The Will to Fight

Hearing how many experts were gonna be at the tournament really got Phoenix fired up! If that amount of crazy strong people were gonna be at this tournament, then he couldn't afford to miss it. "Klein, you've got my blood boiling man! You really know what to say to a guy eh?" "You flatter me too much big brother Phoenix hehe." "Oi kid, who said that you could call me big brother? Haha, you're not even ready yet to have me as your big brother. You flatter yourself. Anyways, I have important business to attend to at home. I'll see you around kid." Phoenix walked out of class and went back to the rooftops. "This school seems kinda strange, but I think I might like it." Flashing a devilish smile, Phoenix jumped from the what looked like 4 story building, and landed on some bushes. "Haha, that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." While walking home, Phoenix suddenly stopped. "It feels like someone's watching me." After saying this, Phoenix yelled, "Whoever you are, your 100 years too early to be challenging me." Soon after he said this, he felt the strange presence disappear into thin air. "Ha, they couldn't handle the pressure eh? I'll be on my merry way then." After walking several kilometers, Phoenix ended up in front of a big red black house that looked quite lonely.

He walked to the gate and jumped over it, onto the front step. He took his key out and unlocked the door, opening out. "I'm home!" Phoenix was saddened to not hear anybody reply. He went to the bathroom and got undressed, taking everything off except for his boxers. He started to run hot water in his wooden tub. As soon as he was about to get a water, he heard familiar footsteps running to him from behind. He turned around to see who it was, but when he looked back, he couldn't find anyone. "That's strange." He said as he turned back. What he saw when he turned back shocked him. I front of him was a girl who looked to be 15 or 16. Tears pouring out of his eyes, he heard, "Hi my Nix hehe." "Mae, it's really you! After finally waiting for so long, I get to see you again!" Mae, the girl in front of him was his childhood sweetheart, who had to leave him 2 years ago for a business opportunity with her parents. "Happy to see me? I've missed you Nix." "Well little girl, I've missed you more than you can imagine. Seeing you makes me so happy! Anyways, enough talk for right now. I've been convinced to join a fighting tournament soon and I need to prepare for it. Come, cultivate with me". After saying those words, another wooden tub was filled with hot water.

The two of them cultivated for a few hours. Feeling exhausted, Mae said "Ok Nix I'm tired! Run me some hot water so I can bathe please." "Eh, we've only been cultivation for a few hours. How are you so tired?" "I get tired fast, you big bully!" "Ok ok. I'll run you some water in a few minutes." Phoenix got out of the water and dried himself off. He went to run Mae's water and went sit down in his room to take a look at his techniques. Looking at his techniques, the demigod and god techniques were the most beat up. "Haha, I guess I really do practice a lot huh? If I don't preserve them then how can I give them to my kids? Hehe!" Phoenix folded the techniques he had in his hand and stored them in a drawer. He then proceeded to his training room in his house. "Gotta keep my body fit! Let's go! Let's go!" Phoenix started to do crunches, pushups, and lifting weights. He worked on all parts of his body simultaneously. When he was done, he started to stretch a little more and he did a handstand with 1 finger. "I can feel my muscles getting stronger! Looks like doing this isn't a waste. I can scarcely feel myself getting tired though."

As soon as Phoenix was about to fall down from fatigue, he saw Mae walk into the training room. "Working hard Nix? I guess I'll join you. During these two years, I haven't slacked off at all. I've been training my body, cultivation, and techniques the whole time. My cultivation is actually Quasi Deity beginner stage!" "Ah, you've grown quite strong over the years, haven't you? I'm at the intermediate stage, but I can feel myself becoming closer to the experienced stage." Mae got into the same position as Phoenix. Seeing as he didn't want to lose to Mae in terms of endurance, he circulated the qi in his body to rid himself of his fatigue. 3 hours later, they were both drenched in sweat. Mae tumbled down to the floor, Phoenix falling shortly after. Breathing heavily, Mae muttered" You've beaten me this time! Now I'm all sweaty, what shall I do?!" "Haha it's ok, I have quite a few pills to get rid of the dirt on one's body. Go look in the drawer over there." After he had pointed it out, Mae hurriedly got the pills and gave one to herself and Phoenix. "Ok, so Phoenix can you tell me more about this competition?" Thinking a while, Phoenix finally said, "Well I don't know a whole lot, just that there will be very strong people there! Just hearing how strong they were from my friend made my blood boil! Maybe fighting them will help me advance in the stages of my cultivation. I know my limits though. With my current cultivation, I wouldn't be able to get close to beating them. I have to work on my cultivation, technique mastery, and I need more battle experience." "Well, I could help you with mock battles. We can battle to give you an opportunity for a breakthrough and some battle experience." 'Hm, thanks for the offer, Mae. I'll have to think about it though."

