UNIFIED W

Chapter 4: Phase one, part 2

"So, let the first phase begin now..."

The entire world went completely quiet, and the tension became so high that you could cut it with a knife.

In the arena, the participants were standing still and waiting for who would do the first move.

Sweat was dripping from Kai's face, and the only thing he could think of was how to be useful to Zeru and May.

"Keep it together, Kai. These losers are not much for the mighty Zeru of the fire clan."

"I wish I had your confidence, Zeru."

Before Zeru could say another word, a team jumped from behind and started attacking.

"Zeru!!"

"Don't worry about me. Focus on keeping each other safe. I can take these losers all by myself."

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems one team ganged up on one of the most promising candidates this year, Zeru from the fire clan."

The commentator's words made everybody switch their eyes from the other fights to Zeru's fight instead.

Zeru was backed from the corner to the centre of the arena, away from Kai and May.

"Give up now while you can."

"It's three against one."

"You guys should run while you have your legs."

With no hesitation, the three participants attack Zeru with full force. Zeru took out his chain knife and his bright red eyes glowed up.

A single swing of the chain knife Zeru burnt them badly until they could not stand up anymore.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Zeru of the fire clan, also known as the future flame, came out victorious against an entire team."

The entire arena went wild and shouted Zeru's name.

"Zeru"

"Zeru"

"Zeru"

***

While all that was happening, a mysterious man was rampaging in the arena and already took down ten teams.

The man wasn't an ordinary person because he had the body of a martial art fighter who was in his prime years.

He was wearing a white shirt with sleeves up and some dark pants. 

The opponent's blood was all over his brown hair and was also flowing down into his dark-silver eyes, making him look like a killer.

The mysterious man had some visible scars and tattoos on his body.

"What do we have here? A single person taking out ten teams."

All the attention was now on the mysterious man.

"Listen up, people. According to our data, the name of that man is Vin from the earth clan."

The crowd in the arena mumbled to each other, trying to find the person who saw him fight.

"What? Is he from the earth clan?"

"Did anybody see him use earth abilities?"

One person from the crowd talked and his voice was full of terror.

"H.... H..... He didn't use any powers, in fact the only thing he used was his bare hands."

"How is that possible?"

While the crowd was chatting with each other, phase one was heading to its end and everyone was in defence mode in order to secure their position in the next phase.

***

Kai and May didn't move so much ever since the test began and they have only been in a defense mode.

"How are you holding up, Kai?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about all this that is happening around me."

"I don't like your gloomy attitude. Why can you not be energetic like Zeru for once? Look how he enjoys himself out there."

"You know nothing about Zeru. His passions can overtake him sometimes and he can become obsessive fairly easily."

"Why is he like that?"

"He likes to do everything alone. He is overconfident in his own strength and doesn't need anyone to help when he is fighting."

"Listen up, Kai, let's close the gap between us and Zeru."

"You are right. If we do that, we have a better chance of surviving this."

May and Kai try to move to where Zeru was, but what they didn't know was that some people were watching from the shadows all this time.

It didn't matter how strong Zeru was. If the participant used the rules to their advantage, they could eliminate him for good.

The remaining participants went after Kai and May, and they split them up.

"Don't you dare lose to them, Kai?"

May was facing only one team, and it felt like they were only a distraction. The focus was on Kai.

Kai was facing two teams at once, and he wasn't sure how to react because he froze as soon as they surrounded him.

'As long as they don't attack simultaneously, I have the advantage over them. They can't kill me either and the only way for them to win is if I lose my consciousness.'

One of them ran towards Kai, trying to grab him by the legs.

Kai noticed him immediately and jumped over him and counterattacked with a drop kick.

The guy fell to the ground and became unconscious.

"What do we have here folks, the powerless boy can stand on his own?"

The crowd wasn't liking the fact Kai could stand against six people at once.

"You don't have a chance against anyone in the arena."

Kai could hear that people were insulting him, but he could also hear Zeru's voice from a distance.

"Don't listen to them. They don't know how strong and brave you are. This will be over soon, so don't give up. FIGHT."

'Zeru was right. I worked so hard to come this far. So what if I don't have power like everybody else here in the arena?'

"Thanks Zeru, for cheering me up. I feel much better now."

Kai pulls out his sword and chooses his battle stand. His heart was beating out of his chest.

"I don't want to be a dead weight to Zeru and May anymore."

Kai gave his opponent a confident face.....

"Come at me."