~Chapter 5- Round 1~

The Finalist's stage was several times larger than any of the individual preliminary stages. It was made to provide the finalists ample room to show off their abilities. Based on how bouts on this stage fared in previous tournaments, it could be argued it still wasn't large enough. The circular stone stage had marks on it to indicate the appropriate starting positions of the combatants. A giant drum sat near the stage.

Wooden bleachers surrounded the periphery, and as noon drew near, they began to fill to capacity. The finalist's tournaments were always seen as the highlight of the festival. The Finalist's lobby sat underground, beneath one of the bleachers. From it, the stage and crowd could be seen in all its splendor.

In the Finalist's lobby, Jirro waited with Aero, Emer, and Cmar. The Fighting Academy students who beat Corri and Ruben waited as well - a young woman and a muscular man wearing white, loose-fitting garbs. Emil wore similar but more dirtied clothing.

Cho met with the finalists to explain how things would proceed. Just like in the preliminaries, they would be called when it was time for their match. The only difference was that to win, they would have to score three points rather than just one.

Cho ran through the brackets, but all Jirro could pay attention to was the fact that he was placed in the first match against a rather muscular Mecarne named Pumps. He had a lime tint to his reflective flesh. He eyed Jirro and smirked, revealing sharpened teeth.

The boys stretched while they waited for the finals to begin, staying close to Emer and Cmar. Jirro peered out of the waiting room at the stage and glanced at the immense crowd.

At noon, Cho stepped out to address the crowd, "The sixteen greatest fighters of this tournament are waiting to entertain all of you!" He spoke through a giant horn so all could hear.

As he enraptured the crowd, Jirro began to grow anxious. Was he nervous? No, no he couldn't be.

As preparations were made for finals to begin, those watching in the audience talked amongst themselves.

"A promising set of warriors for this tournament."

"I'm calling it, a Phantine warrior will win this one. Maybe, that big one in orange garbs?"

"I believe that Phantine's name is Cmar."

"There are some young folk among these competitors too."

"How did such young boys make it to the finals?"

"Maybe they're members of the Fighting Academy?"

"It didn't look like they were wearing the Academy's uniforms..."

"The first match is between the young Ralosian, Jirro and the Mecarne, Pumps!" Cho announced.

Jirro left the finalists' lobby towards the stage alongside Pumps in the view of hundreds. Jirro felt his heartbeat quicken as he stepped on stage.

He felt unsure of himself. He'd never been around so many people at once. Before he could mentally prepare himself, the match began, and Pumps charged at him. Jirro barely managed to block his first few strikes, but Pumps landed a knee into his stomach, and he fell over.

The judge beat the drum. "Point to Pumps! 1-0! Return to your starting position."

The crowd gave a half-hearted applause.

"Poor kid doesn't stand a chance."

"How did he get this far anyways?"

"Hopefully it's quick."

Jirro felt himself heat up. The only thing that was wounded was his pride. He felt like an idiot for taking a hit so easily. It won't happen again. He forgot about all of the people watching him; all he saw was his opponent.

Jirro kicked up to his feet and readied himself. Pumps remarked, "I didn't expect you to get back up, kid."

The drum was struck and Pumps attacked. Jirro was patient and carefully parried and evaded each of his blows.

Jirro noticed he shifted a lot of his weight forward. He ducked under his punch and swept Pumps' legs, using his own imbalance against him. Pumps fell to the ground, and Jirro landed a quick strike to his side while he was down. The drum signaled his success.

"Point to Jirro! 1-1! Return to your starting positions."

The crowd cheered enthusiastically.

"Nice one, kid!"

Pumps writhed on the ground through gritted teeth, grabbing his ribs.

"Contestant Pumps, can you continue?" Cho asked from off-stage.

Pumps slammed the ground with his fist, cracking the stage beneath it. He stood with vigor and took his starting position, anger in his eyes, "I'm not going to go as easy on you anymore, kid."

Jirro took a defensive stance and readied himself. With a drum beat, they resumed their bout.

Pumps charged forward, striking more ferociously than before. Jirro blocked a blow with his arm, and it stung pretty harshly. He couldn't afford to simply defend.

Jirro returned his own strikes to the Mecarne warrior, and the two attempted to batter each other vigorously, beating against each other's defenses. Several times, they managed to graze each other's torsos and faces, but the strikes were never substantial enough to earn a point.

Pumps jutted his leg forward and tripped up Jirro, and the boy tumbled to the ground. The Mecarne went to stomp on him while he was down, but Jirro rolled out of his path. Pumps stomped on the ground after the boy, and with each step, he cracked the stage beneath him.

Jirro rolled into a handstand and pushed up off the ground, jumping meters back, inadvertently skidding to the very edge of the ring. He stopped himself just before falling out.

Pumps came forward... and left himself embarrassingly open. Jirro waited until he was close before delivering a powerful high kick to his chin, sending the Mecarne warrior reeling to the ground.

"Point to Jirro! 2-1! Return to your starting positions!"

"How acrobatic!"

"That kid might actually win!"

The crowd cheered - they were impressed by the boy's performance. Meanwhile, Pumps was furious, grabbing at his pained jaw while beating the ground with his fist, damaging the stage further.

Pumps was angry, which Jirro hoped for. When people are angry, they make mistakes. When their match resumed, Jirro waited for him to attack.

Pumps came at the boy wildly, and he parried and evaded each blow skillfully. He blocked another blow and felt his opponent's strength. As strong as Pumps was, Jirro was even stronger.

Jirro allowed the Mecarne warrior to keep coming at him; he was wasting his energy. He waited until Pumps was exhausted to land a quick blow to his chest. He staggered back.

"Point to Jirro! 3-1! Jirro takes the match!"

Pumps' eyes were laced with rage as the crowd cheered. He stormed off the stage without a word. Jirro muttered to himself, "Poor sport."

"How unexpected!"

"That kid is a prodigy!"

With his match over, Jirro could relax and enjoy the tournament as it continued. The Densius Cuartz beat its opponent through sheer aggression and offense, just as it did with Nout. Jirro eyed Cuartz as he returned to the waiting room. The four-armed Densius would be his next opponent.

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The vibrantly colored Densius Jewel won their match, 3-2.

Emer and the Ralosian Eksy were called out next. Eksy was apparently from the Skylands, and he made his way through the preliminaries by staying light on his feet. But he simply couldn't match Emer's sturdiness and power. The green-eyed Densius managed to win 3-0.

After inspecting his tusks and ensuring they were properly blunted, Cmar headed towards the stage with a Ralosian named Liam. His opponent.

Cmar used his arms and trunk to incapacitate his opponent, and his blunted tusks as a secondary way to strike. Using these together, he was able to overwhelm Liam and take the match.

The two fighters known as Ginn and Tyro took the stage, each wearing differing martial arts robes. The two were from rival fighting academies. This seemed to hype up the crowd.

Tyro and Ginn's match was highly technical and prolonged, with each maintaining their defenses and never allowing their opponent to have a clear shot. Tyro feigned an attack that Ginn fell for, allowing for a follow-up strike to Ginn's abdomen. He was so hurt by the single punch that he was unable to continue. Tyro took the match.