After the match, in the room that was a.s.signed to the team of the Lanthanor Kingdom.
One man was sitting inside, with his eyes closed, visualizing the match repeatedly where the marvelous performance of that "normal" soldier had awed everyone.
This same man had been the one who had taught him the very basic of fighting long back, but then, he had been nowhere near as powerful.
His natural confidence that had been noticed by Sylvesto hadn"t been lost on this man, and he had also been mesmerized by it, wondering just what one must have had to go through to have this much change.
As the door opened, this man started clapping before looking up with a smile and saying, "Brilliant. Just what the h.e.l.l did you do during your trip?"
"HAHA! I know, right! It felt SO good beating up those Axelorian punks. Makes it worth it to reveal one of my trump cards."
Indeed, this was the King of Lanthanor, who had sent Elanev disguised as a normal soldier in an attempt to turn the tide.
Daneel knew that his presence would be mandatory on the ground later, and he didn"t want to expose his strength any sooner than needed.
However, losing this first match wasn"t an option, because he knew that it would be a grueling process to come to the finals through the loser"s bracket.
Besides, Axelorians were people who thrived on pride. The boost that they would get on winning the first match itself was something that would have a significant impact on their performance. Hence, Daneel wanted to avoid that.
Thinking in another way, a loss of pride might also hamper the way they carried themselves, so overall, it was best to win this first match.
Daneel had put each and every soldier of his team through rigorous training based on whatever he could remember from his life on Earth.
He hadn"t been a huge fan of rugby and American football, but he had investigated them anyway due to some project and he had actually ended up liking them quite a lot.
Hence, Daneel had at least a rudimentary understanding of what made a good team.
He had based the training program around it, and when its worth was proven in the first half of the match when Axelor couldn"t even touch the coattails of his soldier, Daneel had felt very happy.
However, the power difference really was something that he could do nothing about.
His soldiers began to get taken down like twigs in a rainstorm, and he started to wonder whether he should have placed any rule to disallow such wanton use of power.
However, his aim for this game had been to make it as blood boiling as possible.
If such rules existed which tied down Fighters, it would actually take away from the simplicity of the game.
After Luther had been downed, Daneel understood that it was time to turn the tides.
That was when Elanev had sent in, and he had told the man to do whatever he wanted to ensure victory.
Never could he have expected that his big brother would use such a flashy method to take Lanthanor past the finish line.
Yet, now that he thought about it, the objective of taking down Axelor"s pride had been achieved.
Elanev had just now ignored his other question about the origin of his surge of power, but Daneel didn"t ask again as he knew more than anyone else that everyone had their own problems.
"Well, I think I should warn you now. You will be the primary target in the next match, and they will develop tactics to take you down. Also, it was quite clear that you were scared of the Exalted Human on their team. They will try to use that, too."
At this, Elanev actually scoffed, saying, "Who said I was scared? I would just rather not deal with him right now."
"And what if he is accompanied by peak Amateur Humans? Can you still win?"
"Ah-maybe? I won"t lose though."
"Without exposing your entire strength?"
"You have a point there."
Daneel had noticed that along with the power, the pride of his big brother had also gone up.
Hence, he had spoken in this way to push it down a notch.
However, he couldn"t have expected what it would result in.
"Why don"t you join me on the ground? You disguised me, and it worked, so why can"t you disguise yourself? You"re at least an Eminent Human Fighter right? Or have you been slacking off so much that you"re still an Amateur? I remember how sharp you were in the training hall. I"ll teach you. It"s basically just a modified version of the Hidden Kill fist. We have time till we face Axelor again, and we both know that we will, because they will be unstoppable in the loser"s bracket. By the time we do, you"ll at least have the basics down. What do you say? Some old-school training again?"
This stunned Daneel, as he had a.s.sumed that it was some kind of secret technique which Elanev would guard with his life.
He had asked the system to a.n.a.lyze it, but he hadn"t gotten any results yet as it was still in the process of collecting data.
But now, he had an offer to learn it himself instead of relying on the system and "stealing" the technique.
"Of course. They are going to bash their heads on the wall wondering how you multiplied. Let"s go."
"Not so fast, you litt-. Er, I mean, Daneel. I can"t go around calling the King of Lanthanor a little wimp, can I? I said that, because I feel like I"m back in the training hall. Some fresh gra.s.s, beautiful maidens and wimps to torture. You better ready yourself, because it WILL be torture. Handle anything you need to, and meet me in my room, we can begin there."
Leaving these words and smiling c.o.c.kily at Daneel as if he was looking forward to the "torture", Elanev exited the room.
Daneel had also begun to smile, because he actually missed the feeling of learning new things and growing stronger. Of course, he still trained using the blood daily, and he was quickly progressing to the next level. However, there was nothing like a good man on man fist fight to pick up the heartbeat.
For now, everything had already been taken care of, so he stood up and teleported away to Elanev"s room.
As the King began this training during a time where others might have thought that he would be fretting over every detail, the matches continued, while the love in the hearts of the people for this new and amazing sport grew by the second, imprinting itself into their deepest psyche while making them wish and scream for more, more and more.
...
In the booth a.s.signed to the Axelor Kingdom.
The King of Axelor, whose hands were bandaged but still soaked in blood, was standing in front of the gla.s.s window and looking at all the people who were shouting and jumping to show their support for the Kingdom that had just won.
"LAN-THA-NOR!"
"LAN-THA-NOR!"
"LAN-THA-NOR!"
Each such shout seemed to pierce his ears like an arrow before impacting with his brain and making a twinge of pain pa.s.s through his body, making him grimace and look upwards at the booth of the Lanthanor Kingdom where its King was definitely gloating over his victory.
The minister who stood in the corner of his room had his head down, and if someone compared him to how he had been a few days ago, they would have been shocked.
Almost half his hair was gone, and he seemed to be going bald suddenly even though he had loved maintaining it for 50 years without any hitch.
He cursed the Lanthanor Kingdom and that una.s.suming soldier who had turned the tables in his mind, and he feared what punishment the King would give him after this was all over.
However, as he heard the command that came out of the King"s lips, his body shuddered with fear.
"It"s time to pull out all stops. Transport Azael here safely. Begin a training program for the other soldiers to stay out of his way when he begins to rampage on the ground. And make preparations for me to enter the starting line up in the finals. Let"s see how they handle three Exalted Humans."
The minister only nodded and teleported away, but in his mind, the memory of that monster remained.
Yet, along with that fear came the happiness due to the fact that Lanthanorians would soon die on the ground, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.