"How could he..." Elder Evan was at a loss for words as confusion engulfed him. Jaws dropped for everyone in the arena because none of them had expected the result of the combat.
As a warrior at the seventh grade of Blood Purification, Ricky defeated Hector with a landslide victory. His win validated his strength and power to the eyes of the disciples. And this only proved that The Misty South Faction was a force to be reckoned with and that his goals were achieved.
Given his current victory, he did not need to complete one more challenge. He was already done.
But, Ricky, being himself, being one of the legends in the history of martial arts, decided to take on more challenges. Not only did he choose to accept more fights, but he also chose to battle the top one and top two of the inner disciples at the same time. As the battle went on to two against one, Ricky could prove his strength and his worth not only to the audience in the arena, but also to the entire marital arts community.
Generally speaking, if one, being at the seventh grade of Blood Purification, could defeat someone at the ninth grade of Blood Purification, then surely he would be renowned as a genius in the martial arts. And now, Ricky did not stop at merely defeating Hector. The insatiable thirst for more victories truly made him try to defeat two at once and those new opponents were both senior warriors at the ninth grade of Blood Purification, two grades above him. In those eyes of spectators, he must have been either wildly arrogant or completely insane.
This was the way Ricky's brain was wired. He was vengeful. He would take down anyone who oppressed and look down on the Misty South Faction. To him, it was not enough that he got to keep his faction. To him, it was a must to knock all the enemies down.
But after Ricky made his announcement of who he was about to challenge, the audience gasped and stared at Gennadi and Wyn, the top one and top two respectively. All eyes were on them as the disciples awaited the warriors' response to the invitation.
The top two inner disciples were shocked at the challenge. They never knew that Ricky could be so arrogant. They never expected Ricky to have that much greed and anger towards them for once opposing the Misty South Faction. To them, Ricky was crazy for revenge and dominance.
Both Gennadi and Wyn were irritated by Ricky's condescending action. It made them envious on Ricky's journey to power and improvement that he could already match theirs. How could he reach that strength in such a short period of time? It also made them feel that they were underestimated by such an obnoxious warrior. How could a seventh grade of Blood Purification warrior beat two warriors both two grades above him at the same time? He must be dreaming!
"So? Do you accept the challenge or not? Give me an answer!" Ricky asked once again, impatiently.
"Ricky, you are too arrogant! We are certainly going to accept your challenge to make you know yourself better. But today, we don't need to have a fight against you as you have consumed too much energy with your previous fights. At this time tomorrow, it is I, Gennadi, who will fight till you know why I am regarded as the best among others,"
Gennadi replied coldly with a killing intent.
"Ha-ha! Sure, since you are offering me an one-day break, I won't reject it. See you at this time tomorrow!" Ricky said while he let out a laugh.
Ricky was sure of Gennadi's intention to move the fight for one more day. He was aware that Gennadi would take advantage of this break to talk to Hector in private so that he would know what kind of power Ricky was capable of.
After all, it was quite bizarre that it was unclear what had defeated Hector. Even if Ricky's power was over the top, surely, Hector possessed that as well. If they were at the same level, clearly Hector could have fought longer. He could not possibly be defeated in just one blow.
This only meant one thing-- whatever Ricky did to attack Hector was so powerful and so instantaneous that Hector did not have any time to counter or even react. It was a quick and powerful blow, a clear-cut win.
"Tomorrow, I assure you, would be the final fight!" Gennadi said fiercely.
"Oh yes, I am going to challenge your mixed dual strengths. Don't forget to bring Wyn along. I want both of you to come, not just you. See you at this time tomorrow," Ricky added as he walked off the arena.
"Wildly arrogant! Conceited!" shouted the members of the Casting Faction and the Refinement Faction as they watched Ricky's figure fading into the background.
Ricky and the other members of the Misty South Faction all left with smug faces. Others followed suit while discussing what could happen in tomorrow's big fight.
......
Meanwhile, in a small room in the Refinement Faction's courtyard, Hector had just woken up from his coma. The truth was, he never passed out during the his battle with Ricky. The whole fainting thing was just a sham because he was too ashamed of himself for being defeated by someone inferior to him.
He opened his eyes and saw that Gennadi and Wyn were inside his room. They sat with him and waited for him to wake up. They have a lot of questions prepared for him as they tried to scoop out all the information they need for tomorrow's battle with Ricky. There was no other person to ask but Hector, since he was the one who got the beating.
"Oh, my dear seniors, I'm sorry that I lost the battle and brought shame to Casting Faction and Refinement Faction today. I feel so humiliated," Hector said heavily, with eyes full of remorse and anger. He felt more than just embarrassment from his defeat. He wanted to tear Ricky to the ground for what had happened. His eyes filled with tears as he said his apologies to his masters.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Born Almighty Warrior