A True Martial Artist

Anette raised his hand and uttered, "I will be using a mini blade as my weapon."

"Fine by me," Ziro nodded in acknowledgment.

After a brief silence of Anette and all the other players present in the arena stared at Ziro.

"What?" Ziro asked, not knowing the reason why he was being stared at.

"Wah~ So embarrassing," Kiana muttered as she shot a glance at Alina.

The Mascot turned to Ziro and said, [Your opponent— Annette is using a weapon, so you also have to use a weapon.]

"Oh!" Ziro exclaimed, then shook his hand and uttered, "I will pass; I don't need to use a weapon."

[What a bold statement!] The mascot exclaimed. [The player— Ziro is so confident that he would win without using a weapon.]

Everyone, including the players watching the match and the players present in the arena, awed in surprise.

"Did he have to act cool like that?" Alina muttered.

"I think I know the reason why he doesn't want to use weapons," Nier quipped.

"Why?" Alina asked curiously.

"Ziro and I, we both have received extremely advanced martial arts training of all sorts. Some are still unknown to the rest of the world; some are solely to the royals. So if he uses the secret moves, the world might figure out his true identity."

The fights in the game were live broadcasted in the real world on all the social media, so if Ziro used his moves, everyone would see it. And even If there were a single person who identified those moves, Ziro's identity as a royal would be exposed.

"Of course, the same goes for me," Nier added. "I have to fight with only basic moves. Although, I doubt there would be players knowing advanced martial arts."

Anette equipped a mini blade and nodded to the mascot.

The mascot and Anette glanced at Ziro, and he nodded in reply.

[Both Players are Ready! The Player who Steps Out Of The Ring First Loses!]

[The Player Whose HP Hits 1 First Loses!]

[The Match Begins On The Count Of— Three! Two! One!]

Annette tossed his blade in the air and dashed at Ziro. He jumped and grabbed the blade before swinging it at Ziro.

Ziro, however, didn't move an inch or even flinched. He folded his hand on his back and waited for Annette to attack him.

Annette swung the blade at Ziro, but Ziro dodged it swiftly.

Anette began to attack Ziro at different places; sometimes at legs, sometimes at the face, sometimes on the chest. He was using a different strike attack and switching his blade from one hand to another hand.

His other hand and two legs were also attacking Ziro.

He wasn't giving Ziro a chance to attack.

"Awesome! That Annette is awesome!" The players applaud.

"He is indeed good," Nier nodded in agreement.

"Ziro should have used weapon too," Sera remarked.

Kiana glanced at Alina from the side to see her reaction, but Alina was too focused on the match that she couldn't hear what Nier and Sera were saying.

Three minutes passed by, and Anette kept attacking non-stop, without giving Ziro any chance to attack.

"Isn't this bad?" Sera muttered with an anxious look on her face.

"That player is indeed good," Nier repeated what she said a while ago. 

"But, Ziro is simply fooling around right now," she added.

"What do you mean?" Sera asked with a puzzled look on her face: "Annette isn't giving Ziro any chance to attack."

"To us viewers, it may look like that, but everything looks different when you are in the ring. Just wait for Ziro to get serious, and you will know what I am talking about," Nier scoffed.

After constantly attacking for 10 minutes, Annette was out of stamina. His speed and attacks were getting slower.

Ziro looked into Anette's eyes and thought, 'I don't know who you are, but you possess fine form. If you practice a little more and get some experience, you can become a good martial artist. But…'

Anette dashed and Ziro, but Ziro moved to the side and pushed Anette out of the ring using his fingers.

"You still have a lot to learn, Annette. I enjoyed our match; come again once you have gained experience, and we shall fight again sometime," Nero asserted with a smile on his face.

"Whoa!" The crowd began cheering and clapping as Ziro won.

"That looked so easy!" a player yelled between the applause.

"Maybe martial arts aren't as hard as they seem they are,"  muttered a man lying on his bed and watching the match on his phone— as it dropped on his face soon after.

"Even I can do it!" A woman stuck in the traffic jam yelled while watching the match on her tablet.

"He looks happy," Nier remarked.

"That's because he won, right?" Sera wondered.

"No." Nier shook her head and uttered, "After seeing this match, it reminded me of my training with my grandfather. And I am sure Ziro remembered the same."

"So he is not particularly happy that he won; he is happy that he got a chance to use the training he received from our grandfather," Nier asserted with a smile on her face.

[The Winner Of This Match is… Ziro!] the mascot announced.

Annette caught his breath as he glared at Ziro. Then, he sighed and walked forward at Ziro.

Ziro raised his brows and waited for Annette to approach him.

Annette moved his hand towards Ziro and uttered, "That was a good match."

Ziro shook Annette's hand and said, "You attacks were fine, but you need to work on your form and stance."

Annette's eyes widened as Ziro gave him advice. He scoffed and shook his head, saying, "My father used to tell me the same thing. But I always focused on the offense without worrying about my defense. But fighting you made me realize that everything is different in the real match."

"Indeed," Nero nodded in agreement.

"My name is Annette Armet. My father's name was Jian Armet, and he was a well-known martial arts trainer."

"Never heard of him," Nero uttered nonchalantly.

"I am not surprised." Even though he said that, he looked shocked.

"But let's fight again sometime. I will send you a friend request once I log out."

"I will make sure to keep it on my pending list," Nero replied with a grin.