Phoenix yawned and said "Well I'm going to sleep! I'll see you in the morning! Are you staying here tonight or going to your parent's house?" "Nah I think I'll stay here and have some fun with you Nix." "Ok just don't be too much of a pain in the butt. I'll sleep on the right side of the bed. You can have the left side." "Ok. I just hope you're a good pillow hehe." "Don't even think about it!" Phoenix brushed his teeth and got in his bed. "Mae turn the light off." "Ok, I got it!" Just like that, the house was quiet again. "Hey Mae, stop moving so much, and stop hugging me so tight!" "I can't help it, I'm cold!" After hearing Mae's excuses, Phoenix dozed off. "Mom! Mom! Come back to me! Where's dad, please tell me! Mom, where are you going, please?" Seeing a familiar face in his dreams, Phoenix couldn't help calling out. He woke up with sweat on his face. He saw that it was still pitch black and looked at Mae. "She looks so cute and innocent when she's sleeping. Don't want to wake her up." Phoenix went back to sleep, hoping not to have any dreams pertaining to his parents.

Waking up the next day, he got up to look for Mae but found out she was gone, leaving a note behind. Not seeming to care too much, he read the note. " I went to go train in the and exercise in the neighborhood. I'll be back by the time you get back from School. See you soon!" After reading the letter, Phoenix found that there wasn't anything off. As a child, Mae really liked to train, competing against Phoenix. He got dressed and walked off to school, hoping to not waste time, and get all the information on the tournament. As he walked in the gates of the school, he searched for Klein, hoping to get the details of the tournament from him. After finally finding Klein, Phoenix ran up to him, grabbed him, and ran to a safe and quiet place. Not realizing who kidnapped him, he said "Who are you? How dare you kidnap the headmaster's son! You dare sneak around and not show your face!" After listening to these words, Phoenix couldn't help but laugh out. "It's just me haha. I just wanted you to explain the details of the tournament." "Was there really a need to take me here though?" "I didn't feel like telling you to come with me and all of that. It's just easier. Now, explain all of the details."

"Ok so, the tournament starts in precisely 32 days from now, and it'll be hosted in an arena north from Here. There are three rounds to the tournament. First, there is the preliminary round. This helps to weed out the weak people. Secondly, there are the Semi-Finals. You pull slots and fight the person who matches your number. You must win 2 fights to advance to the next round. Lastly, there are the finals. The people who advanced from the finals form a team of two to fight other teams of two. The winning team will be known throughout the whole nation. You will be famous and have undeniable prestige. It's a really big honor. It also helps your ranking at the school. That parts complicated so I'd rather not explain. Well anyways, that's all I know. Need anything else?" "No, but thank you Klein. You've been a really big help, and I'll remember this!"

After saying this. Phoenix got up from where he was sitting and said, "Well, I'm going into a closed doors training. I trust the headmaster won't mind?" "Yeah, it'll be alright since it's almost time for the tournament. I think I'll go train too." "Ok well, bye man. I'll see you the day of the tournament. Phoenix jumped out of the window and sprinted home. "Time is precious right now. If I want a chance at winning the tournament, I need to get stronger!"

Phoenix wrote a note saying he was going into closed-door cultivation so that Mae wouldn't be curious. I needed to advance in my cultivation and technique. Phoenix walked into his room and sat down to cultivate. He needed to make sure that he was strong enough to win. He planned on using all of his trump cards in the tournament. He didn't care what it'd take, he'd even use absolute power to maximize his power to one thousand percent. He knew the backlash would be severe, even crippling his cultivation. He didn't care though, because even if it did, he wanted to go out with a bang. Phoenix started cultivating, making sure he didn't waste any time.

15 days later, Phoenix opened his eyes. He was inwardly shocked. He felt that a phenomenon had occurred. His cultivation was now in the mastered stage of the Quasi Deity realm. Skipping 2 stages was unheard of in the world. Of all people, why did it happen to him? He pondered over the matter a little longer, but realized he only had 17 days before the competition. "I'd better not worry of this matter right now. I'm still far off from where I need to be. He started to cultivate his techniques now, making sure that hey advanced too.

17 days later, Phoenix opened his eyes with a smirk on his face. He got up and swung open the doors. Announcing loudly, he said, "I'm out!"