35 The Exam Begins

The group in front of me was huddled together forming a small circle.

"Hey how have you guys been?"

Their their heads turn looking for the voice directed at them before their eyes landed on me.

A man carrying a spear came up "Huh, Ip Cheng?? Where have you been the last month? We checked your house three days in a row and you weren't there for at all. We thought you might of died out there." it was Liang Jia, his hair grew quite long it seems, he already looks like a he belongs in this world.

"Did you never think to check again afterwards?"

"Uh... I.. thought.. about it.." he said with an awkward smile

"So you really aren't dead." A woman with short hair comes up with her arms crossed, it was Qiu Tu

"No, I'm not. Why did you even think I died?"

"Well, you were gone for a month and never contacted us at all during that time."

Looking behind them there were another three people who hadn't moved yet. Yao Ya was here and she was talking to Rao Nuan while the third, Hu Daquan was just stood there staring at me. Wait wasn't she just behind how did she get up there so quickly? Hu Daqaun's mouth opened but before he could get a word in, a voice of a man was heard throughout the waiting area.

The voice was heard on a nearby platform where an old man in robes hovered.

"Attention all disciples who are participating in this examination for the position of inner disciple. The exam will be one of a contest where two will fight and the winner will move up. We will only be accepting twenty-five of you to become an inner disciple. The beginning fights will be decided by pulling numbers. The numbers cards you have taken will be the number you represent." Looking down at my number card, I was number 302 one of the last few that entered.

"If you are in the top five you will be rewarded a prize. The prize for first place shall be a High-grade Human weapon of their choice along with a few other items which will be announced at that time. Now for the first two who will battle..."

'I need to watch this first battle very closely. I might be able to learn a few things for when I go in there. I need all the knowledge I can get about this and maybe-'

"Number 8 will go against number 302, come on up you two."

'...shit'

I begrudgingly walked over atop the stage and stood on one side. On the other side another man stood facing me while sizing me up. The stage was in the shape of a circle with a diameter of around 20 meters.

The elder flew above us "Now for the rules. You may not inflict fatal or serious damage upon one another. You may not use any items you've brought and you may not leave the platform once the battle has begun. If you surrender you cannot attack again nor may he attack you, that is all. If any of these rules are broken you shall be disqualified. We shall shall give everyone a blunt version of a weapon of their choice."

After his explanation he flew down and asked which weapon we preferred. I of course chose a sword and the man opposite me also chose a sword. The sword handed to me was still made of metal, but a lot wider than a normal one and also had the tip blunted. We stood on either end of the platform staring at each other waiting for the count down. He was holding his sword with only one hand while I held mine with two.

"Now that you two have your weapons the battle will start in 3, 2, 1 Now!"

The moment now was heard the other man charged at me. His footsteps left audible thumps as he rapidly closed the distance. He had already moved 3 meters by the time I started.

We converged on my half of the circle as he sent a quick thrust towards me. Raising my sword I swatted his blade away and returned with a kick. He jumped out of the way avoiding my leg and charged at me once again the moment he landed. He raised his sword up over his head and I prepared to thrust toward his abdomen while running towards him. It seems he hesitated when he saw I wasn't defending again instead trying to quickly change his stance from his overhead strike to a lower guard. His hasty guard with the power of a single arm couldn't match up to my strike. My blade easily slid over his stabbing directly into his stomach.

"Argh!" The first sound I hear come out from his mouth is a groan.

Jumping back a few meters he looks over at me with a hand on the area I stabbed him. I can't let him regain any footing now that I have even the tiniest advantage I have to strike. Using the footwork technique I quickly approached him with a horizontal slash readied. He watched my approach and seemed to prepare a swing from below with a look of determination in his eyes.

'It seems he won't hesitate and change his mind like last time, new plan?'

Before I reached him I jumped into the air and plunged my sword down. I jumped a lot higher then I thought I could. I went up 1.25 meters and the man was completely unprepared for it. A face that said he was fucked appeared as he stared at my rapidly descending blade headed for his chest.

*Crash* He toppled over with my sword hitting the center of his chest. I stood on him as he laid there under my feet.

"Arghhh! Fuck get off me, You win okay!"

Stepping off him the elder from earlier reappeared and congratulated me for my advancement before taking away the stage weapon and telling me to go sit down while others battle. The whole battle only lasted for around 2 minutes before it ended.

'That seemed easy, too easy what's happening here? I didn't even get hit in there was I just lucky to have this opponent? Well I'm not complaining at least I didn't get disqualified in the first round.'

..

The second battle is about to begin now. A bulky man with a large single sided axe on one side and a lanky man with a long spear at the other. They the weapons both only have metal for the heads and the handle for the axe and pole for the spear were still made of wood.

"GO!" The elder shouts beginning the second round.

The two clash with different battle styles. The bulky man is aggressive and tries to close the distance as the lanky man is defensive trying to gain some distance. The lanky man's spear would be excellent if he had the distance to use it on the other hand the bulky man's axe would be great against the other man if he could close the distance. Once he got close the spearman would have to start using his weapon as a stave instead unless he wanted to hold it closer to the head of the weapon.

The chase continued with the lanky man thrusting behind him while running away and the axe man chasing him dodging the pokes coming ahead of him.

After a few minutes of the two chasing each other the spearman thrusts back, but this time the bulky man grabbed onto it with one hand while lifting his axe with another. He chopped down onto the shaft of the spear breaking the part with the metal head attached to it. The lanky man looked at his what used to be spear with wide eyes.

"Oh, you bastard I got you now! I'm going to pay you back for all that time you wasted!"

"I surrender!!!"

"YOU... Piece of shit! After all I went through you just surrender like that!?"

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