"I know... I know... the tension can be tasted as the heat takes over the stage, man... did we have heated matches from the start! You people can"t wait for the matches to continue, am I right?"

The announcer looked around as the audience began cheering and chanting for more.

"Well then... let"s keep the momentum going! Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado... I present to you the victors of the first two fights in Group A."

The announcer bowed down, quickly making a leave towards his centered seat, giving him the best view of the fight.

A woman as white as a snow stepped on stage.

Her hair was long like silk, covering her eyes.

Black as ink she brushed through her hair,

revealing a color so dark, one could think it was black, yet when our eyes met, a deep purple could be seen.

On the other side of the stage, a man with pointy ears made his entrance. Loving the crowd he got full of himself bowing down hoping to win the hearts of the audience. His long blond hair fell over his head as he bowed down. As he slowly rose his head,

he revealed eyes as deep as the forests, darker than shadows... dancing in the wind as their color emerged. Green as gra.s.s.

The man had eyebrows so long they could hit the tip of his ears. As he arose, slowly tilting his head to the side, annoyed by the presence of his opponent,

The gong sounded signaling the beginning of round two.

The man fell over, quickly using the momentum to rush towards his opponent. But the woman had other plans... she elegantly threw herself backward allowing her to dodge the man"s blind approach.

In the instant she dodged she supported her body with both hands, quickly striking upwards with both legs, locking her opponents head between her thighs and slamming him to the ground.

The man, unable to react looked like he accepted his faith as she got thrown to the ground. Thinking it was over the woman stood up, as she loosened her grip on his head. When suddenly the man grabbed the woman by her Achilles heel. Making her fall to the ground. Shocked she was unable to react as her body crashed into the ground.

Gasping for air, she tried to retaliate... but couldn"t.

The man slowly approached the center of the stage where she was laying. Taking his time he looked down. The announcer began to count when suddenly the man slammed his foot straight into her gut...

Now unable to even stand, the announcer began counting down.

"5...

4...

3...

2..."

Just before the countdown ended the woman stood up, slowly standing her ground and nodding that she could go on.

As the match continued the gruesome nature of the pointy-eared man came to light.

"You should have stayed down, woman.

Now you will know true pain!"

The man smiled an ominous smile as he rushed towards her. Closing in the prepared to strike, but just before he could reach the woman jumped in front of him with unbelievable speed.

The moment she stood in front of the man her eyes shifted from normal to narrow sharp lizard-like eyes.

At the back of her head horns began to form as sharp spikes grew out of her elbows.

"Hisss... You think... you can keep up? Go ahead and try..."

The woman turned around as a huge and long-tail slammed into the man, grabbing him and throwing him out with full force.

"Contest and A4 out of bounds, contestant A2 is the winner!!"

As the woman bowed down and looked around the audience, I could have sworn I saw her tongue slit in and out in an instant.

She waved her black hair back and made way for the next contestants. As she walked off stage she noticed Geo catching a glimpse and playfully winked at him.

As the matches progressed it soon became time for Geo to take center stage. As he arrived first he awaited his opponent. A young brown-haired man with bright eyes, burning with pa.s.sion took the stage.

He bowed towards Geo to show his respect.

But when the gong rang he instantly jumped back, cautious of what might happen. The young man took on a defensive stance as he baited Geo into attacking him.

Knowing it could be a trap Geo quickly jumped, using the momentum to slide underneath the young man.

The young man saw this coming and slammed down his foot as he tried to retaliate.

Using the momentum of his movement Geo grabbed the young man"s foot and pulled him to the ground on equal terms. There Geo raised himself on top of the man in one flowing movement allowing him to lock his head between his arms, while at the same time locking the young man"s leg with both his legs, making him unable to retaliate or react to these movements whom no one had ever seen before.

The announcer began counting down. As he simultaneously slammed down on the stage.

"1..., 2..., 3..., 4..., 5... you"re out!!! Geo is the winner!!

This concludes round 2 of group A, congratulations young one, if you will please take a seat back in the waiting room, we will resume with group B."

Alessia quickly walked towards the stage knowing she had to kick off the first match of group B.

On the other side, a girl with cat ears took the stage.

Her tail playfully sweeping from left to right as she waved to the audience.

When their eyes met a spark of compet.i.tion shot between them. As the Gong rang signaling the start of the match their hands quickly locked into one another.

"h.e.l.lo, little one... are you here to play?"

Alessia said pushing her back towards the edge of the ring.

"Not really... Mia is here to win for her family-nyan.

So Mia has to do her best for the games!!"

