Ryuja walked slowly and then returned to the throne specially made for him. The throne was placed in a heightened platform that made sure he was the highest of them all.

"Proceed." Ryuja flicked his hand dismissively then closed his eyes.

Carter noticed right away what the King of the Jado Kingdom was actually doing. The man was practicing Mental Art. He did wonder, however, how efficient his Mental Art actually was.

"We shall proceed with the Tournament!" The organizer shouted.

The matches started.

Most of the Awaken Fighters were disqualified. Only 128 of them were still here. Two more rounds would be conducted until there were only 32 contestants. As for the Elite Fighters, Only 32 of them were around. Only one more round for the Elites would be conducted and the final sixteen would be decided.

’I wonder what is the true reason Ryuja hosting this tournament’ Carter wondered silently. He would never believe that a cruel man like little Hachi would actually recruit these Fighters. There was definitely a catch.

The Awaken Round happened first and Tenmaru easily got past his opponent. Tenmaru might be an inexperience fighter but he had all those training in the Royal Family and many royal techniques that these Fighters didn’t have.

Ryuja opened his eyes once during Tenmaru’s match and then closed it again. Carter pretended to not notice it.

’Recognize Arashi Art, aren’t you?’

Then it was the Elite match. Carter wasn’t the first one this time. He observed the other Fighters showed their martial arts. Most arts were split between the Rin word and Po word. Rin was more strength-focused, while Po was more precision-focused.

’There are some unique techniques here and there. But they aren’t really that special for me to learn.’

Unless it had the potential of a Champion or more, Carter wasn’t impressed.

Finally, it was his turn.

"Ginro Musashi versus Zanbachi Kento!" The referee shouted.

The two Fighters ascended the arena.

Kento bowed respectfully. As well as Carter.

"You’ve met my sister, I see." Carter said.

"Your sister?" Kento frowned.

"Not blood. Sect sister. She wears white similar to me."

"Oh? Lady Mikoto?"

"That’s right. Because of that, Kento. I will go easy on you." Carter lowered into his stance.

Kento grinned widely, "Please don’t do that. Do me a favor and go all out."

"If you can make me." Carter smiled back.

Kento stormed at Carter. He also didn’t use any weapons, only his hands. Kento delivered a simple straight punch.

Carter blocked it.

Kento connected it with another cross.

Carter blocked it.

"Ugh! This Kento guy is always like this." A Fighter said. "He knows nothing else than straight punches."

But he made it all the way here for a reason.

Kento continued with his straight punches. Each faster and stronger than the last. His pupils dilated gently.

"Usually the enemy won’t allow me to build my my power like this." Kento continued to punch. His body slowly turned into a blur.

Carter watched Kento fight for the last few days. He knew that Kento had some sort of technique that allowed him to grow more powerful the more he attacked.

"I want to see how how strong you can get." Carter didn’t counter attack. He only blocked and let Kento continued.

"Heh." Kento smirked.

Kento’s punches gained more speed and power. Carter noticed that every five punches he threw, there would be a noticeable increase.

Dust began to float up in the air. Each punch sent winds flying to the surrounding area. But each punch, Carter blocked or caught it effortlessly.

"Isn’t this just a training method?" Someone said. They looked like they were practicing and not at all like a fight.

But the Fighters knew how dangerous it was. Blocking those boulder-crushing punches were not a simple thing.

"Here I come." Kento’s punches reached some sort of threshold. They suddenly became much faster.

Carter blocked again. This time, he could feel a certain sting in his palm.

"Huh? A penetrating effect?" Carter mumbled. Yet he still blocked the punches plainly. The fifth punches after this effect cut Carter’s palm and spilled some blood.

"You should start attacking now. Or else I would win." Kento smiled.

"Really? I don’t think it’s necessary. Turtle Style!"

The green projection of a turtle appeared behind Carter. He reinforced his palms with its power and also raised his own durability and toughness.

The penetrating effect was no longer effective. Kento felt like he was punching a wall.

"Damn! You really have a lot of tricks under your sleeves." Kento said. He also watched Carter for the last few days. His technique was the most unique out of all of them. He could attack, defend, and move quickly. He could use the power of many animals. No one had even heard about this type of technique before.

Carter allowed Kento to build his power more. Now, each punch sent a shockwave to the entire arena. The wind even climbed to the high throne of Ryuja and made him to open his eyes.

"Interesting..." Ryuja mumbled.

"Is this your limit? I can’t feel much increase from you anymore." Carter said.

"I have one last trick!" Kento shouted. He had built enough to release another effect.

This time, each of his punch split the air, releasing a high-pitched noise to the surrounding.

Carter blocked it and he was moved for the first time. His feet scraped back a few meters, leaving black marks on the ground.

"Heh... Impressive. But not enough. Ox Style!"

The projection of the Ox appeared behind Carter and he used the element of Fire. Carter also applied a second stack from Rin, enhancing his Fire element.

The silver-haired Fighter clenched his fist. The flame blasted out from within him. A blue dreamy flame with an unbelievable temperature.

"What is that?" Kintaro said.

Ryuja squinted his eyes. He also noticed the special thing about that blue fire. It was a level higher than the usual organe fire.

"Get ready." Carter said. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Kento gulped. He could already feel the heat from the other side of the arena.

Carter rushed forward. He didn’t use Adrenaline or any other power. Still, he was very quick. He punched forward just the same as Kento.