At Caesar"s request, Akari, who was still in an unconscious state, was carefully brought to his room by a few maids. Once Caesar made sure everything went smoothly and the maids were trustworthy, he returned to the arena where he awaited his next opponent.His bout with Akari was relatively swift, thus, many of the other fights were still ongoing. This gave Caesar time to recuperate and observe the other fighters, which would give him an advantage in the long run.
He swept his gaze across the training grounds and could see many b.l.o.o.d.y fights taking place. Although Musashi did, indeed, prohibit fatal blows, making the opposition bleed was, by no means, against the rules.
This fact, coupled with the strong desire to win, resulted in many fighters refusing to back down, no matter how injured they got. Caesar, however, didn"t pay much attention to these gruesome battles, but instead, spectated those that were winning with ease.
His gaze landed on a figure with a relatively normal stature, he had neck length black hair, two fox-like ears resting atop his head, an aquiline nose, defined jawline, and sword-like eyebrows. He was quite handsome and was dressed in a navy blue kimono with a black sash. His most discernible feature being his closed eyes and short katana.
His opponent was a very large man, his muscles protruded out of his clothes and he stood at the very least, six feet and five inches. He wielded a tall halberd and his expression showcased his unmatched arrogance. Caesar could see the tall man open his lips a few times whilst smiling smugly, alas, he was too far to hear his words.
The more Caesar observed the man with closed eyes, the more he felt as though he resembled Akari, the la.s.s he had just fought. As if answering Caesar"s inner turmoil, the man with closed eyes turned his head in Caesar"s direction.
Caesar could see the man"s faint smile with his keen eyesight, however, it was, by no means, a kind smile, in fact, Caesar would even go as far to say that the smile was more bloodthirsty than anything. While Caesar was frowning with a tilted head, the man with closed eyes lightly hopped off the ground and arrived behind his gigantic opponent.
His speed was fast, but more notably, silent. The man"s movements were similar to a coursing river, elegant, fluid, and containing a great force. The behemoth of a man didn"t even have time to react before his ankles were struck, resulting in him tumbling to the ground.
The unknown man didn"t even open his eyes once whilst striking at his opponent, he aimed for his foe"s weak point and dealt with him effectively. Even Caesar admired how ruthless the man was, he didn"t hesitate to use his opponent"s height against him.
After dealing with his opponent, the man once again looked in Caesar"s direction, as if challenging him. This caused Caesar to chuckle and wink at him in response, the unwarranted animosity the man directed toward him, made him believe he was related to Akari, in some way, or another.
Seeing that the man had no reaction, which was to be expected, as his eyes were still closed. Caesar spectated the other matches, but to his dismay, all of the interesting fights had already ended. Only the hard working and average fighters remained, their fights gruesome and b.l.o.o.d.y. Even the referees had to call a few matches early, in case of serious injury.
Caesar sighed and shifted his attention to the pedestrians and other spectators, he had told Soka to relay his orders to Rakan, which was to bring the two traitors they had captured, alas, even Caesar couldn"t pinpoint their location through the large ma.s.ses.
He not only wanted to use this tournament to garner respect, power, and recognition but also to strike fear into the other spies. There wouldn"t be another time where the entire fox-kin clan is present, after all. That is, not including the guards still stationed at the gates.
As Caesar thought to here, he was rudely interrupted by the referee to his side. "Sir, the next battle is going to place soon, please prepare," he said respectfully whilst half-bowing.
Caesar nodded in response and prepared for the next fight by dusting off his clothes and stretching his limbs. His abdomen still hurt, however, his vampiric physique was truly marvelous, his bodies regeneration capabilities were not to be underestimated.
While Caesar was stretching, his opponent entered into the ring. He was an older man with streaks of white running through his hair. His clothes were in tatters and he had extensive scarring on his face, showing his experience in battle.
After noticing Caesar"s scrutinization, the older man smiled and clasped his hands together whilst bowing, similar to a Buddhist monk in Caesar"s past life, "it"s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, sir strategist" he said respectfully.
Caesar bowed in response, "the pleasure"s all mine" he replied. Caesar was quite taken aback at how respectful the man was. Something not very common in the fox-kin stronghold, Caesar mused.
Thinking to here, Caesar raised his fists and prepared for the upcoming battle. He didn"t want to insult the old man, alas, he still wasn"t willing to use his weapon. He only utilized his scythe against Akari in a moment of blindless rage, and even then, he finished the fight by using his knee.
Thankfully, the old man didn"t seem to be angered in the slightest at Caesar"s raised hands, and he too raised his bare hands. "Let us have an honorable and valiant fight, young one" his voice barely audible, almost withered.
Caesar wanted to reply, however, the referee"s roar interrupted his train of thought.
"BEGIN!" he roared.
Green energy suddenly started to appear around the old mans fists and the ground beneath him cracked. Small rocks floated in the air and attached to his fists, forming rock-like gloves.
Seeing this strange phenomenon, Caesar couldn"t help but feel that the old man who had once looked frail, now looked st.u.r.dy. In response, the temperature in the arena cooled down and small ice crystals appeared at his feet.
"Shall we begin?" Caesar asked with a slight smile.