Giving Alessia a run for her money, Mia stopped her in her tracks, quickly jumping away and kicking her towards the edge. Alessia tripped falling. Almost falling off the stage. She tried with all her might to push herself back as she was hanging on for dear life. As she had not yet touched the ground outside the ring, the match was still going strong.

Slowly she climbed her way up to the stage and lay down on stage, quickly grasping for air and jumping towards the center.

"We all have our reasons, don"t expect me to show any mercy now that you shared your goal with me.

I want to challenge myself in finding a worthy man who can fight by my side. So I won"t give this up for anyone other than myself."

The catgirl jumped towards Alessia as she tried to push her off once more. But before she could reach her the girl got kicked up into the air.

"You think I would fall for the same trick twice? You disappoint me girl, try to find a man who can take care of you after this."

The moment the momentum made her drop-down, Alessia jumped up towards the girl grabbing her and throwing her out.

"Out of bounds! Winner Group B round 2 is Alessia Scarlet!!"

As she left the stage others quickly finished their matches making room for Group C.

Group C quickly moved through their matches allowing Raiden to stand on stage. Arriving he found out that his opponent was raring to go. A very broad man with scars on his chest slammed his fists together. Looking closer it became clear the man had scars all over, even covering his eyes.

"What could have happened to the man? Wel...

No time to worry about others, I have to win this."

Raiden slammed his hands together and loosened his neck. A smirk formed as he was unable to contain his excitement. As both took on their stances the gong signaled the beginning of the match.

Raiden instantly closed in on the blind man,

But the peculiar thing was the fact that the man hadn"t moved an inch. Yet... there were no openings.

Unsure of what to do, Raiden became cautious.

Wanting to know how the man would react and the range of his moves, Raiden decided to swiftly brush past his head with his foot.

But before his foot connected with the man"s head the man ducked down dodging his attack and instantly closed in with a grappling move.

Slamming Raiden to the ground.

The man laughed loudly.

"Hahaha... though I didn"t see that coming? Boy... who"s still wet behind the ears. Let me tell you,

I got these scars fighting Chimera Bears.

The most ferocious of bears in the capital.

I honed my senses, which is why I learned to fight without my eyesight."

Overjoyed Raiden answered back.

"Amazing!!! So you earned those scars going head to head with life-threatening creatures? That"s truly amazing!! Oldtimer, you have earned my respect.

Now... prepare for a serious pummeling!"

Raiden steps in with gentle and silent movements, making it unable for the man to perceive where his opponent might be.

To counter this, the man inhaled the air around him deeply, creating an arc around him with the flawed and gentle movement of his arms.

"You"ll soon know what I"m capable of the boy!!"

The old man said while gently exhaling the build-up air from inside.

Raiden swiftly tried to connect a blow to the old man"s liver, but soon found that it got parried just as swiftly. The man wasn"t joking in the slightest. He was powerful. Even so much that he began overpowering the young man.

Raiden tried to land strike after strike as his fists began flying more rapidly towards the old man, increasing his speed and trajectory he turned around the man, knowing this should land a blow.

After a flurry of blows dust whirled up blurring the vision of the contestants and spectators making it unable to see what was happening.

Raiden became out of breath as he gasped for air, hoping he at least did some damage he lowered his fists smirking as if victory was at hand.

He lowered his fists with a long silent exhale as he couldn"t go on anymore. The taste of victory was close, was he able to win?

Raiden collected his thoughts as the dust cloud began fading... at the other side of the stage, a silhouette became visible. As realization slowly crept in Raiden stood there shocked in disbelieve.

The man... the old man which he was certain to have hit multiple times, so many times that victory was inside his grasp...

Yet... now... all seemed a lie, the man sat on the edge of the stage, cross-legged taking his time as if nothing had happened. The man slowly opened his eyes, revealing dark empty sockets a void that led to nowhere.

Shocked by disgust Raiden backed away as fear rushed over him. Dread quickly froze him in place as Raiden realized the sockets weren"t empty at all!

"What... The... h.e.l.l...?!"

Raiden screamed, unable to grasp what he saw.

As it all became too much Raiden"s eyes began rolling backward. The shock had proven to be too much as strength slowly faded from his legs.

The man laughed revealing a huge and crooked smile. What Raiden made him lose it completely was the fact that the old man seemed to not have one but three wide grins. The sockets who seemed to be empty had sharp fangs inside.

The man now laughing out of pure amus.e.m.e.nt slammed his belly. "Hoho... Hahaha...!!

The young man sure has never seen creatures like us, has he?"

The man cracked his neck widely.

*crack, crack*

The man pumped up his muscles and made a swift step towards his opponent instantly closing the distance. With a kind smile, the man came eerily close to Raiden. Whispering something in his ear only he could hear.

