Leo walked towards Lin Mu, hoping to surprise her with his presence as she did not seem to have recognised him, however, before Leo could do so, the match official came inside the contestant locker room and announced the start of the third round.
" Okay, I'm sure all of you must already be aware of the third round rules, but in case you don't already know, let me re-read them to you now.
1)The third round will be a one versus one duel with the winner being decided by either pushing your opponent out of bounds, forcing them to surrender or knocking them out.
2)Killing and maiming is prohibited in this round and should any contestant wilfully maim the opponent, they shall be disqualified.
3)Every contestant is allowed to bring a choice of one weapon to the battle stage, however, the weapon selection must be done via the official array of weapons available for choosing and cannot be a personally carried weapon.
4)Should there be no conclusive winner after 15 minutes of the fight, the match will go into judges scores where a panel of three judges will decide the winner based on skills displayed during the match.
Please note- Offensive skills will always be valued more than defensive skills so just surviving the match won't work.
Finally, regardless of whether or not you can enter the grand tournament, for participating in this third round of qualifiers you will all be awarded with 5 gold coins each and a certificate of honor for those who lose this round" The match official said, as he re-read the rules that were already distributed to each contestant after the second round.
"The seed number 1,2,3….8 and the seed numbers 128,127….121 will be having their fights first and are required to move out in two minutes, all the best" the official said, as his eyes were drawn to Leo, who had a big '1' plastered over his chest.
He was the first seed of this tournament, with Cervantez being 3, Lin Mu being 5 and Tor being 11.
The ranker RamenKing was 2 while his friend PurpleRock was 7, with the other positions being occupied by NPC's Leo did not know.
*Sigh*
Leo sighed as he looked towards Lin Mu who seemed lost in thought, as he realized that this was probably not the best time to strike up a conversation since she might be mentally preparing for battle.
'Well, I can always talk to her later' Leo thought as he walked out of the locker room, stretching his muscles, as the deeper he walked down the tunnel, the louder the noise of the crowd got as by the time he emerged on the other end, he could hear a deafening roar from the fans in attendance.
The grand stadium was unlike anything Leo had ever seen before with a jam-packed crowd of 120,000 fans cheering from the stands.
The sheer size of the stadium, coupled with the raucous cheers of the audience, was both exhilarating and intimidating, as fighting at such a stage, with so many people watching was like every child's dream come true.
Leo took a moment to soak in the atmosphere, letting the energy of the crowd wash over him and bolster his resolve, as he smiled under his mask and chose two random daggers as his choice of weapon for the round.
This was the moment he had trained for, the reason he had pushed himself to the limits, while he did not expect a very tough fight today, the thought of facing off against the best of the best in such a grand arena eventually, made his heart race with anticipation and a hint of nerves.
As he approached the center of the stage, the announcer's voice boomed throughout the stadium, introducing him to the spectators.
"Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the number one seed of the tournament, holding the current national record for standing long jump, standing high jump, 100 meters dash and having the highest ever individual evaluation with a score of 9.9, the formidable youngster…..THE BOSSSS"
The crowd erupted into an even louder cheer at this introduction, as Leo raised his fist in the air, acknowledging the energy.
As he scanned through the faces of the crowd the initial fear and anxiety faded away as he basked in the adulation of the fans.
This was his stage.
This was his moment to shine.
Looking across the stage, he saw his opponent making his way out. It was a nervous looking player with a clumsy walking style and low self esteem as he could not even look Leo in the eye while he walked out.
With a sword in hand, he was visibly trembling while standing inside the grand arena as without Leo even doing anything, the man was pressured by the sheer size of the crowd alone.
Leo contemplated talking smack to the kid, however, looking at how terrified he was, Leo worried that he would pee himself if Leo tried to intimidate him as in the end he shook his head and decided against making any snarky comments.
Unlike Leo who enjoyed the cheers and boos of the crowd, his opponent seemed to have social anxiety as the urban elite from Earth who had spent most his life in secluded isolation, could not handle the sudden attention.
"Seed one ready? Seed 128 ready?" The match referee asked, as both Leo and his opponent nodded, taking their respective starting spots on the martial arena.
The referee, a seasoned veteran with an imposing presence, stepped forward, reiterating the key rules for the duel, and only when he was convinced that both parties would not kill one another did he signal for the fight to begin, stepping back swiftly to give them space.
"Fight!"
He said, as Leo dashed straight for the finish.
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/// A/N - Mass Release Chapter ⅘, this Bonus chapter is for hitting the GT Target and all the love and support you have shown the book this last month! ///