Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 263

Chapter 263: Karuza High vs. Kaleidos High
“The next one is this school—a school that wasn’t that well known beforehand, but now everyone knows about them after their instantaneous rise to the top of the nation rankings!

“As the sixth seed of the tournament, Karuza High, and their ace, Kiernan Hunter!”

CHEERS~

The cheers were so loud that the ground shook, and the sky silenced as people jumped to their feet.

Through the locker room’s entrance, Kiernan walked out with the flagpole in hand. The flag flapped against the wind and showed proudly the Karuza High’s symbol of black flowers.

…

“He is here!”

Bella excitedly screamed as she looked at her son with a proud smile on her beautiful face.

“Oh~”

Nevaeh looked surprised and then clapped her hands.

She thought that the sixth seed seemed too low for proud son of Abracadabra. Especially someone who managed to do record time in the Game that hadn’t still been beaten even though Zeus and the rest have tried hundreds of times.

“Why is Kiernan part of the sixth-seed team? He should be part of the best team, no?”

She decided to ask her little sister.

“My son is living in Irio, and it is a small city with four schools—Irio High, Kaito High, Sumino High, and Karuza High.

“I did some studying, and apparently, Karuza High was only the second-best school in the city. Irio High usually reached the nationals instead.

“Their city never did well. They were among the bottom rankings every time. Everything changed when my son joined Karuza High’s team, led them to the nationals, and all the way to the quarterfinals!”

Bella said, and as she spoke more of her son, greater pride swelled inside her heart.

“In the end, he happened to lose in the quarterfinals against the strongest student in the nation. However, my son was only a first-year, and his opponent was a third-year.

“That’s why, because of the defeat in the quarterfinals, they only reached sixth rank in the nation, but I am sure that my son is now mighty enough to win it all!”

“Ah, I see!”

…

In the audience, Karuza High’s cheerleading squad screamed in excitement at the sight of their ace.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Karma loudly clapped his hands while his friends, who joined him in watching the nationals, cheered and chanted the name of his son.

After making his way through the arena, Kiernan stepped up the stairs to the platform stage, where he stabbed the flagpole into the ground beside other flags and joined other aces at the back of the ring.

The ceremony went on, and the rest of the aces quickly made their way to the ring, stabbed their flags into the ground, and joined others at the back.

After the introduction of the top ten schools, the mayor of Tiamut came to do a speech, and when that was done, the nationals officially began.

The first matches would start tomorrow morning.

With that, the ten aces started leaving the arena. It was time to get ready for the upcoming matches and prepare mentally for the competition.

…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fireworks exploded throughout the morning sky, and slowly, tens of thousands of people started to swarm the stadium at the first sight of the sun.

It was the first day of the nationals!

In the arena, close to a hundred smaller rings were placed to host the first couple of rounds. The air was buzzing with excitement and anticipation.

The TV camera squad was ready to start the broadcast. There were hundreds of different squads; some were part of the main broadcast squad while others were part of the local crews.

Such as Irio’s very own broadcasting crew, who would only broadcast Karuza High’s matches to the people of Irio.

Then, as the time slowly ticked down, the commentator shouted for the beginning of the round of 256, and then, members from hundreds of schools entered the arena and headed to their rings.

“Whew…”

Julian dropped his bag on his bench and tightened the white tape around his knuckles. His blood was pumping inside him with excitement.

Jonathan, Dominic, and Julia looked around the arena with looks of nervousness. They could see that thousands of eyes were looking in their direction.

It wasn’t only Karuza High’s supporters, but supporters of other schools as well. They wanted to see just how strong Karuza High really was.

In the end, the nationals was a team-based event, and if other members of the team couldn’t pull their weight, it wouldn’t matter how strong Karuza High’s star player was.

The members of Kaleidos High took their place at the other side of the ring. It was clear from the first look that they were really nervous.

“…”

Kiernan got seated on the bench and rubbed his hands together.

He didn’t even bother to wrap his knuckles with the white tape, as he believed that they didn’t need him to participate in the first round.

He believed that Julian was more than enough to handle it.

At that moment, the referee took her spot at the center of the ring. She was listening to the voices in her earpiece, and after receiving a word, she pointed towards Kaleidos High and Karuza High.

“Round of 256, match 6, Karuza High vs. Kaleidos High.

“Bring forth your first fighter!”

In Kaleidos High bench, Connell stood up and made his way up the stairs while his team members cheered him on.

‘This is my last chance at the nationals, and this might be the only fight. I’ve trained three years for this one chance…’

Connell clapped his hands together.

If he lost, he wanted to know he had given it his all. Thus, he was going to do everything in his power to at least injure his opponent to make it easier for his team members.

In the Irio bench, Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck and then made his way to the ring.

After months of nonstop training, he was still at High Stage Martial Soldier, but he believed that his real strength could be around Low Stage Martial Fighter.

His opponent, Connell, was only Middle Stage Martial Soldier.

“Are both fighters ready?!”

The referee asked with a shriek on her voice.

“Yes…”

Connell breathed evenly and moved to his fighting stance.

“I am.”

Jonathan moved to a less orthodox type of stance. He was a fighter that used locks and throws to overpower his opponents, after all.

He was very different and a tricky opponent compared to other fighters in the tournament.

“FIGHT!”

The referee swung her arm down, signaling the beginning of the match.

And like that, Karuza High’s tournament had started.