Terror had completely taken over Raidens mind.the man gently slapped and held his shoulders with his hands. Opening his eyes once more...

The black void behind the teeth revealed an even darker purple center as the old man"s eyes took shape.

"Boy, do yourself a favor and forfeit this fight...

You have a bright future, don"t throw it away by fighting me. Let me liberate you, my child."

Killing intent rushed through Raiden as the man then proceeded to gently let Raiden down the arena making him lose the battle.

Still, in shock, Raiden was unable to move,

unable to think... Draven rushed to his aid.

As he held Raiden is his hands Raiden barely could only utter a few last words.

"No...no, more... The... Emptiness... Nothingness... is... coming."

The medics quickly rushed to Raiden"s aid as he collapsed shortly after. Postponing the match of Group D for a while.

As the announcer got clear that Raiden was recovering steadily we all continued the matches.

As the matches steadily progressed Yami"s turn came once more. Getting pumped and ready for her match she quickly took the stage. On the other side, a familiar face took the stage.

It was Kai! One of her fellow tribe members. Kai always had processing talents as he had to take over the role of tribe leader one day. His black short hair accentuated with his grey-white ears, his light and dark blue eyes gave off the feeling that he had matured at an early age.

Kai took on his stance without a word towards Yami.

Maybe he didn"t recognize her as she had changed a lot recently? Yami did the same even though she found it odd that he didn"t recognize her.

The gong ran as both leaped towards each other.

Strike after strike got parried, blocked, countered or dodged proofing to be an even match up.

Finally, their hands locked into one another allowing a small window to breath. Both looked at each other straight in the eyes when Kai realized not by appearance but by the sweet fragrance of her hair who he was fighting.

He lowered his guard for a small moment during the doubt that was visible on his face.

"Yami... is that you?"

Yami her ears raised upwards in the surprise of Kai"s reaction. Now as both lowered their guards something beautiful happened on stage.

"Yes, Kai... It"s me!"

"Where have you been al this time Yami? I thought the group got defeated, none had returned. I thought I had lost you!"

Both closed each other"s arms in a warm embrace.

"Don"t forget why we are here Kai if we win we get the chance to become even stronger! Isn"t that what the tribe set us out to do? Find strong allies or even return stronger than before?"

Kai looked kind of disappointed by her rather cold response.

"When this is all over, will you still join my side as my partner? We have been engaged since the ritual you see."

"I don"t know what"s right anymore Kai.

The leader of our pack appeared to only think about himself with his evil ways, almost sacrificing his whole unit. I am free to do what I want now and I even found a master who can take care of me."

She quickly glanced towards Michael as she finished her sentence.

"Who? That puny human child?! For real?

I bet he isn"t even strong enough to take care of you as I did back at home."

Kai said becoming frustrated.

"Don"t you dare disrespect my master, Kai,

he is the one who singlehandedly defeated Garou,

your older brother!"

Now overtaken by rage Kai didn"t know what to do anymore. He began snarling as the news about his brother became too much to bear.

The frustration completely took over his mind.

Making his attack in a blind rage.

Yami dodged continuing her story.

"Look at you, you would be a future leader and my soon to be husband? Pathetic... Michael is way better than both of you could ever be... if I win... you"ll leave me alone forever!!"

Soon after they clashed with their claws and legs sticking as hard and fast as they could. In terms of speed, Yami had the upper hand, but in terms of raw strength, Kai was worlds apart from her.

She needed to play this out strategically.

Seeing as his rage had completely taken him over he didn"t care about his stance or footing for that matter, leaving huge openings as he made wide swings and jabs at her. Slowly backing away, dodging and blocking his attacks Yami closed in on the edge of the stage, leaving no room to dodge anymore.

Kai smiled.

"Victory will be sweet, my father will be proud!!"

Kai revealed his claws as he was going in for the kill, he struck upwards wanting to land a devastating blow to the chin but missed as Yami quickly duck down. This left his entire body open, allowing Yami to quickly strike his liver and sweep him off his feet as he collapsed off the stage. Kai fell to the ground defeated.

Unable to deal with his frustration he quickly ran away never to be seen.

As the last matches of the group continued Ethan"s turn finally arrived. Nervously he tried to collect his thoughts. Knowing how the magic crystal system works, that could help him create rare and unique sources of energy. Being one of the top students of the Magic Guild he received a few Crystals to test out.

Now as the tournament allows magic he should be able to summon the essence and test his creations.

As he stepped on stage a young girl got thrown up to the field by a group of shady people, the girl had peculiar long blond curly hair. Chains covered her ankles, wrists, and neck as a horn grew out of the right side of her forehead.

