Rising Against Fate

Razak's match was brought forward since Kat decided to withdraw from the tournament. He was already aware that this would happen, so it didn't come out as a surprise to him.

However, someone else, sitting in the same waiting room as him, looked somewhat annoyed by the news. Raiden stood up from his seat and punched a hole in the wall on his way out.

It could be some sort of warning for Razak, or it could simply be his way of expressing his anger. But whatever it was, Razak paid him no mind. Why would he when his match was about to start?

It's not like he would be intimidated by his little threat in the first place. He was here to win the tournament, and his next obstacle was right in front of him.

The opponent he was going to fight was a wild beast. Most of the physical attacks were useless against him unless one possesses enough strength to push him out of the stage. However, the problem was, there was barely anyone with that sort of power.

Razak had already analyzed his abilities, and he knew that in the battle of strength, he would lose no matter how hard he tries. And as far as things went, he wasn't the type who would waste effort while knowing it's just a worthless struggle.

However, no matter how strong he was, his body is still human. The fatigue would show itself in different forms and slow him down sooner or later.

In the battle against Amaya, Daichi had pushed himself a bit too much.

To the audience and to those who were just enjoying the fight, it may not be apparent. But those like Razak, who were observing things closely, knew what was going on.

One bad thing about exhaustion was, once one pushes themselves too much, they would feel its effect for days. This gave Razak an advantage that he could use against Daichi in the match.

There was a catch, though. Daichi was the type that didn't care about the limits as the battle gets exciting. And since this battle was just going to last for only 30 mins, making him completely vulnerable would be difficult.

Razak took a long breath as he prepared himself. There were several uncertainties involved, but he had analyzed the battle for most of the part.

There were several things that could be advantageous, many that could be disadvantageous, and few that he would only be able to find out during the battle.

In just a few minutes, the instructor came and guided him to the different waiting room — one that directly led him to the arena.

He could hear the audience getting noisy since the first battle was canceled just like that. No proper reasoning was presented as to why the participant withdrew, so that was obvious. And, even though not as much as others, Kat also had gained a lot of supporters.

They were hurrying with the first match, and the reason was obviously to quiet down the audience by distracting them with another battle.

They had also arranged a demonstration match after this one. The participants of that match were kept a secret, and the audience knew very well that the old man's surprises were always worth the wait.

Razak cleared his thoughts by taking another long breath. He knew very well that in this battle, wasting even a bit of concentration was counterproductive.

Confidence was necessary, but being cautious of one's opponent was even more essential. Who knows what might appear out of nowhere and surprise all.

Considering the importance this match held, any carelessness was unaffordable. Razak possessed both the strength and opportunity to prove himself, so by no means was he planning to lose today because of a rookie mistake.

"Razak Grace, the stage is all yours. Best of luck!"

The instructor of this block was a lady that he hadn't seen before. Her tone sounded awfully affectionate, as if she was a fan of his.

Not to mention what she said was technically wrong since two participants were going to compete in that stage. However, as they say, some fans are just blind. This could be one of those cases.

He replied with a nod and proceeded towards the stage.

When he entered the stage, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd. The last match with Ren had earned him a lot of popularity. This increase in fans was the result of that.

He looked around and bowed to the audience, due to which the audience became even louder. This action was to indicate that he wasn't like those ignorant clan kids. Instead, he was just an ordinary person who was grateful to the crowd for his support.

"Tch! What's with these people."

Daichi looked a little annoyed by the audience. It was no surprise since, unlike many others, he had no intention of earning fame. He was just here to fight his opponent, who he thought was strong.

He clenched his fist. Even though he was trying to make it soft, due to his excitement, it came out a bit louder than expected.

"Well, anyway, let's get started already. We don't have a whole day to waste here."

He was already in position and was waiting for Razak to take his. As soon as Razak took his position, the announcer announced the countdown.

Unlike the past rounds, the countdown started from ten this round forth. That was just how the organizing committee decided to do things. There was practically no significant reason for adding the extra seven digits in the countdown.

The audience excitedly started shouting the numbers in the countdown. Right as they reached zero, the announcer announced the start of the battle.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Full muscle Enhancement!"

Daichi charged straight at Razak without even wasting a breath. He activated the spell midway and jumped right from there. With just three leaps from there, he reached right where Razak was.

He started throwing punches at Razak as soon as he came within his reach. The punches were fast, but Razak was even quicker as he managed to dodge them all without even getting a single scratch.

However, Razak needed to move back to avoid the attacks since Daichi was using both of his hands. And before he could find a way to dodge them and sneak behind him, he was almost at the edge of the stadium.

As they say, things rarely go as planned. It hadn't even been a minute, and Razak was already cornered.