Rookie Crusher

Julian thanked the man, raised his head to look at the electronic screen in the hall, and quickly found his information.

"Ring No. 4, today's 15th match, member ID58395 vs. member ID00284."

58395 was exactly his member ID.

Taking his eyes off the screen, Julian started walking toward the ring no.4.

Meanwhile, the 14th match was proceeding on the arena, from what it looked like, the fight would soon reach the conclusion.

Just like what Julian predicted, no longer than two minutes later, the battle was over and the winner had been decided.

The defeated fighter descended the arena with lowered head, while the winners stood proudly, enjoying the cheers and praises from the audiences.

"The 15th round of the No. 4 ring, member ID58395 played against member ID00284."

The next battle was announced through the hall speaker.

Julian raised his head and strode onto the ring with firm step amidst the murmuring and curious gazes directed at him.

"Look, it's a fresh face. A new member?"

"The ID said so."

"He doesn't look that old. What do you think his level would be?"

"Most likely level 1."

"Level 1? It's boring…"

On the other side, Julian's opponent finally appeared, swaggering as he moved closer to the ring.

From his appearance, he looked no older that twenty-five years old. His hair styled in swept bang, making him look like a pompous young master.

Maybe, he WAS a pompous young master.

Julian sized his opponent with scrutiny. The only thing stood out about him, other than his eye-catching sleek hair, was her exquisite martial arts uniform, which seemed worth a ton of gold just with a single glance.

As the man stepped onto the ring, a commotion broke among the crowd watching the upcoming battle.

"It's Rookie Crusher, Leo! It's that guy again!"

"This brat must be abusing his diamond membership privilege again!"

"Isn't he tired of bullying newbie every day?"

"Hey wait a moment. There's something wrong. Leo is definitely at life energy 2, it means that the boy also at life energy level 2!"

That last sentence instantly made the audience gasped in amazement. Many people were seen blinking their eyes several times as if trying to make sure whether they were dreaming or not. The one who had already came into their senses, soon broke into cheers.

But among them, Julian also noticed some people who was shaking their head and looking at him with pity. It didn't take much brain power for Julian to realize that his opponent must have a notorious reputation among the members, yet also a decent enough fighter to make the audiences instantly assuming he would be the one who suffer in this confrontation.

'Well, it's still too soon to know who'll suffer between us.'

A faint smirk appeared on Julian's lips.

***

Leo was a typical heir of second-generation wealthy family. His father was said to be the chairman of a large hunter-related corporation in White Whale City.

His martial arts aptitude was mediocre at best. If it wasn't because of his background, he might not be able to break through the life energy level 2 for his entire life.

Fortunately, although his father was ordinary person, he had a knack of making money. With his business acumen and his luck, he successfully gained a partnership with a few famous hunter groups and from there started his business empire.

Because of his experience, his father was rather obsessed with martial artists and hunters. As he had no hope to tread the path of martial arts, he put his dream into all his children.

Unfortunately, Leo inherited his father's lack of martial arts talent, and because of that his father spend enormous amount of money to buy elixir and alien race meats to forcefully raise his level to level 2.

They who used this shortcut to increase their life energy level were basically doomed not be able to advance further the path of life evolution.

But Leo didn't give a shit about that.

He was already satisfied enough just to break through to level 2.

He then joined the Tekken Club and also applied for the highest level of diamond membership with the purpose of satisfying his sense of vanity and gaining a sense of superiority over other by only choosing opponents who were weaker than himself in every sparring session.

And because the regulars knew his routines, even if they were matched, they would directly abstain and would not compete with him at all.

So, Leo usually targeted the rookie who had just joined the club. Because of that, he was known as "Rookie Crusher", a nickname given to him by other members to play a joke on him.

Despite the bad connotation, Leo wasn't ashamed of his moniker, rather he seemed to be proud of it, and continued to aim for newcomers in Iron Fist Club.

Just today, he found that a new member was registered in the club. His total value of the four dimensional attribute was only 83 points, five points lower than his. The other party also didn't seem to be that old, so he assumed that his martial arts attainment wouldn't be better than him. A perfect prey.

So, Leo chose the boy named Julian as opponent without hesitation. As a diamond member he had the right to do so.

"This dude should be a combat department student. Hmph. No matter how they clamour about being a comdep student or whatever, today I'll beat one until he beg mercy. Hmph. Hmph."

Leo snorted, glaring triumphantly at Julian on the opponent side.

***

The referee staff walked to the edge of the ring, glanced left and right, saw that both sides were ready, and announced the start of the battle.

The moment the voice fell, Leo immediately launched an offensive, while dashing, he stretched out his palm, attacking Julian with a strong wind.

Julian, who had spent most of his free time on the internet to broaden his knowledge of the world, hunters and martial arts, instantly recognized Leo's move—Reef Crusher Wave Palm technique, a martial arts technique which focus on rapid and precise palm attacks toward a single target in succession, just like a raging sea wave that constantly crashed against the reef and eventually broke the sturdy structure apart.

The longer the Reef Crusher Wave Palm practitioner was allowed to launch successive attack, the faster and deadlier the next wave of attack would be.

Looking at its power, it must've been a two-star martial arts.

Knowing that Leo practiced Reef Crusher Wave Palm technique, Julian raised his vigilance but still eager to challenge his enemy and test his mettle. However, after exchanging a few moves, he soon found himself to be disappointed.

Although he practiced a two-star martial art skill, his proficiency was lower than he initially thought, only at adept-level at best. Its destructive power wasn't comparable to the one he watched on the video, which proficiency was at master-level.

Losing his interest in continuing the charade, Julian stormed at Leo like a whirlwind, instantly appearing behind him and attack him with Thunder Fist from the back using only around 60 or 70% of his strength.

But, worthy of its mastery at perfection-level, even if Julian didn't shot at full strength, the power of the punch was enough to blast the surrounding air, producing blasting pressure as it follow its trajectory until it landing perfectly on Leo's back.

Boom—

In a blink of an eye, Leo who had entered the ring with big fanfare was blasted out of the ring like a kite with broken string and dropped with a loud thud on the ground on the edge of the arena.

Silence filled the arena.

All the audiences witnessed this scene with blank eyes and gaped mouth.

Even the referee was also a little dazed but quickly recomposed himself.

Seeing that Leo hadn't got up for a long time, he walked over to check, only to find that Leo had passed out.

"...T-the winner is… ID58395!!!"

As the referee announced the winner, the surrounding crowd suddenly burst into an uproar.

"This, this is the end?"

"What was that just now? It's over with one punch!"

"That Leo brat, even if he's somewhat despicable but his skill is real deal. Yet he was blown away so easily!"

"It should be some kind of movement skill!"

"That Thunder Fist is also very fierce! It should be at least at the master-level!"

"Tsk tsk, I thought this newcomer was going to suffer a bit, but I didn't expect this guy to be a tiger. Hehe, Leo has hit the iron plate today!"

Many people looked at Julian with a trace of wonder.