By the time Tracy detected Leo, it was already too late.
Leo was flying in towards her, giving her no time to nock another arrow into her bow as she was forced to defend with the only thing in her hand which was her bow.
*SNAP*
Leo slammed down on her with such intensity that her wooden bow snapped into two when his dagger slashed through it.
"OOOOOOO-"
The audience cheered, as they enjoyed the action and seemed to be happy that Tracy had lost her only weapon.
Had she been using a metal bow, the impact from Leo's slash would not have snapped it in half, however, because she used the traditional elven bow made from wood that maximized elasticity and power, the wood was not durable enough to handle the impact of close range blows, which ended up costing Tracy the integrity of her weapon.
*SWOOSH*
*SWOOSH*
Heartless and relentless, Leo did not pause for a single second to give his disarmed opponent time to regroup, as he continued to push against the heartbroken and shocked Tracy with all his might.
-130
-130
-130
-120
-130
-150
-300 CRITICAL HIT!
Slash after Slash after slash, Leo pushed hard against Tracy who was notably slower than him in terms of agility and hence got nicked by every single slash, as her fair elven skin soon got covered in cuts from head to toe.
"Surrender…." Leo said, once he was able to deal a significant stab wound to the side of her abdomen, which while being non-fatal was enough to impair her from dodging properly going forward.
"You don't have your weapon and you're injured. You clearly don't have the same speed that I do…. So surrender.
The match referee has requested me to not kill you, however, if you don't surrender now. I won't hesitate to.
My techniques are made for killing and not injuring.
If you don't surrender here, the next attack I make will be for your throat or heart-" Leo threatened as he gave Tracy a chance to surrender and end her misery.
*CHEERS*
Loud cheers erupted from the human crowd when Leo boss talked his way with Tracy as if she were an insignificant ant, with the more unruly elements of the crowd making some sly racist comments.
"Just give up, elf! You don't belong here!"
"Look at the pointy ears on that one! Not so special now, huh?"
"Go back to the forest where you belong, tree-hugger!"
Tracy felt the sting of each word as sharply as Leo's dagger, she was hoping to silence the hostile crowd today with her performance, however, she seemed to have failed in doing so.
Confused, she glanced towards the small cluster of elven supporter in the crowd, their worried expressions mirroring her own despair.
The drums that they were beating at the start of the fight were now silent alongside the cheers. They were watching with pained expressions on their faces as they prayed for a miracle turnaround, however, they acknowledged that Tracy had no way to retaliate.
As her eyes met theirs, and she closed them briefly, a single tear escaping down her cheek, as she accepted her grim fate.
'I can't do this. There's no way I can win against him.' she thought.
'His skills, his speed… It's like he's on a completely different level. All my training, all my preparation… it's not enough. I was foolish to think I stood a chance' she mumbled inside her head, as she felt her resolve to continue fighting weaken.
After a while as she opened her eyes, they no longer had the usual luster inside them as the reality of the situation she was in finally sank in.
She was outmatched, and any further resistance would only lead to more pain and humiliation for her, and hence with a heavy heart and a final glance at her supporters, she dropped to her knees, raising her hand in a gesture of surrender.
"I… I surrender," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the roar of the crowd, as Leo sheathed his weapons and nodded.
"Good choice– you fought well elf" He said, as the referee quickly stepped in, signaling the end of the match.
Sniveling, Tracy broke down in tears as she felt humiliated at having been forced to surrender, however, while she believed her opponent to be a heartless bastard after he threatened to kill her— in a rare show of sportsmanship, Leo grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back on her feet.
Raising her hand and patting her on her back he pointed towards the elven community and clapped for the support that they showed her, as his actions caused many hardliners in the crowd to boo him, however, Leo did not care.
"THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH, VIA SUBMISSION.... THEEEEE BOSS! " The match announcer declared as the referee raised his hand in victory.
The crowd erupted in deafening cheers, with even the elven crowd clapping politely for him, as with his last act of showing the defeated Tracy some respect, they somehow felt a little less bitter about his win.
*BOSS!* *BOSS!* *BOSS!* *BOSS!*
As Leo walked away, the crowd continued to chant his name, their voices a blend of admiration and contempt, while Tracy remained rooted to her spot, her head down in shame and her heart heavy with the realization that her best had not been enough.
From the crowd, one Ben Faulkner looked at the performance of his student and chuckled heartily, as although he was nervous about this match-up, in the end it seemed like his student had walked out of even the quarter-finals unscathed.
"Nobody can even scratch you eh? Hahahaha, that's my boy-" he said in joy as he chuckled heartily.
"COMING UP NEXT- THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE PRIDE OF KNIGHT ACADEMY…. SKYLION AND HIS OPPONENT, THE FEARSOME TIGER BEASTMAN…. TROY!" The announcer said, as building up on the momentum of Leo's win, he tried to keep the crowd hyped up for the next fight as well.