She looked at Ethan piercing straight through his soul with eyes red as blood. What was most peculiar was the fact that she was wearing a rug as clothes. Completely worn out she struggled to stand up.

The girl sat down as the gong sounded loud.

Ethan confused by the situation proceeded with caution. Grabbing the crystals from his wrist he commanded shards of ice towards the little girl.

She quickly closed her eyes in fear as she screamed for her life. Ethan could hear the agony inside her voice as the shards closed in on her.

Scared she curled up into a ball, unable to react against the shards now only inches away.

The little girl couldn"t handle the stress as she fell on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

She averted her look towards the shards and raised her hand towards them. Instantly breaking them out of nowhere. Ethan tried attacking her from the sides, yet it resulted in the same situation. Determined to free the girl from her chains Ethan calmly approached the girl. Who was now crying in disbelief?

Closing in ever so slightly the girl felt threatened by Ethan"s presence.

"No! Don"t come to me... I"ll only hurt you!"

Ethan didn"t listen to the girl as he was only steps away. Just when he was close enough to break the chains the girl slammed into the ground creating a small crater and shockwave as it sends Ethan flying.

He had to act quickly if he wanted to stay in the race. Quick thinking resulted in him breaking one of the crystals as instantly a wall of ice prevented him from falling off the stage.

As if second nature Ethan summoned Ice to trap the girl in allowing him to close the distance between them.

Now able to take a closer look Ethan was shocked.

"How could they do this to you, a young girl!"

On closer inspection, the horn on her head appeared to be made of pure mana essence. Which had rooted deep within her being?

Shocked Ethan quickly broke her chains and slammed the girl unconscious resulting in his win.

The matches of Group D had ended, Group E finally got ready to battle.

Allowing me to take center stage. As I took the stage a familiar face showed itself. It was Ragnee.

Seeing as Ragnee was from the a.s.sasins a.s.sociation she joined the tournament trying to find recruits.

Knowing this I had to give it my all if it would mean being scouted. I readied my stance as she did the same lowering her upper body while straightening both arms outwards.

"Show me what we"ve seen in the last challenge pretty boy. Show me you"re worthy of our knowledge."

Ragnee said just before the gong rang.

She instantly closed in on me, catching me off guard, pushing me backwards as I tried to find my footing.

She silently stood there in the middle of the stage, when suddenly she covered the distance in an instant.

Snapping me out of confusion I was able to block her strike and counter pushing her back to the outer ring of the stage. Back on equal footing now the match had begun. Cautious of what tricks she had to back her up I closed in keeping my guard up.

Ragnee smiled and jumped over me landing inches away behind me. Turning around she grabbed my shoulders from underneath my arms, putting me in a deadlock.

"Now... what are you gonna, Michael?"

She asked teasing me. Her body clung onto mine as if we became one. She tried to make me slip. But I had a strong foundation. Then suddenly she pressed her chest against me hoping to throw me over her back. In that blissful moment, I almost forgot that we were in the middle of a fight. Thankfully she couldn"t lift me, which made her let go of me.

I then proceeded to jump to the other side, creating some distance between us. As I turned all red I had to collect my thoughts. Ragnee noticed I wasn"t myself and put one and one together.

She realized she had another weapon but didn"t want to rely on it too much. She rushed in trying to use this opportunity to push me off stage.

I was caught off guard and slipped as I slammed into the ground. Unfortunately for Ragnee, I didn"t fall off the stage, yet she had fallen on top of me.

"Fool! Get off of me... can"t you see this is a fight?"

Fl.u.s.tered Ragnee jumped up as she got annoyed by the situation. Realizing she never had an experience like this and that she was a rather shy girl I thought to myself she was rather cute during all of this.

Standing up I made a statement.

"You, Ragnee... will become mine if I win this tournament! Mark my words!!"

Knowing she didn"t know how to react I took this opportunity to rush towards her as she became all fl.u.s.tered.

"W-what are you s-saying during the middle of the match?!"

Ragnee tried to react to my attack but couldn"t as her shyness got the better of her.

Grabbing her waist and throwing her to the ground.

I then proceeded to grab both her feet and spin her around to create enough momentum to throw her out of the ring.

Finishing the fight with a final sentence;

"Think about it girl, wouldn"t be too bad getting to know me, right? Well... I"m off. Have to win this if I want to succeed in it all haha."

I winked and waved goodbye with two fingers leaving the stage so that Group E could finish and Group F could get ready.

After all the fights in Group E, the fights steadily continued in Group F when it finally became time for the promising lad of the a.s.sasins Guild to take the stage.

