( The underground Assassin Alliance Headquarters )
Leo logged back into the game with only two hours left until the third round of the entrance exam started.
Technically, he was not participating in the first round of fights since he had received a direct bye, however, he wished to spectate the first round of fights and copy some nice moves for himself.
Lowkey, Leo was more interested to see how a fight between assassin's looked as in his mind he fantasized it to be something along the lines of those superspy movies that he watched growing up.
He expected there to be smoke bombs and ninja warfare, however, he wasn't sure if that was how assassin's rolled.
The location for the third round was a grand underground arena and unlike the previous rounds where only judges and some handling personnel were present, the third round seemed to have actual spectators.
Hooded men in all shades of black sat in the stands numbering at least two thousand in total with there being designated stands for competitors, spectators and judges.
The judges sat closest to the action, their seats being as big as thrones.
The competitors sat right behind the judges in a special stand that offered a good view of the fight.
And the rest of the stadium was for spectator seating with a rough capacity of around 5000 individuals and the stadium seemed to be at 30-40% capacity with roughly 2000 spectators seated for the first round of fights.
The fighting arena itself was flat, with there being no obstacles, no dark spots to hide.
The floor seemed to be hard tiles and it seemed more like a martial arena rather than something appropriate for an assassin showdown.
" I wonder what the rules of the fight are?" Leo murmured to himself while being seated in the spectator stands, as Lin Mu who was seated beside him picked up on this murmur and almost instantly slapped her forehead.
" Jin, you don't know the rules?" Lin Mu asked as Leo shook his head and said "The judges will explain the rules before the fight starts right?"
"No, silly. The rules for the third round are just common knowledge, were you not edu-, ugh, nevermind" Lin Mu said as she was about to question whether or not Leo was educated properly in his childhood or not, but checked herself mid sentence as to not hurt Leo's feelings.
It was common knowledge that Jin Mu was the blacksheep of the Mu family who had ran away, hence Lin Mu patiently explained him the rules instead.
" The rules of this round are simple.
Firstly, there must be no killing. This round is strictly meant to be a display of skill and nothing more and a fight ends when either you immobilise your opponent or make them submit" Lin Mu said softly as Leo listened to every word coming out of her mouth with utmost attention.
" This round is designed to be a showcase of one's ability as a warrior more than an assassin, which is why there are no hiding spots and no darkness to take cover.
At some point in one's assassination career there comes a time when nothing goes to plan and one must fight against multiple opponents at once or their formidable assassination target that did not die cleanly off their assassination attempt.
Under such circumstances, no petty tricks help and one must show guts and fend for their life and it is this situation that the third round aims to test.
Everyone can be an assassin by relying on potent poisons or stealth techniques, but it takes real skill to be a true assassin who can fight back when times get tough" Lin Mu said as there was evident passion in her voice when she said these words.
As Leo did not understand the political landscape of the Assassin Alliance too well, he did not understand Lin Mu's motivations, however, Lin Mu was a woman who was driven to change the perception of the Mu clan.
Currently, the Mu clan though respected was seen as a clan full of cheats and prostitutes.
Many believed them to be subpar warrior's who were not useful to take out women targets or men who knew how to hold their horses.
Nobody took the Mu clan seriously in practical combat and it was this perception that Lin Mu was eager to shatter.
Soon, the first fight started as two contestants walked onto the martial arena with a tall refree standing in between.
" No killing, No permanent injury infliction" he reminded to both participants before the fight and started the first fight.
*KYA*
*KHA*
*HAIYA*
Both participants jumped straight into the fight, using a combination of dagger arts and martial arts as they made all sorts of noises from their mouth while engaging in battle.
Just like Leo expected, their fight seemed seamless and something straight out of a spy movie as they exchanged blows and clanged their daggers against each other in a visually beautiful fight.
Sadly, there were no smoke bombs and no crazy attack moves either that made Leo feel like he was losing his mind as from start to finish the fight only seemed to be a test of speed and stamina more than skills and creativity.
At the start both contestants seemed to be equally matched, however, about 10 minutes into the fight, one of the contestants started to get sluggish and it was evident with his every response that he was at his limit and could not continue.
Still through grit and tenacity he hung on for a minute more, however, then one of his dagger flew off his hand and then a roundhouse kick floored him to the ground.
As he looked back up, his opponent had a dagger pointed to his throat as the fight reached its conclusion.
The referee raised the winners arm and there was some polite clapping from the crowd, while the judges scored the match and gave both contestants a score for their performance.
The winner got an 8 while the loser got a 6.5, however, both seemed satisfied with the result.
The only one unsatisfied with the fight was Leo as although he witnessed the full battle, there was not a single skill that he could pick on which made him feel like watching the whole fight was a massive waste of time.
Thankfully, there were a few more fights for him to witness before it was his chance to fight, however, the start to round three was underwhelming at best.