Seeing how the contestants in the battle both had a Saint Lord cultivation base, I didn't expect much to happen during the match, and I was correct. Both of them were closely matched, so it really came down to who could use an auxiliary item first to get the upper hand, and the dark Elf managed to activate one of his talismans quicker, forcing his opponent to go on the defensive. At that point, I could tell he already had won; now it was really to see just how long his opponent could survive the onslaught for, which wasn't too long, though once his defensive technique was broken through, he was what Illumia would call it, 'a sitting duck'.
'So since he lost, he'll fight against the next matches loser, and whoever wins between them will be allowed to continue in the tournament. Quite generous if you ask me; I've always been told that in a real fight, you won't get a second chance, but I guess it's fine since this tournament is meant to allow for the younger generation to show off their strength and talent.' Thought Elif after watching the dark-Elf knock out his opponent, allowing him to continue down the bracket.
The next match consisted of another Saint Lord fighting against a Saint King, yet the Saint Lord admitted defeat right when the match started, giving the Saint King a win without even fighting.
"That was incredibly pathetic! To think someone would actually admit defeat while being watched by the entire Empire, although I must say he is quite brave to do that because I would never be capable of doing so." Commented Elif with disdain oozing out of his voice as he watched the next contestants arrive on stage.
The next match was similar to the first one, except they were both in the Saint King realm, and one of them had a weapon, so the battle went on for a little bit longer before either of them used any of their auxiliary items though even after they both activated talismans, they still continued for a reasonable amount of time until one of them read the situation wrong and fell into their opponents trap, causing them to take an injury which had also lowered their strength. Just like previously, I had expected him to win now because he managed to injure his opponent, yet contrary to my expectations, his opponent quickly swallowed a pill that seemed to increase their cultivation base by one minor realm. Even though she was injured, she still had enough power to break his talisman, putting him at a severe disadvantage with him now having to defend against her and her talisman, which he couldn't do for more than a couple of seconds before finally getting swatted out of the sky unconscious.
"That was a pretty intense fight that lasted for quite a while, but what was the point of him carrying a sword on his waist if he never even used it in the first place?" Asked Elif as he watched the boy get carried out by what he assumed would be his maids.
"Nobles care a lot about their reputation and appearance, so, likely, it was merely a decoration, your highness."
"Find that unlikely, considering how the previous match went." Replied Elif sarcastically, though he did believe Illumia.
The fourth match was similar to the second match, with both contestants having a significant difference in cultivation, but at least this time, the one with a lower cultivation base had some pride and didn't forfeit like a coward, though he was still quickly defeated; however, I'm sure he gained some respect among the nobles.
The fifth match was Alf against a random noble, and with how nervous he was, I figured he would admit defeat immediately. Yet, when the match started, he didn't even have enough time to open his mouth before he got smashed into the ground by Alf's hammer; when she lifted the hammer, you could see the noble embedded into the ground with blood covering his face and a broken nose.
"Alf is quite ruthless; she didn't even give that boy enough time to admit defeat before she attacked, though I never knew she used a hammer. Yep, fighting her is going to be extremely difficult." Commented Elif as he watched Alif fly off stage with the hammer resting on her shoulder.
The next several matches were pretty much the same as the first five; it was either an intense fight, a one-sided beat down, or one of them admitted defeat; this is how all the matches went until it was finally my turn. However, I didn't plan to go on stage because I'd seen how the lower-tier nobles interacted with the higher nobles. Hence, I highly doubted any of the lower nobles would actually fight me, yet I was proven wrong when I saw my opponent, who was a peak Saint Emperor, walk on stage confidently without a trace of fear or nervousness.
'Either he doesn't realize who his opponent is, or he is that confident in his strength. Though, for the average person to find out your opponent is a major realm lower than you would be enough for you to be confident.' Thought Elif as he stood up and floated out of his private booth through the window down onto the arena, landing several meters away from his opponent.
I didn't do anything flashy this time, as everyone should know that I'll be fighting in this match, and even when I landed, my opponent didn't seem to be fazed.
"Let the match begin!" Shouted the announcer with great enthusiasm.
"It is a great honor to be able to personally fight against the Prince himself, but as this is a tournament meant for battle, I hope you can forgive my transgressions, Prince Elif." Declared Elifs opponent with a respectful bow before instantly standing up and launching an attack.
I was going to respond to him, but it seemed like he didn't care about my response as he instantly started attacking, probably trying to catch me when my guard was low. However, the moment I left my booth, I was prepared for any attacks directed at me; I learned that the hard way from Illumia.
Since he was an entire major realm above me, his attack was decently powerful, but that's about it; using the elven body flicker, I disappeared from my previous spot and appeared standing right next to my opponent, who didn't even notice me until I opened my mouth.
"Next time, you should wait until I respond before attacking, as that was quite rude." Said Elif, as he disappeared from beside him when his opponent attacked again.
Appearing hovering in the air above him, I manipulated some of my Qi to form a royal elf's palm before sending it down to strike him; he had noticed me the moment I started creating the palm, so he had sent another attack to me as well, though when both of our attacks clashed, his instantly shattered while my palm continued heading toward him.
I saw him try attacking my palm with a few more attacks, yet, the moment they collided with my palm, they were obliterated, and right when my palm was about to squish him, I saw my palm crack before quickly exploding.
'The match had just started, yet I had already forced him to use a talisman, and for it to destroy my palm, its strength must at least be at the late Half-step Divine realm. Hmm, it's nothing I can't deal with, but it's going to be annoying having to focus on two things at once, though I guess it could be some good training.' Pondered Elif as he counterattacked the talisman before dodging an attack from his opponent.
Since I was suppressing my cultivation, it was pretty tricky at first having to separate my focus between my opponent and his talisman during the match. However, as time went on, I started to get more and more proficient in it until it eventually became manageable. I hadn't mastered fighting multiple enemies at once from this match alone, but I'd definitely improved my ability to fight more than one enemy.
'I thought this was going to be over quickly, yet this actually turned out to be quite fruitful, though, since it's no longer challenging, I'm beginning to get bored, not to mention I can sense that the talisman is about to run out of Qi.' thought Elif as he easily dodged an attack from the talisman and attacked his opponent.
Just as I predicted, the talisman ran out of Qi and turned into dust; when that happened, I saw my opponent quickly summon a pill from his storage ring, but I didn't allow him to swallow it as I wished for this fight to end now. Appearing behind him, I went to capture him with a Royal Elf's Palm, yet when I did, I heard some cracking noise along with him, letting out a scream before falling unconscious in my grasp.
'Oops, didn't mean to crush some of his bones; I should probably avoid grabbing someone with my palm until I master it to a better degree. Though it's just a few broken bones, he'll be fine; I've gone through worst.' Thought Elif as he handed his opponent over to the rushing maids before flying back to his booth.
"You seemed to enjoy the match, your highness." Commented Illumia after Elif floated through the glass and sat back on the throne.
"Yeah, contrary to what I imagined, it wasn't that bad fighting against someone much weaker than me, though I have a feeling as I gain more experience, it won't be as fun." Said Elif as he brought out the bowl filled with his favorite food, lightning cherries.