Chapter 54: Third round begins
On his way out of the Hunter Association building, Kane could not think straight. He walked absent-mindedly out of the building's entrance and hailed a taxi.
He was silent and did not answer any unnecessary questions until he got to his room in the Hyatt hotel.
After getting into his room, he fell on the large bed and could not help but ask his master "who do you think 'that guy' is?".
There was a brief silence before Abel replied.
"There are only three people who come to mind who also know you. The first is god. A god somewhere might be secretly aiding you.
Then it might be the dao of space. It is another entity that might be powerful enough to command the Hunter Association and it definitely knows you.
The last would be the earth. I mean, it is the one that made the association in the first place and it knows every living creature living on the planet".
"I can understand the part about the dao of space and the earth, but I don't understand why a god would help me," said Kane. He sounded confused.
"Forget I said that for now. You might find out when you grow stronger" replied Abel in a hurry.
He said that a god was helping Kane because he believed that Kane was either the incarnation of a god or he was probably a reincarnated god.
He did not want to tell his student about his assumptions because he could be wrong and he could inflate the young man's ego to unhealthy proportions which might yield disastrous results.
…
It was evening when the duo had exhausted all their ideas on the matter and Abel urged his student to sleep early in preparation for his match the next day.
Kane could not sleep though so instead, he practiced his lunge and rock body skills. Abel was ok with this so allowed Kane to train his skills until it was 10 pm before forcing him to go to bed.
…
As usual, Kane woke up a few minutes past seven in the morning. He cleaned himself up and ate a rushed breakfast before leaving the hotel and hailing and heading off to the arena.
After presenting his competitor card to the guard, he was led into the now-too-familiar waiting room.
He arrived a few minutes past 8 and was the last competitor to show up. He looked around and saw Qusay waving at him so he walked up to the young man and took a seat next to him.
"Good morning bro. You really like to be the last one to arrive" said Qusay with a grin on his face.
"I'm not used to waking up early. Besides the examinations start at 9 am. I am early in my opinion" replied Kane.
"Don't you know? You've got to show some zeal in matters like. It lets the examiners see how dedicated you are to joining the sect" said Qusay as he puffed up his chest.
Kane chuckled "if arriving way before time could get you into the sect, I don't think there is a need for the exams" rebutted Kane. He looked up at the screen that displayed the placings and was a little surprised.
He thought he would be matched with a tier 5 competitor to get him knocked out faster but that was not the case. His opponent was Baligh Ganem and he was going to fight in the first round.
"You got lucky this time, I think. Unlike me" said Qusay while pouting. His opponent was Ferran Azzi, the war hammer-wielding tier 5 mutant.
The two discussed their opponents in hushed tones while waiting for the third round to begin.
…
It was soon 9 am and an announcement for the start of the first match. The competitors were urged to move to the teleportation platform.
"I guess it's my turn. Wish me luck" sighed Kane as he stood up.
"You've got this" Qusay gave him a thumbs up as he watched Kane walk to the teleportation platform.
Kane and his opponent stood on the teleportation platform and were teleported onto the stage.
After checking their conditions, the referee stepped back and waved his hands to signify the start of the match.
Baligh extended his arms in a defensive pose and waited for his opponent to make a move.
Kane raised his arms to block his face and observed his opponent. He knew that Baligh was a Hapkido adept and specialize in countering his enemy's attacks.
If there were on the same level, Kane would not hesitate to engage his opponent. The difference in their strength meant that every counterattack from Baligh would deal serious damage to his body.
"Your heightened observation would level the playing field a bit. Counter his counterattacks but be careful. Don't let him grab your limbs. It would be game over, no pressure" said Abel when he noticed how anxious his student was.
With that, Kane decided to attack. He quickly closed the gap between himself and his opponent and threw a punch at him when he was at arm's length.
Before the punch hit his opponent, he saw the minute changes occurring in his opponent's body and knew that Baligh was about to dodge to the side.
As expected, Baligh sidestepped the punch before extending his elbow at his opponent's neck. With his strength and Kane's momentum that was pushing him towards his elbow, the match would be as good as won if the attack connected.
Kane had already seen through his opponent's attack even before Baligh extended his elbow. He was extremely pleased with this particular function of his mutation. The only problem was that his speed was still too low to make good use of his advantage.
He quickly reacted and leaned backward while his momentum pulled him forward. Since the speed of the elbow attack was largely dependent on Kane's approaching speed he was able to lean back enough for the elbow to almost scrape the tip of his nose.
Once he dodged the attack, Kane quickly activated the rock body skill on his arm before sending his now augmented elbow at Baligh's side.
Baligh was still surprised by way Kane dodged his counterattack and failed to react to the subsequent elbow attack.
He was hit on the rib and he felt a sharp pain. The force from the attack threw him back a couple of feet.
Kane moved in for another attack and threw another punch at his opponent's face.
Baligh sidestepped the punch again and grabbed Kane's arm before he could react.
He drew Kane in and punched his face with his free hand. Kane who had seen the attack threw another punch at Baligh's face before hardening his head with the rock body skill.
The punch hit Kane's head and could not do any substantial damage. Baligh who had seen Nahla's match knew what came next. Kane would harden his second hand right after defending, and exchanging blows with his opponent.
With his superior speed, he managed to withdraw his first from Kane's head and caught Kane's second arm just in time. He was stunned though. The hand he just caught was not augmented by the rock body skill.
BAM!!!
Before Baligh could wrap his head around what was happening, Kane smashed his head which was still augmented by the rock body skill into Baligh's face.
Baligh grunted and almost toppled backward. Even with the immense pain that was coursing through his face, he still did not let go of his opponent's hands.
With a thought, Kane spread the effect of his rock body skill to cover his entire upper body before activating his recently upgraded skill, lunge.
He leaped backward at incredible speed and covered more than twenty feet in almost an instant. Baligh who was holding on to his hands was pulled to the ground by the sudden burst of speed and was dragged all the way.
The referee clutched his hand firmly and his heart beat a little faster. He recognized the lunge skill. It was a really basic skill for people who had earth elemental affinity.
What shocked him the most was that the kid displayed the effects of the skill when the user had attained the intermediate proficiency level with it.
This was the second intermediate proficiency level skill this kid had used in the examination. What made this feat even more spectacular was the fact that the body of a mutant could not handle such a level of power output and strain on the body generated by the use of an intermediate proficiency level skill.
Right in front of him, the kid could not only use such skills without much difficulty, he was even able to use two skills of such proficiency levels at the same time.
He even began to wonder if the kid's mutation had something to do with mastering skills.
"No this won't do. This Kane must join the Storm Cradle sect by any means necessary" muttered Haytham under his breath.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone