Tenmaru stepped on the arena. He had the first match.

His opponent was a muscular man wearing sleeveless shirt. His biceps bulged like living mice running on his arms.

The muscular man had a curved blade as his weapon and a giant scar on his neck.

Compared to him, Tenmaru looked like a weak noble kid with no experience in the battlefield.

"Shinka Tenmaru versus Sawada Kouta." The referee shouted. "Here’s the code of conduct.

The match stops when either side surrenders, loses consciousness, or fall outside of the arena.

This tournament does not guarantee your survival and if you die, you lose.

Have both of you sign the death and injury waiver?"

Tenmaru and Kouta nodded.

"Good. The match begins!" The referee jumped out of the platform, giving room back to the two fighters.

Carter stood at the side of the arena with his arms crossed. His eyes stayed fixed on the platform.

Another Fighter stood beside him and asked, "Is that your student?"

Carter nodded.

"He looks so young. He doesn’t seem to have a lot of experience. Are you sure you should let him fight?" The Fighter asked.

"Young doesn’t mean weak. It only means that he has a lot of time to improve." Carter said plainly.

The Fighter widened his eyes gently. Then did a respectful gesture toward Carter.

"I didn’t know we have a Master here." The Fighter recognized Carter’s wisdom. "I am Nagano Shokichi."

"Ginro Musashi. Pleasure."

The two shook hands briefly before returning to the match.

Kouta drew his curved sword and Tenmaru drew his straight sword.

Kouta’s sword was much thicker and broader than Tenmaru’s sword.

"What are you even doing with that toothpick?" Kouta laughed darkly.

"It isn’t how big your sword is. It’s how you use it with." Tenmaru said.

The referee couldn’t help but frowned, "They’re talking about swords, right?"

"Rin!" Kouta shouted. His body was fueled with power.

Carter squinted his eyes. He observed the flow of energy surrounding Kouta. Now that he knew more about the supernatural nature of this world, he wanted to collect more info about it.

"Rin!" Tenmaru did the same. His body was also enhanced. But it didn’t create an aura.

’This is different from Adrenaline. But is also similar somehow. The users are digging into the hidden powers of their bodies to execute superhuman tasks. It is the same principle from Adrenaline but not the same execution.’

"Buki - Dog Bite!" Kouta lunged forward and slammed his curved sword down like a rapid dog.

"Buki - Explosive Steps!" Tenmaru used the techniques that he had learned inside the Arashi Palace.

Tenmaru used a utility technique that allowed him to stay quick for a prolong period. Kouta’s technique was a one time only. The difference was noticeable.

Tenmaru easily dodged Kouta’s Dog Bite by stepping back. Then, once Kouta overextended himself, Tenmaru marched forward with his sword.

"Buki - Serrated Cut!" Tenmaru swung the sword horizontally. The blade bit in the air and let out high shrieking noise.

Kouta stumbled backward as quickly as he could and raised his hand up to block the blade somehow. This man was an amateur and a savage at best.

He normally overwhelmed people with his aggression and attack so he didn’t really know how to defend himself. When his usual tactic no longer worked, Kouta returned to his helpless self.

Tenmaru’s sword cut out a huge wound on Kouta’s arm.

The muscular man clenched his jaw. "Buki - Boomerang Blade!"

Kouta threw his curved blade forward. It spun quickly in the air and toward Tenmaru.

’What even is that technique? Throwing you weapon away in mid-fight is suicide.’ Carter couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for Kouta.

Tenmaru easily deflected the blade away. That wasn’t even a proper technique, just something Kouta created using the power of Rin.

The young man closed their distance and started to cut Kouta with quick succession strikes.

More and more blood splashed upon the floor.

"I surrender!" Kouta gave up eventually.

Tenmaru sheathed his swords. He held back. If not, Kouta would be a cold corpse already.

"Your student is really good!" Shokichi said. "If he had Po, he would be much stronger. A swordsman should use Po after all."

Shokichi was referring to Po the Sacred Word.

’Of course Tenmaru has Po. He just didn’t use it.’

For swordsman, Po was considered the stronger Sacred Word. Rin was much more common while Po required finesse to master it.

"I won, Master." Tenmaru smiled.

Carter nodded. From that brief fight, Carter understood Tenmaru more and could devise a proper way to train him.

After that fight, Arena No.9 continued to host battles for the rest of the contestants. They took no break and were essentially doing the qualifications as quickly as possible.

The other Awaken Arenas were similar. However, no Elite Arena had begun yet. Not until the sun had fallen.

At night, most of the Awaken had gone through their qualifications. The number of contestants had been cut down in half. They would need to do qualifications for a few more days to make sure the number was low enough for the next round.

The personnel of the Tournament started bringing out chairs, tables, and umbrella. They set it up around the Elite Arenas.

"What’s happening?" Carter said.

"You don’t know? They are preparing seats for the officials and important people." Shokichi said. "There’s a reason why they don’t start the Elite Arenas until night. They want to make sure these people can watch."

Then the very important people arrived. Some were Jado’s officials, some were wealthy traders, and some were strong Elite Fighters.

Elder Shoma and his Martial Sect arrived around this time as well. They were following some Elite Fighter. Elder Shoma looked incredibly pathetic. There was no more the arrogance from yesterday.

He noticed Carter and whispered to the Elite Fighter he was following. The old man pointed at him.

Carter’s gaze collided with Shoma’s smugness. The Elite Fighter also noticed him. He was a Major Elite, two minor ranks above Shoma, which was Minor.

"So that’s the guy."