Gideon didn"t leave an opening instantly finishing the match with a counter to fast to see with the naked eye.

The matches continued until lastly, it was Draven"s turn to stand on stage.

One of the men who was with the girl in shackles stood in front of him a.s.suring him he was going to lose. And that not all was as it seemed.

When the gong ran the hooded man smiled with an eerie wide grin revealing small knives which he proceeded to throw at Draven.

Being the man he is Draven didn"t back away from the challenge and dodged them in place, a magnificent sight to behold as he closed the distance in a moment"s notice. Preparing to strike the hooded man jumped in unexpectedly coming in with a fist of his one. One blow after another struck against their fists as they tried to find an opening.

Quickly making distance the hooded man began throwing more small knives towards Draven.

Annoyed the hooded man didn"t take him seriously Draven dodged them now closing in ever so slightly.

But then when the hooded man stopped for a moment Draven came from below instantly closing the distance and striking at his chin.

The hooded man collapsed as Draven won the match.

The matches of Group F had come to an end leaving only Group G and H for the remainder of the round.

Akano couldn"t hold in his excitement as he saw how strong the summoned ones were. As the waiting bared its fruits he too could take the stage.

On the other side, a woman with long green hair took the stage. Winking at him and waving at the crowd they both took their stances as they readied themselves for battle.

The Ging sounded and the woman instantly rooted herself to the ground summoning vines that rushed towards Akano. Also locking him in place.

Akano let the vines bind his entire body. As the woman confidently raised him from the ground.

Lifting him and throwing him off the stage.

Unable to contain the sheer joy he was feeling Akano burst out in laughter. Just before hitting the ground Akano moved his hands releasing a burst of air which moments after exploded propelling him back on stage.

"Hahaha oh, man!!! You should have seen the look on your face. I could swear you tasted victory, yes?

Now... to get serious hahaha."

Akano looked at the woman as if the fight had just started, slamming his hands together as he created a small pocket of air between them. Quickly lopping it towards the woman. The woman is cautious as she was tried to defend herself slamming it with vines.

But the moment the air pocket came into contact with her vines the pocket exploded into a small explosion. Akano waved his hand instantly surrounding the woman with small are pockets all around her.

"It"s over... you"re done..."

Akano said disappointed. He turned around and snapped his finger instantly the pockets all caught fire and exploded simultaneously. The woman in the middle of the explosions got hurled into the air by the sheer force of the explosion, landing outside of the ring.

Which means only Group H was left with their battles this round. Aqua got nervous knowing she had to close this round, once again.

As the matches quickly got taken care of, it was only a matter of time before she had to go on stage.

Once there the pressure subdued and she could finally think clearly.

On the other side a woman greeted her, bowing down she showed respect while at the same time resolve what was yet to come. It appeared the announcer thought it was a great opportunity to sound the gong as the two ladies could start their match after bowing down to each other.

Having almost no time to prepare both a.s.sumed their stance, as they silently observed one another.

The woman in front of her had long pink hair, blue eyes, and freckles all over her nose.

Both stayed in place as if they were statues, not wanting to allow the other to strike.

Yet both of them knew who made the first attack had the advantage.

Trying to look for an opening Aqua stepped to the side, the woman then quickly took a step back.

This triggered Aqua to attack slamming her leg into the ground and jumping towards the woman trying to hit her head with an ax kick.

The woman blocked the attack and just as swiftly tried sweeping Aqua of her feet. Just in time, Aqua could bounce off the ground, pushing her body up into the air with both her hands.

This left her open for an attack... In one fluent movement, the woman used the momentum of her sweeping low kick to transition into a high kick with her other leg. Hitting Aqua, the impact was heavy.

Unable to block she had to take on the full force.

Hurt she slammed into the ground. Knowing what was at stake she tried crawling back up, refusing to give up she screamed.

"Raaaaahhhh"

Pulling herself together as quickly as she fell.

Taunting the woman to come Aqua stayed in place.

The woman rushed towards her head-on, learning from her mistakes Aqua used the same sweeping low kick to catch her opponent off guard.

But before the woman could counter she quickly turned around three times in a row, as she uses the increasing speed to power up her uppercut.

As this was unexpected the woman couldn"t put up her guard and got hit by the full force on her chin, sending her flying. The woman barely landed on the edge of the stage, unconscious... Aqua had won by knock out!!

The 2nd round had finished leaving 8 remaining contestants in each group, who will come out victorious and get a chance to fight in the finals?

And who will have to try again next year? Find out shortly as we continue Round 3 of the Single Elimination Tournament!!!