Kate vs. Lin

"Well then, we should go ahead with the next match," Kalos announced.

"Kalos!"

"Is there a problem Nalos?"

Without even a mocking smile on his face, Kalos responded to Nalos' fury. After all, how could he care about some defeated pups who couldn't even bite back? Though there was no need to act so harshly against a minor threat like Nathan, having a certain someone owe him a favour was well worth it.

Since Nalos knew he couldn't do anything to Kalos, he held back his anger and just glared hatefully at him. The next match would be an easy win for the Heaven clan but that wasn't nearly enough to calm his fury.

Kate was in a similiar state. In her condition, Shui thought that it likely that she would relieve her anger on Lin, but he didn't try to dissuade her. After a few glances at the faces of some old women in the Glaize clan, as well as the indifference of Rune while performing the act, he had a good idea as to the real situation. Kalos might have just wanted to irritate the Heaven clan, but Shui didn't think that was everything. He didn't see Kalos as the type who would make such a pointless move. Rather, if anyone looked at who would benefit directly from Nathan being seriously injured, there was one group that was higher on the list than the Clite clan.

"Remember, perfectly."

Those were the words Shui said to Kate before she left. She wouldn't forget them, she would relieve all her stress without losing herself. She would demonstrate what it meant to be outclassed.

Over in the Glaize clan, Lin's master, an old woman in early Earth Realm placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't try to win. You should put up a good fight and then find a chance to lose. Third place is already yours."

"Yes Master."

In the Glaize clan, due to the nature of their cultivation method, there were few boys who could be considered talented, but Lin was the best even compared with the girls in his age group. At the age of nine he was at the fourth level of the Mortal Realm and would likely make it to the fifth level before he reached ten. This talent was enough for him to be considered as the next head of the clan so the old woman was very proud of him.

The moment Lin faced Kate on the stage, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Kate seemed to exude an aura that he had only seen from his Matriarch, an aura of both arrogance and grace. One look at her chilling gaze was enough for him to consider giving up before the match even began. Under these circumstances, he could understand why his junior sister became so frightened when she faced her.

Even when the match began, he was too afraid to move a step closer. His instincts were screaming at him to run, but his reason reminded him that he had to at least exchange a few moves. Since he knew it would be harder for him if he delayed it, Lin leaped towards her in an effort to reach as close as possible. As he came closer to her, Kate wondered as to how she should show her dominance. To her this was no fight; it was a play. A play with her as the star.

She wondered if she should toy with him until he accepted the reality that he couldn't win, but that could be mistaken as a close fight so she changed her mind. Instead, she decided to straightforwardly beat him.

"Okay."

Just as she decided on what to do, Lin reached in range. He thought she would block or dodge his incoming fist but even when his fist was close enough to touch her face if he stretched out his fingers, she stayed still.

'Could I have a chance?'

The wish to get a clean hit on her came from inside him and it was the last thing he could remember clearly of this fight. A moment later, Kate's foot struck his chin and he flew into the air. As he passed the peak of his flight and began falling, Lin could finally realize what had happened to him.

'Huh? What? I just-'

However before he was completely aware of his surroundings, Kate went into her next move. She jumped, spun once and slapped her right foot into Lin's face. The torque from the kick made Lin's consciousness like a flickering lightbulb. Even the pain from continuously bouncing and sliding across the stage came in pieces that frightened him. He barely managed to steady himself before coming off the stage, but that was actually a mistake caused by his instincts. Naturally he would want to re-adjust himself so that he could properly assess the situation, but if he had maintained his reason he would have known it would be better if he had gotten knocked off the stage.

A moment after he stopped sliding and crouched with one bleeding hand on his head, Kate arrived at his side like an arrow and kicked him closer to the center of the stage. This time he couldn't stop sliding before Kate swiftly came and kicked him into the air once more. As he rose and then fell again, the last thing he saw was Kate's heel coming for him. With a perfect jumping axe kick, Kate ended the match.

For the second time, Kate's performance made the entire audience speechless. Unlike Rune, Kate's dominance didn't come off as brutal or crude. Though Lin was left covered in blood and bruises, he seemed like a prop in Kate's show, one that showed her strength and superiority.

"Wi, winner: Kate of the Heaven clan!"

Once the result was announced, a horde of people from the Glaize clan rushed to Lin while Kate nonchalantly walked back to her seat, indifferent to their hateful glares. Kate's match filled the Heaven clan with pride once more and they looked at her with admiration. Even Shui's presence by her side became tolerable.

"Did it look perfect?"

"Well, I suppose it's close enough."

"Oh you."

Kate roughly rubbed her hand across Shui's head and they smiled. Though he knew she could have ended the match quicker, he also thought that she looked cool during the fight. He could tell that her control of energy was good enough to allow her to travel with explosive bursts of speed and was impressed by how well she did so.

"Don't you think your brat was a little too heavy-handed, Patriarch Nalos."

From the Glaize clan, an old woman's voice disrupted the festive mood of the Heaven clan. As they heard the words of the old woman, they couldn't help frowning due to how shameless she was.

"What are you saying? That was his fight, you should respect the result."

Hearing his words being repeated by Nalos, Kalos grinned. He had already completed his part of the deal so it was no trouble for him if they couldn't handle their part.

The old woman fumed with fury and shame and was about to shout back when she felt a cold chill run down her back. After a slight glance to her left, she noticed the Matriarch turned towards her and shut up.

"Well then, with this the first day is over. However, there's a problem we need to sort out," Kalos said as he looked at the two clan heads.

"Since both candidates for third place have been seriously injured, I think it would be necessary for both clans to use a substitute."

In the inter-clan competition, each clan was allowed one substitute in each category. The substitute needed to be from the clan and had to either have already lost or was not in the competition in the first place. When they heard Kalos mention 'substitute', the Heaven clan was overcome by gloom. They knew that they had no proper substitute for Nathan, unlike the Glaize clan, so they were destined to lose.

"We forfeit the fight for third place."

Once Nalos said this, many smirks were revealed in the Glaize and Clite clans.