Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 290
Chapter 290: Edwin Brenneman
In the chairman of the nationals office.
“It’s his turn.”
The chairman said, as in the wall-mounted television, Edwin slowly climbed the stairs to the ring.
“Whose? Julian’s?”
A colleague of his asked and turned to look at the screen.
“No. Edwin Brenneman.”
The chairman said with a serious gaze.
“Is he supposed to be an important one? Isn’t he just someone under Thorsten’s enormous shadow?”
“No… Edwin, in fact, is a very special individual. Have you heard about special-blooded individuals?”
“Special-blooded individuals? Uh, the rare genetic mutation that only occurs in one out of every million people?”
“Yes.”
The chairman nodded and then continued with.
“Edwin is a poison-blooded man. Instead of normal crimson blood flowing through his veins, it’s very poisonous and can be lethal with a single touch, but not for special-blooded people.
“Thus, Edwin is using a martial art that allows him to poison people. When he drinks poison, he can inject poison into people with a single touch.
“A very, very dangerous martial artist.”
His colleague’s eyes rounded up in a shock, and he asked with a yell.
“Why the hell is someone like him allowed to participate in the nationals then? And how is he merely the second fighter of Kanyon High then? He sounds extremely powerful!”
“The best talents of the nation are allowed to participate in the nationals. People with all kinds of physiques have been allowed to participate, so I’ve no reason to deny Edwin’s entry even though his martial arts can be… dangerous.
“However, we put some limitations on what he can do. The poison he can use cannot be lethal!”
His colleague turned to look at the screen and swallowed his saliva with a loud gulp.
“I thought the match would be a cakewalk for Julian, but now… I am not too sure. This is going to be a tough match.”
…
“Hmm?”
Kiernan smelled something weird in the air and looked towards Edwin with a strange gaze.
With his trained senses, he could tell something was off.
‘He smells… weird.’
The referee walked to the center of the ring and raised his arm high. At first, he looked at Julian, who was standing casually, and then at Edwin, whose teeth were, strangely enough, dyed in green.
He thought it was odd for a moment, but then he asked.
“Are the two of you ready?”
“I am.”
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Julian slowly eased into his fighting stance.
Edwin rubbed his hands together, lowered his stance, and readied his hands.
“Yes!”
The referee nodded and then whipped his arm down like a sword with five small blades sticking out from the tip.
“FIGHT!”
Julian crossed the distance immediately, closing in fast with a singular straight punch with the strength of his martial soul flowing through every muscle of his.
“Metal Style, Metal Smash!”
Edwin put his hands in front of him, making a circle with his two hands, looking like he wanted to grab the fist.
‘A grab? Is he also a grappler?’
Julian halted his punch, and then with his left, he punched Edwin in the abdomen with organ-shaking force.
“Urgh!”
Edwin’s expression turned ugly, and he jumped back to get some distance between them.
“Coach, what do you know about Julian’s opponent?”
Kiernan asked.
“Edwin? Uh, there isn’t much to go for. I’ve only seen a couple of videos of him from this nationals, but nothing beyond that. I don’t think he is a particularly interesting fighter.”
Coach Jin said.
“I see…”
Kiernan said, but he still felt like there was something wrong with Edwin.
In Kanyon High’s bench, the coach of the team looked serious as he watched the match not go too well at the moment.
However, he knew that as long as Edwin touched Julian even once, he might win, and at least, Thorsten would have a much easier time.
‘Edwin hasn’t participated in any other tournaments, and we made sure that he hasn’t used his poisonous martial arts so far in this tournament.
‘Therefore, no one knows what he is really capable of doing. We can’t afford to underestimate Karuza High, so we must go all-out and reveal all of our cards!’
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Julian landed a few quick jabs across Edwin’s face, and the fight currently looked very one-sided.
In the audience, many shook their heads at the clear strength difference of the two and expected the fight to end soon.
They expected Thorsten to soon take the stage.
The blood pooled inside Edwin’s mouth as his legs turned jelly, and then, he dodged one of Julian’s quick jabs and spat out the green-colored blood that had filled his mouth.
The blood sprayed out of his mouth and splashed across Julian’s clothes and his face.
“The fuck?”
Julian frowned and angrily buried his fist into Edwin’s waist.
“Ah!”
Edwin stumbled back, clutching his waist.
Julian believed that he spat the blood in his mouth out of spite for losing, so he added some extra force to the punch to make him really feel it.
However, then the strange greenish blood started sizzling like acid on his skin.
“Huh?”
Julian lowered his gaze and saw the blood melt through his clothes and leave deep, burning wounds across his chest and face.
‘What the hell is this green shit? I thought he spat out blood or something, but is this some fucking acid instead? Is this shit allowed?!’
In Karuza High’s bench, others exclaimed in shock and wondered what the hell was going on.
‘Poison?’
Kiernan’s frown deepened.
‘Is this what I smelled? I’ve dealt with some poison myself during my assassination missions. How can he store that poison inside his body without dying himself? How interesting.’
Edwin swung his arms awkwardly, as if they had lost all their bones, in an attempt to touch Julian, but he stayed way back, wary of Edwin’s poison.
‘He wants to grab me for some reason. Can he inject that poison into me with a touch? I punched him in the face, yet the poison didn’t transfer into my hands. Is there something different on his hands?’
Julian weaved out of the way of his hands and followed those hands with his gaze, trying to find something odd on them, and then, he saw the green, poisonous-looking nails.
‘I understand now.’
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