginning of the match. A gong was heard at the same time Makadi gave the declaration.
Both Kisasi and Piza rushed forward once the signal was given.
Four Winds' frame grew staggeringly large. He had activated his Unique-grade Titan bloodline's first skill, Titan Strength. He then used Jump Assault.
His jump instantly brought him before Kisasi who was rushing at him. Kisasi wielded twin cleavers. She was surprised that this lower-level outworlder dared to meet her in a direct confrontation, but she was not backing down.
She swung her cleavers using Power Strike. Her twin cleavers met Four Wind's twin axes, producing loud impact sounds. The two were both thrown back from the impact.
Kisasi was greatly shocked by the result of the impact because she had been forced back three steps while Four Winds retreated only two steps. This showed that despite her being ten levels higher, Four Winds' strength was above hers.
Four Winds didn't find this surprising, though. Even though Kisasi was ten levels higher, she was only a special elite grade. Four Winds could already contend against a rare elite. Not to mention his Barbarian King special class greatly improved his Strength attribute. He had gotten this special class a short time after the invasion war ended and leveled up a few times since then.
His Titan Strength also increased his strength stat by a percentage. This meant the higher his base stat was, the higher the boost when he used this bloodline skill.
Four Winds grinned after seeing the result. He was extremely satisfied with the outcome. Kisasi, who saw the grin, again had her anger stoked. She was about to lunge forward but stopped when she saw a change in Four Wind's body.
Crimson tattoos filled Four Wind's titan-augmented towering frame. If Kisasi lost in terms of strength before Four Winds used his enhanced berserk, what more of now?
Four Winds used his martial art. Infinite starlight soon filled Kisasi's vision.
*
On the other side, Jack simply stood unmoving while Piza rushed at him. Piza appeared to be a battle monk type since he didn't carry any weapon. His gloves had metal plates covering his knuckles' parts.
When he came into a ten-meter distance from Jack, his body suddenly shot forward. His fist punched and created a meteor-like shockwave.
Jack still didn't move. Everyone thought he was probably too slow or too scared to react. When everyone expected Jack to be blown away by Piza's fist, Jack lifted his left hand and caught Piza's charging fist. The visual of the meteor shockwave fizzled as Piza's charge was stopped dead in its tracks.
The murmuring crowd suddenly turned silent from the scene. Both Piza and Jack stood there unmoving. Piza was too shocked to find his punch being stopped by such a simple act.
The fact was Jack's three classes' attributes, which two classes had leveled up with special classes' bonuses for quite some time, could be said to have surpassed a rare elite of the same level even without using any buff skills.
If he used beast form, he could almost rival a mythical being's stats. Hence, when it came to a contest of strength against a rare elite who was lower level than him, it was no longer a challenge.
Piza was still processing this bizarre incident when Jack activated Strength of the Wild. Jack's right hand shot forward with incredible speed. Jack's claw weapon sunk deep into Piza's stomach. At the same time, Piza's body bent backward from the force of the blow.
